12-12-12 A Day to Remember

I figured on such an auspicious day, I should post some nonsense to commemorate.  Here in Wisconsin, today has been officially sanctioned (by our Governor) as Aaron Rodgers Day.  If you don't follow football, and specifically the Green Bay Packers, that will mean bupkiss to you.  As a hardcore Steelers fan, however, I prefer to call it Terry Bradshaw Day.  Again, non-football fan = bupkiss (and you'll probably want to skip the next paragraph as well).

Why am I a Steelers fan?  I have never lived in Pittsburgh.  I'm from the Bay Area of California, originally.  So, traditionally, I'm supposed to be either a Raiders or 49ers fan.  And I've tried both on, but they never fit.  That's because in 1974 or so, I had a stack of football cards about three feet high.  Included in that collection was the entire line-up of the then current Steelers team.  Man, what I would give to have those now!  Anyways, before I even knew what football was, I decided that I would be a Steelers fan because of that.  And, well, it stuck.  And for good reason.  The Steelers have more Superbowl wins (6) than any other NFL team (although the Packers have more overall championships, having won several before the SB was invented).  That may soon be surpassed, but they have held that title for many years.  And for four of those six games, the quarterback was Terry Bradshaw.  He is my all-time favorite football player.  Other QB's may be statistically better, even among his contemporaries.  But Terry has four rings.  He was a general on the field, and his Hail Mary Pass was something to behold.  Today I still love my Steelers.  Not because they are the best team.  But because they are a consistently good team.  No team has ever run roughshod over them in a game.  When you play the Steelers, win or lose, you know you played some smashmouth, in-your-face football!  And if you happen to win, you know you earned that victory.

Anyways, it's also a great day because it's my birthday.  And not only that, but I am 42 this year.  Anyone who has read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy should be aware of the significance of that number.  And if you haven't, I have to wonder what you are doing reading a blog by a geek like me...?

Happy 12-12-12 to everyone!  Drinks are on you!

Victory in defeat

As all of my real-life (and most of my online) friends know, I love football, and have been a die-hard Steelers fan since before I even knew what the game was. Every year I wear my custom Terry Bradshaw jersey, and cheer for my boys to kick ass. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. But, they are always a good team to watch, and no team has ever had an easy victory over them.

In 2007, I moved to Wisconsin, and married the woman of my dreams less than a year later. My wife has been a Packers fan all of her life, and she loves football just as much as I do. So, for the last few years, we have cheered equally for each other’s teams. Then, the Perfect Storm happened. The improbable matchup of a lifetime. The Packers and the Steelers squared off for the Big Game! And what a game! We were on the edge of our seats the whole time. And even though I lost, I still had fun, and am still very proud of my Steelers.

Interestingly, I have always placed all football teams into three categories. The team(s) I love, which was usually just the Steelers; the teams I hate, which will always include the Cowboys; and the rest, whom I’ve been more or less ambivalent to. Now, I have added the Packers to my Love category (in spot #2, of course), and the Vikings and Bears to my Hate category. So this game was kind of a win-win for me. I’m happy that the Packers won, and that Rodgers can finally be 100% shed of Favre’s shadow (that guy is such a douchenozzle). I’m only sad that my Steelers had to lose in order for it to happen. But, there’s always next year!

The ball rolls…just a little.

So this week my boss is out on vacation. And admittedly, when he’s not in giving me little tasks to do…well, I end up with a lot of free time on my hands. Lately, I have been trying to focus that time on writing. The other day it was for homework, but more often than not, it’s for fiction and games.

And in relation to both, I finished a piece of orc fiction this morning! It’s just a 2,500-word short detailing the mating rituals of orcs. But I like it. And even better, the two people who have read it liked it a lot. I will go back and polish it up sometime soon. But for now I will put one more chalk-mark in the Victory category.

On the game-writing front, I have been pecking away at two different efforts. The first is Being Green, my orc RPG. I have most of what I need to have for the mechanics. Now I am fine-tuning those, and trying to come up with a setting. This part is turning out harder than I thought, but that’s mainly my own fault. I have created several settings over the years where orcs feature prominently. And each one has some elements in common. So, instead of re-inventing the wheel yet again, I decided to adapt one of those for my game. However, the one document that has the version I want to use eludes me. I just can’t find it. And what’s worse is that I can’t find the flash drive I thought it was saved on! That’s a huge deal, but I prefer not to think about that right now…

This all brings me to another question for my gamer friends. How much is too much? When you open a new RPG, do you like lots of detailed history, or do you prefer a simple presentation of the setting, with enough info to get started, and keep it all making sense? Or do you prefer something in-between? Do the Setting and History need to be divided into separate sections, or should they be integrated together?

Ok, so that’s more an one question. But they’re all interrelated.

The other game is Steam Jammer, my steampunk space adventure game, based a lot on Disney’s Treasure Planet. For that one, I am just importing the core mechanics from Being Green, and concentrating on writing up the background and game-specific rules (such as ships and firearms…neither of which exist in Being Green). I’m having fun coming up with stuff. Basically, imagine the North Atlantic and the Caribbean during the 17th century, add in the American Colonies during the 18th century, and then spread the whole thing across the galaxy. It’s a fun exercise. Especially coming up with pseudo-scientifically plausible reasons for such things as why ships can fly through space without a contained atmosphere for the occupants (I rather like the idea I came up with for that one).

All that and I am growing a full beard for the Super Bowl. In case anyone doesn’t know, I have been a Steelers fan my whole life. My wife has been a Packers fan all of hers. We have rules in place for trash talk, as well as a little wager involving personal grooming. Should be fun!