My Journey There and Back

Original TSR 'Dungeons and Dragons' basic set 

        One lazy afternoon (some time around 1977), my cousins and I sat around the living room in a beach house our families visited every year during summer. It was an event we all really looked forward to annually since I could remember. I was eight years old around that time and I was enjoying the new found autonomy bestowed by my folks, to come and go as I pleased. So along with my same aged cousins, it was like a dream come true to be away from the watchful and restrictive eyes of our parents. But after an explosive week of seaside adventures and swimming we grew tired of the white sands, the smell of the fresh sea breeze, and calm aquamarine waters as only a tropical Pacific could provide. So there we sat, bored beyond belief, looking like Salvador Dali ornaments. But we had two more weeks to go. Oh gosh. Just when I thought I was going into torpor, there came some excitement. A late arrival to the beach house! It were the owners of the beach house (who incidentally were also my relatives). And with them came Mark, the eldest of my cousin brood and an authority amongst us. He was thirteen after all. Mark had just gotten back from a trip to the US and had tons of stories as always followed such trips. But the fanfare was short lived and things settled back down to the soothing sound of coconut trees swaying in the gentle wind. It seemed that we were all doomed to slowly gravitate back to our original spots, pulled helplessly like UrSkeks to the UrRu (...c'mon, if you haven't watched the Dark Crystal, watch it!) But it appeared Mark had one last surprise in store for us. He walked back from his room and called us to one of the empty tables. He had a green and purple colored box in his hands and I saw for the first time the incredible art on it. I was mesmerized. It seemed I was not the only one to notice the curious box as the rest of my cousins were also closing in. The art depicted a fantastic battle of what appeared to be a spear-wielding warrior along with a glowing handed magician locked in fierce combat with a smooth dragon. Now, I must admit that I was disappointed to see books and paper inside the box instead of a magic doorway that lead to the enchanted world from the Flight of Dragons, but when I saw the weird dice! Whoa! Mind blown! It even came with a crayon...you know, to color the dice. Never mind. Anyway, little did I know at that time that my life would be changed forever by some dice, some paper and sheer imagination. I continued my obsession with role playing games up until the late 80's, expanding my repertoire to include systems such as AD&D, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Gang Busters, Top Secret, War Hammer and Shadowrun. I think out of all the games I used to play only War Hammer and Shadowrun are still around. So time flew and characters came, died or were forgotten. And finally the onset of adulthood successfully engulfed me, and everything RPG in my life came to a sudden and abrupt halt, like a +3 Arrow of Piercing that had found its mark.  My life that was once filled with so much adventures and imagination was gone. So there I was, quickly becoming a part of the responsible and grown-up realms of the 'Working Dead' but always with a gnawing feeling of deep emptiness. Many a path I took to fill the void in me, but for naught as wherest it came I knew not, until now. Decades past and through a random conversation with my own sons they mentioned an interest in this thing called role playing games, where one could play a character to contribute to the outcome of a story as it unfolded. Where the cold objectiveness of statistics blended ever so gracefully with the fluids of creation as orchestrated by a one, all powerful being - a Dungeon Master. And I said, "Ree- hee- heelee!" (Ace Ventura style). And so now the story has come full circle. Through the wisdom of my own sons, I had found the missing piece that had eluded me for what seemed like eternity. Once again I hear the clarion calls of kingdoms far far away. It is time for me to return to the magic realms. -Yeah, yeah, I know I've been gone for so long that I became disoriented when I saw that my Advanced Dungeons and Dragons had reverted back to its original name (...no 'Advanced' anymore), but was now on it's 5th edition at this time. But regardless. What was lost is now found. And if I must once again begin the journey anew as an acolyte, then so be it. So join me as I face new wonders in the world of role playing games. I am filled with great excitement at the thought that I shall explore even newer things since my awakening from my deep cryogenic sleep (...like LARP-ing. Wow, I've never seen anything like it!).


3/9/2018
Mig Roces