How were you introduced to RPGs?

[Glyfair]

I chose the first option as it might have been closest, but it was really a combination of several.

I saw, not an advertisement, but an article in the local paper on a group at the University of Delaware who were playing D&D. That was the sort of game I was looking for (less fixed rules than Monopoly, more rules than Cowboys & Indians).

Flash forward a short time later when I walked into a local hobby/crafts store. They stocked several RPGs and had various versions of D&D. After struggling with what I should start with (they had the white box, the Holmes Basic D&D set and the AD&D Monster Manual), I bought BD&D (and maybe the white box) and ran a few games with my brother.

A few weeks later I was browsing the RPG section in the store and ran into a buy about my age and we started talking. We ended up getting together and we ended up forming my first regular group.

A year or two later I ended up going to the University of Delaware and became friends with the group(s) who the article in the local paper was about.

 

[MortalPlague]

I picked "grow up to be a monster" because none of the options fit my own introduction.

13 years ago, I found the Red Box at a Church garage sale, and bought it. I had no idea what D&D was, but I read the whole book that night, and then ran games for my brothers and my friends. I started as the DM, and we went through 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and now 4th edition with various groups.

 

[SolitonMan]

This one time, at band camp...

It was the fall of 1980 and I was going into 9th grade. Some of the seniors spent a bit of time during lunch break at band camp (yeah, not a joke) rolling weird dice and saying crazy things like "I use my battleaxe to slash the gelatinous cube". They let me check out the books (AD&D MM really stuck in my mind) and told me a bit about the game. They also told me about a store in Allentown, PA (did I mention this took place in PA?) that sold this stuff.

So one trip to Conflicts on Hamilton Street later I was hooked. When I started high school I met others who were also interested in AD&D, and learned from them. The Dark Tower by Judges Guild was the first module we ever adventured through, a DM and two players each running three characters. I had no idea what I was doing! But it was a blast.

So, 30 years later I'm still hooked, and basically consider most other forms of entertainment simple distractions between RPG sessions I've tried a number of systems and still like to try variations and new ideas. My experience is that with the right group of people any system can be fun and memorable.

 

[francisca]

I had a two-stage intro.

In the late 70s, an older cousin of mine ran a CSIO campaign using OD&D and I think Supp I and II, maybe III. He used to play down in his basement with his friends, blaring Rush at about 100dB, smoking dope, lava lamps, paisely shirts, black lights (he made some ghost minis out of cloth and painted them in green UV paint) the whole nine yards of 70s stereotypes. i used to sit and watch, but never played.

In 1981, I saw some other kids playing a mash-up of Moldvay Basic and AD&D at school and joined it.

Good times.

 

[MortonStromgal]

The Street Samurai Catalog at the Walden Books... I didn't know what it was but I had to have it.