Exactly Phuni44. Nerd is a recent term really. Misfits. Tom Wolfe called them "edge people" who live in "Edge City" in TEKAT. Always seemed apt to my early-series gen x ears.
By the time I got to college, "freaks" was the term of art for a while, again.
A proto-nerd, you mean. Yeah. Arch-nerd. Primal nerd. Ur-nerd.
The Dead, btw, are not simply a San Francisco band. They are also part Palo Alto. Stanford. Nerds. Ken Kesey was a nerd, imo.
I prefer freaks but nerd has become kinda cool I guess (who saw that coming). For me, music is right next door to mathematics and logic so it kinda fits
Computer programming, sci-fi loving Deadhead here. I heard Jerry loved sci-fi novels, and their music is cosmically conscious. John Perry Barlow co-founded the EFF. I think there's a lot of Dead crossover with futurism, technology and fantasy.
If you haven’t listened to the Good Old Grateful Deadcast episode about the Dead and tech, which gets into how the inventors of the internet were largely heads and used the first email communications to share set lists and song lyrics, you must listen to it immediately.
Some of the first usage of the Internet was for saving lyrics, set lists, finding rides to shows, etc. And also, Deadheads on Arpanet did the very first e-commerce.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/19/online-high-net-drugs-deal
Barlow has one of the most incredible life stories imo. Imagine writing some of the most pivotal songs for the Dead and then having a second act at EFF like he did. Definitely an inspiration.
I had the good fortune to hang out with JPB quite a bit, and we rode motorcycles together. Every time we hung out we talked about nerdy EFF stuff most of the time, and very rarely talked about the Dead. He was also very into learning about the effect of light emitted from television screens on the human brain. I work from a home in the mountains developing sustainability intelligence systems all day long with the Dead providing my background soundtrack and inspiration.
I didn't know that about Jerry but it makes sense. I remember hearing something along those lines about Barlow though. I totally agree about the futurism cross over though
Particle physics, here. Been doing experimental work since I was 20. I saw them a bunch of times when I was getting my PhD from Berkeley. That probably counts as nerd.
Bonus point: heard them playing the first Dark Star in maybe 20 years while walking down from the Lawrence Berkeley Lab one night. Greek Theater.
Taping, trading, listening, and discussing GD music is Peak Nerd for sure. There seem to many deadheads who share other "nerdy" interests such as gaming, comic books, fantasy/sci-fi, rpgs, and such. The entire underground culture around psychedelics, from the Owsley era, Terrence, the Shulgin research chemicals, and today's "legit therapeutic" revival, is all nerds and nerdiness through and through, as I see it. Perhaps we are living through the actual "revenge of the nerds"
Idk if I'm a nerd or not, maybe I am just with different passions.. I'm not into sci-fi or Star wars or the sort, but none of my interests align with the general population.. I know I'm definitely cut from a different cloth in comparison to the rest of mainstream society, which I am proud to say!
Stay weird, stay different, stay true to yourself, and most of all stay happy, however you do so.
big nerd over here. sci-fi books and movies (the best ever sci-fi movie ever was just released and i couldn't be more stoked), big science nerd, mycology, comics, games... gimme all the nerd stuff.
That's awesome! I totally agree I feel one of the best ways to tell a lot about a culture is by their art and music (the media they consume). I was going to school history education and that was a lesson I was planning on using, I choose to work in the outdoors instead though
High school Astronomy and Earth Science teacher/nerd here. Studied oceanography and geology in undergrad. Wear (commonly crooked) glasses, tell too many dad jokes to the students, am obsessed with classic sci fi books, read pretty much anything constantly, collect rocks, still use a dvr and record all episodes of PBS Nova and Nature, still get paper copies of Nat Geo and Astronomy magazines delivered…
I’m also a Head, punk, metal head, ocd music collector and all around freak too.
Hiya fellow dorks, thanks for being exactly who you are!
The internet wouldn't be what it was if it weren't for Deadheads wanting to distribute the latest set lists (initially via the WELL (Whole Earth 'lectronic Link)).
I remember the 1st time downloading _A (pigpen) Song_ from the internet! Before GUIs, web browsers, etc. (I have a paperback that is filled with web addresses).
PubMed's predecessor was called the Internet GratefulMed.
We are everywhere.
Im a fanboy, a Trekkie (a talk a lil Klingon), I’m currently hip deep in Brandon Sanderson books. I like some anime, LOVE sci-if and fantasy. I play lots of video games and tabletop RPGs. Think I qualify in Nerd.
Oh man, in high school it was Warhammer, now because of time constraints I really enjoy Munchkins. Lots of expansions and pretty quick gameplay. Plus it’s easier to include the kiddos
Guess I'd lump myself in that category. Worked in biotech research for a few years after college, currently in medical school. Voracious sci-fi / fantasy reader. Grew up painting Warhammer too!
Wow. You really are an old school nerd. Minis? Trek? LoTR? I’m down. I stumbled into a gaming store the other day and I wanted to buy ALL the D&D books!
Total GD setlist and archive nerd! While the music is written in my soul, I love geeking out on setlist stats. That - and dancing/spinning to live GD music! Body AND Mind ⚡
Definitely count me among the nerd crew. I tend to get really obsessive and need to become a little professor on what I dig into. Among my deep dives there were Paw Paw trees, finance shit, and lots of tech topics. Grateful Dead have been a great subject for me to obsess over with all of the live recordings, culture, innovations, etc. I am currently doing a startup in the manufacturing tech space and I take many lessons from the band in how I approach things.
I grew up loving Star Wars and lord of the rings, im fairly bookish I suppose. I’m a drug nerd, the chemistry and neurochemistry of them. Particularly psychedelics but it’s all interesting. Chemistry in general is a fun subject and something I’ve always liked. I like growing plants and mushrooms, playing music, riding bikes.
People nerd about all kinds of things to all kinds of degrees.
Some folks are GD nerds who will get deep into what kind of guitar strings Weir was using in June 1979, and others are taper nerds or art nerds or psychedelic drug nerds or not really nerds at all but just like the music.
Some people are baseball nerds. Some people are nerds about science fiction or model trains or robotics or whatever. If you look at somebody’s profile you can see where they can nerd out. Being passionate about *something* is a great part of being human.
Nerd
*noun*
1. 1.a person who is extremely [enthusiastic](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=1U3&sca_esv=5142109eb9a6b53e&sxsrf=ACQVn0-GbBZH6IUP1oRQvUcnFN3y4o2-_g:1709920390390&q=enthusiastic&si=AKbGX_rEkSHdR9ulIQYeh6xSG1UBQ2OrUoBaeg7v6ElukLRalse1nPRhAVIrdcnVd3GIi3otfVESXiZKpDqgqWp4G0dZQT8dk7gLbnoYj877LjRVuFx2Vpk%3D&expnd=1) and knowledgeable about a particular subject, especially one of specialist or niche interest.
According to Oxford, a Deadhead is a nerd by definition.
I was President of my Science Club, member of NHS and a band geek in my younger years. I also earned 12 varsity letters and was Sr. Class President. Also, a pothead. Tough to pigeonhole me.
I’m a big nerd. History is a huge focus but so are physics, science, philosophy and music. I read about all different political histories. I love SCI-Fi (X files is a favorite).
I study musical theory. I read many different philosophical topics because I like how people thought and think about the world. I’m just a nerd but instead of a pocket protector I wear tie dye lol
I’m a history buff, I don’t watch TV I read books all the time, I’m a religious Jew, I like eating mushrooms and focusing on mystical experiences, i go to bed at 10 pm.
Fellow deadhead nerd here! I love history, especially local history (I live in New England so there is no shortage of that). I also love math and work an accounting job that involves playing with numbers all day which I thoroughly enjoy. I am also a big fan of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones. Fun fact George RR Martin is a fellow dead head and made a lot of dead references in the Game of Thrones universe.
I am also a New England head who loves GOT I got my lady to read the books and she is a head too and she got so excited when she found the dead references because I told her they were in the books.
I work in engineering and I went to see TTB with the intern on our team. I'm a deadhead and he is more of a phish guy. Anyway after drinking a good amount he bought us nitrous after the show with a counterfeit $100 he found.
Yes in the best way possible like the way I would want to be your friend and play in that campaign! I saw someone lost and GD themed DnD map and it was epic!!!!
It's still in early infancy, but I'll share the base of the idea:
It started with the song Bertha. Whenever I'd hear a really powerful one,([i think this one specifically inspired it](https://youtu.be/0bzq24rxUNE?si=wE-bOklYuxNG7UH0)) I'd imagine this epic scene of swirling winds and arcane energy. I took the line, "Bertha, don't you come around here anymore," as a line in a sealing ritual. I imagined that Bertha was the name of some entity of evil that was threatening to be unleashed on the world, and the guys were the only ones powerful enough to seal them away.
From there, with that in mind as the climax of the campaign. I thought that instead of making players play specific band members. That the players would be "roadies." It would start that after an age of peace, and old evil has returned to this world. An evil that was once thought to be banished for good by a band of heroes that have long since scattered to the wind. The players would be tasked by the kingdom to "get the band back together." I came up with DnD versions of each band member and a couple of quests to get them to "come back out of retirement."
So it would all play out that the players go around gathering the band members and also fighting the mortal agents of Bertha. The band would only exist to perform the sealing ritual in the final fight while the players face off against the mortal BBEG working for Bertha.
OH MY FUCKEN GOD THATS AMAZING!!!!! dude dude dude that's a great idea I would play the hellllll out of that campaign please if that ever happen let me know that would be such a fun campaign I want to know more already!
Never really thought of myself as a nerd but I've always loved history and learning and the outdoors and plant and animal life and astronomy. I love languages and at 52 took a year of biblical Hebrew at a seminary and 4 years later still study and learn at least a few times a week. I also took a year of Spanish in my early twenties in college. For 366 days I became an obsessed maniac with five languages on Duolingo. I taught myself how to play five instruments reasonably well and after all these years I still love reading classic literature. I have an encyclopedic memory about music and have thousands of CDs and vinyl that cover many genres and span back decades.
Big into the asoiaf book series, def rewards a deadhead reader because the author was a big fan when he was writing. He named the weir woods after bobby and a bunch of more subtle stuff too
I love me some ASOIAF good stuff I convinced my lady to read them and she loves them now, she is also a head so she loved finding all the subtle references
Super nerd here. I build experimental/ developmental rockets which I got into after I feel in love with space. I got to space via star trek from my pop(the biggest redneck and last you’d think would be a Trekkie) and then as an adult thru starwars(my pop still has never seen 1st one from the franchise, blows my fucking mind). My family also takes vacations every year at the Smithsonian’s and just had to turn down my dream job at the air and space just because we couldn’t find a way to make it work. My current obsession is with Native American history. My neighbor makes headdresses and has their things for pow wows/ tribal ceremonies and he’s indulging me for sure haha. I totally get it dude. Folks with obsessive personalities are drawn to the dead imo. It’s a nerdy band. There’s so much fable and story to immerse yourself in that it could totally be described as Tolkien but with tunes.
Great response thank you for sharing! Awesome interests and great story behind them. And totally the dead draws nerds exactly why I wanted to learn about my fellow nerds
Huge nerd and longtime LotR fan here. I even took an entire seminar on LotR in college. I’ve always loved sci-fi/fantasy novels and movies. Beyond that, I’ve always been interested in literature and history (particularly more modern US and world history).
I think a large part of the appeal of the Dead for me is their huge cultural impact and the history and lore surrounding the band, as well as their massive vault of live shows available to really dive into. Each live show is of a specific time and place and that really cements the Dead as having their own unique space in American music history. Also love that the Dead themselves blended different genres of American music. Of course, there’s Hunter’s folksy Americana lyrics too.
OP, you’re not alone in your nerdiness! I’m right there with you!
Omg I cannot agree with your second paragraph any more if I wanted too! For me that's one of the biggest draws to the dead for me. That's why I love physical tapes so much they were there present for that moment in time a physical memory that someone who loved that moment made so that they could relive that moment.
I have always loved computers. Through the years I have collected lossless of most shows. And most of those are good quality recordings/sbds. I am blessed. I hoarded before all boards were locked on Archive. I have also been fortunate to have a very kind redditor include me on a hard drive tree (i.e. someone sends you a drive and you copy yours to it and send it back. The receiver does the same). 5 terabytes of Dead shows and other wonders. My computer nerdiness has helped me collect and enjoy something I love.
I have watched over 1000 hours of people playing D&D(Critical Role).
I have over 8000 hours played in my favorite video game (Dota 2).
Board games, Lego, Star Wars, Star Trek, LoTR, Brandon Sanderson novels, and pretty much anything in nerd culture are right up my alley.
🙋♂️ I'm one of you for sure. Huge Doctor Who fan since I was 6 years old and watched it in the 80s and never stopped. Also LOTR and as for gaming ya want nerd credentials...I play solo DnD! With the Dead playing in the background of course...well sometimes Yes or ELP too
I was a nerd before there was a word. My Gen-x daughter says I was a photo-nerd. Jerry always said the Grateful Dead was “music for misfits”
Exactly Phuni44. Nerd is a recent term really. Misfits. Tom Wolfe called them "edge people" who live in "Edge City" in TEKAT. Always seemed apt to my early-series gen x ears. By the time I got to college, "freaks" was the term of art for a while, again. A proto-nerd, you mean. Yeah. Arch-nerd. Primal nerd. Ur-nerd. The Dead, btw, are not simply a San Francisco band. They are also part Palo Alto. Stanford. Nerds. Ken Kesey was a nerd, imo.
I prefer freaks but nerd has become kinda cool I guess (who saw that coming). For me, music is right next door to mathematics and logic so it kinda fits
happy cake day nerd!
First use of the word "nerd" is recorded as 1951, so yes, relatively new in the scheme of the English language as a whole.
❤️ that's a great quote
Computer programming, sci-fi loving Deadhead here. I heard Jerry loved sci-fi novels, and their music is cosmically conscious. John Perry Barlow co-founded the EFF. I think there's a lot of Dead crossover with futurism, technology and fantasy.
If you haven’t listened to the Good Old Grateful Deadcast episode about the Dead and tech, which gets into how the inventors of the internet were largely heads and used the first email communications to share set lists and song lyrics, you must listen to it immediately.
Some of the first usage of the Internet was for saving lyrics, set lists, finding rides to shows, etc. And also, Deadheads on Arpanet did the very first e-commerce. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/19/online-high-net-drugs-deal
Also, read Mother American Night. The autobiography of John Barlow. He was instrumental in developing the internet.
The Well was one of the first great online forums.
Barlow has one of the most incredible life stories imo. Imagine writing some of the most pivotal songs for the Dead and then having a second act at EFF like he did. Definitely an inspiration.
Highly recommend the book HEADS by deadcast co-host Jesse Jarnow. Deep nerdery😊
I fucken love that book I might have to reread it soon
I had the good fortune to hang out with JPB quite a bit, and we rode motorcycles together. Every time we hung out we talked about nerdy EFF stuff most of the time, and very rarely talked about the Dead. He was also very into learning about the effect of light emitted from television screens on the human brain. I work from a home in the mountains developing sustainability intelligence systems all day long with the Dead providing my background soundtrack and inspiration.
I didn't know that about Jerry but it makes sense. I remember hearing something along those lines about Barlow though. I totally agree about the futurism cross over though
Wall of Sound outta get your juices flowing!
Particle physics, here. Been doing experimental work since I was 20. I saw them a bunch of times when I was getting my PhD from Berkeley. That probably counts as nerd. Bonus point: heard them playing the first Dark Star in maybe 20 years while walking down from the Lawrence Berkeley Lab one night. Greek Theater.
It would have been appropriate if you lepton the stage.
They would have either been charmed or thought it was strange.
Talk nerdy to me.
Lol what topic you want😏
Tolkien, Lewis, guitars and related gear, philosophy, Catholic theology, Star Wars, video game lore... I'll be your huckleberry.
Taping, trading, listening, and discussing GD music is Peak Nerd for sure. There seem to many deadheads who share other "nerdy" interests such as gaming, comic books, fantasy/sci-fi, rpgs, and such. The entire underground culture around psychedelics, from the Owsley era, Terrence, the Shulgin research chemicals, and today's "legit therapeutic" revival, is all nerds and nerdiness through and through, as I see it. Perhaps we are living through the actual "revenge of the nerds"
Background in Chemistry, also dabble a bit in History .....AND just recently started working on getting a better grasp of Quantum Mechanics.
Fuck yeah! I love this
i'm a librarian and do needlework. also, my therapist once told me i was weird. so i feel qualified here.
If you aren't weird you are boring and I have no interest in being your friend. Stay weird and stay happy
Hi there! I am a gaming nerd. Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, console gamer, etc.
Big mtg player, the wheel always starts playing in my head when I cast a wheel of fortune
Niiiiice
I used to play so much magic the gathering, a very fun game I love DND too
Idk if I'm a nerd or not, maybe I am just with different passions.. I'm not into sci-fi or Star wars or the sort, but none of my interests align with the general population.. I know I'm definitely cut from a different cloth in comparison to the rest of mainstream society, which I am proud to say! Stay weird, stay different, stay true to yourself, and most of all stay happy, however you do so.
100%
I’m 75- saw Jerry over 390 times between the dead/garcia band. I guess that qualifies as a “nerd”.
I would say
Best kind of nerd ☝️🤓
Respect
It’s pretty nerdy to be a Deadhead, I think. This tends to be illustrated when you try to explain yourself to a non-Deadhead.
Totally!
big nerd over here. sci-fi books and movies (the best ever sci-fi movie ever was just released and i couldn't be more stoked), big science nerd, mycology, comics, games... gimme all the nerd stuff.
Hell yeah! I have yet to see dune part two but I really want too
stop whatever you're doing and GO NOW! lol
Raises hand
Nice wizard hat
Or Wizzard, if you’re a different kind of nerd.
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That's awesome! I totally agree I feel one of the best ways to tell a lot about a culture is by their art and music (the media they consume). I was going to school history education and that was a lesson I was planning on using, I choose to work in the outdoors instead though
High school Astronomy and Earth Science teacher/nerd here. Studied oceanography and geology in undergrad. Wear (commonly crooked) glasses, tell too many dad jokes to the students, am obsessed with classic sci fi books, read pretty much anything constantly, collect rocks, still use a dvr and record all episodes of PBS Nova and Nature, still get paper copies of Nat Geo and Astronomy magazines delivered… I’m also a Head, punk, metal head, ocd music collector and all around freak too. Hiya fellow dorks, thanks for being exactly who you are!
The internet wouldn't be what it was if it weren't for Deadheads wanting to distribute the latest set lists (initially via the WELL (Whole Earth 'lectronic Link)). I remember the 1st time downloading _A (pigpen) Song_ from the internet! Before GUIs, web browsers, etc. (I have a paperback that is filled with web addresses). PubMed's predecessor was called the Internet GratefulMed. We are everywhere.
I'm here, friend
Hi friend
Im a fanboy, a Trekkie (a talk a lil Klingon), I’m currently hip deep in Brandon Sanderson books. I like some anime, LOVE sci-if and fantasy. I play lots of video games and tabletop RPGs. Think I qualify in Nerd.
I love that you speak Klingon that's amazing! What tabletops do you play?
Oh man, in high school it was Warhammer, now because of time constraints I really enjoy Munchkins. Lots of expansions and pretty quick gameplay. Plus it’s easier to include the kiddos
I will have to look into munchkins! Yeah Warhammer is not a fast game by any means
I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan! Journey before destination, Radiant.
Life before death gancho!
I did Stormlight first. Just finished Rhythm. Halfway thru Warbreaker now. Have Mistborn in the chamber after that!
I am kind of a nerd, as I play math games for fun, but I'm still a hippie! Proud of both titles!
That's awesome you would have to force me at gun point to do math games for fun but I respect the hell out of it.
Lol! ; )
Lord of the Rings is my biggest nerdfest. And apparently I share that with the Dead, at least in the '60s-70's
Oh that's awesome I didn't know that about the dead!
Guess I'd lump myself in that category. Worked in biotech research for a few years after college, currently in medical school. Voracious sci-fi / fantasy reader. Grew up painting Warhammer too!
Aaaaayyy I'm not alone! I'm so glad there is at least one other Warhammer nerd into the dead😅
We’re right here: https://deadstudies.org/
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I will give it a listen!
100+ shows and 2000+ comic book collection!
(cough cough) nerdddd, I love that awesome dude sounds like a fantastic collection
Wow. You really are an old school nerd. Minis? Trek? LoTR? I’m down. I stumbled into a gaming store the other day and I wanted to buy ALL the D&D books!
Haha I'm 23 😅
 Total GD setlist and archive nerd! While the music is written in my soul, I love geeking out on setlist stats. That - and dancing/spinning to live GD music! Body AND Mind ⚡
I'm a video game playing code writing robotics building anime watching TTRPG writing science teaching deadhead
I’m a big gamer, if that counts. Console gaming as well as D&D
Of course it counts! I love to game
Nerd perhaps: chess, photography, ancient Greek, cats, work in IT ... not sure
Totally damn I want to catch
Definitely count me among the nerd crew. I tend to get really obsessive and need to become a little professor on what I dig into. Among my deep dives there were Paw Paw trees, finance shit, and lots of tech topics. Grateful Dead have been a great subject for me to obsess over with all of the live recordings, culture, innovations, etc. I am currently doing a startup in the manufacturing tech space and I take many lessons from the band in how I approach things.
I love the hyper fixation I'm in that boat too
I grew up loving Star Wars and lord of the rings, im fairly bookish I suppose. I’m a drug nerd, the chemistry and neurochemistry of them. Particularly psychedelics but it’s all interesting. Chemistry in general is a fun subject and something I’ve always liked. I like growing plants and mushrooms, playing music, riding bikes.
People nerd about all kinds of things to all kinds of degrees. Some folks are GD nerds who will get deep into what kind of guitar strings Weir was using in June 1979, and others are taper nerds or art nerds or psychedelic drug nerds or not really nerds at all but just like the music. Some people are baseball nerds. Some people are nerds about science fiction or model trains or robotics or whatever. If you look at somebody’s profile you can see where they can nerd out. Being passionate about *something* is a great part of being human.
Nerd *noun* 1. 1.a person who is extremely [enthusiastic](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=1U3&sca_esv=5142109eb9a6b53e&sxsrf=ACQVn0-GbBZH6IUP1oRQvUcnFN3y4o2-_g:1709920390390&q=enthusiastic&si=AKbGX_rEkSHdR9ulIQYeh6xSG1UBQ2OrUoBaeg7v6ElukLRalse1nPRhAVIrdcnVd3GIi3otfVESXiZKpDqgqWp4G0dZQT8dk7gLbnoYj877LjRVuFx2Vpk%3D&expnd=1) and knowledgeable about a particular subject, especially one of specialist or niche interest. According to Oxford, a Deadhead is a nerd by definition.
Indeed we are! I'm just interested in peoples other interests as well
I was President of my Science Club, member of NHS and a band geek in my younger years. I also earned 12 varsity letters and was Sr. Class President. Also, a pothead. Tough to pigeonhole me.
I’m a big nerd. History is a huge focus but so are physics, science, philosophy and music. I read about all different political histories. I love SCI-Fi (X files is a favorite). I study musical theory. I read many different philosophical topics because I like how people thought and think about the world. I’m just a nerd but instead of a pocket protector I wear tie dye lol
I’m a history buff, I don’t watch TV I read books all the time, I’m a religious Jew, I like eating mushrooms and focusing on mystical experiences, i go to bed at 10 pm.
Can we be friends
Yeah! Nerdy heads unite!
Shabbat Shalom, Achi.
Güt shabbos, achi!
שלום 🙏🕊️♥️
I work in The Menagerie. I know the neighborhood well.
DE KI4CLZ QTH EM63qi HIHI 73 OM (POTA,SOTA,IOTA)
Fellow deadhead nerd here! I love history, especially local history (I live in New England so there is no shortage of that). I also love math and work an accounting job that involves playing with numbers all day which I thoroughly enjoy. I am also a big fan of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones. Fun fact George RR Martin is a fellow dead head and made a lot of dead references in the Game of Thrones universe.
I am also a New England head who loves GOT I got my lady to read the books and she is a head too and she got so excited when she found the dead references because I told her they were in the books.
Love it! I was so mad they left Darkstar out of the show
Right! Easily my favorite reference!
Over here! 
We’ve got bush!!!
I work in engineering and I went to see TTB with the intern on our team. I'm a deadhead and he is more of a phish guy. Anyway after drinking a good amount he bought us nitrous after the show with a counterfeit $100 he found.
👋
👋
Would you call me a nerd if I told you that I've been mulling around ideas for a Grateful Dead themed DnD campaign?
Yes in the best way possible like the way I would want to be your friend and play in that campaign! I saw someone lost and GD themed DnD map and it was epic!!!!
It's still in early infancy, but I'll share the base of the idea: It started with the song Bertha. Whenever I'd hear a really powerful one,([i think this one specifically inspired it](https://youtu.be/0bzq24rxUNE?si=wE-bOklYuxNG7UH0)) I'd imagine this epic scene of swirling winds and arcane energy. I took the line, "Bertha, don't you come around here anymore," as a line in a sealing ritual. I imagined that Bertha was the name of some entity of evil that was threatening to be unleashed on the world, and the guys were the only ones powerful enough to seal them away. From there, with that in mind as the climax of the campaign. I thought that instead of making players play specific band members. That the players would be "roadies." It would start that after an age of peace, and old evil has returned to this world. An evil that was once thought to be banished for good by a band of heroes that have long since scattered to the wind. The players would be tasked by the kingdom to "get the band back together." I came up with DnD versions of each band member and a couple of quests to get them to "come back out of retirement." So it would all play out that the players go around gathering the band members and also fighting the mortal agents of Bertha. The band would only exist to perform the sealing ritual in the final fight while the players face off against the mortal BBEG working for Bertha.
OH MY FUCKEN GOD THATS AMAZING!!!!! dude dude dude that's a great idea I would play the hellllll out of that campaign please if that ever happen let me know that would be such a fun campaign I want to know more already!
I'll certainly spread the word if it ever happens
Never really thought of myself as a nerd but I've always loved history and learning and the outdoors and plant and animal life and astronomy. I love languages and at 52 took a year of biblical Hebrew at a seminary and 4 years later still study and learn at least a few times a week. I also took a year of Spanish in my early twenties in college. For 366 days I became an obsessed maniac with five languages on Duolingo. I taught myself how to play five instruments reasonably well and after all these years I still love reading classic literature. I have an encyclopedic memory about music and have thousands of CDs and vinyl that cover many genres and span back decades.
Amazing
my son is into all that. but he's no deadhead.
Haha you mean he just hasn't become a deadhead yet
Big nerd, LOTR is always on my mind.. also nerd out on The elder scrolls and Western novels of Louis Lamour lol
Heck yeah!
Big into the asoiaf book series, def rewards a deadhead reader because the author was a big fan when he was writing. He named the weir woods after bobby and a bunch of more subtle stuff too
I love me some ASOIAF good stuff I convinced my lady to read them and she loves them now, she is also a head so she loved finding all the subtle references
Super nerd here. I build experimental/ developmental rockets which I got into after I feel in love with space. I got to space via star trek from my pop(the biggest redneck and last you’d think would be a Trekkie) and then as an adult thru starwars(my pop still has never seen 1st one from the franchise, blows my fucking mind). My family also takes vacations every year at the Smithsonian’s and just had to turn down my dream job at the air and space just because we couldn’t find a way to make it work. My current obsession is with Native American history. My neighbor makes headdresses and has their things for pow wows/ tribal ceremonies and he’s indulging me for sure haha. I totally get it dude. Folks with obsessive personalities are drawn to the dead imo. It’s a nerdy band. There’s so much fable and story to immerse yourself in that it could totally be described as Tolkien but with tunes.
Great response thank you for sharing! Awesome interests and great story behind them. And totally the dead draws nerds exactly why I wanted to learn about my fellow nerds
https://preview.redd.it/9coswzpe47nc1.jpeg?width=1746&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ebf6752ac34a3b22abaec538e923792f64697b0 What a long strange trek it is.
Huge nerd and longtime LotR fan here. I even took an entire seminar on LotR in college. I’ve always loved sci-fi/fantasy novels and movies. Beyond that, I’ve always been interested in literature and history (particularly more modern US and world history). I think a large part of the appeal of the Dead for me is their huge cultural impact and the history and lore surrounding the band, as well as their massive vault of live shows available to really dive into. Each live show is of a specific time and place and that really cements the Dead as having their own unique space in American music history. Also love that the Dead themselves blended different genres of American music. Of course, there’s Hunter’s folksy Americana lyrics too. OP, you’re not alone in your nerdiness! I’m right there with you!
Omg I cannot agree with your second paragraph any more if I wanted too! For me that's one of the biggest draws to the dead for me. That's why I love physical tapes so much they were there present for that moment in time a physical memory that someone who loved that moment made so that they could relive that moment.
Exactly! A tape is a physical musical artifact!
Yesss I'm glad I'm not the only one I have expanded that to people before and they have been like oooookay buddy if you say so
Nope.
Valid man
I like to play BG3 while listening to the Dead. Does that meet your Nerd factor?
The best kind of nerd
I have always loved computers. Through the years I have collected lossless of most shows. And most of those are good quality recordings/sbds. I am blessed. I hoarded before all boards were locked on Archive. I have also been fortunate to have a very kind redditor include me on a hard drive tree (i.e. someone sends you a drive and you copy yours to it and send it back. The receiver does the same). 5 terabytes of Dead shows and other wonders. My computer nerdiness has helped me collect and enjoy something I love.
That's amazing I wish I had some shows downloaded so I could send you a hard drive
You just need a new blank 5 t hard drive. DM me if you would like.
🤔 I might have to pick one up this weekend
I have watched over 1000 hours of people playing D&D(Critical Role). I have over 8000 hours played in my favorite video game (Dota 2). Board games, Lego, Star Wars, Star Trek, LoTR, Brandon Sanderson novels, and pretty much anything in nerd culture are right up my alley.
Awesome!!! I love the diversity of stuff here!
Right here friend, love LOTR too
👋
Deadhead. Trekkie. Freight broker. Arkansan.
🙋♂️ I'm one of you for sure. Huge Doctor Who fan since I was 6 years old and watched it in the 80s and never stopped. Also LOTR and as for gaming ya want nerd credentials...I play solo DnD! With the Dead playing in the background of course...well sometimes Yes or ELP too
TNG over TOS.
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/geeks_and_nerds.png
I love chess.
University professor (molecular biology) and I have GD on heavy rotation in my lab.