Eric and the Dread Gazebo

Common card · No. 261336

"Eric and the Dread Gazebo", also known as just "The Gazebo story", is a role-playing game anecdote, made famous by Richard Aronson (designer of The Ruins of Cawdor, a graphical MUD, and the voice of Cedric in King's Quest V). Aronson's account first appeared in print in the APA Alarums and Excursions #139, (March, 1987). It was reprinted in the RPG APA The Spell Book in 1987, and Mensa's The Mensa Bulletin in 1989. It subsequently spread to the internet where it has been frequently retold and adapted as short stories and comics. The story, as it was originally published, was titled "Eric and the Gazebo" but many retellings inserted the word 'Dread' in the title. The tale features a player who misunderstands the gamemaster's description of a gazebo on a small hill, mistakenly assuming it to be some kind of monster in the game. After asking the gamemaster its color, size and distance from the group, the player attempts to call out to the gazebo. When it fails to respond, he looses an arrow...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Calvin Teo., CC BY-SA 3.0