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A sad day for geeks like me...
Mar. 4th, 2008 05:41 pmI was nine, the first time I played D&D. It was something my family did together, right before the end of that family...right before my parents got a divorce. I can't remember if I started with a mage or a priest, but I know it was one of the two, and I know she was an elf.
It's a pattern I've taken with me to other games, since.
I spent time, as a kid, rolling up characters I'd never play, and marking up graph paper, and later hex paper, with dungeons and lands no one would see. They were hardly creative, at first, but eventually I grew. I learned how to take the good ideas and make them my own without blatantly stealing the ideas. I learned how to make worlds, and how to create stories that others would like to be a part of, and how to go with the flow even when an idea didn't pan out.
I suppose that playing D&D was a stepping stone toward becoming the writer I am today. I didn't think about it like that. I don't play anymore. I don't spend hours in my dad's basement with a handfull of friends, holding my breath at the roll of the dice, like I did as a teenager. It's been years since I cracked open a sourcebook with the promise of new worlds forming in my mind. I turned my back on being a player to be a DM, and I turned my back on being a DM to be a writer.
Today I'm reflecting on a good chunk of my roots, because one of the men who started it all died today. I owe a lot to Gary Gygax, in ways I never took the time to realize until I heard of his death this morning. I hope that whatever afterlife holds, he is rewarded for his contribution to this world.
It's a pattern I've taken with me to other games, since.
I spent time, as a kid, rolling up characters I'd never play, and marking up graph paper, and later hex paper, with dungeons and lands no one would see. They were hardly creative, at first, but eventually I grew. I learned how to take the good ideas and make them my own without blatantly stealing the ideas. I learned how to make worlds, and how to create stories that others would like to be a part of, and how to go with the flow even when an idea didn't pan out.
I suppose that playing D&D was a stepping stone toward becoming the writer I am today. I didn't think about it like that. I don't play anymore. I don't spend hours in my dad's basement with a handfull of friends, holding my breath at the roll of the dice, like I did as a teenager. It's been years since I cracked open a sourcebook with the promise of new worlds forming in my mind. I turned my back on being a player to be a DM, and I turned my back on being a DM to be a writer.
Today I'm reflecting on a good chunk of my roots, because one of the men who started it all died today. I owe a lot to Gary Gygax, in ways I never took the time to realize until I heard of his death this morning. I hope that whatever afterlife holds, he is rewarded for his contribution to this world.
