I got to be a witness to a sweet and rather manly nonchalant passing of the torch recently. The First Reader started playing Dungeons & Dragons in 1977, and he was gruffly instructing the Little Man in how to get started. This turned into him digging out his old books, magazines, character sheets, minis, and dice… and handing them off to the lad. Suitably awed, the Little Man took his new bag of treasures off, saying that he was going to create a character. The torch had been passed, after forty years. Who knows what the next forty will bring?
I have never played, although I would have liked to at one point. Now I’m too busy, too little time, not enough patience. But the boy child has been bonding with the First Reader over electronics and games, and this seems a natural progression for the two of them. The First Reader had been asked that afternoon ‘what do I need to get started playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends?’
“What rules do you want to play by?”
“What rules?”
“There are a lot of versions.”
“Oh.”
I hopped on Amazon and tried to be helpful, but when the First Reader picked up his game case and opened it up, it became obvious I didn’t need to buy anything. They talked about what takes place in a game, and what kinds of games you can play within the realm of RPGs. The First Reader handed the boy a book and explained the concept of the game. I watched his eyes light up. “Fallout!” he said when he got the connection between the book of rules for post-nuclear war game, the Gamma World. His favorite computer game world and now a book almost older than his mother? With the same plot? Revelations!
As the First Reader was going through old notes and sheets, he stopped at this one and a smile crept onto his face. “That’s the dungeon that killed nearly all the party.” I rescued it from the trash heap. Some memories are worth saving.
Comments
6 responses to “Dungeons and Dragons: Passing the Torch”
Yay! I got introduced to D&D back in the ’70s because my brothers and my dad played it. I played with them, but they made me stop playing because I cried when my character died. (I might’ve been 8.) I got over it and when I was a little older, I got to play, too. Many years later, my college nights were consumed with it. Good times. =o)
my game of choice in college (the first time. The second time I was too busy for games) was Risk. Good times.
Lovely pic. The Mighty S looks an awful lot like muscle for the Amish Mob…not that I’m snarking. We won’t discuss what a dorky-looking 18 year old gamer I was, the same year.
That’s awesome
If there is a better story to be heard today, I would be surprised.
Surrendered mine to the next generation a few years ago myself.
The game has changed quite a bit – but some things don’t. “Dad – I just used the whole day reading the Monster Manual from cover to cover!”