How old were you when you started playing D&D?

[demiurge1138]

I had just turned 13 when I got the PHB and DMG (3rd Edition, I know, I know), and I started playing a couple weeks later.

Demiurge out.

 

[MonsterMash]

11 years old in 1977 with the White Box version of OD&D - still had Hobbits and Balrogs though.

 

[Mjollnir]

I was around 23 in 1992 with 2nd edition, so I never played the 1st one, although my game mates showed the rules of it. I had finished my studies in the university by then. So, I carry 13 years of Passion upon my shoulders

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I was 10 years old or so, which means I am coming up on my 25th anniversary.

Oddly enough, most of my D&D stuff came to me somehow second hand.

I still remember when the red boxed set turned up out of nowhere. The damn thing was so confusing I was sure there were books missing (there may have been). I know the dice were missing-- I didn't own a set of "original" light blue dice until years later.

I won a copy of the 1e DMG off a friend in high school on a bet, and I found the 1e MM left lying on the playground.

Several times I got just tons of books, entire boxes, turned over to me at once. Modules constantly came to me second hand-- I still own 2 or 3 copies of all the great classics.

I don't think I actually bought a single D&D product (except dice) until I was in college.

 

[EricNoah]

11 here; 1979 was the year, basic was the edition, human fighter was the character, B1 was the adventure, and running away from an orc was my first action.

 

[DaveMage]

This (admittedly unscientific poll) does seem to indicate that the early teenage years are the perfect time to introduce the hobby.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Oddly enough, most of my D&D stuff came to me somehow second hand.

While my basic sets were all gifts, when I started playing AD&D, most of my books were given to me by my cousin, who in turn got them from his older brother who was in the navy. My DMG, MM, FF, and a bunch of adventures came to me this way.

 

[Yraen]

How old...

I was about seventeen and was introduced to AD&D 1E, then bought 2E when it came out and began DM'ing with that.

 

[Westgate Polks]

When I was a young man

I was barely 10, and I got the original box set (with B2 and laminated cardboard chits instead of dice) from a West Los Angeles Savon Drug Store late spring of 1979 as a reward for cleaning up my room. Had my parents known then what they know now, they would have let me keep my room messy.

Let me tell you, playing D&D in 1979 & 1980 in Catholic Schools was bad for your health. My knuckles STILL haven't healed completely. However, my reading level jumped 5 grades in the first year of gaming, so there is anectodal evidence of positive benefits to playing the game.

My first character? A dwarf. The first thing I remember fighting? An orc. It sounds almost divinely ordained.

 

[Zappo]

I recall that "Eye of the Beholder III" was a new game, so I probably was around 12. It's curious how young we were when we learned the game. Especially considering that RPGs are a rather "advanced" form of entertainment. I wonder if a campaign aimed at promoting gaming as a mature thing could help.

Mature as in "mature", not as in "pr0n"...