If everything goes according to plan, Ryan, Nolan and I will embark on a new and wonderful phase of our lives together this evening. We will grab some root beers, sit at our dining room table, and I will take them on their very first dungeon crawl.
We have spent the last week or so creating characters, discussing the rules, and building excitement for tonight’s adventure. I have been staying up an extra hour or two each night after the kids go to bed, pouring over websites and my core rule books, simulating combats and creating NPCs. I’m pretty nervous, because I’m DMing an adventure for the first time since The Isle of Dread in 6th grade. And back then, I managed to kill everyone in the party pretty quickly, and never got to sit behind the screen again.
(For those of you keeping score at home, that would be about 19 years ago — Holy crap. Ninteen years ago? I’ve really been feeling older lately, and writing that number really put a crick in my neck. When did 31 become old? I know it’s not, but . . . damn.)
Anyhow, last night, Nolan and Anne were in the kitchen cutting his hair. I was at the dining room table reviewing Cleric spells, while I listened to The Two Towers soundtrack. Ryan came out of his room, and sat down across from me.
“Watcha doing?” he said.
“Just refreshing my memory. It’s been –” I paused. “Well, it’s been a really long time since I played ran a campaign, and I want . . . ”
(I want you to think I’m cool. I want to do something special for you. I want to share something with you guys that isn’t sports-related, so your dad can’t take it over and force me out of it.)
“I want to make sure you guys have a good time,” I said. “It’s important to me.”
“I’m so excited!” he said.
“Me too.”
He absentmindedly rolled some d20s I’d scattered across the table.
“Can I roll up an extra character, just for fun?” he said.
“Is your homework finished?”
“Yeah. Everything’s done, and I worked ahead in Biology.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“Dude. That’s super-responsible. I’m proud of you.”
He smiled. “So can I?
“Sure,” I said. “The dice bags are on my desk.”
He got up, and walked over to my office. My desk, normally buried under computer books and writing journals, is currently coverd with gaming books: GURPS, Mutants and Masterminds, Car Wars, too many Cheapass games to count, and — of course — a stack of D&D books ten feet tall.
“It’s 4d6, right?” he called out.
“Yep, 4d6. And you –”
” — throw away the lowest roll.” we said in unison.
“Ryan, I . . . ”
(I love it when that happens.)
“I have an extra character sheet here that you can use.” I said.
“Okay.”
I went back to my books. A moment later, Ryan returned. Four six-sided dice dropped from his hand and rolled across the table.
“Since you’re the DM, will you watch my rolls?”
“You bet! This is . . . ”
(This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.)
“This is really fun.”
He picked up the dice, and threw them: 2 – 4 – 5 – 1
“Eleven?! Oh man!” he said.
“Hey, eleven isn’t a bad roll at all.” I noticed something familiar about the dice. Two of them were black, with red numbers. There was a skull where the one would have been.
“Hey, I have dice just like those in –” my heart stopped. I jumped up, and ran into my office.
There it was, in the cool blue glow of my monitor, atop my Freedom City sourcebook: an open bag of dice. My bag of dice. The black one, with the red pyramid from the Bavarian Illuminati on it. A clear d10, and two brilliant blue d12s sat near its open top. Its drawstring was cast carelessly across the side of the book, dangerously close to my Zen fountain.
Ryan slowly walked into the room.
“Is something wrong?” He said.
“You . . . you touched my dice!” I said. I felt a little woozy.
“Well . . . yeah.” he said.
“No. Ryan, you . . . ”
(You are about to see your stepdad as the old gamer geek he really is. The gamer geek I hope you’ll be one day . . . heh. This is actually kind of cool.)
“You can’t ever touch my dice.” I said, patiently.
“Uhh . . . aren’t they all ‘your dice’?”
“Technically, yes, but these here, in this bag, they’re the ones I’ve played with since I was in high school.”
He furrowed his brow and looked at me for a moment, while I put my dice back into my bag. A white d8 with worn off blue numbers, the clear d10 with white numbers, a green d6 that’s really a poker dice . . .
“When I was younger, these dice . . . ”
(These dice were some of the most important things in my life. Well. I have some perspective now.)
“These dice were a big part of my life.” I said.
I held the bag in my hand and looked at him. For the first time in eight years, I saw some of myself reflected back.
“You know what? It’s not that big a deal. I’d just rather you use some other dice.” I said.
“So do I get to re-roll that eleven since I used . . .” he lowered his head, and spoke in a grave voice: “The Forbidden Dice?” He smiled.
We laughed together.
“Eleven is a good roll, Ryan.” I said.
“I know, but twelve gets me plus one.”
“Okay. You can re-roll. But if you get a lower roll, you have to keep it.”
I tossed him my green bag, and he dug out 4d6.
“Deal.” He said.
We walked back into the dining room and sat back down at the table. Ryan threw 4d6: 2 – 5 – 2 – 1
“Nine?! Oh man!”
“I bet that eleven is looking pretty good now, isn’t it?” I said.
“Shut up.” he laughed.
He collected the dice, held them thoughtfully for a second, and said, “Wil, I’m sorry I used your dice. I just thought that bag was really cool.”
“It’s okay Ryan. Someday . . . ”
(Someday, I’ll give that bag, and all the dice in it, to you.)
“Someday, you’ll have your own dice, and your own dice bag, and you’ll understand.”
He threw 4d6: 6 – 6 – 4 – 4
“Sixteen! Rock!” he threw the goat.
On a 3×5 card, he wrote a one and a six beneath his nine.
“Ryan, I . . .”
(I love you more than you’ll ever know. Thank you for sharing these moments with me.)
“I can’t wait to play with you guys tomorrow night.”
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One day, that memory is going to be as precious to Ryan as it is to you now. Awesome work Dad.
And I thought it was cool when I got my wife to play D&D.
Now you just gotta teach Ferris.
You rock. So very much, you rock. Go you with your Mad Dad Skillz.
Dude, that is so unbelievably rocking. I only hope that when I have kids, I can have equally touching moments and memories of us sharing geekdom together like that.
Awesome. 🙂
You just did that thing that makes me such an enormous fan of Stephen King after all these years – no, not killing people with rabid dogs – you narrated your interior monologue. If there’s one thing a writer can do that makes me do the Snoopy Happy Dance, it’s when he/she gives me a sneak peek at what’s going on inside their head. I live for that sh- er, stuff.
And on a personal note – I would have given my left hind leg to have a parent or step parent that I had a hobby or activity to share with. Your stepsons are some lucky kids. And *you’re* lucky because they don’t yet seem to have that teenage phobia about doing anything at all that isn’t absolutely mandatory with a parental unit.
And I’m lucky because I get to read about it.
My son is interested in playing D&D, and is earning toward getting his own PHB. Makes me a bit misty to think about it. Even more so when I get to run him through his first real, non-boxed-set adventure. I have a pretty good idea how you feel. 🙂
Man, remember when role-playing was supposed to be all Satanic and Jack Chick wrote comics condemning it? Now it’s a family pass-time. What’s the world coming to?
Wow. I don’t read your blog on a regular basis, but as a sometimes gamer and an appriciator of all things meaningful, I must admit to nearly crying at my desk at work at the sweetness of your story. I hope you guys have all the fun in the world – it sounds like you’re already well on your way to that 🙂
Man what I wouldn’t have given to have a gamer geek as a dad! Instead when both my parents found out that I was playing D&D, they came and removed me from the table in the back of the local gaming store; “The Glass Dagger,” practically by the ear…
*laughs* I suppose they thought Satan had ahold of me. 😉
Wil, thats awesome. They are so lucky to get a dad who will play with them and teach them. So many parents dont share what they are passionate about with their kids . . .so rock on!
Okay, nominating you for the Coolest Dad Ever award. That’s the awesomest thing to do ever.
Wow. That’s highly cool. Not that you’re getting more people interested in gaming and teaching them how to be responsible gamers (which is in and of itself a great thing) but that you’ve found something to share with your kids that you love and that they can love as well. Great work, man.
reading this makes me feel slightly better about the fact that i recently starting playing that again, too.
the only problem is that i don’t have the excuse of kids to soften the nerdiness. 😉
Very cool. You write great dialogue, it’s my favorite style of your posts.
Ewige Blumencraft!
That was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever read. You’re a wonderful father.
Wish my dad RP’d with me. Usually I didn’t have anyone I could play with.
Remember, if you do kill everyone, you’re the DM, what you say goes. A little deus ex machina when you’re young is a fine way to be saved 🙂
Y’know, I had the same, instinctive knee-jerk reaction when my daughter first touched my dice. It wasn’t wrong, per se… but those were /my dice/, and I’d spent far too many hours playing with them back when I had a regular, local gaming group. And my actual reaction to her touching them wasn’t dissimilar to yours, either.
Of course, now she wants her own dice. That’s the next step, after all.
Kids sure do change our views on the world, don’t they? 🙂
You. Rock.
*SNIFF*
Wil,
Its posts like that that keep me coming back to read your blog. Way to go Dad you ARE the ROXOR!!!!111
Dude you so rock! You have some awesome dad skills, and those kids (and you) are so lucky! RPG on!
—Ashley
Fantastic. Reminds me of a time I ran a game for my little brother and his cohorts. I’ve never had so much fun running a game.
Plus which, they fall for all the old tricks you wouldn’t dream of using on your peers…
Wow. *sniff*
Wil,
It’s always nice to spend time with those you love most and have those memories. My dad and I weren’t very close when I was growing up. My sister and him were more on the same page since she was into sports. I’ve since come into my own, and I don’t think he’s disappointed too much as to how I’ve turned out. He does have his regrets for not being there for me while I was growing up. However, every summer, me and him would always go down to Busch Stadium (since I live near St. Louis) and watch a baseball game. It was just the two of us…our time together. Even now, I’ll take my dad if he’s off work. Though they may be building a new ballpark now and will be tearing down the old one, the memories will last forever.
I like reading stories like that of you and your stepkids. That is what America is all about. And it’s always nice to read that not everyone in the LA area have these glamourous lives. That most are just down to earth people just like everyone else….no difference at all. Enjoy these times, Wil. One day, maybe the boys will bring a game to you and want to play. It means a lot to you now, but it means the world to them.
Wow. I think that’s the first time I’ve gotten emotional reading about gaming prep.
Can’t wait until my 3-year-old is old enough for me to corrupt-
I mean, to introduce her to the fine art of gaming.
That is so sweet. I love bonding over the slaying of magical creatures.
Reading this post brought back all sorts of memories of my dad teaching me to play chess, Risk, monopoly, and other, albeit more “traditional”, games when I was but a wee lad. My dad also gave me my first taste of programming; he had this Star Trek text adventure that he kept on tweaking until the characters behaved more like he thought they should. He would play Monty Python records in the house, introducing me, at the tender age of three, to such wonders as The Lumberjack Song, Spam, and Four-Hour Cat Burials. Having blossomed into the full-fledged geek that I am, I can honestly say that geek-dads are definitely the most fun. I can only hope that when I become a father, I can set the kind of example to my children that you are setting for yours.
How about model rocketry? Now there’s a geek hobby to pass to your offspring, and the source of stories I remember to this day…
That’s why I wanna have kids someday, to teach them how to play D&D. Ah the glory of dorkdom.
Oh Man! Curse of the GM! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER touch the GM’s dice. It’s bad mojo.
Hope you all had a great game! 🙂
Very cool.
Well played.
Having a kid myself, and being involved in “step” (or whatever) situations – I really look forward to when you talk about these boys. This one brought a tear to my eye and made me resolve to pay even more attention to times like that in my life. Thanks, Will.
Eric
I loved reading the reference to gaming with your kids. Very cool move.
Amazingly what brought me here today (on the day you posted about gaming) was a link to your site posted on our gaming forum, and the link was made “before” your post…lol. The post was about blogs…not gaming.
Way to go, Wil.
Wil,
One of your best posts in a long time. Great work.
Man That was a great story.
The strange thing is as me and my friends get older I can see the day we gather our kids together for their first RPG coming sloser . Also as a table top RPG designer I love the fact that people are still playing and passing on table top gaming to their kids.
Now I have to kick myself for not giving wil a copy of my RPG when he visited my table at Comicon 2003! So Will if you ever read this email me and I’ll ship you a free Copy of the Core Rules and the GM Screen on the house!
I just started playing D&D again with my girlfriend and some friends of hers. I haven’t played in about eleven years but I love the power of 3rd edition when compared to second.
I’m running as the DM which is a little scary. I DMed before and I thought I did a pretty good job but its tough learning the rules and being the boss at the same time.
Good luck and have a lot of fun.
Great story!
You make it cool to be a geek 🙂
Damn Wil, that is beautiful! You are a great writer and an inspiration, I wish I could run a game with you *grins*. I hope you tell us how it goes.
Oh wow, you guys are going to have so much fun.
RAWK! *metal horns*
Man, I’ve never gotten misty-eyed over a story about an RPG before. That’s some fine writin’ there, mister.
It seems that every time I just hugely geek out, the next day you make an entry reminding me how very great it is to be a geek. Thanks.
AD&D is all well and good, but for the ultimate experience in fantasy gaming (in my opinion), you have to go with Hackmaster.
I like to say it’s AD&D first and a half edition. It takes the best of 1st edition AD&D, the best of 2nd edition AD&D, and adds a good dose of humor and great rules as well.
Nice post, Wil. When you mentioned the “cool dice bag”, it made me thing of these guys. They’re a husband and wife team who make these awesome dice bags, with custom embroidery, fabrics, cool grommets, the works. I got one for a friend of mine for Christmas and instantly regretted that I had it monogrammed, because it meant I couldn’t keep it for myself.
Anyway, they’ve recently had a string of Real Life Hard Luck, and are trying to overcome some financial difficulties by getting the word out and selling as many of their cool dice bags as they can. So if anyone was hit by a wave of nostalgia after reading Wil’s post and wanted to give their old sacred dice a cool new home, go to http://www.thegamersbag.com and place an order. We need to make sure they’re still in business for the next generation of gamers who will want a place to keep their own dice.
Oh, and by the way, Wil… I have the exact same black dice with red skulls on them. They are the best character creation dice I’ve ever had.
So sweet…..you are an awesome step dad….these stories always make me tear up, thanks for sharing these cool moments you share with the boys
Wil-
I just hope you have not condemned him to not be kissed by a girl until he is 20 and have a future of replica sword collecting.
‘Cuz that is lonely and expensive.
Kick Ass Dude. Truly Kick Ass.
Wil, I truly hope that the games are everything you want and more. I hope the boys love it like you do. You deserve that and more for how hard you try. Thanks for your site. Helps me start my day at work every day. Thanks for Dancing Barefoot…can’t wait for Just a Geek.
Whoa. I’m playing D&D tonight for the first time in years and years also. I’m getting chills, especially because I feel like I’ll be sharing a special moment with you guys. Be sure to post how it goes 😉
I hope those kids realize how lucky they are to have you. 🙂
you have GOT to stop making me cry at work.