I was about nine when I got my first Fighting Fantasy book, Deathtrap Dungeon. My mother imagined that a combination of fantasy books and heavy metal (I discovered that several years later), would result in some teenage satanic conversion.

In general, there was more chance in my village of becoming a teenage Methodist, but so far nobody has created a choose your own adventure book to help with that.

Anyway, I digress.

I remember reading it again and again and again, trying to work out all the right decisions to take in order not to die.

I took it to school to show other kids, some of whom already had the Warlock of Firetop Mountain and The Island of the Lizard King (I hope, older readers, this is ringing a few nostalgic bells).

I became obsessed with collecting the entire series and hoped there was a way my hero could transition from one book over to another.

I should have known then that a certain nerdy trajectory had been charted, and that Fighting Fantasy books were just gateway drugs, helping unwary fantasy addicts like me to access the real thing.

I discovered my first dice role play game when I was 13 (AD&D), and it was one of those experiences that will always stay with me. I was round at a friend's house and they had urged me to come and play a game with them and a few others.

I didn't know what the fuss was all about until I played it and suddenly the crushingly dull, boring, painful world of commuter belt mid Cheshire was blown away and I realised an adjacent shared reality was available.

As I might have mentioned in previous emails, the world was far less forgiving towards teenage nerds in the mid 1980s. Being a geek now is almost aspirational, three and a half decades ago it was a health hazard.

It's great to see how internet and social media have opened up D&D and other games and brought in a massive new fan base, and it was this opening up that enabled Arclands to happen.

I am now 47 and I have spent the last six years building an entire universe along with Alex and Katya and we're so excited to finally be bringing it to our fans and community in general on Saturday at Dragonmeet.

We would love to see you there, so please come and join us. If you haven't already joined our One Dollar One Shot, you can get two monthly adventures for a dollar here.

Thanks so much and we'll hopefully catch you on Saturday.

Nick at Verse