Games are an integral part of what it is to be me.
I have loved games from the first time I played Candyland to the nervous giggles of the kids around the gameboard for Uncle Wiggly, to checkers with my folks. My mom taught me card games like Go Fish!, Rummy and Blackjack, and dice games like Oh Shit! My brother Brian taught me chess when I was a pre-teen and I played Stratego many many times.
My brother Greg's friends played D&D, so I heard about it, and we ended up with two or three versions of it. We never played it, though. Greg always said he'd rather play it with people who knew how to play rather than me. But he never did that either.
I don't remember when I first saw Villains & Vigilantes, but I ended up buying the rulebook for $6.00. And for one of my birthdays (15th, I think), Greg actually bought me the boxed set which included a character sheet, a gamemaster screen (I think), dice and the module Crisis at Crusader Citadel. Did I ever play it? I don't know. I think I started it once with my friend Andy.
But that's not the point. I loved the game nonetheless. I created my first hero, or rather re-created him from the Alpha Flight comics: Sasquatch. I created many many heroes in good ol' V&V, but I never found the one that captured me until Andy said that if I liked the costume of the guy on the front, I should just create him. So I did.
It was Starbolt. I loved Starbolt. He was me, with super powers. Or rather, a better me, with super powers. Starbolt has stood the test of time and I have played him in at least one campaign, though it was the Champions version of him. When testing new supers games or creating my own, Starbolt is generally the first character I make.
In high school, one of the "cool" kids noticed a drawing of Starbolt and his girlfriend, the winged warrior Ariel, on my self portrait in art class. He asked about it and when he found out it was for a role-playing game, he offered to bring in his copy of Champions (Champions III, I think) and trade over night. He snuck it in inside his coat so no one would make fun of him. It was pretty cool, but way different than V&V. V&V's powers were more confining, but also more descriptive.
I met Ronn McCarrick in high school. Ronn was into D&D, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, second edition, to be exact. He DM'd me through many games with many different folks. It was very very cool. I have a ton of good memories; we played at each of his houses and apartments, with people from work, school, and folks we knew only through the game. Ronn and I have gone to Gen Con together more than once, and I consider him my mentor.
In college, I met Erik Braun who introduced me to Champions. At least he helped me make my first character for Champs. This was Pish Posh, the inimitable Djinn. I played him through two campaigns, I think, most notably the most successful game run in my college career, Joel Cardella's. Playing Djinn was the most fun I think I've ever had role-playing. He had a life of his own, his own voice and mannerisms, and I actually met people I'd never seen before who knew who he was.
In college I introduced several people to paper crack -- that is, Magic the Gathering. Even my girlfriend (now my beloved wife) played that. I tried a couple other card games, but I've been burnt out on the whole collectible thing ever since then.
Lately, though, I've rediscovered my love for board games. I have a ton. Check out the list of games I own if you want to get an idea of what I mean.
I still think about RPGs, and my favorite is Fudge. I went through a GURPS kick for many years and ended up in the same place as Fudge's designer, Steffan O'Sullivan; I just didn't need that many rules to get in the way of role-playing. Of course, I don't get to play Fudge often. None of my friends are willing to run it. I've run a couple of one-shots, including running a game for Grey Ghost at GEN CON, though, and I love it.
I haven't even mentioned my XBOX, Howard, which I bought specifically to play Halo and kept it for some other fun stuff, most notably Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time, and, well, Halo 2. I love Howard. I also now have a PS3, which I bought specifically to play Rock Band
Heck, I even design games. All kinds. Card, dice, board, RPG, LARP, you name it.
Who would I be without games? I don't know. Games are such an integral part of me, I don't know what I'd be like. I simply cannot imagine my life separated from this defining aspect.
I don't know who I'd be, but man am I glad I'm not him.
