I didn't know sweep before and tried it out under Easy Debian, semi-successfully. At first, it could not open the audio device, and after fiddling around a bit, it suddenly could. Later it wouldn't again. Does it work reliably for you? At any rate, I have a new alternative sound editor on my laptop now.
Very good thread, I actually used a post from one of the quests yesterday which I found from searching (the one about allowing thumbnailer daemon to run while the phone is resting by the campfire), and now it makes a lot more sense than yesterday! Your RPG system reminds me some of the SPECIAL system (Strength-Perception-Endurance-Charisma-Intelligence-Agility-Luck) in Fallout 1-2, was it intentional?