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#1 gv_dammerung Mar 28, 2005 22:47:49

The year is 1981. I am a private in the United States Army, Field Artillery stationed in Augsburg, 30 miles north of Munich, in what was then West Germany. While there are smaller cities, like Rothenberg, that are preserved virtually intact from the Middle Ages, Augsburg was and is the largest city in Germany to have its city center preserved nearly intact from medieval times (no bombing during WWII). In the Middle Ages, Augsburg was home to the Fugger family of bankers, rivals of the more famous Medeci of Italy and like the Medeci, the Fuggers were civic minded patrons of the arts. If you ever get the chance, Augsburg is something to see. Sight seeing was was about all I could afford to do on a private's salary. Augsburg offered plenty, from the Roman walls and surviving gate of Augustinium to the two medieval cathedrals that bookend the city center to the museums (Augsburg was a major metal working center - gold, silver and armor, lots of medieval armor) and the monuments of the Fuggers. But in mid-winter? Back in the 1980's, southern Germany had some amazing winters, lots of snow that I would brave to go to the Kriskindermarkt around Christmas to drink warm Glubwein but otherwise I was not making the five mile walk from my base (called a Kaserne and formeraly SS headquarters for Bavaria during WWII) to the city center and back in knee high drifts. So, I would go to the PX (Post Exchange) which was kind of like a department store, with a number of "extras," and Augsburg's was the second largest in Germany at the time, 7 stories. Part of the PX was the Stars and Stripes bookstore, my favorite part. I could brouse the magazine, comic and book racks, buying something when I could afford it (beer money came first back then). In the winter of 1981, I happened upon Dragon Magazine No. 46 on the magazine rack and, for some reason, decided to buy it. I was already familiar with D&D from highschool, which I quit to join the Army (You could do that back then, no degree needed) but I was not yet a dedicated gamer. It was a game I played in highschool. It was fun but not my "hobby." I'd played a little in Basic Training but again, not a hobby. Of course, wargaming was big in the military and roleplaying was gaining ground at the time. I was mainly a wargamer. I'd arrange my CQ (Charge of Quarters) duty (privates assisted the CQ, who was an NCO, and the Officer of the Day) to coincide with that of NCOs and Officers who wargamed and we'd game almost the entire time we were on duty, after retreat and before rollcall in the morning (CQ duty was a 24 hour shift where you were on call after retreat at 4pm). Dragon Magazine No. 46 made me a roleplayer. In Dragon Magazine No. 46, there were three reviews of something called "The World of Greyhawk." I read the reviews and ordered the Folio from a mail order hobby shop in Chicago that I had previously used to order wargames (I'd save up to get the big "detergent box" games from SPI). In a little under a month, in the last vestiges of winter in southern Bavaria, I became a Greyhawker and a roleplayer. I'd never seen anything like the World of Greyhawk and I was hooked. I have that very same issue on the desk in front of me this moment as I type. I am in the middle of doing some research for some Greyhawk projects I'm working on and busted out the Dragon collection to reread some stuff. I got distracted, whisked away to a time 24 years ago, half a world away, when winter was also winding down. Rereading those reviews of The World of Greyhawk, it is amazing how much remains the same. The first review - That Wait Was Worth It - chronicles the 18 month wait for WoG, presaging the wait for TOEE and now Castle Zagyg. All by same author, btw. The second review - A Universal Constant - says it all with the title but also raises the issue of racism in Greyhawk, a issue that continues to flair with respect to the Suel and the Olman, turns out that issue is as old as the very first set of reviews. The third review - Grey Areas Were Made That Way - is the first discussion of "greyness." At the same time, much of what is described in those reviews, particularly as virtues of Greyhawk, has gone the way of the dodo. Lack of detail about specific leaders? About the gods? Etc. Some of that remains, of course. Is Greyhawk better or worse since Dragon 46? I can't answer that. It is not the same but that doesn't mean better or worse. I, Greyhawk and my PX Dragon No. 46 have all grown up together. Until I purposefully look back, it is all of a piece. While Greyhawk had, of course, appeared in bits and pieces in various products and Dragons before No. 46, that issue was Greyhawk's coming out party with the then brand new Folio putting all those pieces in the grand context of Darlene's maps. Of all the Dragon's I've collected, No. 46 remains my favorite because it made me a roleplayer and a Greyhawker. If you have not read those three initial reviews, I heartily recommend it. Old Dragons are cheaply come by now after the CD-Rom collection and available on the latter, as well. Dragon No. 46 is not a great issue but it is a historic one for Greyhawk and for me. Glenn Dammerung