I remember when I first started roleplaying. It wasn't anything big. My experience started in the 6th grade. My family just moved from Chicago to Dolton. Being a very shy kid, making friends didn't come easy. I had a couple of close friends, but that was it. One day, one of my friends lent me this book that I thought was just plain huge. There were fantastic pictures in it showing elves, dwarves, and dragons. Believe it or not, this wasn't a D&D book. It was this soft cover book that was like a choose your own adventure. Each page had paragraphs of different numbers. Depending on your choice, and if you have been there or not, the paragraph changed and your experience changed with it.

I'll admit that I've never seen anything like that. I'm the type of kid that was in love with horror, dinosaurs, volcanoes, weather, and stuff like that. Movies like Krull and Willow filled me with wonder, but I never thought I'd be interested in something like that.

I must have played that book over a dozen times. Each time, it took me down a different path leading to so many adventures. One time, I was at a forest feast. Little did I know that once I ate some of the food, I was stuck there till the end of time. That's when I began understanding there were different rules governing the magic and culture of this strange place.

Once my mind was open to the possibilities, it was hard for it to close. Another opportunity to roleplay didn't present itself for close to a decade. But that was my beginning.