orichalcum

Reading various obituaries of E. Gary Gygax, I was struck both by how many of them focused on the author's own affectionate recollections of D&D and, at the same time, the author's contention that they had never actually played a good D&D game and that D&D was mostly fun for learning the rules and thinking about the world, rather than playing in it.

How sad, I thought. Thousands, maybe millions of people who clearly really wanted to like D&D, but for whatever reason never had a good experience actually doing it. So I started remembering my own successful D&D games, the gifts that Gary indirectly and unwittingly gave to me, and what I have loved about them.

Five Brief Moments of Creative Joy I got from D&D, in chronological order:

(These are all based on my recollection; they may not match precisely what happened or the memories of the GM or other players.)

1. This was our college campaign, GMed by havenstone, in which I played, at this point in time, a 15-year-old ex-slave naive desperate wizard girl in an Asian-themed Empire.

Eight of us had gone into the Thieflord's Palace in Tsiwan, shielded by invisibility, armed to the teeth, and silent as the grave. Our mission was to recover - alive if possible - a lead agent of our secret anti-slavery organization, who was my character's suitor. (He was also a deceptive philanderer, but she didn't know that, and he was the first man ever to kiss her and had sacrificed his chance of rescue for her.) Our plans started going badly from the very beginning. The paladin (cerebralpaladin) broke her invisibility and took fire until she could flee the palace, leaving room for the rest of us to keep moving. We lost track of several other members when we accidentally triggered the trapdoor beneath the "guest of honor's" seat in the Thieflord's banquet hall and fought first him and then a swarm of ninja. Finally, the tinker (feir_fireb), the tavern wench outlawradio), and I found our agent, tortured half to death. The tavern wench broke her invisibility and lured the torturer towards another trapdoor, and I lost my protection pushing him down the drop. We fled for our lives. I was the strongest left, ironically, so I carried my unconscious, bleeding suitor in my arms. As we ran through the Thieves' Quarter, pursued by half the rogues in the city, first the tinker and then the wench fell victim to exhaustion and hid themselves in garbage piles. I kept running, driven by sheer determination and the blessings of the god, until finally I dragged my companion into a sewer to hide. Only then did I see a faint glowing light and a tall, pale figure gliding slowly towards me, apparently untouched by the muck of the sewer. I'm fairly sure that I (Ori) screamed at that moment.



2.
This was a feature game at GenCon, ten years ago or so. I got my pregenerated character and my eyes widened a bit. She was a 10-year-old girl, the youngest in the party, described as shy and traumatized, unwilling to speak unless absolutely necessary but possessed of important precognitive visions. How in the world was I to have fun with such a character?

I knew only two people at the table, both vaguely, and I had never roleplayed with either before as a fellow player: viking_cat and bdarco. I knew they were very experienced and great GMs. viking_cat was playing the party leader, a 16-year-old Aladdinesque urchin-thief. I abandoned my seat at the table and went to kneel by him. I spent the rest of the game periodically tugging on his hand and announcing a vision or thought in a wide-eyed stage whisper, so that everyone else could hear what I said even though it was only officially to one character. viking_cat went totally into role as my older foster brother, while bdarco played the 14-year-old sex kitten jealous that she wasn't always the center of viking_cat's attention. We sniped a bit at each other like annoyed siblings. It was a glorious four hours, and the making of two new friendships.

3. It was the second round of the playtest for our first Aalterdam game. cerebralpaladin was GMing and I was playing the party NPC, the sixteen-year-old daughter of julianyap's hardened mercenary character. We were on a sea voyage with some temporary allies when corsairs attacked.

Me: Daddy, can we fight the pirates?
julianyap: Honey, what's the first rule of being a mercenary?
Me: (a little sulky) Always get paid.
julianyap: So what should we do?
Me: Ask for more money?
julianyap: That's my girl!

4. : A Living Greyhawk game some years ago GMed by viking_cat, where most of us were playing our West Wing party of a penniless noble and his ambitious retinue, seeking glory and land in the backwaters of the land of Bissel. I played Claudia, the bard, who sold chapbooks of Lord Vorten's adventures wherever we went to drum up publicity. The following sequence ended the game:

julianyap's character, badly wounded, is hiding in a tree from the dread werewolf, a real danger to us. Suddenly, a were-rat in human form scents him and starts stabbing a rapier up into the branches. "You! You killed my brother! I read it in the chapbooks!"
julianyap: "What? The chapbooks?"
Wererat (viking_cat): Right here, on page 4 of Lord Vorten and the Wererat! That was my brother!
julianyap: Ohhhh! You mean Lord Vorten. He went that way. (pointing)

The wererat dashed along the trail until he reached a larger clearing, where he saw a noble paladin, white surcoat gleaming immaculately in the moonlight (we had pawned our only lantern the day before to pay for quality lodgings in the inn). The paladin (cerebralpaladin) had just engaged an enormous, slavering werewolf in single combat, a singular act of bravery and recklessness. The wolf snarled and clawed at him, but missed, for Lord Vorten was protected by the blessings of his god. Lord Vorten lifted his silver axe, prayed briefly, and swung it down, decapitating the werewolf in a single stroke. As the blood spurted over him, the wererat, determined upon vengeance, saw his chance and leaped for Lord Vorten's throat. Without pausing Lord Vorten swung the axe back towards the left and slew the rat with another blow. His surcoat covered in gore, he strode back to the village festival, where all acclaimed him as a hero. Claudia's next chapbook, "Lord Vorten Weremort and the Silvery Smiting," sold many, many copies.



5.
I was GMing a session of my mythic Rome campaign, Alea Iacta. The PCs had all gathered for dinner at the house of the uncle of the young Roman noblewoman Cornelia (ladybird97) in Massilia, where they were temporarily visiting. I had arranged both players and characters according to Roman protocol, which meant, among other details, that the two Celts, kidsnide and julianyap, who were currently engaged in a bitter feud, had to sit next to each other. Other NPCs included the uncle's two sons and his quiet daughter.

Me, as tactless uncle, to contrariety's character, Metellus, a high-ranking young Roman nobleman: So, don't you think it's about time that Cornelia was getting married?
Metellus: (interpreting this personally): Um..certainly, she is of a good age for it...
Cornelia: Uncle, I've told you, I'm still grieving and want to wait until I reach my family in Rome before thinking of any such thing...
Uncle: Yes, but a girl like you needs a good strong man (looking pointedly at his eldest son) to take care of your lands.
Metellus: I'm sure Cornelia's family will find someone suitable? (panicking, but trying to be polite)
Centurion Marcus (cerebralpaladin): So, ah, young Gnaeus, where did you do your military service?
Young Gnaeus: (long pause) I have, ah, weak lungs. I was unable to serve.
Marcus: Oh.

Meanwhile, on the third couch:
(long silence and glares for a while)
Heilyn the Smith (kidsnide: How's your little foal, the daughter of the horse-goddess Epona, doing?
Llyr the Engineer (julianyap): Oh, very well. She's growing really fast, and she's started talking to me in my head!
Heilyn: (excited) Really? What is she saying?
Llyr: (a bit sheepishly) Apples!



What made these so glorious? Immersion, first and foremost - I can see every single one of these scenes inside my head. Players who always operated by the "yes-and" principle. Witty banter. A great group of friends and GMs. Was it fostered by the rules and structure of D&D? Absolutely. Lord Vorten's victory over the werewolf was only really exciting because cerebralpaladin actually rolled a 20. I escaped from the Thieflord's Palace by making more than 12 Constitution checks successfully during my run (that character is a mage with a Str of 14 and a Con of 16, naturally rolled.) But really, what it came down to was the willingness of others to share with me in making a world and a moment - and it's that spirit of cooperative creation that Gygax cherished most and that I thank him for.

What are your favorite moments?