"Romeo and Juliet"

What happened between 1982 and 1992?  A lot of gaming.  The dates are a mere start date - there really is no end date!

Sometime in the early 90's (help me out here Lou) I was cast in a production of Romeo and Juliet at Nevada Shakespeare.  I was lucky enough to end up doing about nine seasons there in Vegas - thanks Tom [Ashworth]. 

I roomed with the fight choreographer - who turned out to be a gamer.

Louis Roth: Avid gamer, GM, swordsman, lead-mini-painter, film director, OK you get it.  Loves playing eloquent, dashing adventurers.  Contributed much to the game mechanics.  What can I say Lou?  Thanks?  And thanks for the years of friendship.

We ended up gaming for a good deal of the time in Vegas.  I know... geeks...

When we got back I organized a regular game with Lou, and a couple of other great gaming friends. 

Carl Pfeifer: A larger-than-life falstaff of a man.  Charismatic.  Avid gamer.   Eclan Fane aka Aesop found his destiny in the game world and then helped save the world from the Necros invasion.  Alas he was robbed of his mortal destiny on the Prime Material.  Carl is no longer with us  I miss him very much.  That huge laugh.  So full of eager bravado.  I hope he and Tony are gaming together somewhere.

Paul St. Peter:  The French beast.  FEEEAAAARRRR him!  A great guy to have at the table.  No one can add a complicated string of various die rolls faster than the Feargus...

Kiloh Fairchild:  Axelot DeBoeuf.  Ham sammiches.  Let's get MOVING!  Kiloh can find the adventure in making a campfire.  He is a joy to GM for.  Just don't toss temporal mechanics at him or he will start drinking.

For awhile I tried to juggle both groups (Lou's and Kevin's group).  It just proved too much, so I decided to alternate. 

After Carl left, other friends join the table:

Alexander Rynerson:  True to his character even at the expense of the group, "big Al" played the evil and memorable necromancer Virasactos thereby helping to creating one of the greatest DOM stories.

Michael Myers: Great guy to have at the table when he could make it.  Sharp player.  Doesn't miss a trick.

Jeff Brown: Finally, an achemist!  Jeff is a brilliant player.  He gave the game rules a good run for their money, exposing lots of areas for improvement.  Great fun to game with too.

Tony Potter: Tony's laugh is a party in itself.  How can you not have a great time with Tony at the table?  Invite him and you don't NEED to prepare an adventure.  Just keep him away from the explosives...

It proved too hard to keep two storylines alive and active simletanously.  Did not have the stamina.  So, the alternations between groups just got longer and longer. Like a year or five.  We gamed with Lou's group for several years.  Now I am back with Mr. Crowley's group.  Sort of like being a gaming bigamist.  Why don't I combine groups?  Well, if you have to ask, then you haven't GM'd for 8+ people. And my having moved a billion miles away from Lou's group does not help.

John Thomas: Not sure that we didn't actually force John to play with Kevin's group.  We simply recruited him.  He's a great player though - I hope he is as glad to be at the table as we are to have him.

Thanks to ALL the players, even those that my poor brain failed to mention here. PLEASE prod me if I have forgotten anyone. You all all welcome at the table at any time.  (Just not all at the SAME time!)  You all have helped to tell the vast tale that I now begin to pen.

"Look Homeward Angel"

In '81 I took a few general ed classes at PCC.  I was eventually headed for a BA from CSULA.  Naturally the temptation to do a show at the school was too much to resist, so I became involved in a production of Look Homeward Angel.  During that show I met several people who would become lifelong friends - and great gamers.  Again I started this group out in the Dellique campaign.  But they eventually crossed over into the Dinrhun and the DOM campaigns.  It is with this group that I began using the complete LINK Role-playing System.
Kevin Crowley: A very sharp gamer and a great help in rule development.  There would be no Molium without him!  Too many characters to mention, Basel Cook was a definite standout.  Also Karek.

Jonathon Kraft:  Jonny-Lance-Hollywood!  The man - the myth - the salty dog...  Jon was the greatest color commentator of the game, and a fun guy to game with.  "Kraft the Conquerer" pretty much sums it up.  That and "Belcher" and his "Tamalango necktie."

Dave Tedhams: Diplomat extraordinaire.  Wisdom and smooth confidence.  His "Tirian" character still lives on as a central figure in the storyline long after Dave stopped playing him.

Ian Warwick: Ian liked playing loners.  Mysterious monks.  Po was intensely private and deadly.

I started working at the Garden Cafe in Pasadena, and met Sam, who became interested in playing.

Samson Hood: A great friend and avid gamer and GM.  "Clarion of Potions" pops into my head.  Sam has played numerous characters with different groups.  Good gamer and good role-player.

At some point here Kevin Crowley went into the army.  Sam went to culinary school.  I went to college.  So the timing of the meeting of different groups is fuzzy.  Someone help me out!

Andee Richards: Buff?  Boef?  Andee was a fun player.  A dwarven gal.  She, John and Sam played together in a group that lasted for quite awhile in the Dinrhun campaign.

Other players joined in when I was in college.

Chris Spitler: Great, intense player.  Tomas Pincheon, the Marepize campaign in DOM.  Borias.  Great memorable characters memorably portrayed.

Michael Meade: A great gamer with a evil, mischevious streak.  Always fun to have him along - provides plot twists that make any story better.  Fransig in the DOM Marepize campaign.  Many others.

Brian Berg: Lining up his chocolate for the game, Brian made a meal of each session.  A great guy and a great player.

Linda Durie: An occasional player like Ian, Linda was fun to have at the table.  A good gamer and role-player.  Character names escape me.  Help?

Is there anyone that I missed that started playing from the early to mid eighties?  There were so many different groupings it is hard to remember who gamed with whom.  But there are so many great memories.

Dwayne David: Played a few LINK games.  Died a horrendoud death at one point I believe.

Next: "Romeo and Juliet"

Zendar, Dellique and the Gamestore

Frank Wallister: The first "dwarf" in my game.  No not an actual dwarf, a Tokeinesque one.  He meticulously kept a journal (which I still have) hundreds of pages.

I moved to Los Angeles.  Like an appendage to Jamie Jones who was attending the American Academy.  Adrift from my stalwart crew, I went in search of players.  I thought that posting a notice at the local game store would get something going - and it did.  A weekly session with several players that generally came and went.  There was one constant, however, and that was Frank.

Frank Wallister: The first "dwarf" in my game.  No not an actual dwarf, a Tokeinesque one named "Zendar".  He meticulously kept a journal (which I still have).  Hundreds of pages.  Lost track of Frank - are you out there??

Ed Buryn: Another good player.  Lost track of Ed as well.

We continued the Dellique campaign, a storyline which I started with Richard, Mike and Tony.  I attempted to get the group involved in the LINK, but they proved less than interested in being Zalobs and righting dimensional imbalances.  Except for Frank they were mostly dedicated to "killing things."  They were very young.  I discontinued  the game after a year or so.  Frank was angry at the abrupt end.  Sorry Frank.  You were a great player.  You too Ed.  Though I may have misspelled your name...

Next: "Look Homeward Angel"

As the game owes a giant tip of the hat to the players, I want to be sure that they are mentioned individually before we begin.  It is their exploits that will be recorded here.  It is they that carry the story forward and determine outcomes.  An RPG is unique in storytelling in that the author knows very little of how the story will end up.  We create it together.  There were MANY players over the years, more than my poor brain can recall.  Below are players that logged countless hours telling the story of the LINK.  The players are in chronological order as best that I can recall.  If you played in the game, I'd love to hear from you and add you here!

 The original Sacramento three. 

 Michael Steinberg: Always weilded a giant something-or-other.  Being a half-orc, Karkass may have seem a bit slow of wit - but Michael was sharp as a tack.  Mike introduced me to RPGs.

 Richard Cable: The original illusionist wizard.  Survievo started out with 4 life points (using the Gygax system at that time).  Dignified, clever, and charismatic.  Unparalleled LINK master.

 Tony Guzman: The original empathic elf.  Nolucko actually had a great deal of luck.  Careful and thoughtful Nolucko was the perfect counterbalance to Michael's Karcass.

 In 1980 I attended a couple of sessions of Gygax's D&D with Michael Steinberg.  I was hooked.  But I thought that the game system was a bit over-complicated.  I was inspired by the storytelling capabilities of RPGs.  Adding Richard and Tony I went immediately from player to "DM" after two (or three?) sessions of play.  The four of us established the LINK and righted countless imbalances while establishing precious memories with lifelong friends and brothers.  Tony, alas, left the prime material in 2009.  I like to picture him in the neutral, joking with the Oracle and awaiting his next mission.

Next: Part 2: Zendar, Dellique and the Gamestore ...