Remembering all my D&D and gaming pals at Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015

Here in the U.S. we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, a holiday in which we go shopping, watch football and eat way too much. Oh yeah, and we give thanks for the good things in our lives.

As part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this year I would like to give thanks for the many people who have influenced my role play gaming over the years, mostly D&D but also other games. Here they are below:

Thanksgiving: Those in the biz

English: Image of Dave Arneson, based on Portr...

Image of Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson: Without these two gentlemen, I and millions of others would not have known the joys of not only the game of Dungeons & Dragons, but the whole role playing game phenomena. Many of us should be thankful for these two, the creators of D&D and tabletop rpgs.

Eric Goldberg, Gerald C. Klug, David James Ritchie, Edward J. Woods, Redmond A. Simonsen, Robert J. Ryer, and Brad E. Hessel: This group of fellows are responsible for one of my favorite role-playing games, DragonQuest, originally published in 1980 by SPI and later taken over by TSR. If you’re interested in some old-school fantasy gaming that is quite different from D&D, I suggest looking for an old DragonQuest rule book, second or third edition being worth your while.

We Can Be Heroes, by Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Scott Fitzgerald Gray: Writer, editor, all around good guy. He’s helped in ways of which I know he’s not aware. Check out his books for some great fantasy and science fiction reading. Honestly, I could have listed Scott below with my gaming buddies, as he has influenced me professionally and personally, but it didn’t seem right not to draw attention to his literary achievements.

The late, great Tom Moldvay: For all he did, from D&D to Star Frontiers to Lords of Creation and beyond. I miss this man’s work.

Thanksgiving: My gaming buddies

The Dice & Decks crew: Specifically the founders, Brennan Nau and Joe Roti Roti, but also a number of the crew who were part of this online gaming group, including Nathan Thurston, Owen Mergen, Dan R. Selaja, and David Pelayo. Anybody I’ve forgotten, my apologies.

The Unnamed Adventurer’s Guild: Charles Cole is really top dog here, but I can’t forget the other great dungeon masters and players from this online group. So here’s to Dan Harsh, Da Bill, Konrad Kopacz, Jonathan Sharpling, and the many others I’ve had the pleasure to game with during the last year.

The Mohican Orc Gnashers: My northern Ohio gaming group. We’ve had plenty of great DragonQuest adventures together. Off the top of my head, I offer thanks for Steve Goble, Gere Goble, Tom Williams, Cindy Carpenter, and Greg Moore. Sorry, gang, for not mentioning everybody else, but I’ve not had the pleasure of gaming with them since I’m no longer in Ohio.

The Group Who Shall Not Be Named: This is my southern Ohio gaming group. We spent loads of time playing D&D before I moved away, but I still get to Skype in the occasional adventure. I can never forget these folks: Greg Moore (yes, he’s in both the northern and southern group), Becky Lovins, Melvin Grasswipe, Rich Shultz, Jay S. Willis, Amy Barnhart, and Dave Gibson.

Nerdarchy: Last but far from least, I can’t thank enough the Nerdarchy crew. As some of you know, the last couple of years have been tough ones for me, but the Nerdarchy gang have been a big help by allowing me to take a small role in their online gaming community. The games, the videos, the articles, it has all meant so much. This Thanksgiving I’ll be lifting an ale to Dave Friant, Ted Adams, Nate Riggins, and Ryan Friant.