How were you first introduced to D&D?
- Thread starter Jabba Von Hutt
- Start date
Voadam
Legend
My parents bought me the red book basic rules boxed set with the erol otus art and Keep on the Borderlands when I was a little kid.
I had really been into Middle Ages, Myths, and when I was much littler, Droofus the Dragon. I learned from reading that red book rule set. A bunch of my friends got into D&D around the same time and were playing but I didn't know that until a bit after getting and reading the rules.
I had really been into Middle Ages, Myths, and when I was much littler, Droofus the Dragon. I learned from reading that red book rule set. A bunch of my friends got into D&D around the same time and were playing but I didn't know that until a bit after getting and reading the rules.
Shemeska
Adventurer
Formally introduced by Clueless back in 2000, because she had a 3e PHB in her dorm room. Prior to that, I'd gone through attempted character creation for a (I think) 2e game back in 1996 but it never got off the ground because the DM tried to kill himself and got suspended, and Doom 2 deathmatching ate up our attention spans. I'd also devoured those cheesy Endless Quest D&D inspired kids books back in the 80s, so while it's not playing D&D, I'd been exposed to it and the ideas therein rather handily already.
Ydars
Explorer
I actually started roleplaying with Tunnels and Trolls in 1985! I still think it is a great game; mechanically SO simple for DM and players.
I learnt from another Gamer, who also learnt from other gamers. My first character was Feni the Strong and we played a "killer dungeon" where you were lucky to last 4 rooms without dying, but what a rush opening every door was.
Picked up the red box OD&D basic set about the same year and started playing it but never really got into D&D much back then; most of my friends didn't like it. Indeed, I never really met many people in my area of the UK (Tunbridge Wells in Kent) who did like D&D back then. We played Traveller, Tunnels and Trolls, Gamma World, Lords of Creation, Dragon Warriors and Palladium mostly.
It was when 3.5E came out that roleplaying started to equate with D&D, and I really got into it but I must admit that now, other games are starting to interest me again, like Ars Magica and Exalted.
4E is great though, its just that in terms of philosophy, whilst 4E is quite different from 3.5E, it is still comparable. Exalted and Ars Magica are completely "out there" compared to D&D, in terms of game philosophy and I find they are very refreshing.
I learnt from another Gamer, who also learnt from other gamers. My first character was Feni the Strong and we played a "killer dungeon" where you were lucky to last 4 rooms without dying, but what a rush opening every door was.
Picked up the red box OD&D basic set about the same year and started playing it but never really got into D&D much back then; most of my friends didn't like it. Indeed, I never really met many people in my area of the UK (Tunbridge Wells in Kent) who did like D&D back then. We played Traveller, Tunnels and Trolls, Gamma World, Lords of Creation, Dragon Warriors and Palladium mostly.
It was when 3.5E came out that roleplaying started to equate with D&D, and I really got into it but I must admit that now, other games are starting to interest me again, like Ars Magica and Exalted.
4E is great though, its just that in terms of philosophy, whilst 4E is quite different from 3.5E, it is still comparable. Exalted and Ars Magica are completely "out there" compared to D&D, in terms of game philosophy and I find they are very refreshing.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I'd played Fighting Fantasy books (including the quasi-RPG Riddling Reaver) and Kai/Magnakai books before AD&D, as well as complex tactical wargames (particularly Adeptus Titanicus).
1) I heard about AD&D from a new friend when I went to secondary school. He described it and it sounded totally awesome.
2) My brother and I went to buy it from Games Workshop (ah, those were the days), and picked up the books we presumed were necessary, the 2E PHB, DMG and Forgotten Realms Adventures, not realizing the need for the MC.
3) We read the rules and were confused by much of them, and particularly by the lack of monsters in the DMG (where else would they be?) or what stats they needed. We also didn't "get" how you were supposed to write an adventure, or what it should contain.
4) About a week later, a second cousin of ours from Canada arrived, just passing through London. She turned out to be a big AD&D player, and explained the rules and concepts to us, and what stats a monster had (and that we needed the MC), and wrote and ran a really awesome Forgotten Realms adventure for our Speciality Priests of Torm and er that Thief god (because LN and N can work together, neh?), which featured traps, magic, and all sorts of crazy excitement.
5) Learning from that, I was able to write and run my own adventure within a week, and the rest is history, as they say.
I didn't come across "red box" D&D until later, and my friend who told me about D&D turned out to be a 1E player and very snooty about 2E (he'd been taught to play by an older relative), though in the end he was one of my keenest players.
1) I heard about AD&D from a new friend when I went to secondary school. He described it and it sounded totally awesome.
2) My brother and I went to buy it from Games Workshop (ah, those were the days), and picked up the books we presumed were necessary, the 2E PHB, DMG and Forgotten Realms Adventures, not realizing the need for the MC.
3) We read the rules and were confused by much of them, and particularly by the lack of monsters in the DMG (where else would they be?) or what stats they needed. We also didn't "get" how you were supposed to write an adventure, or what it should contain.
4) About a week later, a second cousin of ours from Canada arrived, just passing through London. She turned out to be a big AD&D player, and explained the rules and concepts to us, and what stats a monster had (and that we needed the MC), and wrote and ran a really awesome Forgotten Realms adventure for our Speciality Priests of Torm and er that Thief god (because LN and N can work together, neh?), which featured traps, magic, and all sorts of crazy excitement.
5) Learning from that, I was able to write and run my own adventure within a week, and the rest is history, as they say.
I didn't come across "red box" D&D until later, and my friend who told me about D&D turned out to be a 1E player and very snooty about 2E (he'd been taught to play by an older relative), though in the end he was one of my keenest players.
jmucchiello
Hero
I remember well the discussion between my mother and myself when after spotting the game in the local bookstore. She didn't want to buy me something with all those books (1e phb, 1e dmg, 1e mm, and modules) and countered with those being part of a different game, the D&D game is just this red basic box (the other red box, not the one pictured above) and blue expert box. I wouldn't need all that other stuff. So she bought my malarkey and soon I was buying issues of Dragon (#63 was the first non-back issue I bought) and modules and hardcover books.
No one I knew played initially so I was self-taught, playing through dungeons with my little sister and her stuffed animals. (Pooh the Dorf!)
No one I knew played initially so I was self-taught, playing through dungeons with my little sister and her stuffed animals. (Pooh the Dorf!)
Wik
First Post
My dad needed a player.
I was five, we had just moved to Toronto, and my dad had all these 1e books (he had started in '78 or so, because he had eight brothers, and the family didn't have much money. But if you buy one game that'll keep 'em all occupied....)
So, we made up characters, one each, and ran them through the solo dungeon rules found in the 1e DMG. Something I still love, and was so glad Paizo reprinted them in the dragon compendium. He would describe to me what it was we were seeing, and he made sure to re-roll things till we got the good treasure or fought the perfect badguy. It was very munchkin, but I was five. I loved it.
My first RL gaming group was much later. I was about ten or so, and I'd been D&Ding with my dad for a few years (though it slowed down when he found some military buddies that also played... but he did take me to the guy's house a few times, to show off the dude's massive mini's collection). Anyways, I met a few friends in fifth grade, and we started playing Basic D&D (the red box collection, though I don't remember this adventure in the DM's set?) I remember running the isle of dread, and the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, both from my dad's gaming collection... even though they were for different versions of the game.
From there, we tried out shadowrun (in grade five!), and battletech. By eighth grade, I had something like ten different games on my best. When the M:tG craze hit around then, I was able to play with players, beat them soundly (with a cheaper deck, only because I knew the rules and how these games worked better than they did), and quickly and quietly convert them to a non-D&D RPG.
(If you say "It's dungeons and dragons", people have instant associations. I quickly found that by saying "it's this new game I made up", and then running D&D from memory and a few notes, I could get people in on it, no problem. I even got two "popular" girls turn me down to a D&D game, and then, the next week, play my "new game", and LOVE IT. Funny stuff, junior high...)
I was five, we had just moved to Toronto, and my dad had all these 1e books (he had started in '78 or so, because he had eight brothers, and the family didn't have much money. But if you buy one game that'll keep 'em all occupied....)
So, we made up characters, one each, and ran them through the solo dungeon rules found in the 1e DMG. Something I still love, and was so glad Paizo reprinted them in the dragon compendium. He would describe to me what it was we were seeing, and he made sure to re-roll things till we got the good treasure or fought the perfect badguy. It was very munchkin, but I was five. I loved it.
My first RL gaming group was much later. I was about ten or so, and I'd been D&Ding with my dad for a few years (though it slowed down when he found some military buddies that also played... but he did take me to the guy's house a few times, to show off the dude's massive mini's collection). Anyways, I met a few friends in fifth grade, and we started playing Basic D&D (the red box collection, though I don't remember this adventure in the DM's set?) I remember running the isle of dread, and the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, both from my dad's gaming collection... even though they were for different versions of the game.
From there, we tried out shadowrun (in grade five!), and battletech. By eighth grade, I had something like ten different games on my best. When the M:tG craze hit around then, I was able to play with players, beat them soundly (with a cheaper deck, only because I knew the rules and how these games worked better than they did), and quickly and quietly convert them to a non-D&D RPG.
(If you say "It's dungeons and dragons", people have instant associations. I quickly found that by saying "it's this new game I made up", and then running D&D from memory and a few notes, I could get people in on it, no problem. I even got two "popular" girls turn me down to a D&D game, and then, the next week, play my "new game", and LOVE IT. Funny stuff, junior high...)
JDJblatherings
First Post
I saw the first basic set and a bunch of metal figures at a hobby shop sometime in the late 70's. there were also a couple of copies of the original boxed set and afew supplements. I was already playing wargames and had seen miniatures wargames beign played. I bought the basic set and 4 packs of miniatures (1 dwarven command, 1 dwarven warriors, 1 goblin command, 1 goblin wolf riders) figuring I might be able to cobble together a small game with those miniatures...boy was I surprised when I opened the box, I was floored and amazed.
I played for about 2 or 3 years as the guy who introduced other people to D&D before I started bumping into other people who discovered the game on their own so It was up to me to learn how to play and teach other folks to play at age 11 or so.
I regualrly DM'd for a goup in their 20's and 30's most of whom had played a Wargame or two but had no foreknowldege of D&D.
I played for about 2 or 3 years as the guy who introduced other people to D&D before I started bumping into other people who discovered the game on their own so It was up to me to learn how to play and teach other folks to play at age 11 or so.
I regualrly DM'd for a goup in their 20's and 30's most of whom had played a Wargame or two but had no foreknowldege of D&D.
tankschmidt
Explorer
Jabba Von Hutt said:
After reading over the posts in this thread so far, I'd say you're pretty far from the mark.
I started with the 1991 Black Box. I "read the rules" and invited my friends over to play. Did we play with 100% of the rules as written in the book? Heck no! And as time passed, we grabbed rules from AD&D 1st edition books we found in the library and someone finally bought the AD&D 2nd edition books and we threw those into the mix as well. A quote from Jeff's Gameblog about how his friends got started playing D&D explains my group's history perfectly (and thousands of others, I am sure):
Jeff's Gameblog said:
Link: http://jrients.blogspot.com/2008/05/d-toolbox.html
That's just how our generation learned to play! Unfortunately, there's really nothing like that today. I mean, the 3.x basic set was a real stinkfest, and even though I've been playing D&D for 17 years, I couldn't help but get a headache when I got to page 29 of the 4E PHB.
When I was about 8, I had some friends who were 5 years older and first got me into gaming- I remember watching them play 2e 40K, playing through the Fighting Fantasy books they lent me, and being taken through an abortive campaign that (with hindsight) was d20 modern before it existed- I remember the 6 stats rolled 3d6 down the line, a 20-sided die, and a modern setting- there were ninjas and my character had a revolver.
Fast-forward to when I'm 11 or 12. Warhammer (40K 3e) is becoming a craze at my school. Most people just collect the models, but a few play. I find a copy of Gorkamorka at a house we rent for the holidays, so end up collecting some Orks.
In my last year at that school (I'm now 13), people switch to playing WHFB (6e), as we think the rules are better.
New school, I find some Warhammer players, and we hang around after school in a classroom playing short games (over 1000 points and you'd never finish). Then one of these guys (we're now 14) turns out to have some interest in RPGs, and shows me WFRP. That was the first RPG I properly played (and soon learned how to run).
We get a group together out of some of the WFB/40K players, and run several short campaigns, including WFRP, L5R, and even a disastrous attempt to play Paranoia! L5R is our main game- the guy who introduced me to WFRP is something of a Japanophile. While browsing an L5R forum, I get introduced to Order of the Stick. I think "this game looks fun". I download the SRD, and then pick up a second-hand PHB.
GAME ON.
So in short, I was introduced to gaming by Fighting Fantasy, to RPGs by WFRP, and to D&D by the Order of the Stick!
Fast-forward to when I'm 11 or 12. Warhammer (40K 3e) is becoming a craze at my school. Most people just collect the models, but a few play. I find a copy of Gorkamorka at a house we rent for the holidays, so end up collecting some Orks.
In my last year at that school (I'm now 13), people switch to playing WHFB (6e), as we think the rules are better.
New school, I find some Warhammer players, and we hang around after school in a classroom playing short games (over 1000 points and you'd never finish). Then one of these guys (we're now 14) turns out to have some interest in RPGs, and shows me WFRP. That was the first RPG I properly played (and soon learned how to run).
We get a group together out of some of the WFB/40K players, and run several short campaigns, including WFRP, L5R, and even a disastrous attempt to play Paranoia! L5R is our main game- the guy who introduced me to WFRP is something of a Japanophile. While browsing an L5R forum, I get introduced to Order of the Stick. I think "this game looks fun". I download the SRD, and then pick up a second-hand PHB.
GAME ON.
So in short, I was introduced to gaming by Fighting Fantasy, to RPGs by WFRP, and to D&D by the Order of the Stick!
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