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07-09-08, 10:42 PM
This is from another forum I frequent, posted by 'bingocards' - I thought some of you might enjoy it as much as I did! ~overthere
The first thing I ever bought, in my entire life, was a used copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set. It was recommended to me by my uncle when I was 7 because I was a precocious reader. He had helped playtest the original back in the dark ages when bringing coffee to the game meant you got a free Magic Wake-Wake Potion.
It cost $12.40, which was More Money Than There Was In The Entire World Or At Least Illinois. I can't remember exactly how I earned the $12.40 but gifts from grandma in those days were a fresh dollar bill and a straight-A report card was worth a shiny new quarter if I played my cards right, so it certainly felt like it took forever and a day.
Oh, I had so much fun with those books. But I digress.
Anyhow, fast forward nearly twenty years later (crikey... I'm getting old). The new D&D books just came out, and though I haven't played in years when I heard the news I got that far-away look in my eyes. Visions of dank caverns, gelatinous blobs ("It means 'made of jello', honey"), 18 points in Dexterity ("The noun form of dexterous, which means someone who is nimble or deft with their hands. Why do you ask?"), and fierce dragons guarding piles of Substantially More Gold Than There Is In The Entire World Or At Least Illinois danced in my head.
Then I saw the price tag. Three books, tax and shipping included came out to just over $100. Yikes! My first thought was "That is a whole lot of report cards".
Then I remembered that I'm employed these days and actually have money, but $100 is still substantially over my don't-care threshold and I didn't have a Brooch of Defense Against Nostalgia +1 listed on the budget last time I checked. So I logged into ING and found, somewhat to my suprise, that if you save your copper and tell the bank to slice a silver or three off your paycheck every week, then that Buy Things You Want fund actually ends up with a fair amount of gold in it after two years. I don't remember that being in the Player's Handbook but if it was I suspect it was filed under Magic.
Now if you'll excuse me, there is a dragon out there sitting on a vast pile of treasure which belongs to me. He just doesn't know it yet. I'm going to get a friend or two together and explain it to him. I don't actually speak Draconic, but find swords are quite persuasive at this sort of thing.
The first thing I ever bought, in my entire life, was a used copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set. It was recommended to me by my uncle when I was 7 because I was a precocious reader. He had helped playtest the original back in the dark ages when bringing coffee to the game meant you got a free Magic Wake-Wake Potion.
It cost $12.40, which was More Money Than There Was In The Entire World Or At Least Illinois. I can't remember exactly how I earned the $12.40 but gifts from grandma in those days were a fresh dollar bill and a straight-A report card was worth a shiny new quarter if I played my cards right, so it certainly felt like it took forever and a day.
Oh, I had so much fun with those books. But I digress.
Anyhow, fast forward nearly twenty years later (crikey... I'm getting old). The new D&D books just came out, and though I haven't played in years when I heard the news I got that far-away look in my eyes. Visions of dank caverns, gelatinous blobs ("It means 'made of jello', honey"), 18 points in Dexterity ("The noun form of dexterous, which means someone who is nimble or deft with their hands. Why do you ask?"), and fierce dragons guarding piles of Substantially More Gold Than There Is In The Entire World Or At Least Illinois danced in my head.
Then I saw the price tag. Three books, tax and shipping included came out to just over $100. Yikes! My first thought was "That is a whole lot of report cards".
Then I remembered that I'm employed these days and actually have money, but $100 is still substantially over my don't-care threshold and I didn't have a Brooch of Defense Against Nostalgia +1 listed on the budget last time I checked. So I logged into ING and found, somewhat to my suprise, that if you save your copper and tell the bank to slice a silver or three off your paycheck every week, then that Buy Things You Want fund actually ends up with a fair amount of gold in it after two years. I don't remember that being in the Player's Handbook but if it was I suspect it was filed under Magic.
Now if you'll excuse me, there is a dragon out there sitting on a vast pile of treasure which belongs to me. He just doesn't know it yet. I'm going to get a friend or two together and explain it to him. I don't actually speak Draconic, but find swords are quite persuasive at this sort of thing.