Dungeons & Dragons: 40 Years Strong!

This year marks my 34th year playing RPGs and, like many, Dungeons & Dragons was my gateway into the world of gaming. I remember playing with a few classmates back in elementary school and stopping by the Half-Priced Bookstore throughout middle school to buy my own set of 1st edition AD&D books and tons of miniatures. Oh, and graph paper. LOTS of graph paper. Why? Appendix A: Random Dungeon Generation in the Dungeon Master's Guide, that's why. Whenever I was bored, I spent hours rolling a new dungeon up or working on a new level to one I'd already started.
The first character I ever made was based off an amalgamation of Hobbits that I named Sam the Sneaky. I played him for about six months before working on other characters and trying every option available to me. Eventually, I made a fighter that I named Darkon, who was based off a miniature of an evil fighter that I'd bought a few months before. Unlike Sam or any of the others, he was a brutal fighter that cut a swath through his enemies with a black blade and rode the country side on his shadowy steed! Hey, what did you expect? I was 11 by this time and heavily influenced by the stories I'd read through the years. 
As time moved on, I started playing other games and other genres. I remember selling a horde of comics to get my first Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game by TSR, as well as Breeder Bombs and the first miniatures box back in '84. Or saving enough money to get Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn at the Command Post after staring at the cover for months. 
These days, as many know, I work in the industry as a freelance artist and writer, having worked for such great companies as Khepera Publishing, Hero Games, Craft Games, Blackwyrm Games, Green Ronin and Xion Studio, who publish my Acts of Villainy books. But, when you break it right down, it's Dungeons & Dragons that started me on my path 34 years ago today. So, happy birthday to one of the greatest games ever created. Thank you for your years of fun, inspiration and excellent reading. Keep rolling dice, everyone, and keep having fun no matter the game you may play. 

I'd also like to give a special thanks to all the players who've sat at my table either face to face or virtually through the years. I've always felt lucky to have some of the greatest friends and gamers that a gamemaster and person could have. I'm hoping that sometime in the future. I'll get a chance to roll dice with you again. Thanks, gang!