7 Interesting Things About Me (Tag, you’re it!)

So, my darling wife tagged me for one of these old blog tropes.  Being that we’re married, I suppose I’m obligated to follow through with it.  At least it’s not one of those 142 “what’s your favorite brand of fermented, pickled olives” surveys.  And, I’m pretty sure there’s no rule that I can’t make the “7 Interesting Things” actually, you know, relate to the topic of this blog, so let’s give it a shot, shall we?

1. I once ended a campaign by putting the characters in an impossible situation:  they faced an archmage, a dracolich, and a death knight.  I didn’t figure it was too tough for 8th level (AD&D) characters.  Of course, I also put them into an area in which, for each step they took, they lost half of their hit points.  It’s twelve years later, and my players still won’t let me live it down.  Granted, it wasn’t one of my better moments.  But, damn, it sure has given us something to talk about for more than a decade.
2. I bought into the “D&D is satanic” thing for about a decade, back in the early 80s.  I’ll spare you the details, but my cousin Brad and I actually burned our 1st edition AD&D books in a pyre in my back yard (actually, they were his brother’s; we caught major hell for that.  As well we should have).  I finally came out of it in about ‘93, and started playing MERP.  I was back to D&D within a year.
3. I’ve never run a module as written, unless it was a last-minute pick-up game.
4. I’ve met Gary Gygax, Ed Greenwood, Monte Cook, Johnathan Tweet, George W. Bush, Sting (the Wrestler), Franklin Graham, and Ted Nugent all in person.  Ed is, by far, the most interesting of them; Gary the least.
5. One of my first 3E D&D characters was a 15th-level dwarf ranger/fighter for a one-shot game my buddy Randy ran.  He had a +3 will save.  Did I tell you that I slaughtered half the party before the DM pulled a “the dead wizard had a contingency-teleport-true resurrection” plan in place?
6. I passed over Magic: The Gathering in 95 when a friend first exposed me to it; a decade later, I was competing in Pro Tour qualifiers.  Passed over Warhammer Fantasy when the very same friend exposed me to that; I’ve now got a 3,000 point Orc & Goblin army looking for a fight.
7. Every character I’ve ever played, in a campaign, has been an ideologue.  I don’t know if it’s some unconscious self-loathing where I feel like I’m not principled enough in real life, or if I just like being an ass.  Maybe both.

Well, there you have it.  Let’s send out a shotgun blast of tags, see if we can keep it going, shall we?  I’ll tag Kimmie, Kameron, Kelly, Corollax, and Vanir.

Tagged as: 25, 3, 32, 35, 45, 46, 54, 7