The Best Dungeon Master I've ever had

I'm a Mighty Wizard.... I summon Coke and Dorritos

Teachers are some of the most under appreciated members of society. They get paid jack, deal with some just awful children and yet they have the important job of teaching and mentoring the future leaders of the World. It almost seems like some kind of poetic injustice that these people are so criminally under valued. I remember one particular teacher going above and beyond his call of duty in order to try and make learning fun. He turned our entire year 7 curriculum into a Role Playing Game.



His name was John O'Brien, coincidentally he shared the same name as our Principal too. He had written a few children's books and was a full time teacher. So he was a Teacher and a Writer and a really genuinely nice man. The game was called 'Wasteland' and the objective was that we all played as a Wondering Warrior trying to amass an army to take on the Darkness. An evil overarching power that was ruling over the Wasteland.

Mr. O'Brien had drawn a map of the Wasteland and plotted out the course we would take on our epic Quest. He would start a lesson with a brief description of where we were and what was happening. Then something would happen and we would all have to do a task relating to the subject we were supposed to be covering at the time.

If it was a Maths period we would be given a series of mathematical problems that somehow related to the game. I remember one lesson we had to perfectly dissect these weird worms with compasses because the sight of any weaponry would antagonize them and force them to attack. But a simple measuring instrument like a compass was not seen as a threat. So we had to divide them perfectly in half and then cut them perfectly in half so they would die, otherwise they would just regenerate their body and attack.

If it was an English lesson we would have to write a moving speech or poem or answer a series of riddles and word challenges. One art period we were given the task to design War ships for our naval fleet and I remember drawing up the most ridiculous over armed war machines imaginable. Looking back on it now there was no way the thing I drew up was even water worthy. I swear I packed that thing full of nukes and missiles and other far fetched weaponry a real naval ship would have... Like Chainsaw Arms. I wish I still had that giant piece of A3 paper because I remember estimating where the waterline would be on the boat and frankly the whole thing was laughable.

After completing the tasks we would enter towns and be given options on what to do with our time, where we could go and he would take out groups of kids that would go certain places and tell them what they encountered and what they found there. Some people would receive special items that would help them in the game and others would enter strange perils that would send them off into weird new paths. It was pretty cool at times, I remember find some sleep leaves that I would later use on a group of Orcs for safer passage through a valley.

Looking back on it now, I had way too much fun in Year 7 student. Mr O'Brien was clearly the most fun teacher I've ever had. I don't think I learned all that much but I did find out that RPG's are fun as all hell and that sparked my interest in table top dice games like Dungeons and Dragons. Quite frankly I don't think I'll ever have a Dungeon Master as awesome as Mr. O'Brien and sometimes I shutter to think how much time and effort he put into organizing and putting that game together.

I am so craving a Dungeon crawl now.... Guess I'll go fire up a retro Final Fantasy title.