![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mar. 4th, 2008
rest in peace, gary Gygax
Mar. 4th, 2008 02:58 pmI remember that it was just before summer, 1982. I was in Weston's book store, where I often stopped on my after school paper route; I had just been paid, and was looking for soemthing to read. The booklet had a red cover; it showed a dragon rising up to fight adventurers, and it made me think of The Hobbit. I looked at the cover- too expensive. I put it back, and sighed, and went on my way.
I mentioned it to Dad when I got home; he gave a brief fatherly lecture along the lines of, "If you only saved your money, instead of blowing it on video games..." The next morning, when I came down to breakfast, there it was. I may have been happier than that, but not often. Dungeons and Dragons. It would be beyond the scope of this entry to discuss the ways in which that little red booklet altered the course of my life: the people I met; the complex gamers' social dynamics I learned to navigate; the monsters that were killed, the treasure stolen, and the kingsdoms saved along the way. I think of a character in another game system, Father Sacramento Justice, and his weary, cynical generosity; I wonder if he's sipping on a coffee at the Totolkam Bar even now. Perhaps most of all, I think of coming home for my 20-year high school reunion, and finding that same booklet (now, sadly, missing its cover), and the inscription within:
To Freddy- May many exciting adventures await! Love, Dad.
I mentioned it to Dad when I got home; he gave a brief fatherly lecture along the lines of, "If you only saved your money, instead of blowing it on video games..." The next morning, when I came down to breakfast, there it was. I may have been happier than that, but not often. Dungeons and Dragons. It would be beyond the scope of this entry to discuss the ways in which that little red booklet altered the course of my life: the people I met; the complex gamers' social dynamics I learned to navigate; the monsters that were killed, the treasure stolen, and the kingsdoms saved along the way. I think of a character in another game system, Father Sacramento Justice, and his weary, cynical generosity; I wonder if he's sipping on a coffee at the Totolkam Bar even now. Perhaps most of all, I think of coming home for my 20-year high school reunion, and finding that same booklet (now, sadly, missing its cover), and the inscription within:
To Freddy- May many exciting adventures await! Love, Dad.