How were you introduced to RPGs?

[Jhaelen]

My introduction was the Fighting Fantasy book 'The Warlock of Firetop Mountain' by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

 

[CarlZog]

Board wargames. Avalon Hill's War at Sea got me started. Stumbled onto Metagaming and TSR in a hobby shop that sold AH and SPI.

 

[olshanski]

You don't have a poll option for "Saw it in a store and bought it".
It was 1976, it looked interesting.

 

[Paul_Klein]

In the mid-to-late 90s, at the Barnes & Noble in the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois, I came across the Revised d6 Star Wars RPG (the blue hardcover with Vader on the cover), and the Heroes & Rogues Star Wars RPG supplement. I had a small, but growing interest in Star Wars, and knew nothing about RPGs, so this was all so new and different to me. But while I was totally new to RPGs, just glancing through the book I quickly grasped what they're all about - the problem was, I had no clue how one was actually played.

Of course, I didn't have the money at the time to buy them, so I thought maybe I could read the rulebook right there and just memorize the important rules so I could play without needing to buy the book (lol).

Suffice it to say, I quickly found the money, and my life has never been the same.

 

[phoamslinger]

other: I had a subscription to GAMES magazine and in the summer/fall of '78(?) they had an article on a new kind of game coming out that told stories with Dragons and Dungeons and stuff. I went looking for it after that.

 

[FreeXenon]

D&D Cartoon

The D&D cartoon was my introduction then I found a friend who playe.

 

[Storminator]

My father ran a game at our house for his Army buddies when I was a kid. I started by hanging around them and "helping" by rolling the occasional die. I finally was able to create a character and join in when I was a little older. That was when I was eight, and I've been gaming off and on ever since.

You should tell this story to Will.

PS

 

[Mistwell]

Through summer camp. Specifically, Jewish summer camp, a one week sleep-over event.

 

[OchreJelly]

I was 9 years old and my cousin was 12. She had a crush on one of my neighbors, and she dragged me over there one day to pretend to be interested in the DND game the neighbor brothers were playing. Of course she pretended to be interested in everything this boy she liked was doing but I was simply fascinated with this game I had never heard of.

I begged these older kids to let me play, and eventually they conceded. Being the younger kid, they stuck me with a cleric and I distinctly remember my first encounter. There was a room with a chest and the other PC's said I should throw food at the chest because they thought it was a mimic. I approached the chest and the floor opened into a pit trap where my poor cleric fell to his death.

Shortest lived character ever. True story.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I was in Big Brothers and my little brother asked if I played D&D or knew anyone who did. I happened to work with a lady who ran a game and we went and played. I was hooked that night and now play and run in mutliple groups. Don't know what ever happened to my little brother, but he helped me meet the friend's I still game with now.

I was a Little Brother, and I think this is the greatest "Intro to D&D" story ever.

My Big Brother was awesome. He took me to see Excalibur, introduced me to T. H. White's The Once and Future King and The Lord of the Rings, and taught me one-pocket and some serious Frisbee skills, among many other things. I tried to look him up recently, to thank him, but BBBS in my hometown doesn't have contact info going back that far.

Anyway, I think it's awesome that you were a Big Brother. For LBs everywhere, let me say, "Thanks."