It was thirty years ago today,
Gary Gygax taught the geeks to play ...
When I was twelve or thirteen I had a paper round. As is usual for paperboys the world over I used to read the papers and magazines on the way. Amongst the Radio Times and Guardians one magazine caught my eye one day – Military Modeling. I skipped past the painting notes for eighteenth century Prussian cavalry officers to the bits about war games and saw something about fantasy role playing games where you could be the wizard or warrior and go down in a dungeon to fight monsters and steal their treasure. For a young spotty oik like me, this was as if I'd stepped through a wardrobe into Narnia. I saved up my money and sent off for a rulebook, something called a solo dungeon and some little lead figures. Tunnels and Trolls was the one I went for, and I corralled in some friends at school to give it a go.
We were hooked.
We spent a fortune on games and miniatures – Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Traveler, Runequest and more. We started our own fanzine – Quasits and Quasars – that lasted a respectable ten issues and came runner up in a national poll at Gamesday one year. We went to games conventions and joined a live role playing club called Treasure Trap at a mock castle in Cheshire.
Fantastic times.
Twenty five years on I still feel the siren call of the games. I usually play on the computer now – Baldur's Gate, Planescape and Neverwinter Nights – but I might just dig out my old rulebook and see if I can get the kids playing this weekend ...
Friday, August 20, 2004
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2 comments:
Hiya,
Can you recommend any good websites to get info on D&D for someone who's never played it before ?
Pam - http://www.geocities.com/ellenlang
The official site is as good a place to start as any http://www.wizards.com/playdnd/playdnd.asp is a simple introduction to the game and this one is a rather
hysterical opposing viewpoint from a mad American religious fundamentalist http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp There's a documentary on Radio 4 this afternoon which sounds interesting - Dicing with Dragons at 3:30.
The best way to learn about the game is to find a sympathetic group and give it a go - look out for ads in game shops, or ask around for groups that want new members. Don't worry too much about the rules and the dice - just treat it like a bit of improvised theatre and enjoy playing make believe. If you want to try a computer game, then Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights are good choices - they both have tutorials to guide you through the start of the game and get you going.
Let me know how you get on!
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