Topic: How and when did the RPG bug bite

[gandalf970]

I was thinking back to when and how I started roleplaying and wanted to see how everyone else's started. 

I was in 6th grade and (35 years ago 1979) had some extra credit class I had to attend.  My mother didn't get off work until 7 PM so I had to hang around our small midwestern town until she could come get me.  There was a video store was near there where you could hang out and drink pop.

I was in the store when I seen about three kids go into the back room.  I just watched when an older guy about 45 came walking in with a bundle of rolled maps and a red binder with a dragon on the cover.  He looked over at me and said "Are you here to play"?  I said I didn't know what he was talking about and he said "Come on we are one player short, I will teach you the rules". 

So I followed him and there were three older kids and a table.  He rolled out this paper bag that he had cut so it was flat and burnt the edges.  There was a map written with charcoal on it of mountains and such.  I just stared at it. 

Now I had read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit as well as the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe so I had an idea about fantasy and maps.  He asked me what I wanted to play and explained a little bit about what we were doing.  I told him I wanted to play a hafling thief.  We were playing AD&D..

I jumped right in and the group laughed and we had fun.  I stole some stuff from the other players and they tried to punish me, but the DM wouldn't because their characters didn't know.  We went on an adventure into an ogre cave and they all died except for me.  They told me I should have backstabbed the ogre and saved them.  I told them I was afraid of ogres.  I grabbed the largest bag I could see and ran back to town.

After the game everyone left and the DM looked at me and said "Never fall under pressure from other players and always play your character".  I must have talked about the Hobbit a lot.  Because when I looked in the bag it had a ring of invisibility and a +1 Short Sword.  I was amped.

We played every other day after school until my mom caught on that I didn't have all this extra credit.  She still let me play and then finally bought me the red box and my sister bought me the AD&D books for Christmas.

The rest is history.

[markc]

 I started back in 79' also. My cousin took me to a mini-con at his local game store in which I played a D&D magic user. He passed away because he attacked something with his dagger after casting his spell; (Hay I saw everyone else attacking things that were attacking them so I did the same, ). It was the first room.
 I got a pair of dice (white dice with devil faces for 1's, now just white cubes as the ink is almost all gone for all of the numbers and the faces wore off long ago),  for for best new player as everyone was amazed (terrified) when I did such an unusual thing as attacking with a weapon.


I picked up both blue box and AD&D at the same time as I had the $ as I was a working man with a paper route.


I think I was exposed to MERP and RM2 in 83-85 somewhere and since we had started down the road of mainly using house rules we did not play any strait core game system after that. The main one we played as is was Shadowrun and maybe 1-2 day max Battle Tech games strait out of the box.


MDC


BTW, I also won another award at a con for doing almost the exact same thing, attacking a foe head on with a female thief who no one wanted to play. I ended up wining the gaming con that year because of that PC and game.

[jdale]

My dad gave me D&D, the boxed set with the blue cover, before they labeled it "basic set", with The Keep On The Borderlands (released in... 1979... a common thread here?). He also introduced me to the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, etc. He wasn't a gamer but I guess he thought I would enjoy it. I was... maybe 10? If that. We were terrible munchkins and there are many things we didn't understand about the rules, or flat out got wrong -- we didn't have anyone to mentor us, just the books -- but it got me started. Many other games followed, including MERP and RM. Not to mention Traveller, Car Wars, Battletech, Villains and Vigilantes, GURPS.... 

[gandalf970]

We were terrible munchkins and there are many things we didn't understand about the rules, or flat out got wrong -- we didn't have anyone to mentor us, just the books -- but it got me started. Many other games followed, including MERP and RM. Not to mention Traveller, Car Wars, Battletech, Villains and Vigilantes, GURPS.... 

jdale wow that brings back some memories.  One of the funny things I remember is getting the Red Box and Blue Box.  We played the hell out of them with my best friend.  He would play a band of hobbits and of course they were all named Frodo, then Odo, then Bodo etc.  Well my sister bought me the AD&D books and it drove me absolutely insane as I couldn't understand that the Basic and Expert rules didn't work with AD&D as I didn't have no one to explain this to me.

Villains and Vigilantes, what a game!  Then we played some Warhammer which I thought was pretty revolutionary at the time.  In the 80's I joined the service and was stationed in Huntsville Alabama.  I found a local store and bought Palladium.  Well the cover was all black with a red pentagram and some other runes on this (I found out later that this was pulled and changed to the red dragon with knight).  I was in a laundromat reading it and some lady walked up to me and told me I shouldn't read that devil worship stuff and forgave me of my sins.

Good stroll down memory lane.

[DangerMan]

My uncle gave me a Norwegian translation of some basic D&D books when I was ten (1990). I had a friend who was willing to be the DM. Don't remember how or if we ever really got into the rules, but it was not my uncle teaching us. He died later when I was sixteen and I don't remember ever learning if he was a gamer himself, or not.

[Cory Magel]

Well, I was starting to dabble in things leading into it as early as 1979, but it was really 1982 that we started actually playing D&D.

It was my last month in Grade School and they send you up to the Jr High to shadow a student for a day.  We were sitting in "Introduction to Foreign Languages" and the guy I was with said "You're going to be bored to death in this class, here's a magazine to read." and it was a Dragon Magazine.

Went out and bought the D&D Red Box set that summer and would run groups of 4-8 fairly consistently from there onto 2nd Ed D&D, then MERP, and finally RMSS.  (That's the short version).

One of our standard group members today is still one of those guys from the summer of '83 (we met when we were in 2nd grade)... pretty much a brother in all but blood.  Most the rest of the group is from the 80's and a couple from the 90's.  So our newest group member has been with us for almost 20 years I think?

[gandalf970]

One of our standard group members today is still one of those guys from the summer of '83 (we met when we were in 2nd grade)... pretty much a brother in all but blood.  Most the rest of the group is from the 80's and a couple from the 90's.  So our newest group member has been with us for almost 20 years I think?

@Cory I have a friend who started with me gaming and is still my best friend today.  We play every Friday night and have been for 30 years.  It is amazing to me how role playing can bring people together.  What was your first session like after reading Dragon magazine?  Did you DM, what was the party composition, what was the adventure if you remember.

[markc]

I think I still have Dragon #19 around in a box some where. But yes I use stuff in the Dragon as inspiration and just flat out of the book when I was younger. I did not really get into Dungeon at all as I tended to buy the big supplements and create my own adventures.
MDC

[BeggarKing (Thomas)]

I was introduced by older friends when I was in third grade, was fascinated by the miniatures but didn't really get it until I jumped in myself with the bluebox sometime later in the early 80s. Had a hard time finding other players and for years just read modules and books by myself. Early high school an acquaintance put together a group to play RM. I played a Magician but itched for the Vancian cantrip-like variety of mages that I had read about - moved to Archmage when RMC1 came out and I've been totally hooked ever since. Started DMing myself shortly thereafter.

Like other folks here mentioned I've remained fairly close to other people I've gamed with - still count that highschool group as "close friends" years later.

[intothatdarkness]

It was around 1979-1980. I'd been reading the James Bond novels and such (yeah...got into that early), and one of my friends said that he'd seen a game that could copy the novels. Turns out it was the first edition of Top Secret. For some reason he didn't want to use the included module, so we ended up running in this badly-drawn street map with all sorts of oddness and fumbling as we worked through the rules (or rather he did...he was one of those GMs who don't want you reading the rules). The whole team ended up getting shot to death in the walk-in cooler of a bakery if I remember right, but I thought the rules were fascinating. The next week I talked my way into a copy of the game, and never looked back. I still have my second TS character somewhere...he managed to 'survive' many years and many missions. Actually wrote a couple of Dragon articles for TS, but gave up on the system when TS/SI came out.

I didn't actually play D&D until around 1983 or so...went through Gamma World, Boot Hill, Star Trek (both Federation and Klingon variations), and Gangbusters before that. Boot Hill and Gangbusters were special favorites, and Boot Hill first got me into system customization (redoing their firearms system). Then the James Bond RPG hit...

I also started GMing early. We moved a lot, and it was easier to introduce people to games if you could run one. Also, that first experience left me with a desire to actually understand the rules before playing, and being a GM is one of the better ways to do that (if you're doing it right, of course).

[Cory Magel]

What was your first session like after reading Dragon magazine?  Did you DM, what was the party composition, what was the adventure if you remember.

Wow, I don't remember a whole lot.  Someone else (we ran into over the summer at a game store) GM'd.  I know we had a pretty typical group.  Couple Warriors, a Thief, a Mage, and a Cleric.  I remember almost nothing of the adventure, I think our early sessions were some of the classic modules (along the lines of Tomb of Horrors, etc).  We've had three primary GM's over the years.  The group has expanded and split (due to sheer size) a couple times over the years.  I think one night we had 12 people playing 2nd Ed D&D.  Took like half an hour for a round.  RM I think five to six players is a good target.  Six is nice for group make-up, but starts pushing the boundaries of time.

We played a huge range of stuff over the years.  Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Car Wars, Rifts, Cyberpunk, BattleTech/Mechwarrior, GURPS, and I'm sure I'm missing some.  But mainly we went from Basic, to AD&D, to 2nd Ed AD&D, started working RM stuff into 2nd Ed AD&D (probably reworked about 50% of the system), then in the early 90's we actively went looking for a better system and moved to MERP for one campaign, then took a long look at RM2 and RMSS right when RMSS was coming out and went with RMSS since it's better organized and we knew we could easily convert stuff from RM2 over.  Been playing it, or home brew variations based on it, since.  A couple of the guys have had an itch for D&D lately, and if they wanted to play 2nd Ed I wouldn't mind, but they want to try the 3.5/Pathfinder stuff... and I just think if I want simple and basic, that's D&D (and pre-3.0 D&D if you ask me).  If I want detailed and advanced, I want RM.  And I really don't want simple and basic anymore, that's why we stopped playing D&D.  I've agreed to play, because really 50% of the reason we do is the social thing, but I'm not expecting to be wow'd.  I think they are getting nostalgic.  Hopefully they'll get over it.

[tbigness]

I started off playing a dungeon crawl game that had rules in a note book. Concept was to pick a class and a figurine. The class was what determined your skills and the figure determined what you had (weapon, armor, items). There was no limit on spells or anything, it was college rules game my friends brother brought home. From there I got into the blue D&D book before the Basic and Advanced books which came next in 79'. We came across MERP books for adventures and transitioned to the rules but picked up RM in 82'. I was in a roleplaying club in high school and played car wars, traveller, RM, Villians &Vigilantes, and Marvel Heroes. I joined the Army and picked up DC Heroes, Space Opera, RM2, and a slew of others. When RMSS came out I picked it up and ran with it ever since.

[arakish]

My dad gave me D&D, the boxed set with the blue cover, before they labeled it "basic set"...

This is what got me first started back in 1973.  Then it really hit in 1974 when my parents bought me the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master Manual for my birthday.  Later that year, I talked them into buying other DnD stuff for Christmas.

Basically, I am celebrating my 40th anniversary of RPGing.

Play On!

rmfr

[JohnK]

I started with ICE's Lord of the Rings adventure game in 1997 and got thrilled right from the beginning . After one or two months jumped to MERP and stayed there for some years. Then to RolemasterSS.
I had never heard of role-playing until the day when passing by in front of hobby store in Thessaloniki(Greece) and saw the Hobbit board game. I rushed inside and the owner of the hobby store gave me a catalog of ICE that touched some sensitive chords since I had just read the Lord of the Rings and felt still enchanted from Tolkien's imagination.
I GMed two groups (friends and my two brothers) and we had none to introduce us to gaming. Certain books helped a lot and I haven't met anyone around here (northern Greece) that plays Rolemaster.
Never played D&D also.

[gandalf970]

It is so fascinating to me how all of us have that same excitement and love of the hobby.  We are passionate about fantasy and vividly remember moments in our gaming career that push us to the next.  I played so many systems after I joined the Army as we had so much down time with no money.

Warhammer, Palladium, Villains & Vigilante's, Gamma World, Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Star Frontiers, Mech Warrior, Every type of D&D and so on.

[arakish]

I played so many systems after I joined the Army as we had so much down time with no money.

Mine was while I was in the Navy during our down times between missions.  I played so many different systems I have no hope of remembering them all.  Perhaps if I had a year to try, I might get close to listing them all.  However, almost all systems listed here I have at least dabbled in, if not played with fervor.

One I don't see listed here and we still play is Star Fleet Battles.

rmfr

[RandalThor]

Basically, I am celebrating my 40th anniversary of RPGing.

That is pretty-much where I am at, except it was my eldest-older brother (I have 2 older brothers) and it was around '75 or '76, so I am real close to my 40-year anniversary with gaming. (What is that Ruby? Sapphire? Platinum? I just need to know what I should expect from my players.... heh. What I really expect is them trying to run all over any plot I put together...  )

I don't game with any of the people I started with, largely due to not living in the same place, heck I am 5 moves past that (not including all the traveling I did in the Marine Corps); though one of my original gaming buddies has died. The people I am gaming with now I have only gamed with for 6-9 months now (which is the longest running time frame in the last 15-20 years), though one of them just died recently. You know you are an old gamer when...

[dkenady]

1980, My freshman year in college.  I was walking around to common area when I spied a group of people playing AD&D.  I watched a little bit and asked what they were doing.  They told me and asked If I wanted to join in.  I said sure. 

Then in 1985 a new shop opened up called Hexworld in Austin TX.  Run by David Ladyman.  It was a gaming room where you could come and play games with other gamers.  I found a group of people there and we started hanging out.  Then one one asked if we ever played Rolemaster?  So we started playing RM2.  that group stayed together for a good 20 years, playing Rolemaster Together

[yammahoper]

Ya know, this delightful topic has come up before.  To bad the old forums from early 2000-ish are gone.  I believe we are on the third database/whatchamacallit forum?   

Late 1980, I was 11.  The game was Tunnels and Trolls. 

I started that year in sixth grade at West Ottawa Middle School.  This school was fairly cutting edge for the day.  One of it's best features was mini-courses.  Mini courses were two week long courses that were attended Tuesday-Friday during last hour (seventh hour).  Monday we went our classes and on Tuesday-Friday they would rotate (if you had math for seventh hour Monday, you would have it Tuesday also and miss it, but come Wednesday Math would be your 1st hour course...followed by Communications, Gym, Science, Social Studies, then either shop, art, home economics or music lab for a semester, and then back to Math).  Mini Courses were signed up for the first week of school.  A booklet with a list of all course was provided.  Needless to say, I couldn't pass up on a course called TUNNELS AND TROLLS.

The course was hosted by a 7th grade science teacher, Ms. Plakke.  We were split into tables, told the idea behind the game, handed a rule book per table and asked to pick a GM.  One group knew DnD and started gaming.  The rest of us flipped through the rules and picked a GM, followed by making a PC on a 3.5" card.  With Jeff Visser as GM, our party (looking back, a horrible mixture of ineptitude completely bereft of the slightest min maxing) consisted on an Elf, a fairy, a Leprauchan, a Human and my dwarf.  Soon the human and I would be paste from a rolling rock trap and I would be hooked to ttrpg's.

I took the rulebook home for the weekend and ran my brothers and best friend through the small tunnel complex included in the rule book.  Munchkins we were.  I borrowed every solo module Plakke had and when the weather got warm enough, was on my bike and headed into town to peruse the hobby store shelves.  I came home with box sets of Top Secret, Gamma World and Star Frontiers.  Next year would lead to Runequest, which became our system of choice until MERP arrived.  This was the middle of the 80's, a time when a new game system seem to hit the scene every other month, and we played most of them.  I found RM, the 1st edition AL and SL with CL in a single bundle being sold at a computer store on consignment by a local college kid.  I had wanted RM for a while and snatched up everything for $25.

Dedicated RM GM every since.

[Alten]

Junior High... It was the year E.T. was released. They played this strange game in the movie (and the novelization), and I had just discovered Lord of the Rings, and then I met someone who actually knew what the game was about, and it snowballed from there...