Memories of Family Games Night (D n' D)

My family plays games. Ever since I can remember my parents made sure that we spent time playing together. It wasn't a 'thou shalt' every Thursday night thing, not that there is anything wrong with that.  But it was often, and it evolved as we grew up, and our interests changed.

One of my first memories of my parents gaming, is really just vague images of my dad having his friends over for D n' D. I don't remember anything specific, just that I wished I could play too. I also remember the annoyance of having to go to bed just as the game started. It was a big mystery to me what they did.  All I knew was that it involved dice, little metal figurines my dad painted, and all sorts of maps. In short: pretty cool.

Imagine my happiness when my older cousins Josh and Virgil came over to visit when I was 10 and my dad offered to DM a game for us.  I couldn't believe it my luck. Dungeons and Dragons was a game for adults!  This was my chance to enter in to a world of adventure and fantasy that I had been blocked from my whole life.  Now if only I understood how to play the game...

I got to be the magic user, while Josh and Virg were a fighter and a priest. My dad sat at his desk looking very serious, while we sat on the nearby couch and chairs.  I wondered if my cousins would notice that I had no idea what I was doing. 

Even though I didn't really understand what was going on, I was still happy to be there.  I got to finally play, and use the cool 20 sided die my dad had.  (I loved the colours and the novelty of them). These were my dad's special dice that we were not allowed to play with them, touch them, and it was better not to even think about them. My fingers itched to touch them. I had visions of this game going on for hours and the great adventures we would have. I wanted to destroy an ogre with a fireball!

I lasted maybe 2 rooms in the dungeon before my dad informed me that I died as a result of my injuries from the first skirmish. The priest forgot to heal me. Game over. It totally sucked.

My next 'real' foray into the world of Dungeon and Dragons was much more fun, really cliche, but much more fun.  But that's another story.