Memory Lane Part 20: And Then, It Changed - Just Like That!

 Finding the hobby was something I'll always be thankful for.

As I remarked to Roger just last night, if I'd had the kind of conversations in the early 80s with school friends, that I've had recently with those same people, I'd probably have never discovered or got into gaming at all. An odd and somewhat unsettling thought, but I'm sure that would have been the outcome. 

Thus, I'd not have been talking to Roger...

When I got that first Holmes edit of the D&D rules from Hopkinson's Toys on The Gallery in Sheffield, I quickly absorbed the wjhole rulebook in a way I must can't do today. 

I was totally hooked and being a kid and not put off by the incompatbility of things, I bought T1 Village of Hommlet and worked around the lack of Rangers in Basic D&D with Alan and Harvey getting stuck into the scenario with gusto.

My very first dungeon was the one included at the back of the Holmes rules, and the players came a cropper with a Black Pudding, lurking in a dark corner.

Then, finding a loose Expert rulebook in Beatties, and sticking a £3.99 price tag on it (which seemed right) I acquired a whole new world of adventure potential with seagoing adventures now coming to the fore as we managed to wangle the lunchtime use of the normally out of bounds, subterranean science classrooms at school, giving us our own dungeon.

When I say subterranean, the school was built on a hillside and so some classrooms were actually 'downstairs' although they had windows. You did however, get the sense of going down into a dungeon, so we were happy. And, as I said, those rooms were seriously off limits during breaks, so we were also protected from the Alpha Male culture so prevalent back then.

But then, it happened...

I'd been getting my feet under the table in Games Workshop, albeit tentatively at that stage , and I'd discovered the existence of Sheffield Runelords whereit was rumoured, those avatars of the gaming gods 'The Staff' could be seen playing games. 

Obviously, if I could make the right noises and moves, I may be able to wangle an audience with these gods, prove to them my worth and then possible join their band of adventurers and find fame and fortune.

Just how does the teenage brain come up with these ideas?

Anyway, I pestered my parents, and Alan likewise with his own , with a second round of negotiations needed to get my Dad to drive us there and back (it would take a third round of summit talks) to get an extension from 9PM to 10PM.

Now, the rub was that it required us as 14 year-olds, to follow very strict rules to get into a pub, which was where the club met. Of course by now, we were veterans of Sheffield Wargames Society of 2 or 3 months and thus that was not a problem. Stay away from the saloon bar, never order alcohol and keep your young mouth firmly shut (well, two out of three wasn't bad, but we'll come to that in a future epistle) - so far so good.

So, on that first night, it was best double denim and trainers, and the previously described ADIDAS holdall (itself a light denim blue finish in a tough fake leather) filled with literall all of my D&D stuff, and my growing collection of fantasy figures, carefully, if basically painted - and then thrown into an old cereal box with it's lid removed and covered in masking tape - I know, I KNOW! 

Alan was similarly attired, as we were both in the early throes of rock fandom, listening to Iron Maiden, The Quo and Joan Jett, with of course a smattering of Tygers Of Pan Tang, whom you will recall, were at the root of the whole discovery of this new Games Workshop place.

And we were were off!

I can still remember a mixed sense of wonder and trepidation as we walked into the pub on Neepsend Lane (a Hipster infested red light area now)  nestled inbetween imposing steel works which were a defining feature of Sheffield back then. It was still winter and so it was dark when we arrived, and I remember the smell of beer, iron filings and sweat mixed with a warm glow from the lights of the interior. It was a bit more run down than the Wellington where SWS met, but hell, there were adventures to be had, so we'd just slum it. After all if the gods of gaming dwelled within, who were we to complain?

That first week was a bit of a disappointment, because none of the deities turned up. Instead we got talking to a guy a few years older than us who was called Andy, who on being shown the contents of the Addidas Bag Of Holding, looked suitably unimpressed and said - I thought a little abruptly - 'We only play Runequest here'.

BUGGER!

Now, you'll remember that we had 'form' with regards to that game, but this was a turn up for the books... 

However, a few minutes later, we were introduced to Daz, Nog, Kev and in a stroke of luck, in walked SWS member Bob Cooper, a non nonsense wargamer, who, we never suspected batted for the other side too. Now, this had possibilities.

Anyway, we were loaned a couple of characters and invited to play. And we had a hell of an evening playing something which felt so different to D&D but which at the same time felt a lot more 'realistic;' with its brilliant combat system and the revelation that there were no character classes and everyone could use magic. That was a wake up call. Now it wasn't just the wizards who had acces to the nukes.

And let me tell you, when you have been  given a pasting by Trollkin, you really appreciate the commonality of healing magic.

We were hooked.

And so, the following week, I had set aside childish things, bought the RQ boxed set in that striking purple with red RUNEQUEST logo and Dragonewt locked in combat with that red haired lass, and the GW edition of Cults Of Prax which I still love to this day. 

I made some lifelong friends, who would play (sometimes unkowingly) a massive part in where I am today, and even the music I listen to. It was Kev and Nog who introduced me to early Yes after I went down the Runelords and frothed about this 'new' band I'd heard on Radio one, and Jon Hancox who introduced me to Hawkwind.

Those demigods of gaming would turn up a couple of weeks later and one of them, the late Pete Armstrong would do much to shape my life, about which I'll speak more in the future, as indeed I will about this and other clubs.

But for now, I'll leave it there as work calls and I must earn my crusdt to pay for the full set of Runequest books I bought after going to TTGL at the weekend...

 

TTFN