Intro

[tesral]

I am an aging SF fan with too much time on his hands. I was born along with the space age. I saw every lift-off, major event, and splash-down of the first age of Space Exploration as it was happening. I know where I was when Kennedy was killed, and when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. I hope in my heart to live long enough to remember where I was when man sets foot on Mars.

My hobbies include folk music, including that thing called Filk. I have played AD&D and D&D in some form since 1976 (no not one session), and I am crazy over the work of Anne McCaffery, Robert Heinlein, EE 'Doc' Smith and Arthur C. Clarke, among other authors. I have also met two of the four, you guess which two. I am a lifetime Star Trek fan.

I have been making maps since I started playing RPGs nearly forty years ago. I would hope I've gotten better at it.

[Chick]

Hi tesral, welcome to the Guild.

I also remember all those things. I lived about an hour south of Cape Canaveral and can remember watching the early rocket launches. We'd hear on the radio that a launch was about to happen, and we'd run out into the yard to watch the rocket blow up. In the early days, more blew up than didn't. I watched ST from the very first pilot, have read every book written by all of those authors, and I watched Neil step on the moon. I've seen the first closeup of every planet in the Solar System, and have every intention of seeing Pluto next year, and humans on Mars before I die. I volunteered for a one-way trip to Mars, but they laughed at me. Now they are planning one, and I'm too old. I'm also retired, a B5 fan, and a frequent DM, but one difference between us .... I can't find enough time to do all the things I want to do these days.

[SJS]

I have played AD&D and D&D in some form since 1976 (no not one session),

Let me guess... you took a break from 1981 to 1984?

and I am crazy over the work of Anne McCaffery, Robert Heinlein, EE 'Doc' Smith and Arthur C. Clarke, among other authors. I have also met two of the four, you guess which two. I am a lifetime Star Trek fan.

Now that's not something you hear every day. I'm only 43, but I did read Doc Smith's The Skylark of Space. Asimov had said Smith was a favorite of his youth, so at some point I tracked down Smith's most-famous novel.

Can't say I loved it (though I did appreciate its ground-breaking nature). Clarke, on the other hand, plenty of love for his work. Rendezvous with Rama is my favorite. I think the pages of that book caught on fire I was flipping them so fast.

Star Trek and RPGs too? Yes, you are among your own kind.