Quick, while everyone is focused on the 5.24 PHB...

[TheHand]

My first non D&D game was Gamma World followed closely by TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes (and also the Indiana Jones rpg before it retired into it’s second life as the Diana Jones award).

But my first non-TSR rpg was the wonderfully obscure James Bond RPG.

By the end of the 80’s I’d played RIFTS, Shadowrun, Mechwarrior, Stormbringer, and Champions but the order all blurs together.

 

[Distracted DM]

My first experience was AD&D 2e being ran at a game store. But I think my first non dnd was a few years after that, my friend ran a 40k hack of Warhammer Fantasy 1e, the rules were all printed out on copy paper

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

I was aware of Melee and Wizard (Metagaming) before D&D, but only got copies of them at about the same time as the 1e AD&D PHB and MM (before the DMG came out). I don't count them as being proper RPGs; that had to wait until In the Labyrinth/Advanced Melee/Advanced Wizard came out a few years later.

So my first D&D was pre-AD&D, and my first non-D&D RPG was Runequest.

Traveller and a game called The Morrow Project were things I knew about but never played. Villains & Vigilantes was briefly popular in the circles I played in, until Champions came out - at which point we completely dropped V&V in its favor.

Tunnels & Trolls and Top Secret were also games from around that time (while I was a college undergrad) that I played once or twice, but neither caught on with me.

 

[EthanSental]

For me, marvel superheroes, then Dc Heroes and then MERP, Gurps.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I started my gaming with The Fantasy Trip, Traveller and Runequest in the early 80ies. D&D came much later, and was just one system among many.

 

[teitan]

It was Batman the RPG from Mayfair. I had it before I played D&D along with some of the DC minis but we played it about 6 months after I started playing D&D. It was not a stellar experience but I didn't understand some of the system and it was my fault. I later played the full DCH game and it was a great time. We played FASERIP first though. I don't get the love! It's "ok". Shadowrun came after Batman and I loved it. Played a house ruled 2e for years. Also some Champions. DCH is my favorite, Champions 4e is second.

 

[Micah Sweet]

...let's talk about our first NON-D&D game experiences.

I think my first non D&D game was Heroes Unlimited, the Palladium Supers game. I always loved comics as a kid and when I learned (via Dragon Magazine ads) that there were super hero RPGs, I had to get one. It happened that I landed on HU first. It wouldn't be my favorite supers RPG, but it was actually a nice bridge by virtue of it being class and level based. My young mind wrapped around the idiosyncrasies of supers RPGs more easily, I think, than it might have with Champions or something. I soon discovered the Mayfair DC Heroes RPG (again due to Dragon magazine ads) and fell in love with point based, open supers designs. Eventually A friend in the army gifted me his whole Champions 4E (BBB) edition library and that was my go to for years until Mutants and Masterminds 2E found (for me) a perfect balance between the simplicity of d20 task resolution and the possibility and complexity of point based character generation.

What was your first non D&D game, and was it your first RPG or did you discover some version of D&D first?

My first non-D&D game was Palladium-based. I think we played TMNT and Ninjas and Superspies.

 

[Micah Sweet]

i actually cant remember if it was Palladium or Rolemaster

Palladium had its descriptive alignment system and better magic systems, Rolemaster was amazing but mindboggling and didnt really click with me. I remember toon and a couple of superhero games too

Then I discovered GURPS and played that for a few years

First RPG I ever read (never got the chance to play) was MERP. I borrowed it from a friend and my Dad copies the whole book on his work photocopier and bound it for me. Really discovered my love for rules-heavy simulation with that one.

 

[Ath'kethin]

The first TTRPG I ever played was Earthdawn, 1st Edition, in 1993. I still love the worldbuilding of it and the way the character options intrinsically interacted with the setting.

 

[MacMathan]

Started in '82. In that decade, let's see from TSR Top Secret, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Marvel. Other companies Traveller, James Bond, Star Wars. Mechwarrior, Champions