Where did you find your first groups?

[Altamont Ravenard]

My first group was my best friend from elementary school. We went our separate ways in high school, and it wasn't before the 4th year of highschool that I discovered that my friends played D&D... I wasted 3 years of perfect gaming time.

AR

 

[kolikeos]

my first group was astablished by a friend of mine about 4 or 5 years ago and had 5 players and him as dm. we, that i, him and another guy, stayed togather and tried to find people to replace those that left us. now the other guy left so its only the astablisher, me and random losers who uselly leave after 3-4 months.

 

[kenobi65]

One of my best friends in HS introduced me to D&D. He worked at the FLGS...and a few weeks after I bought my first PHB, he told me, "I'm going to go play in a D&D game...this customer at the store invited me. Want to come along?"

"Sure!", I said. My buddy played with that group exactly twice before dropping out...but I'm still playing with them, 23 years later.

If not for the FLGS, I never meet this group.

 

[Wombat]

My first group was pretty easy.

Back in my teens, I had a group of folks I hung out with due to junior high and the Boy Scouts. These folks were also into AH/SPI boardgames and we had a regular schedule for those and, much more often, miniature wargames. I was bored to tears with both and tended to be more of the referee, rather than actually playing them. When I learned about D&D (Labor Day Weekend, 1976), I was able to switch my wargaming gang on over.

Voila! The rest was history.

Since then I have found groups through my undergrad school, my grad school, and then, finally, through a combination of folks who hung out at a bookstore and some internet postings. In my 30 years, the longest period I've gone without gaming has been about 6 months (and I recall those times with dread).

 

[Quickleaf]

They found me!

A friend from 3rd grade and his older brothers tricked me into my first game with rules. Of course, I'd been playing my own rules-lite version all along. It was called "Cowboys and Indians, and Gunslingers, and Mummies, and He-man, and...."

 

[megamania]

In 1984 I was asked to do Champions since I was so heavy into comicbooks and drawing/writing of them. I declined since I heard gamers were strange and at the least satanic (listen to me sheesh). In 1986 I was asked again to play but the Marvel Superheroes Roleplaying game. I was intrigued until I started to hear how player A would be thor and player B is She-hulk and that is as far as I'm going there. Then in 1989 I was asked again to try DnD by the owner of a comicbook store. I turned him down flat.

He gave me a copy of the Dungeoneers guide and said to look at it. If I wanted, I could sit in on a game. If I wanted to play I could keep the book. I showed up prepared to leave within the hour and I did leave ...about five hours later. I created and had destroyed a human fighter and well ...the rest is history.

My current group is made of co-workers and their friends. I have been asked to DM Darksun and Eberron for several kids in the Arlington and Manchester area but have not. (I'm in my mid thirties ..small town mentality...). Maybe I'll do it some day if only to break the pattern.

My life would be soooo different if John had not offered a free book back some 15+ years ago....

 

[Hypersmurf]

My parents are gamers. They started playing 1E AD&D in the late 70s. They played on a Friday or Saturday evening, weekly, from 6ish through 'til midnight or 1am. My sister and I came along, and would sit up listening until we got tired, then crash behind a couch or something. (Not sure exactly when I was first taken along, but I know my sister was present when she was only a couple of months old!)

The nights the game was at our house were the best - the next morning, my sister and I would wake up early, and come out to the living room, where all the leftover chips, sweets, and soft drinks were yet to be tidied away...

I started reading the 1E Core books, and by the age of six had them effectively memorised (even if I didn't know exactly what a 'brazen harlot' was ). My mother ran me through a solo version of Palace of the Silver Princess, and shortly after that, I joined my parents' group.

(That's right - a bunch of mid-late twenties let a six year old play. I still don't understand what they were thinking! But apparently (I'm told) it wasn't much of an issue...)

It wasn't long before people stopped looking up spell ranges or durations at the table... they'd just ask me

-Hyp.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Where did you find your first group or first groups? Did you drop our of gaming and then pick up? Where did you find that group?

What about you?

My first group, 1e back in 1979, was made up mostly of my brother's friends. I think they had introduced him to the game (but I'm not sure). I am sure that my brother introduced me to the game. Then we finally all got together to play. I had to DM, and I found that out after everyone else had shown up.

Never played 2e except in an online game starting in 1999.

My first 3e group was from a notice posted at a local game store.

My current 3e groups are from (1) friends I met playing Living Greyhawk, (2) the "Gamers seeking Gamers" forum here at EN World, and (3) an EN World Chicago Gameday (held at a game store). With regards to group (1), I only played LG after others in my first 3e group got me into it. And the group (2) connection came from someone who played in one of my EN Chicago Gameday games. So, either directly or indirectly, all my 3.x groups are related to connecting through a game store.

So, the "game store method" works for me.

 

[Galethorn]

Back in 2002, I had been reading up on RPGs for quite a while, and finally decided to get a game going with my two best friends and one of their friends. We played for a while, but my game was, well, kinda crappy.

So, one of them got another friend--a veteran gamer--to DM a new campaign. It really went off, and ran for a whole summer...it was really great, and I met several of my current friends in that campaign.

As of now, my group is a combination of a member or two of the 'old crew' plus two or three friends I've gotten into gaming in more recent times at any given session.

Unfortunately, several group members are going off to college this fall, but there are also several group members that won't be graduating for another 2-4 years...then again, I'm probably moving out and going to 'real' college in about two years. Oh well, this summer is proving to contain the best gaming I've had since the beginning.

 

[S'mon]

School.