Buried in all the political news today was that Gary Gygax died. He was a pioneer of the modern RPG movement and was one of the inventors of Dungeons and Dragons.
I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons in the fifth grade when I lived in Germany. I was on a school spring break ski trip to Scheffau Austria. It was a big week for me: first time out on a big trip, learning to ski, playing spin the bottle for the first time, and much more. My classmate Mark Propp asked me and some friends if we wanted to try out a fun new game.
It was the blue book edition of Dungeons and Dragons. With the jukebox blaring “Le Freak” and various ABBA tunes I learned about RPGs and open ended game play. After getting back I got a copy from the Ramstein AFB BX. Soon it supplanted my favorite Avalon Hill board games like Blitzkrieg, Bismarck, and Richthofen’s War.
After I moved to Texas I still liked board games, especially Squad Leader and the various Metagaming Microgames like G.E.V, Ogre, Ice war and Warp War. But my true gaming love was AD&D with me DMing a close group of friends. As I moved on to college I played less and less and by the end had moved on to computer games.
I did play in several AD&D tournaments in High School and College. At the time there were few female players but always one female character in tournament parties. Confident in my sexuality I can proudly say I never played a male character in tournament play.
I still have my original D&D stuff in an early 70’s metal case I got from my mom. It has a big orange sticker with a cartoon elephant hugging a flag pole with its trunk with the words “Let’s Stick With Dick Nixon”.
Mad nostalgia props goes out to my Germany Crew: Mark Propp, Chip Usher, Tom & Steve Browning and Scott Burgan and to my Boerne Texas Crew: Alan Sell, Boyd Hutton, Shane Deike, Clint Herbst, Scott Fossler, Scott Longacre, Curtis Braddock, Neva Crouse, Darren Weirich, Darrell Woods, and Ted Angle. My apologies if I left anybody out.
And to the Master DM himself: Mr Gygax: my thoughts go out to your family, thanks for your creation and may you rest in peace.
