RE: (TFT) Arneson created D&D, creating characters, dungeons, etc.

[David Michael Grouchy II <david_michael_grouchy_ii@hotmail.com>]

> arnson didn't' do crap but if you love him so much go play adventures in
> fantasy, and see how that works for you
> ken


A long time ago my brother took me to meet this _guy_, while we were at coast
con, who had designed this new system and wanted to know if I would take a
look at it. I went to meet him on the convention floor at an unused gaming
table. He was pale and old. Wearing an ill fitting shirt and holding some
pages that looked like they hadn't left his hands in months. I had encountered
all types of DM's by this time and knew that appearances could be deceiving.
So I relaxed became attentive so I could see his ideas. When we got to the
spell list my heart almost stopped.

I only recognized one word out of every spell name. The vocabulary was
extraordinary, ancient, and arcane. I didn't understand any of them, but the
words seemed to crawl through my brain with a will of their own. I immediately
decided that spells _had_ to be something people could understand and use
right away. I shook my head. I frowned and said "I'm sure these spells are
incredible, but they are so obscure they would require an entire dictionary
all their own to explain them."

He looked puzzled and look back at the spell list questioning. I stood up and
continued speaking, keeping my feet still as they tried to back away on their
own. "The days where words like Clairaudience and Clairvoyance send people to
the library and stimulate discussion are gone." He seemed sad. And I left, as
quickly as I could.

It took days to forget that spell list. To shed the desire to research every
single one and learn what forgotten knowledge they contained. Hell what the
words even meant. You can imagine how shocked I was to find a picture of him
on the Internet later. It was Dave Arneson. I regret it to this day. Later he
published a D&D knock off. It contained all the same vocabulary that people
expect these days. And at least it sold a lot more copies than "Adventures in
Fantasy" I don't know what to feel these days.

David Michael Grouchy II
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