One of the ads on this site told me that I could see whole episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica on NBC.com. I checked the site out, and sure enough, they’ve got the episodes.

I remember watching BG on TV back when I was around 12 years old — I loved the show. It was a show that my friends watched, too, so we could always talk about the latest adventures of Apollo and Starbuck. I had a couple of BG toys, and I especially remember the vipers. I’d mix and match the toys with my Star Wars stuff, and I’d have adventures every bit as amazing as any aired on the show.

I just watched an episode on NBC.com, and I’m surprised to say that it wasn’t bad. I fully expected to find it completely hokey, but it was just mostly hokey. It was actually decent enough that I’ll probably watch a couple more episodes. Or maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I just got lucky and watched a decent one. Maybe my next will ruin the memories for me. Hmm. I’ll think about it.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

My primary set of dice, blue with white numbers, has done me well for a few years. Except for the twenty-sided die — the main, most-used die of the set. The d20 has let me down many times. In fact, it’s become a bit of a joke among my gaming group.

That blue d20 always let me down in the most important, or dramatic, or most improbable ways. It’s especially disappointing when it lets me down in dramatic ways. Like when my paladin charged the evil wizard at the start of a combat, and the die came up a natural 1. Last game session, my war-priest used enlarge person on himself to pull out the “big guns” because we badly needed heavy damage in the fight. To hit and smash the enemy, I only needed to roll a 7 or better on the d20. What did it give me? 6, 5, 5, and then the fight was over.

I wanted to destroy this cursed die, so I set up an execution for it.

The set lined up to witness the punishment.

The convicted is covered, the hammer rises.

The sentence is carried out. Eyes are cast down.

The remainder of the set will be added to my big bag o’ dice to be used when I need them. I’ve bought a new set to be my main.

Like most gamers, I have a bunch of dice — collected over nearly 30 years of gaming. But unlike many gamers, I don’t bring them all to a game session. I just bring one set. I’ve retired many dice, but this is the first time one has driven me to carry out capital punishment. But that d20 was really damned infuriating.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Every evening, usually at the dinner table, Cowgrit asks me to tell her about my day. Half the reason she asks is so our boys get used to the routine so they’ll answer the question when they get older. We already ask Calfgrit7 this question each day after school, and when I get home from work, Calfgrit3 tells Cowgrit, “Tell Dad about our day.”

When Cowgrit asks me, I try to give a thorough answer, to be a good example. But really, when I leave work, I like to leave work. I don’t like to dwell on what I’ve done that day. It’s not that I have bad days, or anything like that, but my days aren’t particularly exciting. In fact, my days tend to be rather boring. Such is the life of an editor of manuals and technical documents.

What she never asks, but I really wish she would ask, is how my game night went. Especially after a night when we played Dungeons & Dragons. I’d love to tell about how we fought a dragon, raided a goblin warren, found ancient, glittering treasure, and saved a princess. I’d love to explain how we solved the puzzle to open the secret door that leads down to an even darker part of the dungeon, and how we fell prey to a diabolical trap. But sadly, my game night adventures are left to game nights and the occasional email exchanges with my gaming buddies.

Nobody wants to hear a geek yabber about his 6th-level war-priest and his holy hammer.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com