Sometime before my twelfth birthday (I specifically remember that I was under the "for adults 12 years and up."limit) at some toy store in some shopping mall, I saw this:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QTIeBuLnD-...holmes+box.jpg
Did I come home with it that day?
No.
:smallfrown:
Did I whine like a hungry puppy until it was mine?
Yes! Yes! and Yes!
I mean LOOK AT IT!
:smallbiggrin:
Such shear AWESOMICITY!, AWESOMOSITY! , and HELLA METAL BADASSADRY! created longings I could hardly understand!
A Wizard with a Magic Wand!
:smallsmile:
A warrior in armor with a longbow and sword!
:smallsmile: :smallsmile:
and,
A Dragon on a giant pile of treasure in a dungeon!
:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:
After I finally received the majestic 48 page rulebook (and read it straight through three times so I could "get it"), my little brother was the first
victim player that I DM'd.
How I longed to be the
player exploring the Dungeon myself (and really I still do)!
Sometime in 6th grade (so late 1978 or early 1979) a classmate saw me reading the "blue book" and invited me to a game of D&D that his teenage older brother was the DM of. The rules?
The three LBB's, Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldrich Wizardry, God's Demigods and Heroes, the Arduin Grimouire's, All the World's Monster's, and the Monster Manual! (but no Chainmail or Swords and Spells, which I didn't see until the mid 1980's).
BEST GAME EVER!
The next RPG was "Villains and Vigilantes" and then it was off to the races!
I soon got the AD&D PHB, and then the DMG, and by the mid 80's I had many more RPG's (and still keep being them, much to the detriment of my storage needs).
To illustrate, the scene:
A dank almost crypt like basement/garage during the waning years of the Carter Administration, two pre-teens and three teenagers surround a ping pong table, that has books, papers, dice, pizza and sodas on it
Teen DM (my best friends older brother): You turn the corner, and 20' away you see the door shown on the map.
Teen player (who thinks he's all that because he's been playing longer than me with the LBB's, but does he have the new PHB and DMG? No! So who's really the "Advanced" one huh!): With the lantern still tied to the ten foot pole, I slowly proceed forward observing if they are any drafts from unexpected places. You (looks at me) check the floor with the other pole.
Me (pre-teen): Oh man it's late, are we every getting into the treasure room today!
Teen player: You've got to check for traps!
Me: I run up and force the door open!
DM: Blarg the fighter falls through the floor onto the spikes below.
*rolls dice*
Your character is dead.
Teen player: Dude you got smoked!
Me: Look at my next character. I rolled a 15 for Strength.
DM: Really?
Me: Yeah, Derek totally witnessed me rolling it up!
DM: Did he?
Derek (my best friend, another pre-teen who invited me to the game): Are you gonna eat that slice of pizza?
Me: No.
Derek: Yeah I totally saw it.
*munch*
DM: *groan*:smallwink:
In memory of my best friend, Derek Lindstrom Whaley, who in 6th grade saw me reading the blue book and invited me to play D&D at his house - R.I.P.