High school D&D was where I got my start. In the late 1990s/early 2000s, we formed the “Guitar Club.” A Dungeons and Dragons club was a no-go. We played very little guitar. It ended up being some students and our Physics teacher, Mr. George. He introduced us to the AD&D 1st Edition and we played the (now reasonably considered offensively-named with stereotypes of Asian culture in the name and some of the content) Oriental Adventures. The campaign was fun and we really got to connect with each other in storytelling and the combat.
I got my first set of dice at the local Fantasy Shop in Saint Louis. I think I had 3 or 4 sets in total, all Chessex, coming from those little plastic rectangular boxes.
I would go on to not play D&D for a number of years after, largely finding people uninterested in the game. I did during college and beyond play a lot of the White Wolf d10 system Mage: The Ascension. I loved the creativity of spells and the Paradox system!
It wasn’t for a couple more years, talking with some friends and guests at a convention that I got interested again. Sitting in a little booth at a Kansas City anime convention, Matt Mercer and his now wife, Marisha, were just talking nerd stuff. We worked as guests liaisons, so a hotel restaurant meal at the time was very normal. We chatted about their love of birds as pets, games, and D&D. This was just before their Critical Role campaign first aired and he was SO nervous. Its well-documented how they thought it was going to flop. I followed along, got into the chats, and really thought I should play this instead of watching.
Eventually I found some local friends who were interested in it too, and we played! I got more dice and followed some dice makers online making really neat things. Chessex options can become limited. I bought a few sets from people before I ended up following Dispel Dice. I saw the owner at Anime Expo and could see the booth. Just a little artist table with vials on display. Not selling anything, just showcasing before her sample sale.
The sample sale will end up being the catalyst to a whole bunch of stuff. More on that in the next post!