Deciphering Life

Odds are decent that if you know me, you can understand why the fact Gary Gygax died today actually means something to me.

Mr. Gygax was one of the co-creators for Dungeons and Dragons.

Okay, stop. If you just snickered or rolled your eyes, I want to talk to you directly. Don’t look at me in that tone of voice. Put aside your bias and think for a second. Anyone who didn’t make a snide comment in their head is excused and should come back for the next post (which should be much more interesting… especially if you like stories of me making an ass of myself. For the rest of you, keep reading.

I don’t care what you think about D&D, or gaming or anything geek related at the moment.  I could argue about how fun it is until I’m blue in the face. But D&D was only partly about the game or the characters or any of the rules that allowed you to play.

For me, it was about two things.

One, was spending time with people who were my friends. Yes, I was a geek and still am. And that was part of it. But I didn’t start playing because I couldn’t find friends. I started playing because I wanted to hang out with my older brothers. I was 8 and they were 16 and 20 respectively and naturally I thought they were both the coolest people on the planet. So when they started to let me play (after hounding them for weeks) I felt amazingly adult. Sure, they abused me and my characters, but I was playing with the older kids. So, I never thought of it as something social rejects did. Not until junior high. And by then it was too late.

In my gaming lifetime, I’ve played with lots of different people. My D&D table has hosted lonely social outcasts, band geeks, football players, a few star track players, a couple of math prodigies and lots of drama people. And that doesn’t count college. And once I got to college, the table expanded to include an even wider array of players, including geek girls who often wound up being the best players.  Still, for the most part, the game was secondary. Sure, we obsessed over characters and figuring out the mysteries that were being put forth by whoever was running the game, but it was just an excuse to get together and have a good time with friends, escaping a little bit into another world.

Which ties to the second thing D&D helped me with in my life. Imagination. It was never the only outlet I had: My Geekdom is well rounded enough to include comic books, movies, tv, novels, poetry, music and tons of other sources. But gaming, D&D specifically, was in the mix, part of the creative palette that began with simply making characters based on my friends and family and evolved as my tastes and experience have.

Gygax my not be as widely known as other modern gatekeepers of imagination, but trust me, D&D has had its effect on pop culture over the last 30 years, even if you don’t know it.

I don’t play anymore. Not since I moved away from New England and the games that Uber-Geek, Fortunate Son and Midwest were running. I still check in with them and the other players in our group (all of whom are part of the Misfit Toys crowd) to see how the game is going. Sadly, it seems like there’s a chance most of us will stop playing. Fortunate Son is moving to NY with IT Goddess and their having a child. Midwest and his wife are also expecting. Uber-Geek… well, I don’t think he’ll ever stop playing, but it feels like that era of my life was closing even before this happened.

But I only vaguely remember the battles that were fought or the items we looted from castles and ruins. I remember staying up all hours during college and playing. I remember using the picnic tables at Starkey Elementary as both places to play D&D (when we weren’t playing basketball) in high school because it was a good midway point for all the players. I remember teaching D&D to several girlfriends with varying degrees of success and finding that they’re willingness to humor me and learn about my hobbies was often a good indicator as to how accepting they were as a person overall.

So, I offer up my thanks to Mr. Gygax for the game he helped create. It has translated from table tops to video games, to comic books, cartoons and movies. And helped a generation develop and mature, but not necessarily grow up.

Now, about this past weekend…