As I was surfing the Web recently, I’ve noticed a fair bit of excitement on some gaming sites about the release of Dungeons & Dragons third edition. This got me thinking about when my friends and I used to play.
We’d be seated around a table in the basement of my friend’s parent’s basement. A single light would illuminate the proceedings. Despite thecliché description, this is where we started out playing. Later when his parents fixed up the basement we moved out into more civilizedsurroundings. But regardless it was always fun; lost in our imaginary worlds.
We didn’t just play one game though, we dabbled in about nine by my count. Different genres, different settings: the wild west; Victorian England, Star Trek, the Imperium, and others. Eventually though we grew older and stopped playing. There were more important things to be experienced, such as girls (though hardly enough of those) and cars and beer.
Then a few years ago as I was planning on moving in with my girlfriend of the time (now my wife), my parents had a garage sale. I decided to go through their basement and clear out a few things. I put my games out for sale, they went for a few bucks a book, and less for all the old modules. A pittance of which I thought nothing at the time.
Now though, as my thirtieth birthday approaches and a new version of one of my old games is out I think that sometimes we shouldn’t be in such a rush to get rid of the things we hold dear in our youth. Those games gave me a lot of enjoyment.
I’m getting maudlin now so I believe I’ll conclude here.
Dispatches from Obscurity 