I don't think he was supposed to be my first campaign character, but then I don't think we really intended to start a campaign style game :) Oliver was created back in the very early 80s when I had just started playing, we had different DMs and, quite often, different rule sets each week. After a while it settled down, and a few of us started to bring out the same characters for the D&D sessions, and pushed the DMs to find things that were the right level for our characters. It developed into a proto-campaign under its own steam - the background and setting changed regularly, but the core characters remained consistent.

Oliver was fun - a 1st Ed druid who went through the levels with the cavalier attitude of young players who were fairly new to the game - and who knew the DM would bale them out when it was needed. He has a family of sorts, Red-Barrel and Pink-Barrel, who came out to play occasionally but both died spectacularly in unusual circumstances - but Oliver survived through the whole of that period of play.

When I went on to create my first game setting The Strongholds, Oliver Green-Barrel became Raven King of Arms and ran the Druidic College on Holy Isle. I can almost hear your surprise - but in 1st ed rules Bard were a very special multi-class option, an uber Prestige class, that hardly any PC (played from L1) ever achieved. If I remember correctly, you started off as a fighter, then cross trained as a Thief, before switching into druidic-bard class - and even then, you had to study at a druidic college for a number of levels … Pure Celtic Bard setup (and very Finn Mac Cumhail / Finn McCool)

Technically his extended family, The Barralli are still around in the world somewhere …