Rule of the Dice

If you are reading this blog, you're probably a gamer. You may have been playing for years, or this may be a new hobby (obsession) for you. What usually stands out is what first drew us into this world. I flirted with RPGs for a while as a kid. My first attempt was in grade 4; a friend said: "Let's play d&d." And I said "play what?" We had no clue what we were doing, no rule books, and no story.  What we did have was imagination and a drive to play.  My friend drew a map and made up a reason for me to get through it. I would try creative ways to get past the obstacles he described. To see how well I did, we'd roll d6's and compare opposing rolls (All we knew was d&d needed dice...). My next exposure was when my sister, who is 8 years older than me, would let me tag along with her when she went to play with her high school friends. She would have been about 17 or 18, and I was 9 or 10.  Most of the time I would just watch them play, but...

I have been re-reading the 1e ADnD Dungeon Masters guide for the umpteenth time. To me this book represents all that is good and fun about our hobby. There is hardly a page that doesn't have something interesting, fun or just plain weird on it, and even now the sheer bulk of information found in this tome staggers my imagination. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't read this book, but I feel especially sorry for those who disregard it as some primitive relic of gaming past not worth the read. You are missing out on some of the best work ever written in RPG history, and even if you play 3e or 4e the advice and ideas from the DMG can still enlighten and inspire. Although the ADnD DMG may not fully represent the golden age of the hobby, to me it represents the hobby at its best and loftiest. It still astounds me that I can open this book to any random page and find something that I can use in my campaigns, or find something that is just plain awesome . So if you've read 1...