Getting Your RPG Freak On

Recently Ethan Gisdorf wrote and interesting post on TOR.com about Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. It's a great post that brings back a lot of memories. At the end of the post he asks a great question:

12. That random guy who introduced you to Tolkien or D&D

How did you first hear about fantasy books? Who gave you your first taste of role-playing games? Who led you into the Mines of Moria—those scary, thrilling dungeons of the teenage mind? In my case, it was my next door neighbor, a kid named JP, who taught me how to play D&D and inculcate a taste for slaying orcs and eating frozen pizza. I would later learn we all need an escape hatch, a place to blow off steam, and an arena to kill the baddie. We emerge into the light of day, victorious, and laden with treasure and, best of all, tales to tell.

For me, it was a Librarian at the Kearns Library. For some reason, the Librarian handed me a box with a new game in it, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 1st Edition, Starter Edition. In side were two books, some paper and some die. I was excited, mainly because it didn't cost me anything.

I spent the next few weeks reading all the books, and trying to get all the information I could about this awesome new game. Remember, in 1980, we didn't have the Internet to get information. And quiet honestly, I don't remember how we managed to make the game work. But thank goodness for the starter kit, which had a lot all the rules and examples to follow.

I spent the next several years playing D&D with my neighbors EB and WA. Eventually we started buying, painting and playing with miniatures, and ended up live role playing, before LARPing had even been thought of. We created swords out of 2x4's, wrapped in towels or carpet to help reduce the pain of a blow. We wore helmets, and shoulder pads, and what ever else we could think of to keep from killing ourselves.

We all moved on, but I'll never forget the fun times we had exploring the underworld that was Dungeons & Dragons.