My name is Anthony and I play D&D. I am not a geek, not according to the geeks I know. I tried calling myself a geek, but the real geeks disowned me. I was too cool to hang out in their world. I am not alone in this. Vin Diesel plays (or played) D&D and nobody would call him a geek. Not to his face, at any rate.

So why are people so scared to just admit it? I worked with a man who made Dwayne Dibley look cool and even he looked aghast at the implication that maybe playing Neverwinter Nights meant he might like to try D&D.

The game itself has a bad press, I think. Endless generations of grognards and assorted beardies have scared away normal players until the first thing that springs to my generation’s mind is the cartoon from the ’80s. Even the other designers I work with seem never to have played D&D or seen it played. I am half-tempted to suggest it, as the management have been saying that we should host some social activities at work… Of course, I would rather play paintball or go on a Grand Union Canal pub-crawl. (apparently, the trick is to have a well-stocked bar on the barge…)