Pictured above: My DND crew from El Dorado before a late night of gaming, pizza and Mountain Dew.
I grew up in El Dorado, Arkansas — a sensitive, slightly dorky kid who loved two things in equal measure: running around the neighborhood playing fort with my friends (in the era of survivalist movies like Red Dawn and Rambo) and getting utterly lost in fantasy books by authors like Piers Anthony and Raymond E. Feist.
I lived halfway between the backyard and a magical realm of fantasy.
I didn’t always fit in, but I had my stories— and they captured my imagination.
Then I Found Dungeons & Dragons
When I first discovered the game around 1985, it felt like someone handed me a secret key. My best friend Max had an older brother Jason, who owned the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books. We poured over these books with the desperate boredom of an unstructured summer and created character after character even before we understood how to play.
But suddenly, my daydreams had structure. My imagination had rules to push against. It wasn’t just playing pretend anymore. I was building worlds, solving problems, creating characters and learning to collaborate to tell an epic story in the shared imaginations of my friends.
The Quickling on a String
I still remember the first moment I felt the magic of being a Dungeon Master. I was finally running a game for my friends. I was nervous, unsure of myself, but eager to see what might happen. I introduced a quickling into the story—a tiny, impossibly fast fae creature—who had been tied up by orcs. He was frantically running back and forth on a string, speaking a mile a minute, begging to be freed.
To my surprise, my friends didn’t just laugh or brush it off. They leaned in. They asked questions. They wanted to help him. They believed in this strange little figment of my imagination.
That moment changed everything. I realized I could create something from my mind and watch others step into it. I could build entire worlds. And people would come along for the ride. That’s when I fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons and when I first found my voice as a creative.
Why It Still Matters
Most kids want to be players. They want to be the heroes, roll the dice, swing the sword. But the Dungeon Master? That’s the one who makes the world go round. That’s the kid who learns how to lead, adapt and imagine with courage.
Being a DM helped me explore my own creativity and identity. It helped me connect with others, take risks, and find a kind of confidence I hadn’t known before.
And that’s why I believe every kid deserves a chance to sit in that seat, even just once, to see how it feels.
Join Us for Young DM Camp – April 12
This April 12, we’re hosting a one-day Young DM Camp to help kids take that first step. Whether your child is a longtime player or brand new to D&D, we’ll guide them through the basics of building a world, running a session and finding their voice as a storyteller.
It’s a safe, welcoming space for kids to imagine boldly—and discover just how powerful their stories can be.
If your child is anything like I was—sensitive, imaginative, and searching for their own kind of magic—this might be just the door they’ve been waiting to open.
Leave a Reply