My Inspirations: Dungeons and Dragons Before It Was That.

We'll conclude the unofficial Dungeons and Dragons theme, probably, with the first time I actually heard of it. Said time was noteworthy for many things, including the fact I didn't actually believe it existed yet.

Well, I believe something existed, but not the tabletop game most people think of when they think of the game. In fact, for all the impact the game had on my life, I only learned it existed due to a series of random events and misunderstandings. My dad, back in the day, subscribed to a number of vaguely geek-themed magazines, like Games, which were mostly crossword puzzles. But it sometimes talked about other games, like console and computer games. At one point, it (or a magazine like it,) collectively reviewed many computer games. One of them, a game called Pool of Radiance, interested me from the first time I saw the review. It was one part that surprisingly hit me close to home was the race/class description. The sample character was a human. I inferred that, since they so specifically pointed it out, the characters could be something other than human, and you could decide this! I realized what sort of game this was immediately: a science fiction epic where you could play as aliens and cyborgs.

Well, after I finally pressured my parents into getting the game, I was in for a surprise. Pool of Radiance, if you don't know, was one of the first video games to be directly based on the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game, and the first to really follow the rules in any discernable way. So, in other words, it was a fantasy game where nonhuman options included elves and dwarves. Whoops. Nonetheless, once I figured out the game and my dad and I wouldn't get lost in our own city's capital building, which happened far too often in that first day, I got into it. Hell, I loved it. This was my first real role-playing game. It wasn't a real one, of course, but it was close enough, and this was well before I heard of Final Fantasy, or Dragon Warrior/Quest, or the other console RPGs I focused on more as I grew up.

This led to misunderstanding number 2. One day, in the library, I found a magazine by the name of Dragon. I got interested, as it seemed to talk about the same game I was playing. But it was much bigger. There were options to run your own castles, monsters I never heard of, and much more. My first response was "Wow, Pool of Radiance gets much more complicated than I thought!" My second response wasn't much less embarrassing. I thought this was for another, much more advanced computer game I had to get. My dad, of course, explained the real situation. He told me that Dungeons and Dragons was more like a board game, and it involved a real pen and paper environment, not a computer. I, of course, didn't believe him for a second.

I obviously figured out the truth eventually, though. And that was how I blundered incompetently into the game. But Pool of Radiance remained special even without being directly tied into the actual games I run now or the science fiction adventure I once wished it was. I know that, like most games, it isn't perfect, though many of the imperfections were grandfathered in from the regular game. Notably, playing first level characters is a real chore, with their low hit points, lack of varied monsters they could fight, and limited variety of attacks. And the ancient Commodore 64 we played it on had some loading issues. And then there were the many ways you could permanently screw yourself, like the eventually inescapable burrowing insect tunnels. But eventually we did win the game, which I can't say about most of its sequels. And it was well ahead of its time in many ways, from the ability to change your characters' appearance both in battle and in their character portraits and the wide range of playable parties you could create from scratch.

The lessons this game taught include that, while I generally prefer narrative driven stories where the characters have a greater level of personality than customized options can give, it's fun making your own characters sometimes, too. And it taught me that you shouldn't let your expectations of something bind you into liking or disliking it. You'd be amazed what a mistake can bring you.