Post by snorri on Jun 15, 2009 16:06:22 GMT -6
I'm glad that today, it's exactly 25 years I play d&d. 25 years my gentle dad offered me the red box for my 12 years.
I remember how it happened. I had a friend at school, Thomas, who was on wheelchair. It was no easy for him to go in town to buy minis, so he asked me if I could do it for him, and that's why he explained me what was D&D. Very soon after, my dad asked me what would please me for my birthday, and I said: "a D&D box". Hopefully, at that time, a big bookseller shop was diffusing the newly translated red box, so he found it easily.
Then, with my friend and neighbor Denis, with my little sister, with was my friend Claire - who was, later, to become my first girlfriend! - we played D&D all the summer.
In September, i just started to learn English at school, and discovered a small rpg shop - just the street next where I live now. It was an impressive place for a 12 boy, with students playing mysterious games like Ad&d, Chivalry & Sorcellery, Traveller... and all the games, apart the red box, were still in english...
So, I had to learn english. I absolutely wanted that Blue box, the Expert set, and it was there I really learned english, as it needed a strong will to read it with just a few weeks of school learning.
Still D&D was almost an hidden hobby, something no one could speak publicly at school - this was the time of the firsts anti-rpgs campaigns in the medias, which would last for a few years - and I took time to meet other players in my school - the first of them was Bertrand, with which we played BECMI - and collected all the modules - for years, at least until we discovered Vampire in 1993, and then again, with rules Cyclopedia, a few years ago.
D&D learned me a lot of things, not only being a hobby. As I said, it helped me to learn English, even if I still got a lot to learn. It strengthened my taste for history, which is still my job today as middle-age archeologist. While I was a shy boy with a tiny voice, I had to speak and use my voice as a gamemaster, something I still use every day in my job - and which has proved to be very useful as a political activist, my other big passion.
Most of all, it taught me a great thing: empathy. When I'm in any situation, I got a strong habit, from rpgs, to understand others points of views, to be able to see trough other eyes - even when i strongly disagree - as I would do to play a character or a NPC. For this, D&D has been a school of life more than just a hobby.
With my wife, who's also a role-player, we plan to adopt Childs. I hope they will love D&D as much as I do, an it will learn as much things as it does to me.
So, I'm happy of these 25th of D&D, and I see with pleasure the next 25.
I remember how it happened. I had a friend at school, Thomas, who was on wheelchair. It was no easy for him to go in town to buy minis, so he asked me if I could do it for him, and that's why he explained me what was D&D. Very soon after, my dad asked me what would please me for my birthday, and I said: "a D&D box". Hopefully, at that time, a big bookseller shop was diffusing the newly translated red box, so he found it easily.
Then, with my friend and neighbor Denis, with my little sister, with was my friend Claire - who was, later, to become my first girlfriend! - we played D&D all the summer.
In September, i just started to learn English at school, and discovered a small rpg shop - just the street next where I live now. It was an impressive place for a 12 boy, with students playing mysterious games like Ad&d, Chivalry & Sorcellery, Traveller... and all the games, apart the red box, were still in english...
So, I had to learn english. I absolutely wanted that Blue box, the Expert set, and it was there I really learned english, as it needed a strong will to read it with just a few weeks of school learning.
Still D&D was almost an hidden hobby, something no one could speak publicly at school - this was the time of the firsts anti-rpgs campaigns in the medias, which would last for a few years - and I took time to meet other players in my school - the first of them was Bertrand, with which we played BECMI - and collected all the modules - for years, at least until we discovered Vampire in 1993, and then again, with rules Cyclopedia, a few years ago.
D&D learned me a lot of things, not only being a hobby. As I said, it helped me to learn English, even if I still got a lot to learn. It strengthened my taste for history, which is still my job today as middle-age archeologist. While I was a shy boy with a tiny voice, I had to speak and use my voice as a gamemaster, something I still use every day in my job - and which has proved to be very useful as a political activist, my other big passion.
Most of all, it taught me a great thing: empathy. When I'm in any situation, I got a strong habit, from rpgs, to understand others points of views, to be able to see trough other eyes - even when i strongly disagree - as I would do to play a character or a NPC. For this, D&D has been a school of life more than just a hobby.
With my wife, who's also a role-player, we plan to adopt Childs. I hope they will love D&D as much as I do, an it will learn as much things as it does to me.
So, I'm happy of these 25th of D&D, and I see with pleasure the next 25.
Happy birthday!