About a year ago, my super-cool (but super-busy) ladywife mentioned to me in passing that she might - might - be interested in gaming with me at some point. This was a highly unexpected offer, as she'd really not shown much specific interest in my past gaming activities; I was a heavy-volume gamer when we'd first met, fifteen or more years ago, and it was by far my most intense non-academic activity. Now, here she was, actually encouraging me to get back into the hobby... inconceivable.
I, of course, leaped at the opportunity. Having dribbled away my books over the years, I began snatching up all of the old 1st Edition volumes on eBay, Abebooks, Powell's, etc. I got books I'd never had before, including the old boxed sets for Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. I went nuts, and bought the entire T1-4, A1-4, G1-3, D1-3, and Q1 series of adventure modules. I found out about Judges Guild (previously unknown) and snapped up vintage modules and expansions dating back to the mid-seventies. I have no idea how much money I spent before my wife told me that, due to a new promotion, she didn't really have any disposable free-time to spend on regular gaming. I chid myself for getting so carried away, and put my books in storage...
... But then, a wondrous thing happened...
I happen to do nonprofit theatre work at the grassroots (i.e. "no money") level with a group of extremely talented twenty-somethings; at forty, I cling to the analogy of Burroughs hanging out with Kerouac and Ginsberg. I also happened to drop a D&D reference at a social occasion, for whom it was, no doubt, an anachronistic curiosity. The next thing I know, I'm DM-ing steadily for the first time ever, with a group of first-time players, who happen to be post-adolescent and exceptionally bright.
(A quick digression: if you ever get the opportunity to game with theatre folk, you should definitely try it. So long as there's no impulse to be ironic or sarcastic, they're well-suited to the imaginative aspects and more than willing to throw themselves into character. It may not be your cup of tea, but hey... what could it hurt?...)
I was really nervous at first about whether or not I could tell the story in a compelling manner, or whether anyone would feel slighted or bored. Now I've got seven budding D&D junkies on my hands, in two converging groups. I'm only about four sessions into it, but I'm having the time of my life...
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