How old were you when your first GMed an RPG?

[Ralif Redhammer]

The first game of D&D I ever played was run by an older hessian kid. But it was so far afield from the game’s actual rules that I’d have to go with self-taught. In turn I taught my twin brother to play, and from there, a few of our friends. Thus began our first gaming group.

Other than that, my family wasn’t really involved, though they appreciated that it brought an interest in reading, writing, and history. Although, I can remember my uncle reading the one bit of intro text in the red box (I think) that mentioned “your long hair blowing in the wind,” running his hand across his bald head, and chuckling.

For those of you who started as a child, did a parent or other adult relative who was already a gamer introduce you or was it from a peer or older sibling?

 

[solamon77]

I was 10 and I was terrible! I would throw any crazy thing I was interested in at the time into my games. But we all still had a great time and it led to a lifetime of love for the game!

 

[EthanSental]

17 in 1987

 

[fjw70]

I was 12. How about you?

Ditto

 

[Nytmare]

I was nine, but we didn't make it much past the first text block before my cousin got bored and wanted to play ColecoVision instead.

I was first introduced to D&D by my father, who bought the red box, but never figured out how to play. A summer or two later, there was an activity camp I was a part of that started offering a D&D "class" and that's where I learned how to play.

 

[CrimsonCarcharodon]

I was 12 and ran the adventure out of the D&D 3.0 Adventure Box, or whatever the starter set was called back in 3.0. My Dad had run the adventure for me a few days before and I immediately wanted to teach the game to my friends.

Sixteen years later and I'm still running games far more than I play.

 

[Chad Hooper]

15 going on 16, Spring of 1982. Three friends and I had been playing the Dungeon! board game for a while, and I'd heard of D&D only because my grandmother was a staunch fan of the 700 Club. I was in her living room one day (late '81) and heard one of the old guys on the show saying how "we have to be watchful with Christmas coming up, for Dungeons & Dragons sets under the tree...". I thought to myself, well, they're always bagging on the bands I like, maybe I'd dig this game. Started with sickly Mind Flayer colored Basic boxed set, DMing self-taught right off the bat, running first the Caves of Chaos but shortly thereafter I started writing my own adventures. I moved up to AD&D in '84 and 2E in '89-90.

 

[Henry]

I was 12. How about you?

Picked up the Moldvay box with the Erol Otus cover the month after I turned 10, along with a printing of White Plume Mountain (because at 10 years old I had no flippin’ idea that the basic and AD&D rules were incompatible.) About 3 or 4 months later I was DMing White Plume Mountain, for some family members using 1st level characters, with barely any rules and no dice. Believe it or not it went better than you would expect, because so much of that is a puzzle dungeon.

Actual DMing using most of the rules and actual dice came a couple of years later.

 

[aramis erak]

I was 10. I was introduced to D&D at a slumber party in 1982. We were too young to pay all that much attention to the rules so for a couple years we played a weird melange of AD&D and BECMI.

A lot of us did, year dependant being BX or BECMI with AD&D1. In that year, tho, it's more likely BX, rather than BECMI... as Frank Mentzer's edition is copyright 1983. The AD&D MM worked pretty well with BX, and far better with BECMI, as long as you got to the companion set.

For those of you who started as a child, did a parent or other adult relative who was already a gamer introduce you or was it from a peer or older sibling?

Peers. I knew some adults who gamed, but they didn't game with the kids I knew who gamed. I knew of HS kids who gamed, but didn't game with them, either.

I was invited by John W and by Aaron G to Andrew F's game, with Brian W and Brice W also there...

 

[Ranthalan]

A lot of us did, year dependant being BX or BECMI with AD&D1. In that year, tho, it's more likely BX, rather than BECMI...

It was definitely BX, I just hadn't heard that term until now. I still have my red box Basic with Erol Otis cover. (I actually worked with Erol on a PC video game back in the 90's. Good guy. Signed all our D&D stuff.)