A few years back I was living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. I’d gotten the day off for some reason or other, and was spending the afternoon poking through a used bookstore. It was a nice enough place: small and cramped with a cranky owner, but otherwise unremarkable, at least until I turned into the last aisle. There it was, holding court in the Games section: a well-worn copy of the Dungeon Master’s Guidebook:
For me, seeing this book on the shelf was almost like spotting a long-lost friend. Back in junior high school, I spent more than my fair share of weekends playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends, the group of us diving down into the depths of lost mines in search of treasure and glory. It was an absolutely awesome feeling to flip through the pages of this guidebook, re-discovering mythical creatures like the beholder or the displacer beast.
Over a long lunch on Cuba Street, I did a bit more research on my old pastime and was absolutely shocked by what I’d found. At some point during the last thirty years, it seemed as if playing D&D had actually become cool! The long-running series had become more popular than ever, with a modern, updated version and a host of campaign accessories. Role-playing games were coming out of the basement, as a number of millenials and grown-up kids were even taking their D&D campaigns online by way of streaming video or podcasts.
After wandering through Wellington’s Caffeinated Dragon game shop and feeling remarkably old, I headed across the street to my absolute favorite place in Wellington, the Central Library, where I spent the rest of the afternoon jotting down story notes for what would eventually become “d20”. I’ll admit, even though it was very cool to see one of my favorite teenage hobbies thriving, it made me a little nostalgic for the good old days when D&D was the exclusive domain of dorks, geeks and nerds. Now I’m not trying to sound like a hipster or anything, but you know, I was playing D&D long before it was cool…
And if you’re interested in rolling the dice for a fantasy world of your own, be sure to check out my short story “d20”, over at The Brasilia Review.