Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Old School D&D

     I am going to try and sum up Labyrinth Lord's, as well as original D&D's, appeal to me. The characters are created easily enough since they are rolled up randomly. It is a bit like meeting a person for the first time and you are getting to know them. Also they can be such fragile things, sometimes you end up running your but out of danger. Another appeal for me is the way adventures and monsters were written, sometimes a room is just a room and a creature is just a creature. There just happens to be an ornate statue in the middle of the room or there is a strange looking cow munching on the moss in some subterranean cavern. If the DM wants to, he can make it sinister or just look sinister.

     In the very early 80's, we were visiting relatives in Eastern Ohio and an older cousin had some weird books called "Dungeons and Dragons". Of course I wanted to look at them, I was into science fiction and fantasy, but I really fell for this game. I could do whatever I wanted, be bad or good, make mistakes, and yes, even help people. It really put my love of fiction into overdrive and gave my something to look forward to when visiting family out here. I owe a debt to my cousin, who I have not seen in over twenty years. I wonder if he still plays.

     So maybe a portion of the games appeal is it's reminder of times long ago. Along with the ability to pretend, to do things I cannot normally do, like face down giant rats under a mill or saving a someone from some horrible fate. Well, that's all for now, take care guys.

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