Hunter’s gift of a D&D Basic Set coincidentally happened on the 30th anniversary of when I got into it. We really bought it because Paizo finally made something equivalent and he is now 12; giving him the $50 rule book would be overwhelming, impractical and possibly a waste. The Basic Set these days starts off like a board game which is smarter approach…help lay down the core mechanics, then if he truly enjoys playing, Hunter can let us know he wants to continue, he won’t get any resistance from me.
This dovetails to the last Christmas I spent in Springfield, IL. None of us knew it would be though, Dad’s offer to Houston happened four months later and I don’t think he was actively looking. I don’t think there was any sign of layoffs with his governmental department yet, a couple Summer shutdown days without pay courtesy of St. Reagan and Big Jim (the Illinois ex-governor who should be in jail but isn’t). What the near future held didn’t matter, it was Christmas Break! No school for two weeks. I could work on D&D crap all I wanted, listen to WDBR-FM, watch the limited fare Cable TV offered and maybe the ‘rents would take me to the mall for some Aladdin’s Castle action.
How I wish I remembered what I gave Brian or anybody else. I do recall my primary loot: a D&D Expert Set and some minis, back in the day when these were made of lead, not post-1993 pewter or plastic.
Looking back, the two weeks do appear to be an unmemorable blur. I don’t recall any movies or meals, not even knock-down, dragged-out arguments.
In my self-centered, pre-teen brain, Springfield was the end of the line. This is where I would live, attend Griffin High School and whatever. College seemed far away at 13.
With every night being a “Saturday,” I found myself stay up very late and discovering David Letterman’s new show. Everyone was still jeering NBC’s decision to dump Tom Snyder for this failed talk-show host; Letterman’s first attempt failed because it was a daytime program aimed at the wrong audience. I was likely to be on this negative bandwagon yet I had no clue about Tomorrow. Letterman’s goofiness and offbeat bits swayed my opinion. He was a Johnny Carson for my age group with mix of things I was more familiar with: Monty Python, SNL and spontaneity. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always liked Johnny, the man had incredible timing, he just belonged to my grandparents through his more subtle approach to comedy.
Maybe it’s a good thing we did move to Houston if all I can solidly remember from Springfield ’81 was late-night television.