Robert Wardhaugh is perhaps the most dedicated Dungeon Master in the world. He started a campaign in 1982 and never stopped. Around 60 people are currently playing The Game. "The only thing that's going to limit it, I suppose, is my lifespan," he says. (Below, listen to the Great Big Story podcast about Wardhaugh.) From CNN:
"My game is very different from the official Dungeons & Dragons rules," says Wardhaugh. "It's a rule system that has developed and is constantly developing, constantly changing and constantly getting better."One of the elements that makes Wardhaugh's game particularly special is his incorporation of real-world history. As a history professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Wardhaugh has a lot of knowledge to draw from.
"Being a history professor and always loving history, I wanted to create a world where I was able to use the history of our world. My world is an alternate Earth, so you can be Roman, you can be Greek, you can be Sumerian, you can be Babylonian, you can be First Nations," explains Wardhaugh[…]
Above all else, the game has allowed him to serve his initial purpose: To spend time with his friends. "One of the greatest successes of my game has been the fact that it has fulfilled its ultimate objective, which is keeping my friend group together," says Wardhaugh. "I knew early on that if I was able to create a game that was good enough, that they would keep coming. And that they would play with me, no matter where I was."
UPDATE: Boing Boing pal and security wizard Bruce Schneier says, "I've been playing in an even older D&D game. It started in 1978, when GM Dale Conklin was an undergraduate at the University of Rochester. It's still going strong 42 years later with the same dozen so players. "
(image: Great Big Story)