Gary Gygax, RIP
I posted this on the MeFi memorial thread but I figured it gives me an excuse to update my under-used LJ.
I got into D&D sometime in 4th or 5th grade, and played all the way through college. I sucked as a DM, but I loved playing.
When my uncle found out I was playing, he gave me all the manuals that he had (2nd cover...dragon vs. pegasi ftw!), as he, in his early 20s, had recently retired from playing. He had a character that he'd been playing for years which had recently died and it took the wind out of his sails.
I quickly made friends with people who had the Fiend Folio and especially Legends and Lore and of course the Monster Manual and The Tome of Magic and the Book of Artifacts (I was always fascinated with Baba Yaga's hut for some reason, and some magical deck of cards) and I spent hours pouring through them. My previous fascinations with dinosaurs and Greek mythology rolled up into one system where I could interact with such things, and more? There is no better present.
I remember impromptu games at a Compton's house, or at Rutland's house next door. Rutland's brother let me play a tinkergnome with a Greek Fire flamethrower. Later on, I was part of a steady group from high school through college, playing two long campaigns. I remember how much I loved my chaotic good dwarf fighter; I remember how Burke loved playing paladins, just so he could constantly detect evil in a 20' radius when he wasn't flirting with barmaids, before falling asleep and we'd have to lug his unconscious body around for the rest of the night; I remember getting knifed in the back by Jackson when he rolled a 1 on a throw; I remember how great a DM Gary was, and how in-character he would get with the NPCs; Eric, our unassuming Cleric, still gets mentioned to this day. I remember going on scavenger hunts for dying dragons and fighting armies of the undead. I have so many great memories of things that never happened, coupled with simultaneous memories of pizza and spaghetti and Coke cans and staying up all night and dice. Oh god the dice. I have a Crown Royal bag full of my dice back in Louisiana, and I still have to restrain myself from buying another set anytime I am in a comic store.
Thanks for helping bring this to the world, Mr. Gygax. Every time I wish for a bag of holding, I owe you.
I got into D&D sometime in 4th or 5th grade, and played all the way through college. I sucked as a DM, but I loved playing.
When my uncle found out I was playing, he gave me all the manuals that he had (2nd cover...dragon vs. pegasi ftw!), as he, in his early 20s, had recently retired from playing. He had a character that he'd been playing for years which had recently died and it took the wind out of his sails.
I quickly made friends with people who had the Fiend Folio and especially Legends and Lore and of course the Monster Manual and The Tome of Magic and the Book of Artifacts (I was always fascinated with Baba Yaga's hut for some reason, and some magical deck of cards) and I spent hours pouring through them. My previous fascinations with dinosaurs and Greek mythology rolled up into one system where I could interact with such things, and more? There is no better present.
I remember impromptu games at a Compton's house, or at Rutland's house next door. Rutland's brother let me play a tinkergnome with a Greek Fire flamethrower. Later on, I was part of a steady group from high school through college, playing two long campaigns. I remember how much I loved my chaotic good dwarf fighter; I remember how Burke loved playing paladins, just so he could constantly detect evil in a 20' radius when he wasn't flirting with barmaids, before falling asleep and we'd have to lug his unconscious body around for the rest of the night; I remember getting knifed in the back by Jackson when he rolled a 1 on a throw; I remember how great a DM Gary was, and how in-character he would get with the NPCs; Eric, our unassuming Cleric, still gets mentioned to this day. I remember going on scavenger hunts for dying dragons and fighting armies of the undead. I have so many great memories of things that never happened, coupled with simultaneous memories of pizza and spaghetti and Coke cans and staying up all night and dice. Oh god the dice. I have a Crown Royal bag full of my dice back in Louisiana, and I still have to restrain myself from buying another set anytime I am in a comic store.
Thanks for helping bring this to the world, Mr. Gygax. Every time I wish for a bag of holding, I owe you.