To All the Games I've Loved Before...

I have recently had a space problem. I am moving my stuff from my parents/storage house to one I share with two roommates and a child. Anyway, I needed to trim the fat so to speak. I have a lot of books and the most prevalent are game books. Now fast forward to a new Half-Price Books Store opening in my hometown. These two events have created a recipe for making some cash for my Gen Con trip since money will be pretty tight this year.

This is where the narration takes a sad turn however. Now I have to go though my collect and decide what books stay and what books go. How do I choose? How would you choose? At first I decided if I was not planning on playing a game in the next year, the books had to go. With so many settings however, I just couldn't do it. Then I thought I will keep the best game for each genre (SciFi, Fantasy etc.). But who can pick? Can you honestly tell me the better game between Transhuman Space and AEON or Blood of Heroes and Mutants and Masterminds? You can? Pass me that cup filled with water from the fountain of knowledge.

You see, I have a healthy imagination for my age. Most gamers do I think. When I look at and read game books, I see the scenes, the adventures, they can create. For example, when I look at Legend of the Five Rings, the words fall from my mind and are replaced with impressions of trying to keep my Lion mantle in place as I and my honor guard race over a grassy hill to destroy the vile Crane beyond. Feeling the wind. Hearing the horses hooves. The texture of my gloved hand holding my father's weapon. What about Chill and the knowledge that just beyond the worn, stained apartment door in front of you are creatures man was not meant to know? To feel the glorious anger being released as my body cracks and elongates into that same creature in Werewolf: the Forsaken. How do you say goodbye to those feelings?

Well in the end I did say farewell to some. All in all I think I sold about 75 books. And to all those games I've loved before, thank you. Thank you for helping me feel larger than life and no smaller than my imagination could dream. I hope someone sees you on the store shelf and looks past the illusion. Sees your words for what they are, dreams of adventure. For me, I still have many favorites and worlds to explore.