Tuesday, June 26, 2012

"Dungeons & Dragons": A Spark In The Tinderbox

When I first recounted my tale of D&D discovery I really wanted to include this article, but I didn't have a scanner at the time.  Consider this post to be a long-overdue and highly-prized companion piece.

Despite being an irredeemably geeky kid, I'd somehow managed to avoid playing Dungeons & Dragons until I stumbled upon the following two page article in the November 1983 issue of Starlog Magazine:

(P.S. be sure to right-click on these beauties to view them properly) 

  
The concluding paragraph instantly set off a spark of imagination in the tinderbox of my thirteen year old brain:  

"It's the Grand Quest of Gaming, and who knows what chills and thrills lurk behind the next door - a planked wooden gate barred ominously on your side.  There is no window or keyhole you might peer through, and you can't go back the way you came because the wererats have summoned their giant brethren to help in the assault on your party.  You are Ragnok the Halfling, traveling with Anika the Magic-User and the Cleric-Adept Gen U. Flect.  A kings ransom - in fact, the king's ransom - awaits you if..."        

So that I might accept Sir Kaye's challenge to venture forth with him, I began to save up my shekels to procure a copy of this:


I knew nothing about the game or how it worked.  I just knew that I had to find a copy, digest its esoteric (and supposedly dangerous!) contents and play the ever-lovin' crap out of it. 

Thank you, Mr. Kaye.  Wherever you are.  

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