RPGNow

RPGNow

Thursday, June 13, 2013

When Did You Play Your First RPG Session?

I remember my first RPG session very clearly. It was a one on one session with my friend Kenny as the DM and me with my fighter Cyrus. AD&D DMG, dice and graph paper. Not even a Player's Handbook.

I THINK is was during the 7th grade, after school one winter day, but I'm not 100% sure it was the 7th grade. There is a small chance it could have been 8th grade. Still, most likely my first RPG session was in early 1980.

I would have been 12.

Over 33 years ago.

I did have a huge gap from March of 1997 to late 2007 where I didn't game. I bought, I collected and I read, but I didn't game. I had no group until I took the plunge into Fantasy Grounds 2.

Hmm, so about 23 years of gaming in that stretch. About half a lifetime, as I turn 46 this summer.

I guess I need to make up for that 10 year gap ;)

So, what year did the world of RPGs open up for you?
Posted by at
Labels:

20 comments:

  1. ravencrowkingJune 13, 2013 at 2:06 PM

    Christmas day 1979.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NicJune 13, 2013 at 2:09 PM

    I was 15 years old, giving "Das schwarze Auge" a try, a wonderful German Rpg system. I still remember the name of my char, his name was Birrox ibn Kachair. A Novadi, born in the desert. Years of fun followed, several systems, too. Right now we play D&D. If our party survives or dies, Pathfinder will follow. Rpgs enriche my life. Keep your axes sharp! Cheers, Nico

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gus LJune 13, 2013 at 2:13 PM

    1982 - Caves of Chaos, B/X with the dragon coming out of the water on the cover (That is the Moldvay revision). I was 7. I played until about 1991 and then didn't start up again until 2011.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Prince_HerbJune 13, 2013 at 2:16 PM

    Tunnels & Trolls & Buffalo Castle some time in the Autumn of 1979, and then Holmes Basic in December of the same year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Doctor FuturityJune 13, 2013 at 2:35 PM

    Gamma World in a motel room in Santa Fe, NM in September 1980...I was 9 years old at the time, bought GW from a local toy/hobby shop off the Plaza and for whatever reason it clicked...ran a game for my sister and her friends immediately afterward. Got home, pulled out the D&D Basic set my parents had bought us that was languishing unread and ran my first Cave so Chaos session in October.

    Longest gaming gap for me was in 1995-1996, a hazy period when I graduated but was in a relationship from hell, shortly before moving to Seattle. I've managed at least one game every one to two weeks (sometimes twice a week) otherwise both before and ever since.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnthonyJune 13, 2013 at 2:58 PM

    1980, While stationed at the US Navy Nuclear Propulsion School in Orlando, Florida. AD&D 1st Edition (if I recall correctly). My first character was a human ranger named Corlin

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJune 13, 2013 at 3:32 PM

    1977, the Eugene (OR) public library had a wargame club that met every Sat. My mother pointed it out to me, she had seen a flyer and knew my interest in military history. It was OD&D with a LG Elf fighter ("Lon") who was given to me by a young lady who had to leave early.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hdanJune 13, 2013 at 3:35 PM

    My first time to ALMOST get to play was at a friend's birthday party, also back in 7th grade, probably around the same time as you, Tenkar. A few of the kids were gearing up to play, and the 2-3 of us who had never played D&D were anxious to get in the game.

    The D&D players were not really interested in teaching us, and basically threw a copy of some huge seeming book at us with a "here, read this". The two other kids gave up, but I finally convinced someone to let me in. They said they needed a "Clerk" (A clerk? I thought this was a fantasy game?), and I really don't really remember if I wound up playing or not.

    Not much later, I got that "Blue" D&D box set (with chits - shudder) for my own birthday, and wound up playing a LOT of Basic and then AD&D over the next few years, though with different friends. I still have most of my original dice from back then, though the corners are pretty worn down.

    ReplyDelete
  9. infocydeJune 13, 2013 at 3:56 PM

    Somewhere around 80 or 81 when I was in 4th or 5th grade. My friend brought over the D&D basic set and we played a session while our parents played Bridge out in the living room...after that I got the basic set for Christmas, follow by my purchasing of Gamma World, then skipping exert and going right into AD&D, and the rest is history.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJune 13, 2013 at 4:07 PM

    Fall of 1979 AD&D. (Although I did play Melee/Wizard as board games prior to this)

    We played in a Mall restaurant. Apparently we didn't order enough food so the deal came to a quick end (3 sessions). The game store in the mall then found us a variety of places to play over the next couple of years.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Random WizardJune 13, 2013 at 4:17 PM

    1984. My mother bought the infamous "Red Box" after I expressed an interest in D&D (after hearing about it from a friend). After reading it, two slightly older teenagers came over to visit my cousins. I made up and ran a game for them. I still recall my one cousin picking a female dwarf and was proud to have her character have a beard.
    Stopped playing around 1994 due to work, a new girlfriend, trying to find a spot. Got the old gang back together around 2000 to see the movie (no one liked it). Then played some 3E d&d for a little while (just a few games). Took another hiatus.
    Started playing again around 2010 when an old friend asked me to join his game. Played 3E again. It grew a little stale. Started up a 4E game that lasted over a year and was great fun. Since then, have been playing in here and there FLAILSNAILs games, usually using basic d&d or the like.

    ReplyDelete
  12. xwardukexJune 13, 2013 at 4:22 PM

    september of 1980. i was in 1st grade and on the weekends i'd hang out at one of my friend's houses. his older brother (who was in 7th grade) was in charge of watching us - so he started DMing for us. sometimes, if his friends were there also we would get to play in their campaign. i stopped playing rpgs in 1990 right after 2e came out. i played a few sessions here and there in the 90's (vampire, shadowrun, some 2e) but didn't come back into the fold until 3e came out in 2000.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sean RobsonJune 13, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    February 14th, 1980: Keep on the Borderlands.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rachel GhoulJune 13, 2013 at 6:15 PM

    I guess sometime a little after my twelfth birthday, but still in 2002. It was over AIM. I sucked.

    ReplyDelete
  15. maasenstodtJune 13, 2013 at 8:05 PM

    1983. I was five years old, playing Keep on the Borderlands with neighborhood chums, one of whom had an older brother who refereed for us.

    A few weeks later, I convinced my now deceased uncle, who was in college at the time, to loan me his AD&D books. Things took off from there...

    ReplyDelete
  16. faoladhJune 13, 2013 at 9:56 PM

    Summer 1979. A friend asked me if I'd heard of Dungeons & Dragons, which I thought meant Dungeon Dice, so I said that I had. He invited me over to play a game, and the rest is history.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Omer Golan-JoelJune 14, 2013 at 5:06 AM

    1997, when I was 15 years old. Back then the only two RPGs most people here in Israel knew were B/X D&D and AD&D 2E, both in Hebrew translation. So we played 3E. Played a Halfling Thief who's name I do not recall. We played for two sessions and then the group broke up. But I was hooked, and in a few months I started DMing my own game.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Rick StumpJune 14, 2013 at 10:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rick StumpJune 14, 2013 at 11:03 PM

    the week of my birthday, 1977. I played a fighter/magic-user who died 30' into the dungeon in a pit trap. One of the other players (they were all older, from a gaming group at Ball State) helpe med roll a new character, a paladin I still play.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Fabio Milito PagliaraJune 22, 2013 at 3:13 PM

    True rpg was D&D on October 1984... that's almost 30 years ago, an almost rpg (there was a master and little) about 3 years before, it was an italian space opera exploration game "VII Legio" :)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar

Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition