In Plain Sight

The books are closed this evening, the rolling of 20-siders quiet. Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away.

As nerds go, I was more into the White Wolf system of games (Vampire/Werewolf/Mage). In fact, my favorite RPG character was an Uktena Theurge named Shining Moon. Problem was the game he was in didn’t run long.

But in the D&D campaign I played all the way to the end, I had another memorable character. In game terms, Seran was a dual-class Ranger/Cleric, but in story terms, he was a 16-year old war priest who led his army in loud cathartic praises to a god who would eventually lead to our enemy’s demise. Seran was also the luckiest character I ever rolled for; he barely survived a red dragon’s fiery breath. I chalked it up to his cloak, which deflected most of the heat (in reality, it was due to a most gracious Dungeon Master).

The army he helped to build was wiped out during the final siege on the main bad guy’s stronghold. It was Seran’s solemn pledge to see the quest through to the end and he and the party succeeded.

Yeah, we were all a big bunch of nerds. But we had fun. And we owe Gygax and others like him a large debt of gratitude.

Thanks, Gare. Keep those dwarves, elves, paladins, rangers and magic-users in line at that tabletop in the sky.