Those were the very first words spoken to me in my very first adventure right after I finished rolling up my very first character. Terry, the DM, paused as he waited for my answer. Of which I said 'yes' of course. Then the world opened up and became my new hobby. Fascination first, then hobby... Okay Fascination, obsession, then hobby. Or is it still an obsession?

My game world started with meager beginnings, but in another DM's game. Oh sure, it was their game world, but in my head, it was mine. He was just being the narrator, and I was the storyteller. I made the decisions on what was going to happen next. To be honest, that is true of any player. The DM merely gives the situation, but it is the player that makes the outcome. If I never opened that first door, the game would of just sat. And sat. And sat.

But, I digress. I bought my first Basic game during the week of Christmas of 1979 during Christmas break. I told my mother I was going shopping and when I got home, my mother found out that I had the box set from my younger brother. She was quite upset with me. Not because it was D&D, but because instead of spending my money on a gift for someone else, I spent it on myself. What else would a 12 year old do after discovering a new awesome game and getting cash to spend on what ever. I rest my case. To throw my mother off the scent, I told her that Child's World (the toy store back in the day) had a promotion and I was like the hundredth thousand customer and I won the box set. She looked at me for  a few seconds and either A) she bought it, B) wasn't quite sure because she wasn't there so she had no way to disprove it, or C) could see through it, but the damage was done already.

I rushed to my apartment. Yes, I did say 'my apartment' (long story). I opened the box and I can't count how many times I flipped through that basic rule book. Gazing at all the artwork, and if something caught my eye, looked throughout the page to see if it explained the picture at all. After all that, I came to realization that Terry had really, REALLY twisted the rules about. Saving throws are not made on the dime, levitation potions do stop working and definitely don't cause you to tear through nearly 40 feet of soil and finally into space (yes that actually did happen to one of my characters). I confronted him about it, he just ignored it.

So that holiday weekend after Christmas, I called my two friends, Darren and Tom, over to play a game of D&D. Tom had already played the game with me in Terry's game, but Darren was new to the experience. So after they finished rolling up their very first characters in my new game world, I calmly said to them, "You see a door... Do you open it?"

So here it is. My official gaming blog debut. I've been wanting to make one of these for the longest time, but didn't have the foggiest idea on what to discuss. But then it dawned on me, "I've been posting in Dragonsfoot forum for over 6 years so obviously I do have 'something' to discuss". Now whether or not someone even cares is entirely a different matter. *grins*

I was going to start my very first blog on the Autumnal Equinox, as I thought it would be fitting since I got my first taste of Dungeons & Dragons in the fall. It all started after the Thanksgiving Weekend of 1979. I was sitting in my apartment doing pretty much nothing, but watching TV, when a knock came upon my door. I answered it and there was my friend Terry standing there with a big smile on his face and he excitedly asked me, "Hey, do you want to play a real cool game?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said "M'kay. What is it?" He stepped into the hallway, walks past me holding a box under his arm and proceeds to plop it onto the kitchen table. He then opens it and shows me the lid and replies "It's called Dungeons and Dragons! Its a real cool game! I played it with my cousin last weekend and its awesome!"

I furrowed my brow as I held and looked at the box cover, I shrugged my shoulders and said "sure". Saying 'cool' under his breath, Terry continued to pull out some weird looking dice, a crayon, a booklet and handed me some blank lined paper. He then looked at me with a big smile on his face and said "Now write down what I tell you to. Trust me, this is going to be great!"

After going through the rules at a very fast pace, all the while he kept saying "You'll understand when we get to that part", I finally finished my first character. He had me running through Keep on the Borderlands. I died at the entrance by a group of yapping kobolds.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

~ Tarrax