Was D&D the game you introduced role playing with?

[Ranes]

Two good school friends tried to introduce me to roleplaying with (A)D&D 1e. I wasn't having it. One of them took pity and pointed me to Traveller. That did it. I tried D&D afterwards and liked it but Traveller was always my favourite. That was the game I used to drag others into the time vampire that is roleplaying.

Now I only play D&D, because it's the easiest game to find players for, and it's the game I use to introduce newcomers with. On that subject, I got my eight year-old nephew to role up his first character today (Ralden, elven sorcerer). When it came to choosing a feat, I was explaining how Spell Focus worked. When I mentioned schools of magic, he said, "Like in Oblivion?"

"Yes," I smiled.

So I may have used a CRPG as a gateway drug.

 

[Hjorimir]

D&D was the game that started it for me. I was 'introduced' by crying to my dad that my older brother wouldn't let me play. After my dad laid down the law (I don't want to have to listen to your little brother cry, so let him play), my brother and his friends sighed...and promptly handed me a cleric.

It didn't matter, I was a happy, happy little gamer.

Now, decades later, my brother plays in my campaign and he loves it; so it worked out for him in the end.

 

[maddman75]

I started on D&D, 2e, and remember being overwhelmed by the rules. I'm a rarity, an 'organic gamer'. That is, I saw an ad in a comic book and thought it looked like the coolest thing ever. I got the PHB and tried to figure it out. It got easier with the DMG and MM, and went from there.

In my adult life, I've had far more success introducing people with simpler games like BtVS, BRP Call of Cthulhu, and Dread. Dread is really my go-to game for new players. Its the game for nongamers, as they have little trouble jumping in with both feet.

I really don't think D&D appeals to the casual gamer. I know a few of these folks, and any game that assumes all the players will buy a copy of the rules is right out.

 

[Obryn]

I was somewhere in elementary school - maybe 3rd or 4th grade at the very latest - and a family friend brought their two sons when they visited my parents. The older, Aaron, had the red three-hole-punched Dragon + Sorceress Basic book, Keep on the Borderlands, and Dice. We played for a session, and I think killed the minotaur. But I'm not sure.

Then I played a solo game with my magic-user and got him up to second level! I think I fought a gelatinous cube and may have died.

Anyway, at the end of the weekend, he gave me the game, the dice, and the module. He was getting into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and didn't need them anymore. (And a few years later, I bought his AD&D books, too!)

-O

 

[El Mahdi]

I was introduced to RPG's with AD&D 2E. I think I'm a person with fairly average intelligence, and I never had a problem with it. I learnded it quite quickly and was playing like a vet within a couple of game sessions. Every person I've introduced to RPG's was with D&D 3E or Alternity. Every person I introduced with 3E picked it up fairly quickly and became regular players (at least for as long as I knew them). However, Alternity didn't fair as well IME as an introductory game. But D&D has never been a problem IME with new gamers. As far as new gamers go, I'd think 4E would be even better for introducing new players. There may be easier games to pick up, but I don't think D&D is overly difficult to learn for beginners.

 

[Stuntman]

I started with AD&D 1E. I recall that I was really hooked on a computer game called Ultima III. I wanted to know exactly what the rules of that game was, but the instruction manual didn't say. All of the armour, weapons and spells just had rather colourful, but vague descriptions. I saw the AD&D PH in the book store, looked through it and thought the rules looked a lot like Ultima III, so I bought it. I eventually bought the DMG and MM and called some friends up and we played.

I've been playing ever since. I think most of the people I played games with over the years was introduced to role playing with D&D.

 

[Gilladian]

I started playing with a homebrew variant of the 3 original books, quickly supplanted by the red-box set. I've introduced people to the game with every edition of DnD, except 4th. In fact, I usually use 3e now, via microlite 20. Once they get that under their belts, and like it, moving to full-fledged Dnd isn't hard.

However, I recently taught a 12 year old how to play from scratch, with his dad's help, with 3.5e; we didn't minimize the rules at all, and he's had no problem playing them.

I would use 4e to teach a new player, if we had a new player interested in joining the game; in fact, one of the 3 players in the game is relatively new; he'd played some computer rpgs, but never a "real" RPG, if you can call playing online a "face to face" game!

 

[TheNovaLord]

i started with SPI dragonquest in 1981

played lots versions D&D but i dont think its great to introduce new players too. it can seem really geeky / overly complex, no matter which edition

to introduce someone to rpg-ing just use

"You are at work. the power goes out. you seem to be the only ones in the office....what do you do....." and then as GM just react to what players say and ramp up tension/add obstacles.

 

[Scrimshaw]

This is an interesting question.
The topic asks what game I was introduced to roleplaying (paraphrased)

The first "roleplaying" game I every played was Rolemaster. I played for several "games" yet shy away from calling it a "campaign". The players didn't stay in character nor did the GM teach me that roleplaying was even an option. He was in fact stunned and surprised when I tried to kill a PC. His answer was simply, "You can't".

In my defense i didn't know the first thing about roleplaying. I didn't know this was frowned upon, naturally today I would never even think to do so.
I am disappointed in the GM and players (all who had "roleplayed" for years). They ridiculed and yelled at me for my stupidity. I really believe they missed out on a wonderful teaching opportunity.

(BTW in later a game the GM allowed a player to kill my character, laughing that there wasn't anything i could do about it etc.

The first game I truly "Role played" was indeed D&D.
Just a couple years later (after [mostly] escaping the horrid rolemaster players) I met a great actor and DM who , not only role played brilliantly, but allowed the players to experiment and flex their imaginations.

 

[gribble]

I think the first time I ever played a RPG was D&D. A cousin of a friend brought it over one day and we all tried to play. I wasn't a big fantasy fan in those days and, other than the idea of a portable hole, the game didn't grab me.

Then I got into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics. In the comic store I saw a big book with comics and other stuff in it. Browsed through it and realised it was a game... picked it up, and started playing the TMNT RPG. It wasn't until after TMNT got me into gaming that I started playing D&D again (and MERP/Rolemaster)...