Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Slaying Dragons and Spraying on Girl Repellant

So back when I was approximately fifteen years old (around 1989), I was exposed to the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons. For those unfamiliar with the game, do a Google search. It is a role-playing game where you fight as a character of fantasy. Think Lord of the Rings or the highly popular RPG video games but played with pencil, paper, polyhedral dice, and good old fashion imagination. Or if you need a further explanation, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons
I have to admit, D&D was a big part of my life growing up. Granted it probably didn’t help me with the ladies but I like to think that our group was one of those cool groups that played D&D as opposed to the nerds with the pocket protectors and such.
So amongst our group, I was probably the Dungeon Master the most often and players often said that my adventures played more like a story than a more fluid seat-of-the-pants game. I guess in retrospect that is not that shocking given my current career path.
My parents didn’t understand the obsession with the game. After returning home from a weekend of gaming, my mom would often ask me, “Did you win?” You don’t really “win” when you play the game. Or she would ask me why I had to go over and stay the night when I couldn’t just go over and play for a few hours. “But Mom, I’m the party’s only cleric. Who is going to turn undead and heal?”
Parents. Man, the Fresh Prince was right. They just don’t understand. (For all you kids these days, you only know the Fresh Prince as Will Smith.)
Anyway, there is a part of me that wishes I could still play Dungeons & Dragons. Granted the carefree days of not having jobs and significant others made it considerably less difficult to plan marathon sessions that would start Friday after school and run deep into Saturday morning.
It was a time where Mountain Dew and cheese dip was consumed by the gallon. Oreos were considered a food group. I look back on D&D as a tremendous creative experience that taught me more about theatrics and pacing and villains more than any college course could. But I also miss the camaraderie of gathering around the living room with a collection of my closest friends.
And while typing at a computer screen certainly doesn’t come close to replicating those friendships, I believe I am close to replicating the excitement of D&D with a brand new writing project.
And while I can’t say anything officially yet, what I can say is that there is a wealth of opportunity out there on the horizon for me and I am grabbing it by the haunches and humping it into submission. (That little visual nugget is for you, Aaron M.)
Things are really looking up for RMF Enterprises and my writing career. Trust me when I say, I’ll let you know as soon as I can make an official announcement….

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