Just a curious question on my part, I know a lot of people who started with D&D and have never really played another system for a long period of time. My RPGs in the order they were played(only ones played for more than 6 months included):
-Shadowrun
-WEG Star Wars
-D&D(Planescape, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk in that order)
I stated it in my bio, but I actually started with Price of Freedom.
From there I went on to Battletech and then Chivalry and Sorcery before first playing AD&D and then quickly switching to 2e because it was released a few months later.
I started with a friend’s totally homebrewed RPG in highschool. Looking back the game was munchkin city and a total ego trip for my friend, but it was fun at the time.
My first year of college marked an interuption in my gaming experience, but during my sophmore year the hype around the release of 3e D&D got me into the scene for good.
My highschool friends and I tried playing a Shadowrun game or two during some school vacations, but said games never really went much of anywhere. I still have the books floating around, but haven’t used or even opened them in ages.
I also tried Vampire LARPing in college, but never really found that to be my cup of tea. It was probably more the LARP aspect than the game system, but I was really turned off to both by the experience and decided to stick with D&D.
Since graduating college all my gaming has been online and has been D&D or variations there of.
I started with good old 1st edition AD&D! Even managed to roll high enough on the percentile to score a psionic character. The other players were jealous, and my eyes were opened to the wider world of power gaming!
After playing AD&D, I played a little Basic D&D since I got the boxed sets as a present, then went back to AD&D with 2nd Edition. At that time I also played in a number of other games and systems. My first non-D&D game was TMNT and Other Strangeness from Palladium.
From there I branched off into a lot of Palladium games like Rifts, Robotech, Ninjas and Superspies. I even played others like WEG Star Wars, and dabbled briefly with Vampire. However, I found that most of the White Wolf fans I knew seemed pretty pretentious and it turned me off. I went back to 2nd Edition and played happily for many years.
Then my playing dropped off when I went to college. Luckily 3rd Edition came out right when I graduated! Been playing that until now. But now I’m eager for 4th Edition!
A vague combination of GURPS and Ars Magica (mostly Ars Magica, apparently), followed by a fellow about my age (8?) attempting to DM a game of AD&D purely from memory after having played the boxed set, once.
My first RPG experience was...Hero Quest? Does that count? I also played some old (Gibbering Mouther Ate Your Word!) (I still have them) TSR choose your own adventure books. They were a mix of CYOA and Dragonlance. You had two players and each of you got a book. You took turns reading pages and depending on what happened the other player would play the monsters and you would play the pregenerated heroes at the front of the book.
Before D&D, my gaming experience began with a sort of wargame/boardgame called Weapons & Warriors, which was immense fun. That was right around the time I got into Magic: The Gathering as well. I played a few freeform RPGs that my friends and I brewed up, but I think the first gaming book I actually owned (and still have) was a Vampire: The Masquerade freebie that detailed a few of the clans and the basics of combat. I also had a quick-start ruleset for WEG d6 Star Wars.
Eventually, I did go out and buy myself a 2e PHB, though now all I own of my old 2e collection is the Complete Priest’s Handbook. I also was pretty in to Mordheim and Warhammer 40k at the time, because Blood Angles rule hard, and in the ruins of ancient Mordheim, there was no stopping the fierce and deadly Mariachi Knights, who were wealthy enough so that all their ranged support were packing long rifles.
Ah, the good old days.
Also, I was a Choose Your Own Adventure addict back in the day. I’d demand a ride to the library twice a week so that I could stock up on those.
Also, I was a Choose Your Own Adventure addict back in the day. I’d demand a ride to the library twice a week so that I could stock up on those.
Oh yeah! I loved those books. My favorite series was the Lone Wolf series. A little more adult and you actually had to keep track of stats. Mongoose is even going to rerelease the series. Looking forward to that. Check it out!
Oh yeah! I loved those books. My favorite series was the Lone Wolf series. A little more adult and you actually had to keep track of stats. Mongoose is even going to rerelease the series. Looking forward to that. Check it out!
On one hand, it makes me feel old that something I enjoyed as a child is now being released as something considered almost “vintage”. On the other hand, sweet.
oddly enough my first RPG book (sorta) was a variant of a choose-your-own- adventure book that included rules for invantory, HP, and dice! Co-written by steve jackson, no less! The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
From there I got into playing Wizardry (yes, the first one) on my computer and eventually picked up my first real game… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. Basic Palladium stuff with a strong lead-in for kids, and once I figured out how to get past all the damned math involved I was running games in no time. It wasn’t long before I made my first homebrew game either… a point-buy system based on the Mega Man games.
Then I sorta lost track of gaming for a while once VRPG’s ;ike final fantasy cought me, and then a long stint of M:tG, but in college I hooked up with some guys playing Vampire and got back into the hobby. Vamp was not my thing (especially larping and the ‘players’ it tends to attract), but werewolf and mage kept me busy for a -long- time.
I also played some deadlands (still miss the old poker mechanic), shadowrun, traveler, car wars and champions all before I picked up my first D&D book. In fact 3.5 is where I got started.
I started off with 1st edition D&D in 1986 - in finnish language though. Later on we put in all kinds of silly house rules and practically turned it into something different.
After that, I started playing 2nd ed d&d which we played a lot by the book. That one did not last too long.
GURPS came next and I still kind of prefer 50% of my gaming time spent to be on GURPS based games.
3/3.5 ed I played a lot, but now my gaming has kind of died down since I got a 2 year work assignment abroad (in Brazil).
Now I am just waiting for 4th ed to come out and try some one shot games. Once I get back home on a more stable basis I imagine I am going to try for a 4th ed campaign (if it does not dissappoing me much).
Me, I started back at the start of High school, Playing Warhammer - Which led to a brief stint in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which lasted about a month until I was told about “This new D&D Third edition thing”, which was supposedly much cooler.
Nowadays, I do indeed agree that it is much cooler.
Since then, though, I’ve dabbled in Not just 3.5e, but also d20 Modern/Future, and one short Futuristic GURPS-based game which failed miserably. Oh, well.
Warhammer Quest. I bought it and Warhammer for $5 at a thrift store as a kid.
Later on, I was at a public library and picked up a 3.0 PHB (and had never heard of D&D). I then found out that my Dad had played 1st and 2nd Ed. (I think) in high school...this prompted me to learn how to play and DM with my family. They lost interest, and I lost my group...so I turned to Magic the Gathering. Then in Junior year of High school I found some D&D players and grouped up with them. I then found 3rebb that summer while looking for D&D advice and have been hooked ever since.
I technically started with D&D. But it was D&D played with nothing but d6s in a deserted lot and no books but pilfered notebook paper from our school notebooks. Still remember that half-orc druid thing. :-D The first game I ever played with actual books was Alternity.
