Geeks and SciFi

I was a geek before people knew what geeks were, or that we were about to take over the world. My discovery of Role Playing Games, most notably the original version of Dungeons and Dragons, and Traveller which was the first Science Fiction ( SciFi ) role playing game, all happened when there was a cinematic explosion of SciFi and Fantasy at the Cinema. I was an immediate fan of Star Wars in 1977. Star Wars was also followed by many SciFi imitators but also a range of Fantasy films also appeared trying to cash in on the success of the Star Wars franchise.

I remember particularly, Excalibur, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Hawk the Slayer, and the animated version of The Lord of the Rings.

In the SciFi area, I remember some shockers but apart from Star Wars we had Star Trek the Motion Picture and Blade Runner.

Fantasy and SciFi Encouraged me to Read

All of these encouraged me to read and discover fantasy other than Tolkien and Science Fiction other than the Space Opera of Star Wars. It also encouraged me to write. Not novels, but adventures! In the early days of roleplaying games there was very little supporting material so the referee or dungeon master had to create their own.

Roleplaying SciFi Games Led to Great Speaking Skills

World building became second nature as I and a group of friends, some of whom I’m still in touch with, spent every Saturday playing one campaign or another. It had the additional benefit of teaching me to ad-lib in front of an audience and to be able to perform the type of structured public speaking that would serve me well professionally down the line.

How about you? interested in SciFi?

I’d like to know what influenced you when you were younger. Were you book- focused or did the cinema or other media influence you more?