Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Search Members Calendar FAQ General Forum Guidelines Portal
  • >
  • Kismet's Gamer Gathering: A Place for Roleplayers
  • →
  • Gaming
  • →
  • Playing the Game
  • →
  • How did you get into gaming?
{Add Reply}
How did you get into gaming?
Tweet Topic Started: Dec 23 2005, 06:43 PM (504 Views)
Lionheart Dec 23 2005, 06:43 PM Post #1
Member Avatar
Dabbler
Posts:
20
Group:
Members
Member
#51
Joined:
December 22, 2005
Okay, I’m taking a break from late night present wrapping, to pose the following question:

I’m curious. How did you get your first taste of the great hobby known as role-playing? How old were you? Who introduced you to the hobby? What hooked you? And how, if at all, did those early experiences shape you as a player/DM, or even as a person?

… Actually, I guess I meant, “pose the following whole heap of questions:” *cough* Sorry.

For myself, I was 11, and I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. My mum had brought me what she believed to be an add-on for the hack and slash board game “HeroQuest.” I’d been playing that a lot, along with some of the solo adventure “Fighting Fantasy” game books, at the time, as reading the Hobbit had awoken a strong interest in fantasy. It turned out to be a little something called “The Dungeon Masters Guide.” Well, at first, I have to be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I mean, it wasn’t about “HeroQuest” at all. And it was confusing and contradictory and made a lot of references to another book I didn’t have. I did love that cover though. This was the 2nd edition one, with the red dragon and the wizard. Something about that cover gripped me, and I kept plugging away, and slowly but surely, things started to make sense. (“Ah… So a lower AC is better...”) and as I started to grasp more and more of what the book was about, I started to realise that this was something new. This wasn’t simply a board game I’d pack away at the end of the evening, or a book I’d close when the story ended. This was a game you got involved with. It was more like a living story. This was making fantasy. I had to give it a try.

Finding a group of friends to game with wasn’t too hard. Finding a copy of the Player’s Handbook was, but I got one eventually. And that… was that. One game in, and I was hooked. I suppose the biggest influence in the way I was brought into the hobby is that it meant I was a DM for a long time before I was a player. Admittedly, that was at first because the games tended to be my idea, I knew the most about them, and I owned the books. However, with time, I found that this was how I enjoyed the game most of all. To me, being the DM is kind of like being the director of a show/movie. You might not be the star, but when it goes well, when everyone is having a good time, and the story is flowing, it’s because of you. And I like that feeling.

Anyway, that’s my “origin story” What’s yours?

David.
In going through life, I continually find
It's a terrible business to make up one's mind
So in spite of all comments, reproach and predictions
I firmly adhere to unsettled convictions.
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Shapeless Caren Dec 23 2005, 06:51 PM Post #2
Member Avatar
Voices in her mind. Whispering. Always.
Posts:
547
Group:
The Council
Member
#49
Joined:
December 10, 2005
Was trying to make my own game, bought random dnd book (phb) went ohh! This is cool, and there I went.
Darkchild. Alone in the dark...
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
kismetrose Dec 23 2005, 09:47 PM Post #3
Member Avatar

Admin
Posts:
3,205
Group:
Admin
Member
#1
Joined:
February 6, 2005
My very first exposure to any sort of game book was rather amusing. This girl that I had a mad crush on in the tenth grade brought the Vampire 2nd edition main book to school with her. It wasn't like any other book; or, I guess I should say that it struck me as different from the moment I saw it. I tried to flip through it but it was strange; I wasn't quite sure what all was going on inside of it. I gave it back and then forgot about it.

Several months later, the same book appeared at the house of a friend/lover whom I thought was completely unrelated to my school crush. (I learned otherwise later; it's like no one's unrelated where I live.) I picked the book up again, tried to understand it again, but I was sidetracked away from it. And, after musing to myself that it was strange to see the same book in the possession of two very different friends, I forgot about it.

Finally, I found the book again in the possession of a friend of a friend (who of course became my boyfriend). On the first day of my eleventh grade year, I found my friend being quizzed by this other guy who was kinda strange. I sat by and listened in, and then started asking questions. Considering that they were all but speaking Greek, I was lucky my questions weren't totally stupid. The odd guy seemed intrigued that I caught on so well and I asked for his number so he could teach me more about it. When I found out the stuff he talked about came from the reoccuring book I laughed. It's like that book was going to be known to me no matter where I went. So I started learning the game and I've been gaming ever since.

To answer your last question, Vampire has shaped my gaming quite a bit. I started out in a system rich with roleplaying and dramatic possibilities. My first DM was an actor and a storyteller with a fantastic imagination and a flair for embuing personalities in his NPCs. It was impressed upon me that roleplaying and character were very important - of prime importance, really. I also learned that gaming wasn't really about winning and it certainly wasn't about being the hero. Gaming was about experiencing the world and actions of the character, including their weaknesses and faults (which of course were drawn from the common font of humanity's follies). Gaming wasn't about escaping to a bright happy place. Sometimes, it was about being able to explore a very dark place in relative safety.

I brought a certain mentality over to D&D from Vampire that has enriched my roleplaying experience. When I started running, the majority of my players had never played White Wolf games and they were blown away by the transfusion I made. D&D became more than the same old fare they had always seen, more than clear-cut heroes and bad guys dressed in black. I admit that I'm not sure I can stand a world of brightness, where good always wins out - I guess that's too much fantasy for me.
Kismet's D&D - WoD - SG-1 - FB
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
DaveReaves Dec 27 2005, 07:34 AM Post #4
Member Avatar
Can't believe its not butter
Posts:
688
Group:
The Council
Member
#20
Joined:
September 30, 2005
My introduction to gaming came in stages. Stage one, I was in elementary school. My family was at the home of long time friends who had two older sons and a daughter who was younger than me and us kids (being me, the daughter and the younger brother) were bored. Snooping through the closet of the oldest brother, who was not there at the time, we came across the Dungeons and Dragons board game (old black box with a red dragon on it, claimed to be new and easy to play) so we took it to the kitchen table. We started looking though the box and found what appeared to be the instruction book and started reading. Soon after they gave up (I was ready to tackle the game) and we played Sorry.

It was sometime after that my aunt got me an interesting book. It was kind of like a choose your own adventure book (my favorite in back in the day) giving you options of "If you choose option A, go to page X". But this one had a twist, two six sided dice packaged with the book and a handful of pre made characters in the back. I spent hours trying to complete the adventure. When I finally saved the kingdom, I did it again.

Not long after that we got our first computer, and with AOL in my hands the world was mine. I found eBay (in its infancy) and searched until I found something I wanted. A Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Eddition Player's Handbook. I spent weeks reading it and even found people who played but it was an irregular game and they had added all sorts of crazy crap to that further complicated the game (know known to me psionics and splat books). I resigned to playing Magic: The Gathering.

It was not until third edition came out that another group of players sat down at the tables in the shop. I convinced my father to buy me the PHB (not an easy task as he was convinced it was the same thing that I already had) and I started playing on a regular basis and have had a regular group.

As far as anything shaping me, I would say the choose your own adventure books did the most of that. I like story arcs that end and for campaigns to have a point where the adventurerers either win or loose. I get bored with never ending strings of adventures.
Where all paths will eventually cross: The Random Inn
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Aladdar Dec 27 2005, 08:32 AM Post #5
Member Avatar
There Is No Member, Only Zule
Posts:
1,057
Group:
The Council
Member
#30
Joined:
October 13, 2005
I grew up in a strict religious family who bought into the whole DnD is evil thing. In fact my dad was a youth pastor when I was a kid, I still remember watching some video about the demonic influence of D&D and how if your kids played it, they'd go kill themselves or something.

So I didn't play much as a kid. Around 7th grade I started playing at school with a few friends. Only one of us had any of the books and he used to make up characters for us, etc... I never knew what I was doing, but I did it. Then I dropped it when I started highschool.

I got back into fantasy after highschool when I read Lord of The Rings, then I started playing Everquest. I enjoyed everquest for a year but then realized it was dumb and had zero story whatsoever, even though I did enjoy the fantasy aspect. I tried a few other MMO's before I finally realized they weren't going to do it. I got back into D&D about 2 years ago.

I started searching online for information about D&D and came across the wizards site. I played through their little flash tutorial and said, "Oh, this makes sense." So I started searching some more and found a group over on rpgchat.com who were playing through the sunless citadel by post. The players and the DM were very good and the story grabbed me. I followed their game for about 2 months and then I went out and bought a copy of the Players Handbook and started reading that.

Eventually I messaged the DM and asked him if I could play. He started another game and an older gentleman who sat in the cubicle next to me and I started talking about it and we joined in the new online game he started together. This guy, Blake and I started talking about D&D during our spare time at work and I began to get very interested again and started reading as much as I could trying to understand the game and all aspects of it.

I had started posting on the wizards forum at this time. After a while of playing online I found out I was being transferred to Fort Walton Beach. I searched through the message board to see if there was anyone in FWB who played and I came across this Fixxxer character who's name kept popping up. I sent him a PM and asked him about it and told him I was moving down.

He was very excited to find someone from wizards who was into the game and going to be in his town. So we conversed over Private Messages for about a month. He helped me locate a place to live, told me about the town, about D&D in general, etc.... When I moved here, I was by myself for the first 3 months while my fiance finished her teaching contract in Tallahassee.

So I met up with him and somehow, we became fairly decent friends. I've used him hundreds of times as a resource for learning more and more about how the game is played. I guess you could say he is my *sniff sniff* D&D mentor. Now, I'm working on my homebrew world and readying myself to run my first real game in a month or so. I'm rather nervous because I'm sure I'm going to make a lot of mistakes at first. I just hope the players will stick through it with me and work with me as I go along.
"Love makes the world go round. And has been known to provide a +2 circumstance to certain skill checks."

The D&D Archive Forums

Posted Image
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Jagyr Ebonwood Dec 27 2005, 12:02 PM Post #6
Ritual Partaker
Posts:
175
Group:
The Council
Member
#16
Joined:
September 12, 2005
Aladdar
Dec 27 2005, 11:32 AM
I guess you could say he is my *sniff sniff* D&D mentor.

Awwwwwww, ain't that sweet. :)

Myself, I've always been into the fantasy genre, and have always loved games. From word games to board games to card games to video games. I was always looking for ways to entertain myself and my friends and brothers. I saw an ad for the 3.0 box starter set in a magazine and bought it for $10. After playing a few things with my brothers and uncle, I researched and found that the PHB was the "next step", ordered that from Amazon, and the rest is history. Now, I've been playing for 5 years or so, and have spent a few hundred dollars on my obsess- er, hobby.

Fairly plain story. So, to liven it up, here's a happy cow:
:cowdance:
"Yea, and word unto thee. Pray, money, art thou down with OPP? Verilly thus? For I desire to do the nasty with thine ho, as I tire of doing mine own ho in mine own crib, a most fly one at that." -Fixxxer
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Kesht Dec 27 2005, 12:18 PM Post #7
Member Avatar
You see a drunken hobo. Roll for initiative.
Posts:
326
Group:
The Council
Member
#33
Joined:
October 24, 2005
[OLD_MAN_VOICE] Have I ever told you kids about the time when... [/OLD_MAN_VOICE]

;)

Much like Aladdar, my father also believed D&D to be evil. Actually, the "evilness" of RPGs goes back to me and my brother playing Dragon Warrior on the NES, but that's a whole nother can o worms.

I'll truncate my story, else I'll be typing until lunch time. Knew a guy in high school. He was into RPGs, but not the most mature. I had reservations about playing, as my father (as well as a certain Christian musical artist) had told me D&D was evil. I told my friend about it and he looked at me all confused and said, "Just play. If you see anything you object to, we'll stop. No problem." We played and *GASP* I didn't find anything evil! What do you know? :rolleyes:

It was fun, but unstructured. My friend hadn't read the books, but we didn't care. We played several very stupid games and I borrowed the books so that I could try DMing. I did, but it didn't go very well. Mostly because I wasn't grasping the rules or core concept of role playing.

I was still hooked though. I saved up my money and bought the 2E PHB, MM and DMG along with a bunch of dice. I read, I learned, I loved. I even went so far as to set up a long table with sheets hung all around in our garage. It was cool for about 2-3 months. Then my dad found out. He made me throw away my books and dice. Grrr...

I went without D&D for a number of years, playing Everquest to fill the D&D-shaped hole in my heart. It wasn't any substitute though. After 3-4 years, I contacted my friend again (this was after we had graduated) and got together for some D&D 3.0 games (as the new edition had just come out.) The funny thing was, I could tell he still hadn't read any of the books. I wound up borrowing them, and THIS time I learned the rules well. So well that I still call Survival Wilderness Lore. :lol:

The friend wound up giving me the books. My wife (then GF) suffered through me running crappy one PC, one shot games. It took 9 months, but I came out fairly knowledgable.

From there I joined the WOTC boards, bought a few more books and wound up stalking some guy named Fixxxer for a few years. Now I'm here! :ayyy:

Just think, all that copmlicated background just to bring me here to heckle you guys.
She hung up! I'mf going to die alone and nakeds!

Fixxxer
 
Kesht is right.

Aladdar
 
Kesht is right again.

{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Didge Dec 27 2005, 12:55 PM Post #8
Residential Alaskan Igloo & Walrus Inspector
Posts:
1,002
Group:
The Council
Member
#10
Joined:
August 4, 2005
LH
 
How did you get your first taste of the great hobby known as role-playing? How old were you? Who introduced you to the hobby? What hooked you? And how, if at all, did those early experiences shape you as a player/DM, or even as a person?


Considering I have a horrible memory the fact that I remember anything past two weeks ago is amazing. The thing is, D&D has been a part of my life before I even knew what D&D was. Let me explain. No, there is to much, let me sum up. Buttercup is marrying prince...wait, wrong monologue.

Short story is I've been reading choose your own adventure books, and remember such classics as the, "Dirk, the Daring" cartoon show that got me entertained. I read the Hobbit when I was in 4th grade, and the LOTR series in 5th/6th grade. There was something there that appealed to me. Something for me to escape into, and not have to worry about being me. I think I was around 12 or so the first time I actually played in a game of D&D (which was 1e btw) and I ended up being the DM because one of my friends had some old modules but never ran anything. We used the pre-made characters, and spent a couple hours exploring an old ruined temple and as I recall, killing a viper in a pit trap with a club.

Then as a freshman in HS, I found a semi-regular game (during lunch we'd play and it wasn't a serious campaign, but we had fun) and my best friend DM'd. We played pretty much all the way through HS, and though my best friend was introduced to several other DM's who were older and had played D&D with his older brother. I quickly sank my brain into the different styles of what worked, what didn't, why this DM had players clamoring for more, and another left us feeling incomplete. Each of them, including my best friend's ability to DM, taught me something. My best friend, as I would discover from later experiences really sucked at general plot lines and established campaigns, but we had fun. Another DM was very good at political intrigue and complex plot lines, but sucked at giving any sort of plot hook. The list goes on.

The point was that I became convinced that I could run a game just as well, if not better, than most of the DM's around here. So I tried, and failed miserably. Then I tried again, and it didn't work again. I got discouraged and left feeling that I had given it my all and just couldn't grasp the finer points of being a DM. I was great at little 2-3 shot adventures, but I couldn't make them fit into any overlying storyline. I think part of the problem was that I had a bunch of hack-n-slashers and I discovered I enjoyed more of the roleplaying aspect of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the tactics involved in the game and think every good session should have at least one fight, but roleplaying is so much more rewarding. Its through roleplaying that I became more outgoing and taught me the skills I need in the workplace today.

I also drifted through some MUD's while in college, and drifted into and out of several different RPG's, but my heart lies in the fantasy world of D&D. As for my parents? They thought it was a bit strange, but never really questioned it as it kept me entertained and out of their hair. I never really did anything too bad, and they always knew where I was on the weekends, so they didn't have to worry about the whole drug scene and whatnot (not to mention that I was competing in tournaments on the weekends I wasn't gaming) so they were cool with it. They still don't quite get it, but at least they understand its my hobby. Much like fishing, or martial arts, or anything else. As much as I enjoy it, its something that I do, it isn't something that defines me.
When you're making an Adventure, remember to ask, "WWMPD" (What Would My Player's Do?) Then tailor your adventure around that.
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Fixxxer Dec 27 2005, 02:20 PM Post #9
Member Avatar
Alcoholic Homosexual Giraffe
Posts:
1,241
Group:
The Council
Member
#7
Joined:
April 13, 2005
Aladdar
Dec 27 2005, 10:32 AM
He was very excited to find someone from wizards who was into the game and going to be in his town.

Not just to my town, but from my old town. It's cool knowing someone in town that has actually eaten at Gordo's or spent time at Lake Ella. It's just one more thing we have in common.

Quote:
 
I just hope the players will stick through it with me and work with me as I go along.


I wouldn't worry about that. Except for Nerissa (and I don't think she'd notice at all if you made as big a mistake as having Pelor be the god of demons), we've all played with new DMs and we've all be new ourselves. Hell, I can't imagine for a second that your first DMing experience will be nearly as bad as mine (I actually had a player quietly get up and walk out of the building), and Fe and Andrew were both there. :)
In my mind, it is that simple. But then, I'm simple minded. -Didge-
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Shapeless Caren Dec 27 2005, 02:36 PM Post #10
Member Avatar
Voices in her mind. Whispering. Always.
Posts:
547
Group:
The Council
Member
#49
Joined:
December 10, 2005
Is Andrew's last name nailor? I know an Andrw nailor.
Darkchild. Alone in the dark...
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
Guest Dec 28 2005, 06:33 PM Post #11
Unregistered

my first taste of role-play was a little more than one year ago. before then, i was a big fan of Final Fantasies and other rpgs/mmorpgs. however, they just didn't seem to sate my appetite for long. I wanted something...greater, more expansive, more creative.

then one day, my friend (who is my current dm right now) started talking about dnd. I got interested and the dm asked if he wanted to try it out with a couple of other friends. I though, "Sure, why not?" and we played some small, four room dungeon and i wound up liking it. and viola, i started playing dnd.
{Quote} ^
 
Vacerious Dec 28 2005, 06:34 PM Post #12
Member Avatar
Level 9 Nerd/9 Trashtalker
Posts:
94
Group:
The Council
Member
#43
Joined:
November 17, 2005
Guest
Dec 28 2005, 05:33 PM
my first taste of role-play was a little more than one year ago. before then, i was a big fan of Final Fantasies and other rpgs/mmorpgs. however, they just didn't seem to sate my appetite for long. I wanted something...greater, more expansive, more creative.

then one day, my friend (who is my current dm right now) started talking about dnd. I got interested and the dm asked if he wanted to try it out with a couple of other friends. I though, "Sure, why not?" and we played some small, four room dungeon and i wound up liking it. and viola, i started playing dnd.

this one's mine, guys and gals.
Freston
 
It's not evil if they deserved it.


Disclaimer Warning: Parental Advisory (this poster contains strong language and many references to adult situations)

It's not that I'm racist, sexist, or whatever. I'm just extremely allergic to idiots, and if your race/gender/(homo)sexual preference happens to contain a lot of idiots, then that's YOUR problem.
{Offline} {Profile} {Quote} ^
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
ZetaBoards gives you all the tools to create a successful discussion community.
Learn More · Sign-up for Free
« Previous Topic · Playing the Game · Next Topic »
{Add Reply}

Track Topic · E-mail Topic Time: 5:39 PM Jul 10
Scroll and Ink theme created by Canimia of Zathyus Networks Resources
Hosted for free by ZetaBoards · Privacy Policy