But that wasn't even the most interesting part. The seller had a number of interesting sci-fi books for sale. So we began to chat about that. He told me he had just started re-reading the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. So after some more chatting about that series I brought up the question.
"Do you have any old fantasy games?"
And BAM! He jumped right into talking about his days playing D&D! Drinking beer, listening to Pink Floyd and rolling dice having a great old time! He said that he hated the bad rap that D&D got back in the day - the whole geek and loner and devil-worshiping thing.He and his friends use to just have a party playing the game.
He had just given away all of his advanced 1st edition books to his nephew in hopes that he would pick up the game. I told him I was seeking the OD&D box / rules but he had started after those with 1st ed. AD&D. So we ended up chatting about Gygax and his original rules that he published in his basement and how the hobby changed to more to a marketed business than a fantasy hobby. He even talked about how he had a whole collection of lead minis, hand-painted of course, that were stolen a number of years ago when he lived up in the White Mountains.
It was fun running into a 'random encounter' of a true fan of the game. This guy, Pete, even offered to get his books back from his nephew to get them to me which I declined as I already have a set. Let the seeds be planted elsewhere! It's been interesting that within two blocks of me I have discovered an online classic game seller and a former 1st ed. AD&D enthusiast.
So, still no OD&D rules but my quest continues and I know I'm one step closer!
