Back in 2011, I was dating an attractive young woman who told me she didn't play #DnD, but wanted to show me her D&D set. Weirdly, it was the 1977 "Holmes Edition" #BasicDnD set.
"What's weird about that," you ask? Reader, my girlfriend was born in 1981. How does a non-gaming Millennial start her #ttrpg collection with a box four years older than herself?
The answer was simple, but at the time, a bit shocking: My millennial girlfriend's #DnD set was hand-me-down from her father, who claimed he bought the game back in the 1970s, but never played it, because "it was too complex." (I laughed in #grognard at that.)
For the first time in my then-40 years, I was dating someone young enough to have inherited her D&D stuff from her parents. I've never felt more like a cradle-robber in my life!
My girlfriend's basically-untouched 1977 #DnD set was in great shape, but there was one problem with the set's #dice. Do you see it? That's right, she didn't have a d6!
A #dice set missing just one die is the kind of thing that can drive an old game collector crazy, and I was a collector back then.
I'd stopped playing #DnD in 1999 because I didn't like Third Edition, but restarted five years later when I decided it was OK to be an old #grognard who specialized in old versions of D&D. A major part of embracing my grognard roots was using eBay to hunt down all the classic gaming accessories I'd missed the first time around... including dice.
The early 2000s were the perfect time to be collecting classic #ttrpg through eBay. Lots of ex-gamers dumping collections cheap. Sometimes, I was buying three hardcover books and a bag of #dice for 20 bucks! Sometimes, I'd buy a hundred dice lot to get one die that completed one of my sets.
I ended up with so many extra dice, that my collection has its own Iconic Monsters, such as the Bowl of Unwanted Chessex, the Lifetime Supply of 30-sided Dice, and... the Jar of Old TSR.
I admit, I'm genuinely awful at choosing good gifts for anyone, let alone for girlfriends. It's hurt relationships in my past. But just once, in that time and that place, the stars aligned and I had the perfect gift for a pretty girl.
That's right, readers. I gave her a vintage #TSR six-sided die.
Did an antique six-sider impress that girl? I'd like to think so, because she married me, and I have the #dice to prove it!
So, Happy #ValentinesDay to all the gamers, grognards, and other geeks reading this. Remember, with five funny dice and one #truelove, you can handle any adventure!
@Shkshkshk "The wedding favors are going to be dice!" was literally my only contribution to the #wedding planning. My wife had a big dream wedding planned, but I only had one tiny wedding dream!
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