Beware of Diamond-Eyed Dwarves.

“Through the wasted lands you have traveled, and now stand before the lost Tower of the Fey Lords. You know the vile cult of Zygoth performs sinister works in the ancient dungeons below to awaken the horrid Gilliock. There is no time to waste or to rest. With grim determination your band readies themselves to delve the dangers below.”
Roll initiative.
Wow!
Are you as excited as I am?!
Today, Saturday, November the 3rd, is World Wide Dungeons and Dragons Day.
In basements and game shops all across the globe, people will meet, armed with lucky dice, beloved PC Sheets, munchies and the shared experience of stepping into another land. Adventure and Imagination will fill their minds with fantastical vistas to explore and challenges to overcome. Then all hell will break loose!
I started playing a Lonnnnnng time ago. 27 years. That is a hell of a lot of Attack Rolls!
It is like push-ups for the Brain, mixed with the best action movies or fantasy books, mixed with joking around with your buddies, mixed with crack. Hee hee.

As I DM I have had the pleasure of having some amazing players over the decades;
Mike (What can I say? Loves and plays the game like no other I have seen)
Dev (There at the start. Can still Roll with the best of them.)
Gary (Two Handed swords, Sneak Attack dice, and gaming around the world!)
Bud (You can never really guess just what he’ll do in any situation…)
Chris (Hope the Dice roll lucky up there in the Big Game in the Sky, missed friend)
Neil (I think he just loves to kill everything. Especially Hooter’s characters!)
Hooter (He dreams so big that even his PCs couldn’t believe it!)
Rob (You just can’t get him to give up. Ever.)
Matt (“Lizard men…” Still willing to mix it up with the Monsters!)
Jon (Gung-ho to play every time. Still! Got to tip my hat to him)
Hib (All he ever needed was a whispering sword and he’d find loads of trouble)
Tarso (Seems to always know what I’m going to do. Stopped us from laughing at bards)
Corey (Used to be a jock. Now cross-classed Jock-Gamer! Always ready to Roll!)
Ick (heheheh. I’ll sum it up with Zug Zug!! Positivity and curiosity)
Gump (Old school. Will tell you stories of pre-THACO and Henchmen galore!)
Chappy (Walked right in and kicked ass with his WoW training!)
Potter (Back in the day and to the present, always has been a gamer!)
Dave (Another guy that thinks way outside the box, and so is always a surprise)
Clarkie (has almost a little too much fun sometimes. Ha ha! Wish he could play more)
Luca (Gamer to be! Already has his own dice!)
Melanie (Maybe not the best tactical gamer, but loads of enthusiasm. And, well, cute!)
Scotty (Kicked ass, either side of the DM screen, and wielded the Hammer of Smashy)
Eddy (A while back, deep into the Dice. Some great drawn out fights and stories.)
Pepe (heheheh “I kill you”. Don’t let this guy buy drinks at a tavern. Trust me.)
Mike (the other one. Francis. Got me into the Game. Well, something like it!)
Jeff (So many downloads and so many ideas. Join or Die? He joined.)

There have also been, rumored or authenticated, a bunch of celebrity gamers noted over the years. It is funny to think of, say, Mike Myers or Vin Diesel throwing away that d20 that has failed one too many times as, say, Marilyn Manson laughed and added fifteen more orc counters to the game board (with Will Wheaton asking about what spells he can cast and Eddie Izzard yelling from the kitchen to see if anyone wanted a Mountain Dew).
The little game that grew has had its rough points, when it was hunted and demonized. There were times when it seemed to be fading. But we, gamers, never worried. It has spread, changed and endured. Great saves.
D&D has been a big part of my life, now that I think about it. My best friends and some of my best times have been involved with the game. Hee hee. Even romance! Ha! I have played in many parts of the world, and in strange places, with so many different types of people. Hell, I met the man. Gary Gygax.
Almost three decades of DMing.
Hundreds of games.
Thousands of Dice Rolls.
And a million smiles.
Yarrrrrrrrrrrr!