"Gateway Drug"

[Walking Paradox]

Most people started out playing RPGs when they discovered D&D. It's almost a ritual on gaming forums, to brag about which edition of D&D you started playing. I am surprised at how many people who put the "box set with the red cover" as their introductory edition. (It's a little depressing, because it means that so many people using these forums are old; I wonder where all the 20-something gamers are these days.)

What I am wondering here is what was it that made people stumble upon other RPGs, and made them want to keep playing them. To me, having played many non-D&D RPGs is what marks someone as a "hard core gamer." So, what was your first non-D&D RPG and what made you start playing it?

For my part, I can't even remember if it was Gamma World or Rolemaster. I loved the premise of Gamma World and I bought the second edition boxed set after reading about it in TSR's catalogs. Rolemaster was more or less the same deal; I read their page 3 ads in various issues of Dragon magazine and liked what I read. I slowly got all the books and gave it a go.

 

[delericho]

What I am wondering here is what was it that made people stumble upon other RPGs, and made them want to keep playing them. To me, having played many non-D&D RPGs is what marks someone as a "hard core gamer." So, what was your first non-D&D RPG and what made you start playing it?

Star Wars RPG (d6, first edition), then Shadowrun (1st Edition), the Vampire: the Masquerade (2nd Edition).

The first was because my brother wanted to start running games, didn't want to run the same game I did, and so went to the FLGS. Plus, it's Star Wars!

The second was because my first DM came back to visit the school and ran a couple of sessions.

The third was when I went to university. After a year out of gaming, I tracked down the gaming society. VtM was the only game that had open spaces, so that was what I played. Another very good game run by a very good Storyteller. (Bit of a weakness in the club, though, in only having one game with open spots. What if other people had wanted to join - were they going to turn them away?)

 

[Ahnehnois]

Call of Cthulhu d20 was probably the first one. It's a fairly straight line from seeing the influence on D&D, reading some Lovecraft and checking out the game. Very rewarding experience, broadened my understanding of the game considerably and influenced my D&D games since (to my players' chagrin).

First non-d20 game was the BSG rpg. Again, the hook was the source material, but I found the game system offered something different as well.

 

[Cor_Malek]

DnD wasn't actually a gateway drug for me, the stuff that I started with was Rolemaster (MERP), while most of my first group started with one of the other LoTR games (because of publishing delay + title translation, I'm not sure which one it was), and then transitioned to MERP. I regard Talisman as what got me into RPG's in the first place though.
But! I was on the lookout for talisman, and consequently MERP because I was already intrigued by depictions of DnD in popular culture. So maybe DnD was my gateway drug afterall - neatly disguised as a candy handed by a stranger, after which I craved the substance it offered
(I tend to dig too deeply into metaphors.)

By the time I even noticed DnD, it was already in 3.5, not even 3e version. I played the system that I was introduced to by my group, and though we experimented with other systems - we didn't really see the need to look for different FRPG system frame. After a time, our GM didn't have enough time to lead the games, and the player who stepped up - wanted to use 3.5, to which we said "K, whatever". It was a lot different than the Rolemaster and to bigger or lesser extent we switched to it.

That's the big secret behind our transitions, as well as any system we used episodically, like Call of C'thulhu or Fallout RPG: "k, I'm stepping down. Anyone wants to DM? Sweet, what system?".
Similar later: "Hey you guys like RPG's too? How about we get together to play? Anyone wants to GM? Sweet, what system?"
Surprising number of people in my field play/played RPG's, so the line above often is redundant, as it sometimes amounts to "Hey, I wanted to DM [system] - anyone wants to join?".

As to older players - I get anything but depressed. It a) shows how many long-term players you can get if you reach out with RPG's b) creates new, a lot better generation of players - their kids. First games and DM's they'll ever face will be extremely competent and set on maximum fun, thus maximizing the number of those who get hooked-up.

 

[WHW4]

Well, I haven't technically been playing all that long, but it feels like I have. Picked up 3.5 oh... almost seven years ago. I played that with my then soon-to-be father-in-law's group for a good while, then he (being an avid collector of random games/accessories) saw how much I loved D&D and broke out his showbox full of Traveller LBBs.

My eyes lit the hell up. You mean there is not only an RPG in space, but it's 30 years old?! I had so much fun poring through those books, and was whalloped by the use of a different core mechanic. That's when sparks started going off. That was truly when I became a "gamer" I think. I started to look at the game in a couple different ways, with an eye at flavor AND mechanics. I sudden;y realized you could take this and add that, get rid of this clunky piece and voila! You got something new!

It was an epiphine of sorts. I guess the best analogy would be if you suddenly discovered you could use Monopoly pieces for your game of Battleship, and then immediately wondered why you never did that before.

 

[IronWolf]

Twilight 2000 was my first non-D&D RPG. I was drawn to it because of the post nuclear war element and more modern military feel at the time.

 

[Dausuul]

For me, I believe Vampire: The Masquerade was the first non-D&D RPG I actually played. I had a bunch of Shadowrun books but pretty much never got to use 'em.

 

[the Jester]

So, what was your first non-D&D RPG and what made you start playing it?

I'm pretty sure it was Gamma World, which drew me in with the prospect of playing a man-sized mutated earthworm.

Second and third of my non-D&D RPG experience were Star Frontiers and Top Secret, but I wouldn't swear to the order.

 

[Stormonu]

(It's a little depressing, because it means that so many people using these forums are old; I wonder where all the 20-something gamers are these days.)

Actually, they're probably on the Wizards forums...and we're not old, just a bit "matured".

As for my first non-D&D game, I believe it was Gamma World or Star Frontiers; one of my friends had Gamma World and the other had Star Frontiers and I seem to remember playing them about the same time, for a short bit.

Marvel Super Heroes was the first one I played long-term.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Traveller. About an hour after my first exposure to D&D. Which was a good thing as that short bit of playing D&D went south as far as I was concerned. I wasn't especially enamored with the short Traveller experience either (Yes, my character died at the end of the creation process!), but between the two I was hooked on the idea or role playing games.