User:Algonda

I've been gaming (off and on ... and probably more off than on) since 1980, when I was introduced to AD&D while living in Washington, DC. In those days, there were no computers, although you could buy the miniatures and decorate them however you wanted to. My roommates had a piece of 3 x 5 chalkboard all lined off in grids, which helped lay out the dungeon, allow for character placement, etc., but nothing like now. Later on, I picked up a copy of the SSI game, "Secret of the Silver Blades", and worked on moving around via the numeric keypad (the mouse just wasn't too reliable in those days).

After returning to college, I found a group who played with the books and the dice, but the rules were subject to interpretation, and, as far as that goes, still are, whenever we get together for a game, which is rare. Monsters could be subject to a check for hall passes, bells would ring for meal time, when all combat had to cease, and bowling with goblin skulls was just as likely to be part of any adventure as rocketing down a flight of stairs atop an upturned table, with blades swinging and arrows flying in all directions. There is a tale about which I have no personal experience regarding being transported to America, somehow obtaining a vintage VW Bug (along with appropriate manuals, which presented a problem in terms of learning a 'foreign' tongue), and strapping shields to it and rumbling along various corridors wreaking havoc at every turn (probably in more ways than one). Since then, I've played some of the games available, starting with the old SSI games (which had been put on CDs by that time), up through Baldur's Gate, Dungeon Hack, and others.