Which edition of D&D did you start with?

[Vaxalon]

The "first" basic set.

This one was mine too.

 

[Welverin]

I started with 1st ed AD&D. 2nd was out, but the first DM I played with didn't like it.

I started with 2nd Edition in 1987. Beginner's luck I guess.

Umm, if you're referring to AD&D 2nd Edition, you're off by two years.

 

[oskar_deepscout]

I started with the original Basic Set. I wanted to start with AD&D. Unfortunately, at that time the only book out was the Monster Manual. The Player's Handbook was a month or so away and the Dungeon Master's Guide was about a year away.

Same here. We were using AD&D monsters with "extended" Basic DnD combat tables because the meat of the system just was not available.

One of the big improvements I really liked in 3E was that the combat mechanics were in the PH. By the time you could make a character, you could also play the darn game!

 

[robberbaron]

White box 1976.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I started with the white box D&D back in the day... sometimes I miss the simplicity of those games, but the DM in me is very grateful for the structure of 3.5e, my players would drive me up the wall if I didnt have these rules...

 

[just__al]

Basic D&D. It's amazing how much the game has come. It's also amazing that I am no longer stealing graph paper from math class to make dungeons that make no sense at all.

How exactly did those orcs eat? Why didn't they get eaten by the dragon? How did the dragon fit down the trapped staircase from the middle of the woods? Did every dungeon have to have a secret door in the boss monster's room that led to the treasure and the way out? Why didn't my players ever think to not go down the trapped staircase and instead find the way out from the boss monster's lair? It wasn't probably fitting through the secret door to go after them so they could waltz down and just take the treasure.

 

[diaglo]

Umm, if you're referring to AD&D 2nd Edition, you're off by two years.

howandwhy99 is probably remembering the Forgotten Realms Grey boxed set which came out in 1987.

you are right it was actually 1edADnD.

 

[Cyberhawk]

My group, when we were in elementary school and just learning about RPGs, tried to play 1E DnD but really had no concept of the rules. That lasted one session and we moved on to Palladium Fantasy. But when 2e was released we decided to go back and it became the mainstay of our group (along with Ravenloft, Dark Sun and Spelljammer campaigns). Thus I voted for 2e, although I'm still quite fond of the 1e books, especially the 'names for each level' thing.

 

[Ibram]

started playing in late 1997 with the 2e, moved over to 3 when it came out, and now play 3.5

 

[Breakdaddy]

Basic D&D. It's amazing how much the game has come. It's also amazing that I am no longer stealing graph paper from math class to make dungeons that make no sense at all.

How exactly did those orcs eat? Why didn't they get eaten by the dragon? How did the dragon fit down the trapped staircase from the middle of the woods? Did every dungeon have to have a secret door in the boss monster's room that led to the treasure and the way out? Why didn't my players ever think to not go down the trapped staircase and instead find the way out from the boss monster's lair? It wasn't probably fitting through the secret door to go after them so they could waltz down and just take the treasure.

Such are the things that keep DM's up at night... sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat wondering why the dragon would sit around waiting for a group of wandering criminals to come kill it and take its stuff...