#RPGaDAY2021 Day 23 Memory

The natural choice here is to talk about a great RPG memory.

Day 23 Memory

I will admit I have a lot of really great RPG memories.  Here are a couple of highlights.

Getting My Hands on the First Monser Manual

It seems only fair to start with my first D&D memory, and indeed my first any RPG ever memory.  The first time I held the AD&D Monster Manual was a defining moment. Here I became introduced to the game that so many of us love.  I can remember afterward riding my bike around the neighborhood thinking about it and what the game was. I had no rules yet, the copy of Holmes Basic had not made it its way to me just yet, so I could only imagine what this game could be like. 

Summers Playing D&D/AD&D

As much as I would have LOVED the connection to the world via the Internet we have today (and believe me I tried with my little TRS-80 Color Computer) I am also glad I got to spend all my summers in the 80s playing D&D.  First D&D with a group of kids from Jr. High and then and another, semi-related group, in High School with AD&D.  The cut off there was not perfect, I remember we mixed a lot of Holmes and Moldvay Basic with AD&D, but these are the broad strokes.  I can still remember fighting Liches, getting trapped in the A Series, and battling the "Queen of the Succubi" in Jr. High. Later moving on to bigger things in AD&D in High School.  Oh, there was my short live Atlantis campaign in College before moving on to Ravenloft/2nd Ed but none of those lasted as long as my misspent youth in the 80s. 

Teaching My Kids to Play

One of my greatest joys and successes in life is getting to be a dad.  Honestly every other achievement I have made and am proud of takes a back seat to this one.  So teaching my kids to play was one of my greatest joys and memories.   The look on my oldest son's face when he would hit a monster, or better yet, roll a "20" and proudly proclaim "DOUBLE DAMAGE!" or just the wacky character my youngest would come up with was pure joy.  I taught them both using D&D 3rd edition and now we all play 5e.

It has truly been fantastic. 

I also have some great memories of various Cons I have played at over the years.  The time the guy playing an Occult Poet composed an epic poem on the spot, the time my son's character plunged the Sun Sword into the Forge of Moradin to re-ignite the Sun,  the time I got to play Piper in a Charmed game.  All great memories.