Educating The Rogue - RPG Perspectives

I rolled my first 1d20 in 1982. I had joined a tabletop gaming group that met after school in one of the classrooms of my high school. It was a school club and it focused on those massive table-top war games. I entered the classroom and noticed groups of kids setting up a huge war game (Panzer General, I think). Another group of guys had pushed some desks together and were flipping through papers. My first thought was that they were doing homework, because several had books open and were diligently leafing through them, pointing to its content and then scribbling something down on their paper. I moved toward the war game table and was intercepted. One of the guys came up to me and said, "Hey we want to start an adventure and need one more player - you up for it?" I think I said "sure" and was led to the table and told to start rolling regular dice and pick the top three. After six rolls and a couple of fudges - I rolled a couple of really low rolls, so they gave me a 10 as minimum. They handed me the Player's Handbook (1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons by TSR). I must have looked back at them with a blank stare because the guy who invited me then proceeded to walk me through creating my first character.  He went down the list of classes and of course the last was a thief/rogue.  I equipped my character and set out to battle goblins.

Once I tasted the RPG experience, I moved to combine my love for science fiction to this new world. I was quickly introduced to Traveller and Star Frontiers. I used to mow yards during the Spring and Summer months and took my hard-earned cash to the local Michael's store to get something new (back in those days, they carried RPG accessories) from TSR, GDW, or any of the 3rd party products available. I had friends in the neighborhood that started playing and my summers where set. I tried Star Trek, Marvel Super heroes, Top Secret, Gamma World, and Middle Earth Role-Playing. When Star Wars hit the scene from West End Games, I was in nirvanna. Robotech and many of the Palladium games also peaked my interest. I wrote many adventures, ran many games, and played in many. Even today, I keep tabs on what is out there and have introduced my kids to D&D and Star Wars (both Wizards of the Coast). I still love the rogue - only now he's more complex.

My goal is to publish several articles on RPGing.  Until then - Roll a natural 20!