A post the other day on Dr Rotwang's I Waste The Buddha With My Crossbow, about Rush, a kitchen table and his "personal nerd nirvana" has me thinking all the way back to 1984, and one of my own gaming epiphanies.Summer vacation, and I'd talked my folks into buying me the 2nd Edition of Gamma World on a day trip to Saugatuck--back in the day you could get your sci-fi apocalypse down at the five-and-dime. For what remained of our two weeks away, I spent most of each afternoon in a small bedroom facing Lake Michigan, windows on three sides, with lake breezes and afternoon sun lazing through the curtains, reading through the rulebook, rolling up characters, and daydreaming about the badass mutants on the cover. I stretched out on the floor and listened to the radio hoping for my favorite songs of the time--Billy Idol, "Eyes Without a Face" or Prince, or Wang Chung, or Eurythmics.
Those notes are long gone now, of course. Fool for nostalgia that I am that makes me a little sad. But here's the thing: I've got a dining room table. I've got plenty of dice and lots of room to spread out. And I've got stacks of music. Perfect moments are fleeting. In this life you're on your own.
MP3: Prince,
See also: Top Hits of 1984; Michigan in Pictures: South Haven
1 comment:
Gamma World! I remember the adventures we almost had, my trepidation at roleplaying in the unfamiliar post-apocalyptic setting, my anticipation of the delightful oddities you would provide as gamemaster. One of the lost moments of our friendship, cherished still for its potential.
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