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

[Aus_Snow]

I've used two editions of D&D (AD&D 1e and D&D 3e) and a few other things to introduce people to RPGs. So yes, D&D, and yes, other games too.

The d20 system in general has been quite handy, because it's easier (and, well, quicker) for many people to switch between similar systems than between radically different games. Mutants & Masterminds in particular has been a hit.

But I'm certainly not stuck on that family o' RPGs, and neither are most of the people I know or have known. CP2020 is just one of the others that has - *cough* thanks to my brilliant GMing anyway *cough* - managed to hook new players.

Who knew being a Fixer would be so much fun.

 

[Hussar]

Interesting stuff.

BTW, just in the interests of clarity - I was more asking how you bring new gamers into the hobby, rather than how you, yourself were brought in. Not that it matters all that much. It's all good.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As a player, D&D was my "gateway RPG," followed scant months later by Traveller. The next RPG to grace my shelves was Champions (which became HERO).

As a DM, though, I've only used D&D and HERO to introduce people to the hobby.

No wait- I forget- I did use The Fantasy Trip to introduce one of my cousins to the concept.

The Fantasy Trip - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, I can't claim to have brought any new blood to the hobby. AFAIK, nobody I introduced to gaming stuck with the hobby.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Started with Shadowrun. Moving to D&D was difficult at first, with its Vancian Magic and Hit Points...

 

[Baron Opal]

Holmes Blue Book for me. A freind of my father's talked about D&D once, and he gave me a page photocopied from the blue book. It was the to hit chart and had a picture of a minotaur on it. That one page set the hook like nothing else. I went to a comic convention several months later and bought a copy of the Holmes boxed set.

(And my first cosplay inspired lust. There was a woman dressed as Dark Phoenix and she was kickin'. I still remember her after all this time.)

As for other people, I remember bring some people in with AD&D, V&V and some Star Wars d6. Oh, RuneQuest was also a good start. Character creation was a bit complex what with copying down the percentages and explaning the hit chart, but the BRP engine was so very adaptable that we went nuts with it and ran a slew of games with it.

 

[LostSoul]

My Dad had the B/X books; one summer I dug them out and started playing with my brothers and sisters.

BTW, just in the interests of clarity - I was more asking how you bring new gamers into the hobby, rather than how you, yourself were brought in. Not that it matters all that much. It's all good.

I generally use Dogs in the Vineyard because it's easy to get started.

 

[MortalPlague]

It's always been D&D for me. My group's staple. And so, when we introduce new players, we teach D&D.

 

[CorditeJimmy]

It was WFRP 1st ed that got me started. The one new person I've lured into it since was using a heavily tinkered with version of the Fallout tabletop rules.
In about a month I'm hosting a 24 hour marathon event with 16 different 3 hour games, designed to bring in the newbies, so we'll have a large selection of things including DnD 4e, CoC, Don't Rest Your Head, Deadlands, and assorted homebrewed systems.

 

[Baumi]

Like most native German Speakers, I started with "Das schwarze Auge" ("the dark Eye"). It was the 2nd Edition and we played the small Intoduction-Booklet for a long time, which is a simpler version, approximately like OD&D. We didn't grasp what an RPG was back then (we played it more like an advanced Heroquest and I was the only player), but it was AWESOME and got me hooked to RPGs for over 20 years now!

Nowadays I always try to get some new players into our hobby, even though my groups are already full but they always bring so much enthusiasm and new viewpoints into the games so it great for us and for the hobby itself. For that purposes I always try to use some low-crunch games with stereotypical settings like C&C so they can easily get a grasp on how RPGs work without feeling overwhelmed.

P.S.: A surprisingly good way to get non-roleplayers to play is online with tools like Maptool. I wanted to try it out and suddenly several non-roleplaying friends (mainly MMO Players) wanted to try that. It seems that not needing to leave your house is big advantage (no driving around, nothing to bring, not even have to shower or wear pants ).

 

[TerraDave]

The campaign in which I had the most new blood was a 2E houseruled/player-optioned beast that was probably the most complicated thing I have ever played for an extended period of time.

Everyone still had fun, and the overall play experience carried things along. But I wouldn't do it that way again. There where issues. Especially the low level of internal consistency, complicated combat, and the fact that you could make a really bad charecter pretty easily. As it turns out, 4E would have addressed all these issues to varying degrees.