Step aside, Billy Corgan, it's my turn to talk about the events of 1979. I was a sophomore attending a small, private Christian high school in Rockford, IL. Over the course of that year I remember one of my friends, Mark, who would talk about this silly game he played with his friends over the weekend exploring dungeons. His eyes would glaze over as he'd talk about sneaking into orc caves and finding treasure chests. We'd ask him questions as to how he went about playing this game as I couldn't imagine a gameboard for this type of play. He said there was no board, but grid paper and odd dice and books. This sounded a bit boring to us, and my friends and I would exchange a look over Mark's sharing of the latest venture. He'd always end with "We should play it in study hall sometime." We'd respond with "Sure, sure" and exchange another amused look between ourselves.
This happened all the way up until March of that year where we ended up having an entire afternoon free of classes. Mark rounded us up (I think there were 3 of us at that time, me, Tim & Roger) and said he had brought his Dungeons & Dragons game and that we should play. I know to any outsider this is going to sound stupid and quite frankly, somewhat juvenile, but as we sat down at the table, rolled up our characters, and discovered what this role playing world was about, it was odd how our 2D map sketched on the grid paper in front of us transformed itself into a world that was definitely not a small, private Christian high school. It's like when you're reading a great book and you are no longer conscious of the fact you are reading words but experiencing the book in the holodeck of your mind.
Mark was a great dungeon master who drew upon the numbers that identified the major traits of our characters, and we soon had a hobbit thief with a paralyzed leg, warriors that could cobble weapons together from rocks and a spare chamber pot, and a powerful mage who used powers that would have been considered heresy by the administrators of our parochial education environment. The four of us interacted in a way that was new and unique, and it helped us bond in a new way, an experience shared by those who have succeeded in completing a major project or have spent time fighting in the trenches.
The following week was Spring Break, and I was able to convince my mom to drive me to Royal Hobby. I think she was willing to do this as she knew I was going to start working as a dishwasher at Big Boy by the end of the week; I would soon have fewer hours to dedicate to flippant activities. Royal Hobby was one of those niche, grognard shops that sold obscure WWII model sets, remote controlled cars of the protozoan stage, Avalon Hill games and miniature war figures and terrain. It was owned and managed by someone whom I believe was part of the composite of the Comic Book Guy, part Kevin Smith, and a sliver of Guy Fieri. When I walked in (my mom decided to stay out in the car and wait) he was talking to another guy behind the counter, and they were playing a cassette on a portable tape recorder (yes, that's what we called them at that time). The tape was a stand-up comic routine performed by Robin Williams, I definitely remember this! The reason I know it was Robin Williams was because the words flying out of that little speaker were graphic and rather shocking, very different than the guy we know as Mork from Ork. I was able to locate the white Dungeons and Dragons box that was published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) and I walked to the front counter. The manager was friendly and helpful as he told me the dice were separate, and I might want to start with an inexpensive set. The D&D starter set was $10, so I thought it best to follow his recommendation and purchase the hard plastic 4, 8 and 20-sided dice. After making this purchase, my mom took me over to Union Hall where I went to the office supply section and purchased a ringed binder containing grid paper. Not only would this make it easier to track our team's progress thru the dungeons, but I had aspirations for becoming a dungeon master. I had plots and drop spin twists and epic material I wanted create from the growing string of words in my head.
Working at Big Boy didn't curtail my ability to find time and engage in flippant activities such as D&D. Having a job allowed me to invest in my new hobby as I soon bought Greyhawk and an upgraded set of die. I brought my D&D manuals and dice to school each day, and our group expanded to 6-10 guys who played whenever we had an available study period available. Ironically, Mark stopped playing later that Spring once we completed his dungeon. He never engaged in these adventures again as we were clearly identified by the school as geeks, and I think he felt the need to separate himself and grow in new directions.
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