Hexelis's RPG History

Here's an article I wrote for Wood Planet Gaming Lodge a few years ago.

Hexelis's RPG History

I’m always interested in peoples stories of how they got into role-playing and how their experience has evolved, so here’s mine.
1989 AD, twelve years old and in the 7th grade, my friend Casey and I were all about X-Men comics! I was also into Nintendo, books (mostly Stephen King), movies and writing stories. My brother and I would make characters and stories with our G.I. Joe and Star Wars figures. At that time I had only messed around with AD&D, before that D&D was a mythical thing my uncle did, evil and of the devil. A year later that same uncle introduced us to Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, he gave me the Red and White books from 3rd edition and that began my RPG journey. We even got our dad playing, who is still an avid gamer to this day.
By 1997 we had started playing West End Games Star Wars d6. The next few years saw a lot of Star Wars d6 and CoC. In 2000 WotC Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition was released and that began a long run of D&D. Enter the curse of the d20 (my love/hate of the d20 system is a rant for another day).
In our circle 2008 is officially known as “The Year of the Minis”. D&D and Star Wars minis took over everything and everyone I knew. We called 'em "Plasticrack" that's how addictive they were. 2009 I began fleshing out Project R/S (home-brew superhero world) with my brothers kids as the play-testers. Throughout 2010 and 2011 other friends play-tested the crap out of Project R/S and Masters of M’theria (home-brew fantasy world).
Around 2013 I found out that Casey had died a few years ago in a car wreck. I had not spoken to him since ”93 or ”94. One of my first true friends who was with me at the beginning of something that would become a life-long hobby, something that got me through rough times, helped form long-lasting friendships, and strengthen family bonds. I wish he could have seen where we took it. Play on, brother.
As of 2015 we have many on-going games and home-made settings as well as a few new players for the next generation. 2015 is turning out to be The Return of D&D for some of us with the new 5th edition. It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years, but it’s been a fun and rewarding journey. Here’s to the next 25 years and the next generation of role-players.


That was 4 years ago, since then I got the new Delta Green RPG which is very cool but haven't played it that much. I love Call of Cthulhu but I'm not too big on the new edition. We ran several (5 0r 6) of the D&D 5E campaigns, so I've had my fill of 5E. So, now that I've rediscovered OSR, I'm all about some Lamentations of the Flame Princess!

Enjoy!