40th Anniversary...

Basic Set advertisement from 1977-78 T$R catalog.

It was 40 years ago today that Dr. John, whose X-mas lies 2 days yet post from his birthday, received a combo birthday/X-mas present of the John Eric Holme's Basic Set to The World's Most-Popular Role-Playing Game.

Winter break mid-8th grade, I believe the first week of January Dr. John introduced to the game myself, Sumerled, The Boy with the Bark, and Bark & Dr. John's cousin Cathie. (Perhaps the last week of December, I would have to check an old school calendar for when break ended - I know we played solid for at least a week to 10 days or so...) No dungeons to start with, only Dungeon Geomorphs Set 1 and Monster and Treasure Assortment: Levels One to Three, but that was enough to put things in motion for our little suburban clan.

I haven't recently asked the good doctor from whom he received this wonderful present. He probably told me back in the day, but I had forgotten.

The twenty-sider I bought back then in the set of plastic dice had been rolled so many times that by maybe the mid-late 1980's it crumbled into pieces that I put back together with JB Weld. Ha, it is still in the dice set I gifted to our middlin' son. What a journey to begin from a simple gift.

Happy days.