It was sometime during 1979 I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons, a friend in my art class had this book, a white cover with a dragon on it. That day changed my life. Suddenly everything I had ever read, dreamed or imagined could come true. And I could certainly imagine a lot. I had grown up reading books, on just about every subject, it didn't matter, if it looked interesting, I read it.
So my brother and I are heading off to England next, but one last stop in our local hobby store. We each picked some strange looking dice, and some other games available: A red box and blue box of D&D (Basic and Expert editions), Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Top Secret, and Gamma World! Minds were blown, let me tell you.
3 years in England opened a bigger world of gaming: Traveller (3 little black books), Rune Quest, Cthulhu, Fantasy Trip Games, Bushido, Yaquinto Games, White Dwarf magazine, Dragon magazine, AD&D (3 big books), Tunnels and Trolls, solo games, Champions, Car Wars, and so many more I could not even possibly list them all. But my brother and I, we played everything we could or at worst, read every game rulebook we could discover.
I am 55+ years old and still call myself a gamer. I am also a Grognard to some, an old-school gamer to others, story-teller, DM, GM, player, and narrative director – I am sure there are many more things I have been called. And I am a fan of the old school renaissance that has blossomed. But I am not haunted by the past or think it is better or worse than games of today. All things evolve; games and players alike. I was the regular GM of a long-time group, and I was the go-to guy to run Savage Worlds across multiple genres.
I moved away from that group and have yet to find a new one. But I will keep searching.