How old were you when your first GMed an RPG?
Michael Silverbane
Adventurer
I was 8.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
I was the youngest player for a number of years, so I didn't DM until mid-teens.
I don't count the adventure I wrote "City of the Underlings" and tried to run for my dad (who had no idea what an RPG was) - that was a hot mess. It lasted about 45 minutes. That would have moved it forward a few years though.
I don't count the adventure I wrote "City of the Underlings" and tried to run for my dad (who had no idea what an RPG was) - that was a hot mess. It lasted about 45 minutes. That would have moved it forward a few years though.
I was 11.
In the summer of 1986, and I was visiting my dad in New Mexico. He took me to see Red Sonja in theaters. A few weeks later we were in an Albuquerque mall and I wandered into a game store -- not a gaming store, this place specialized in high end chess sets, poker sets, and board games. But they had a display of the Mentzer Red Box D&D, and something about the Elmore cover art made me think of Red Sonja, and I practically threw a fit insisting my dad buy it.
It was a few months later, shortly after my 11th birthday, that I convinced two classmates, Jed and Josh, to play a game of D&D. They came over to my place and spent the whole weekend. My first dungeons consisted of a several rooms in linear sequence connected by hallways, with each room containing one monster and a treasure chest. There was a skeleton, an orc, and then a thoul that killed them both. We thought it was the coolest game ever and I must have run that dungeon, with no changes, at least 20 times in that weekend.
In the summer of 1986, and I was visiting my dad in New Mexico. He took me to see Red Sonja in theaters. A few weeks later we were in an Albuquerque mall and I wandered into a game store -- not a gaming store, this place specialized in high end chess sets, poker sets, and board games. But they had a display of the Mentzer Red Box D&D, and something about the Elmore cover art made me think of Red Sonja, and I practically threw a fit insisting my dad buy it.
It was a few months later, shortly after my 11th birthday, that I convinced two classmates, Jed and Josh, to play a game of D&D. They came over to my place and spent the whole weekend. My first dungeons consisted of a several rooms in linear sequence connected by hallways, with each room containing one monster and a treasure chest. There was a skeleton, an orc, and then a thoul that killed them both. We thought it was the coolest game ever and I must have run that dungeon, with no changes, at least 20 times in that weekend.
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
I was also 12, about to turn 13. Autumn of 1988, my soon to be step-brother bought me the Mentzer Red Box. My first attempt was with him playing two characters - halfling brothers named Bodor and Fodor Baggins. And he bullied me into letting Fodor be a magic-user. I later gathered a couple of friends from middle school and modeled my first world and campaign on Dragonlance, with inspirations also taken from Star Trek (I modeled the wizard tests on the Kobiyashi Maru and Wesley's Starfleet entrance exam in TNG) and sprinkles of Prydain, Narnia, The Hobbit, and Forgotten Realms.
I was 13 when my cousins introduced me and my two younger brothers to AD&D 1st Edition. That Christmas, I got the DMG, my next-oldest brother got the PHB, and my youngest brother got the MM. As the oldest, I was the DM.
And soon thereafter, we also started playing Gamma World, which I GMed as well.
Johnathan
And soon thereafter, we also started playing Gamma World, which I GMed as well.
Johnathan
GM'd ever - 8
GM'd well - 29
Long burn to develop skill.
GM'd well - 29
Long burn to develop skill.
28. I had played a bit before, but it wasn't until I bought the 5e starter set and convinced my friends to play that I DM'ed. We've played boardgames before and popular culture (Big Bang Theory, Stranger Things) meant that my friends - even the non-gamers - were familiar with/curious about the game. It went well, all things considered, and we played through LMoP.
Now I'm DM'ing ToA weekly for a different group. I still play with my regular friends but we're lucky to meet once a month and that doesn't sate my appetite for gaming.
Now I'm DM'ing ToA weekly for a different group. I still play with my regular friends but we're lucky to meet once a month and that doesn't sate my appetite for gaming.
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