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It's D&D's 40th anniversary. Tell me your D&D history, and what it means to you!
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<blockquote data-quote="Kaodi" data-source="post: 6252893" data-attributes="member: 1231"><p>I am not sure of the exact chronology of the early events, but I will give it a shot:</p><p></p><p>[sblock=My Possibly Way Too Long And Thorough Version]My Sister and I had a regular babysitter for several years when we were young. She had three sons, two about four and five years older than me and one two years younger (my Sister is a year younger than me). I believe when I was eight or nine (born in 1984) I was introduced at their house to the Bakshi version of Lord of the Rings. I ended up reading the trilogy in Grade 3. I believe I was nine when it came to pass that a friend of two older brothers (who was also the older brother of a girl from school who was my age) would come by the house every so often and they would play D&D (the friend was DM), along with my Sister's best friend's older brother as well. Anyway, to make a long story short I rarely ever got a chance to try out D&D while I was there, but I did get at least one introduction from the friend. I am not sure whether I would have gotten into these things had it not been for that, but there is probably a very strong chance I would still have become a LotR fan and a not hopeless chance I would have become a D&D fan. I also am not sure whether they played OD&D or Basic. I avoid talking to most of those guys though, except the brother of my classmate, because they were rather terrible to me on the whole.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, I believe when I was 12 I had a very fortuitous Summer at garage sales. I found a set of D&D things, including the AD&D (1st Ed) DM, PHB, and MM, along with Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain, Oasis of the White Palm, and Conan Unchained, as well as character sheets, and a strangely out of place Palladium book on ninjas. Other than the books, the other things came packed in a Moldvay Boxed Set box, even though it was pretty much all AD&D stuff. I believe I bought that all for under $30. I also believe that was the Summer I bought my Snark at a garage sale for $30 and a set of used wooden golf clubs for $30 (it was just when metal woods started to become a big thing, I believe). I entertained myself for many years with the books I got at that sale, though I did not know anyone who was interested in D&D. I was pretty must the least popular kid in my class, and it was a country school.</p><p></p><p>My school library had few fantasy books to keep me going after Lord of the Rings, but it did have Weasel's Luck and I think one other D&D novel. I am not sure it was Darkwalker On Moonshae, or if I got that at a different library or in high school. I kind of think it was another DragonLance novel. Actually, now that I look at a list of DL novels I believe it was the Gates of Thorbardin. The other thing that happened when I was 12 was I got into MUDs. My first was ArcticMUD, which was based on DragonLance, and who by some bizarre coincidence was run by a patient of my Mom's cousin who lived on the other side of the country. Somewhere around the same time I must have found TSR Chat on their website, because I think I frequented it for at least a year or two before TSR was bought by WotC and it became WotC Chat. Anyway, it was on TSR Chat that I got my first real chance to start playing D&D. Most games were technically 2e I think, but I was able to wing it with my 1e books. I also met a couple people there who I still know to this day, including ToreadorVampire, Aeolius, and NiTessine, all of whom have been members here at one time or another. </p><p></p><p>As a side note, various other things happened back in this time: I found my first ancient copies of Dragon at the local Goodwill, and I bought my first new module (Knight's Sword). I also read fantasy fiction voraciously when I was younger, building up a substantial collection of books, including a lot of D&D novels both DragonLance and Forgotten Realms, back in the day. I also bought a number of new issues of Dungeon.</p><p></p><p>Naturally it was on that chat that I heard about Eric Noah's website. It was a big time for me because when 3e came out it was the first time I was playing a version of D&D that was completely <em>current</em> (something that is not so much a big deal for me now, but it was back then given 2e's age and my lack of material). I bought a number of books, though I quickly fell behind. I also bought a decent number of copies of Dragon and Dungeon (and /Polyhedron) during that time, though I have never had a subscription. Of course, a new edition did not magically mean I had people to play with that I did not have before. High school never really provided me with other people who would have been interested in playing D&D (though my friends and no less my friends for their differing tastes!). </p><p></p><p>A lot of the stuff after that is basically the history of Eric's site and EN World, so I not think it all bears repeating (other than how I started reading PirateCat and Sagiro's Story Hours, which definitely form part of what I would aspire to in my dream campaign). But in 2005 I think I finally found my first real life D&D group, through here, actually. A poster by the name of Obscure was putting together in the local city, and I was working at the time and had use of a car so that I could drive in to play. Obscure and one of the other players were Masters students in Astronomy, and we played in the same building they were in, Sterling Hall on the Queen's University campus. We started the Age of Worms set in Eberron, and made it through the second module and into a replacement for the third before the game fell apart (amicably). </p><p></p><p>It was not until I went to university myself (UWO, University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario) that I found another group in 2nd year, in 2008, once again through the Gamers Seeking Gamers section here. We started Age of Worms again, this time in Greyhawk. It was good, but the transition to 4e kind of messed things up. Our group fell apart again because of the Summer breaks I believe and other priorities (like, you know, academics). But the DM and I transitioned to a new group that I was in for a while held in the basement of a local game shop (as opposed to the previous game which had been held in the basement of his house). I think I fell off the boat on the latter group before the group itself petered out (if it did, I am not sure). </p><p></p><p>Since then it has all been PbP with the occasionally game in IRC. I was in Aeolius' undersea game for a while (which I think he used to talk about even waaay back in TSR/WotC Chat). But it has been pretty dry. I am not sure when, or even if, I will get another chance for a RL group. Though I was initially enthusiastic about 4e, I have become a big Pathfinder fan, a game which I originally eschewed (despite opportunity with gamers in the Anime Club) for being to close to v3.5e to be worth it. I kind of wonder though if I can keep interest going on indefinitely with so little face to face game time. In 20 years I have *maybe* been in face to face groups for a combined total of a year and a half of actual meeting (so not counting Summer). </p><p></p><p>Anyway, I apologize for all of the inane details. That was probably way too much. Did not set out to write that much, just sort of happened.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p>TL;DR version: Became interested ~1993, age 9. First got books around ~1996. Spent a lot of time in TSR Chat, from which I learned about Eric Noah's website. Bought the Core of 3e as soon as it came out. Have only been in RL groups ~2005 and ~2008-2009.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kaodi, post: 6252893, member: 1231"] I am not sure of the exact chronology of the early events, but I will give it a shot: [sblock=My Possibly Way Too Long And Thorough Version]My Sister and I had a regular babysitter for several years when we were young. She had three sons, two about four and five years older than me and one two years younger (my Sister is a year younger than me). I believe when I was eight or nine (born in 1984) I was introduced at their house to the Bakshi version of Lord of the Rings. I ended up reading the trilogy in Grade 3. I believe I was nine when it came to pass that a friend of two older brothers (who was also the older brother of a girl from school who was my age) would come by the house every so often and they would play D&D (the friend was DM), along with my Sister's best friend's older brother as well. Anyway, to make a long story short I rarely ever got a chance to try out D&D while I was there, but I did get at least one introduction from the friend. I am not sure whether I would have gotten into these things had it not been for that, but there is probably a very strong chance I would still have become a LotR fan and a not hopeless chance I would have become a D&D fan. I also am not sure whether they played OD&D or Basic. I avoid talking to most of those guys though, except the brother of my classmate, because they were rather terrible to me on the whole. Anyway, I believe when I was 12 I had a very fortuitous Summer at garage sales. I found a set of D&D things, including the AD&D (1st Ed) DM, PHB, and MM, along with Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain, Oasis of the White Palm, and Conan Unchained, as well as character sheets, and a strangely out of place Palladium book on ninjas. Other than the books, the other things came packed in a Moldvay Boxed Set box, even though it was pretty much all AD&D stuff. I believe I bought that all for under $30. I also believe that was the Summer I bought my Snark at a garage sale for $30 and a set of used wooden golf clubs for $30 (it was just when metal woods started to become a big thing, I believe). I entertained myself for many years with the books I got at that sale, though I did not know anyone who was interested in D&D. I was pretty must the least popular kid in my class, and it was a country school. My school library had few fantasy books to keep me going after Lord of the Rings, but it did have Weasel's Luck and I think one other D&D novel. I am not sure it was Darkwalker On Moonshae, or if I got that at a different library or in high school. I kind of think it was another DragonLance novel. Actually, now that I look at a list of DL novels I believe it was the Gates of Thorbardin. The other thing that happened when I was 12 was I got into MUDs. My first was ArcticMUD, which was based on DragonLance, and who by some bizarre coincidence was run by a patient of my Mom's cousin who lived on the other side of the country. Somewhere around the same time I must have found TSR Chat on their website, because I think I frequented it for at least a year or two before TSR was bought by WotC and it became WotC Chat. Anyway, it was on TSR Chat that I got my first real chance to start playing D&D. Most games were technically 2e I think, but I was able to wing it with my 1e books. I also met a couple people there who I still know to this day, including ToreadorVampire, Aeolius, and NiTessine, all of whom have been members here at one time or another. As a side note, various other things happened back in this time: I found my first ancient copies of Dragon at the local Goodwill, and I bought my first new module (Knight's Sword). I also read fantasy fiction voraciously when I was younger, building up a substantial collection of books, including a lot of D&D novels both DragonLance and Forgotten Realms, back in the day. I also bought a number of new issues of Dungeon. Naturally it was on that chat that I heard about Eric Noah's website. It was a big time for me because when 3e came out it was the first time I was playing a version of D&D that was completely [I]current[/I] (something that is not so much a big deal for me now, but it was back then given 2e's age and my lack of material). I bought a number of books, though I quickly fell behind. I also bought a decent number of copies of Dragon and Dungeon (and /Polyhedron) during that time, though I have never had a subscription. Of course, a new edition did not magically mean I had people to play with that I did not have before. High school never really provided me with other people who would have been interested in playing D&D (though my friends and no less my friends for their differing tastes!). A lot of the stuff after that is basically the history of Eric's site and EN World, so I not think it all bears repeating (other than how I started reading PirateCat and Sagiro's Story Hours, which definitely form part of what I would aspire to in my dream campaign). But in 2005 I think I finally found my first real life D&D group, through here, actually. A poster by the name of Obscure was putting together in the local city, and I was working at the time and had use of a car so that I could drive in to play. Obscure and one of the other players were Masters students in Astronomy, and we played in the same building they were in, Sterling Hall on the Queen's University campus. We started the Age of Worms set in Eberron, and made it through the second module and into a replacement for the third before the game fell apart (amicably). It was not until I went to university myself (UWO, University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario) that I found another group in 2nd year, in 2008, once again through the Gamers Seeking Gamers section here. We started Age of Worms again, this time in Greyhawk. It was good, but the transition to 4e kind of messed things up. Our group fell apart again because of the Summer breaks I believe and other priorities (like, you know, academics). But the DM and I transitioned to a new group that I was in for a while held in the basement of a local game shop (as opposed to the previous game which had been held in the basement of his house). I think I fell off the boat on the latter group before the group itself petered out (if it did, I am not sure). Since then it has all been PbP with the occasionally game in IRC. I was in Aeolius' undersea game for a while (which I think he used to talk about even waaay back in TSR/WotC Chat). But it has been pretty dry. I am not sure when, or even if, I will get another chance for a RL group. Though I was initially enthusiastic about 4e, I have become a big Pathfinder fan, a game which I originally eschewed (despite opportunity with gamers in the Anime Club) for being to close to v3.5e to be worth it. I kind of wonder though if I can keep interest going on indefinitely with so little face to face game time. In 20 years I have *maybe* been in face to face groups for a combined total of a year and a half of actual meeting (so not counting Summer). Anyway, I apologize for all of the inane details. That was probably way too much. Did not set out to write that much, just sort of happened.[/sblock] TL;DR version: Became interested ~1993, age 9. First got books around ~1996. Spent a lot of time in TSR Chat, from which I learned about Eric Noah's website. Bought the Core of 3e as soon as it came out. Have only been in RL groups ~2005 and ~2008-2009. [/QUOTE]
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