Wednesday, March 4, 2015

On Being a Gamemaster: GM's Day and Remembering Gary

I wish I was enjoying today more, but a nasty sinus infection came upon me yesterday and I'm lucky to still have my voice.

If I was feeling better, I'd consider setting up a one-shot for my kids tonight, but we'll probably just watch Survivor.

While I've grown to appreciate Mr. Gygax's genius, it was a few years into my gaming career that I really was exposed to his work.  When  I started we were playing ADnD 2E and most of the Gygaxianisms had been washed away.  In fact, the vast majority of our group hadn't played ADnD 1E and Todd, our DM, wasn't even keen on us looking at those books.

So, my first real introduction to him was, unfortunately, Dangerous Journeys.

I can't say too much about DJ, we only tried playing it once and I'm sure a longer attempt would have been more enjoyable.  But, overall it didn't shine well enough for me to pick it up (though I was a college student with little money) and that one attempt left a huge bad taste in the group's mouth.

Mythus, however, was a different story.  For me, a setting based on Earth with fantastic elements was pretty new and I loved that its "underdark" was a reflection of the Earth's exterior.  I truly lament never picking up that setting or the Necropolis book Necromancer Games published for 3.X.

I was, thankfully, smart enough to pick up the Castle Zagyg book the Trolls published, and while I haven't looked at it in a few years, it rests with a place on honor on my shelf.

Recently, I've been picking up many of the classic modules Gary wrote and have a much better appreciation for them than I would have a few years ago.  Thank you DnDClassics.com

Cheers to you Gary!

And Cheers to all Game Masters out there!!

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Monster Monday: Obstrevoi for Shadowdark

  You can download a PDF here.