August 28, 2007
fourth
If you follow table-top gaming at all, you may have heard that a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons is in the works and set for a May 2008 release.
As is often the case, the game was introduced to me by friends and classmates, and our first sessions took place in the high school library. Back then the game was still in its second, advanced edition, and the kitchen table and basement den were in turn introduced to the bizarre rituals that the hobby exacts; blessing (or cursing) the dice, calculating THAC0 and wondering “just what hell was a ‘thacko’ anyway?”
Around the same time (perhaps consequently), I was introduced to fantasy fiction. For myself, the stories began with the Dragonlance novels, and some of my fondest, early teenage memories are filled with the likes of Raistlin, Tanis, Flint and other fantastic characters.
As far back as I can remember, I have always enjoyed reading and had casually made my way through classics like Moby Dick, Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn and even a noble, but failed attempt at The Lord of the Rings, which I did not read to completion until some time after high school.
With the introduction of Dragonlance however, I found that over the span of a few short years my hunger for new characters, new stories and new adventures grew by leaps and bounds. Novel after novel was added to the pile of its predecessors who had lasted no more than a few days before I had finished and moved on to the next. Along with Dragonlance, the stories of Dark Sun, Planescape and even a few of The Realms’ (particularly those involving a scimitar-wielding anti-hero loser who shall not be named) were consumed and processed.
I remember my older brother (who was also into the genre at the time) and I each attaching ourselves to our preferred campaign settings and spending what allowance we had on game rule books that we would pore over again and again, studying each magnificent piece of artwork, and memorizing each minute detail. I spent hours dreaming up wonderful stories for the characters I had read about, or imagining myself among them, or even in their place.
Despite my enthusiasm, actual D&D game sessions where few and far between for the usual reasons that plague the hobby: not enough people to start a game, or not enough interest to keep it going. Eventually my own interest waned and the rule books were left to gather dust on the shelf while I explored the digital wonders of Everquest and Diablo II.
And then, one day, I made a terrible mistake. It was a sunny Saturday morning in the summer ‘98 and I, representing my geek brethren in the finest way, was sitting downstairs, in the basement, in front of my computer, playing Everquest. My mother was having a garage sale that morning, and as she cleaned out the storage room in the basement, she asked me if I still wanted to keep my Dungeons & Dragons books. I looked over my shoulder and saw that she had all of my Planescape campaign rule books in hand. I’m sure I had spent well over 100$ purchasing all of those books (which is a lot in teen dollars), but I had never had the chance to use them, so I thought about it for a brief moment, shrugged, and said “No, go ahead”.
Looking back on that moment, I wish that I had reconsidered. I remember that I used to lie on my bed or on the living room floor with those books and maps spread out, reading all of the strange names and bizarre stories, imagining the kind of adventures someone could have. I think it was those moments that ignited my creative spark and eventually led me to write. I still feel a great sentimental attachment to those books, not only because they represent a time when - I’m tempted to say “life was easier”, but in reality I just had fewer responsibilities and more time to goof off - but also because of the great works of art and writing that went into producing them.
If there is a silver lining to all of this however, it is that I had the good sense to hold on to my novels, and they are now stacked two-deep on the book shelves in my apartment. Every now and then I will pull one off, flip through the pages and just catching a glimpse at a paragraph here or there is enough to remind me of the secret adventures within.
About 6 years ago I was re-introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, this time in its 3rd edition, when I joined a pick-up group of guys who lived around my area. We played several campaigns as the game evolved to version 3.5 over the intervening years, and even though some of those guys have now disappeared and some have moved away, a few still remain good friends.
These days I find myself wearing the DM hat, having an opportunity to exercise my creative muscles by creating new adventures and new challenges, and I am still influenced by what I have read in both the distant and recent past. I think what I enjoy most of all however, is seeing something that I have created bring other people happiness. Few things make me feel better than when the other guys tell me that they had fun playing through an adventure I created. Some day I hope to return to the player side of the table, but for now I still have a lot of cool ideas that I would like to put into practice so I have no plans on giving up just yet.
The proposed changes in the upcoming 4th edition sound interesting, but details are scarce at this point so it’s hard to provide much commentary. Rumor has it that it will be modeled after an implementation of the d20 system found in the Star Wars: Saga Edition RPG. I’m not familiar with that system so I can’t comment on it directly, but those in the know seem to think that this would be a good thing.
More flexibility in character creation, less restriction in terms of class archetypes, and a suite of online tools that may or may not be the shit. The prospect of having to shell out more dollars for a new set of books next year is slightly distressing - but I don’t expect those reservations to survive once the juicy details of this, the “best implementation of Dungeons and Dragons ever” (evar) are revealed.
Stay tuned.
if you know the dir of the nerdcore rhyme
Posted by Aaron on August 28, 2007, 2:03 pm permalink top | general
Drizzt was not an anti-hero! He was a fairy, and the present company of true anti-heroes would like you to remove him from their club. Thanks!
*sigh*
*sigh* (again)
I guess the fact that I never got into it as a kid is partly the reason why I have so much more trouble to get into it now. I enjoyed the sesions I`ve played with you and the group and I have mde new friends in the process, but I have constant trouble getting into the sessions. It seems more like a mathematical puzzle than an adventure you let yourself escape into.