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When were you hooked?
- Thread starter alsih2o
- Start date
You asked for it.
It was particularly hot that Spring day in 1981. I was in third grade at the time. My best friend, Shane Newell, had invited me to his house after school to play. I had rushed home to tell my mother where I would be and had peddled like mad to get there quickly, so as to maximize the amount of time we were able to play, since I had to be home by what we in West Texas call, "dark."
When I arrived at Shane's we talked excitedly about what we could do. The possibilites are indeed endless when a couple of 8 year olds get together. Of course, five minutes later we were parked in front of a TV watching cartoons when suddenly Shane was struck by some inspiration.
"My older brothers have this game and it's really neat!", he must have said before adding, "it's got all these cool monsters and magic and swords and stuff! Here, lemme go get it."
You can imagine my dissapointment when he came back not with a box like Monopoly, or LIFE, but a couple of books. If I had wanted to read I could have stayed home and done homework. But, for books they didn't seem half bad. One had some gigantic devil-thing holding some fair maiden in its vile clutches, while the other book had another gigantic devil-thing, a statue, holding a big bowl that was on fire!
"How do you play?", I must have asked. After all, where was the board? Where were the little cards you had to pick up to know what to do? Indeed! and, where was the fake money? What kind of game doesn't have multicolored bills of differing denominations with which to aquire game-goods and game-services?
"It's easy. You be a wizard and I'll be a cleric."
"A what?"
"A cleric. A guy who fights with a sword AND does magic."
Now, I knew he was getting a better deal here, but it was HIS game after all, so I agreed. Shane acted as the Dungeon Master and cleric and I played a wizard known only as "the wizard." We both contributed to the story and in the end our heros beat up all the bad guys but, only after being nearly beaten into submission for dramatic effect. My love affair with fantasy roleplaying and in particular, Dungeons and Dragons, has obviously been going on since this fateful Spring day. I bought the books shortly after I was let off of being grounded. What? Would you have been home before "dark" if YOU had been fighting a room full of baddies?
It was particularly hot that Spring day in 1981. I was in third grade at the time. My best friend, Shane Newell, had invited me to his house after school to play. I had rushed home to tell my mother where I would be and had peddled like mad to get there quickly, so as to maximize the amount of time we were able to play, since I had to be home by what we in West Texas call, "dark."
When I arrived at Shane's we talked excitedly about what we could do. The possibilites are indeed endless when a couple of 8 year olds get together. Of course, five minutes later we were parked in front of a TV watching cartoons when suddenly Shane was struck by some inspiration.
"My older brothers have this game and it's really neat!", he must have said before adding, "it's got all these cool monsters and magic and swords and stuff! Here, lemme go get it."
You can imagine my dissapointment when he came back not with a box like Monopoly, or LIFE, but a couple of books. If I had wanted to read I could have stayed home and done homework. But, for books they didn't seem half bad. One had some gigantic devil-thing holding some fair maiden in its vile clutches, while the other book had another gigantic devil-thing, a statue, holding a big bowl that was on fire!
"How do you play?", I must have asked. After all, where was the board? Where were the little cards you had to pick up to know what to do? Indeed! and, where was the fake money? What kind of game doesn't have multicolored bills of differing denominations with which to aquire game-goods and game-services?
"It's easy. You be a wizard and I'll be a cleric."
"A what?"
"A cleric. A guy who fights with a sword AND does magic."
Now, I knew he was getting a better deal here, but it was HIS game after all, so I agreed. Shane acted as the Dungeon Master and cleric and I played a wizard known only as "the wizard." We both contributed to the story and in the end our heros beat up all the bad guys but, only after being nearly beaten into submission for dramatic effect. My love affair with fantasy roleplaying and in particular, Dungeons and Dragons, has obviously been going on since this fateful Spring day. I bought the books shortly after I was let off of being grounded. What? Would you have been home before "dark" if YOU had been fighting a room full of baddies?
Wolfen Priest
First Post
Sir Osis of Liver said:
This is similar to the forming of my addiction
, only at the same time I had a friend who (while we were only 7 or so) had the 1st edition books. I don't think he really knew how to play, but I would bring out his books and look through them every time I was over at his house, asking him what all the stats in the Monster Manual meant.
Eridanis
Bard 7/Mod (ret) 10/Mgr 3
My parents encouraged me to read fantasy & science fiction from a young age, so by the time May 1983 rolled around and my seventh-grade friends decided to try the game out, it was a natural fit. I've been hooked ever since (although with several years-long droughts of not having groups to play with scattered through that time).
Ranes
Adventurer
Winter '78. I was fourteen, a wargaming nut and an outright nerd, though I didn't know it. Fortunately, I had two good friends who were also nerds and they had big brothers who were nerds, too, D&D-playing nerds at that. When one of these friends mentioned Dungeons and Dragons I remember being highly suspicious; his explanation of it was intriguing but I still didn't get it.
My friend knew I was an SF nut, however, so he lent me a little black box covered in text which began, "Mayday! Mayday! This is Free Trader Beowulfe..." It was, of course, Traveller and it blew me completely away. The following weekend I was invited to my first game of AD&D. The DM (my other good friend) gave me a monk character to play and my more enlightened friend played his magic user. I remember sheets of graph paper, much being said that I didn't understand and the two of us getting into in this protracted fight with a bone devil that had the temerity to be blinking in and out of existence.
Afterwards, I borrowed a PHB. Winters stopped being dull. The rest is a blur.
Ranes
(Forgive the trainspotting minutiae, trivia fans but if I don't point this out, someone else will: the red box was not "OD&D". Interested parties check out www.acaeum.com.)
My friend knew I was an SF nut, however, so he lent me a little black box covered in text which began, "Mayday! Mayday! This is Free Trader Beowulfe..." It was, of course, Traveller and it blew me completely away. The following weekend I was invited to my first game of AD&D. The DM (my other good friend) gave me a monk character to play and my more enlightened friend played his magic user. I remember sheets of graph paper, much being said that I didn't understand and the two of us getting into in this protracted fight with a bone devil that had the temerity to be blinking in and out of existence.
Afterwards, I borrowed a PHB. Winters stopped being dull. The rest is a blur.
Ranes
(Forgive the trainspotting minutiae, trivia fans but if I don't point this out, someone else will: the red box was not "OD&D". Interested parties check out www.acaeum.com.)
Marius Delphus
Adventurer
Waxing Narrative
It was 1978, and my brother and I were shopping with Mom and Dad. I don't remember who spotted the Monochrome Blue D&D Basic Box first, but we ended up with it because it seemed like a game that would "stimulate the kids' burgeoning imagination" or some such. We were 6 and 7, I think, so obviously that's not a direct quote.
We had a heck of a time trying to decide what it was all about. When we had *that* figured out, we tried to tackle the problem of what happened when characters exceeded, what was it, 5th level? After another shopping trip, we had a new problem: trying to decide how this Dungeon Master's Guide thing related to the Blue Box. Not really knowing what to do with it all, I let the thing sort of fall by the wayside for a couple years (my brother kept busy churning out adventure ideas though), until I "inherited" a 9th level magic-user from the guys in my 5th-grade class.
Something "clicked," and we just couldn't stop. By the time we had a couple issues of Dragon, three hardback books, and S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, we were well and truly hooked... on our way to countless one-player, one-DM sessions. We eventually joined a larger gaming group, but that's a bit beyond the scope of the question, right?
It was 1978, and my brother and I were shopping with Mom and Dad. I don't remember who spotted the Monochrome Blue D&D Basic Box first, but we ended up with it because it seemed like a game that would "stimulate the kids' burgeoning imagination" or some such. We were 6 and 7, I think, so obviously that's not a direct quote.
We had a heck of a time trying to decide what it was all about. When we had *that* figured out, we tried to tackle the problem of what happened when characters exceeded, what was it, 5th level? After another shopping trip, we had a new problem: trying to decide how this Dungeon Master's Guide thing related to the Blue Box. Not really knowing what to do with it all, I let the thing sort of fall by the wayside for a couple years (my brother kept busy churning out adventure ideas though), until I "inherited" a 9th level magic-user from the guys in my 5th-grade class.
Something "clicked," and we just couldn't stop. By the time we had a couple issues of Dragon, three hardback books, and S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, we were well and truly hooked... on our way to countless one-player, one-DM sessions. We eventually joined a larger gaming group, but that's a bit beyond the scope of the question, right?
Last edited:
Glog
First Post
For me, it was 1982 and I was on a boy scout outing in Northern Wisconsin. It rained non-stop for the first three days, which was a total drag. During the fourth night, I was invited to the tent of a couple the older Life scouts to play a game they thought I might enjoy. I remember rolling up a cleric by the light of a coleman lantern and a wonderful colored map the DM had made. We played until the wee hours of the morning in the middle of a thunderstorm. It was amazing. I remember praying for rain the next night as well. Unfortunately, it was clear as a bell and I did not get to play again during that trip.
I stumbled upon the red box at Sears about 2 weeks later, but I didn't get to play with anyone until we moved to MN a few months later and I met a group of folks in seventh grade who are still some of my best friends in the world. I loved the feel and smell of the original plastic cast dice with the numbers you had to fill in with the crayons to read. Twenty years later, I still have a 20-sider from the Expert set that I use in our weekly sessions - and it consistantly rolls more crits than any other die at the table.
I stumbled upon the red box at Sears about 2 weeks later, but I didn't get to play with anyone until we moved to MN a few months later and I met a group of folks in seventh grade who are still some of my best friends in the world. I loved the feel and smell of the original plastic cast dice with the numbers you had to fill in with the crayons to read. Twenty years later, I still have a 20-sider from the Expert set that I use in our weekly sessions - and it consistantly rolls more crits than any other die at the table.
jollyninja
First Post
so, it's 1993 and i have just completed my first year of high school a close friend of mine who was a teammate on the football team lends me a trillogy of books: called dragonlance chronicles. after reading one each day for the first three days of summer vacation i went to his house to return them. knowing that he played dnd (he had asked me to join his group once and i responded with the typical jock "isn't that the nerd game?") i asked him "is that what dnd is like?" his answer was "it can be." just in hopes of ever doing something that cool i was completley hooked. my second edition collection was horribly large, i would guess in excess of 1000 but i do not want to total it up though i still have the books. the only wotc 3e stuff i have not purchased are enemies and allies, the living greyhawk gazzeteer and a few of the adventures. coupled with all the third party stuff i have purchased, i am well on my way to another collection that i am fearful of totalling the cost of. oh well for some people there is crack or heroine, for me there is dnd.
BigBastard
First Post
1981 the year it all went downhill!
For me it was in 81' with the D&D red books, then AD&D, then Star Frontiers, then Gamma World, then Aftermath!, then Star Trek, then traveller, then Jorune, then recon, then robotech, then star wars, then BattleLords of the 23rd century, and the list goes on. I must have spent a small fortune and I have enough dice to choke a hippo.
I believe older gamers keep tons of dice because back in the day dice were harder than hell to find.
For me it was in 81' with the D&D red books, then AD&D, then Star Frontiers, then Gamma World, then Aftermath!, then Star Trek, then traveller, then Jorune, then recon, then robotech, then star wars, then BattleLords of the 23rd century, and the list goes on. I must have spent a small fortune and I have enough dice to choke a hippo.
I believe older gamers keep tons of dice because back in the day dice were harder than hell to find.
bloodymage
House Ruler
Avalon Hill
I was in the US Navy when I started dabbling in wargaming, somewhere around 1974. Avalon Hill was the premiere wargames company at that time and it wasn't long before I discovered "Strategy & Tactics" and the beauty of simultaneous movement. I was hooked and played every time I could find gamers, sometimes not very often. That continued until I got out and went to college.
About 1981 a college buddy, Gil B., asked me if I wanted to play D&D. I don't think he knew about my S&T experience. Anyway, I had no idea what "D&D" was, never heard of it. I guess the easiest way to explain it was for me to roll up a character and run a one-on-one because that's the first thing I remember. I rolled up an AD&D 1e female (I'm male!) 1/2 elven F/MU whose first taste of blood was the 4 orcs who waylaid her on the trail. I've had the "bloodlust" ever since. In fact, she's the "bloody mage" in my handle!
Now it's unbelievable. My new players, just introduced to the game with 3e, are balking at house rules! It's a totally foreign concept to them! Quite often I pine for the "good old days"!
I was in the US Navy when I started dabbling in wargaming, somewhere around 1974. Avalon Hill was the premiere wargames company at that time and it wasn't long before I discovered "Strategy & Tactics" and the beauty of simultaneous movement. I was hooked and played every time I could find gamers, sometimes not very often. That continued until I got out and went to college.
About 1981 a college buddy, Gil B., asked me if I wanted to play D&D. I don't think he knew about my S&T experience. Anyway, I had no idea what "D&D" was, never heard of it. I guess the easiest way to explain it was for me to roll up a character and run a one-on-one because that's the first thing I remember. I rolled up an AD&D 1e female (I'm male!) 1/2 elven F/MU whose first taste of blood was the 4 orcs who waylaid her on the trail. I've had the "bloodlust" ever since. In fact, she's the "bloody mage" in my handle!
Now it's unbelievable. My new players, just introduced to the game with 3e, are balking at house rules! It's a totally foreign concept to them! Quite often I pine for the "good old days"!
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