Who here is from UK? Just curious. :)
And how did you come to play D&D as it's not exactly popular over here is it?
Great idea for a thread. I have spotted a few of us Brits on the Boards, here goes..
Born in Bristol. Living in cornwall. Started playing D&D after seeing an episode of Taggart based on Role playing games. I had no idea about them but they sounded cool so I asked a friend who, as luck would have it, had played D&D with his family. He fleshed out the idea of the game and pretty soon we were starting our first group. We were 14 or 15 and the group lasted (at least the three core players did) for about 3 years (mostly avatar trilogy/ homebrew). Then I two of us went off to University and the group broke up, though we kept in touch.
That was 14 years ago. About 3 or 4 years ago I got back in touch with the guy who had been the DM (after losing contact for about 5 years). We got talking about old games and to cut a long story short we started our first game in 14 years about 2 months ago. We have 2 new players which were difficult to find! (talking about D&D in the UK is a bit like I how I imagine it must be to start a serious conversation about wife swapping. People kind of look at you as if your nuts and mentally brand you a freak as the edge away from you).
Anyway, my gaming drought is over and the new group started Shackled City AP with me as the DM. I think we will only get to play about once a month at most but its better than not at all. Every cloud...
Elcian
So many! :P
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Yup, born in London, resident in Rugby. Started playing at school, which petered out as we went our separate ways afterwards. Didn't play for years, but subscribed to Dungeon and Dragon for virtually this entire period, and read some RA Salvatore (sheesh, it was just a phase). After a break for ages, began playing with a couple of work colleagues who had played RPGs in their earlier lives (quite unusual, to get two in a relatively small office). When I moved out of London, I made contact with a group there and began playing regulalrly with them (about fortnightly) which is now my main game, with occasional trips to London to play with the other crew.
I am always jealous when I read posts on there like "Kick them out of the game - there are plenty of other players around." There are? Where? D&D players are HARD to find in the UK, especially away from London. But I'm getting my share, at least.
Does "used to live in England" count?
Does "used to live in England" count?
Of course! But if you wish to stay you must have bad teeth. ;)
Very well then, I used to live in RAF Chicksands, near Bedford (in Bedfordshire, naturally). Lived there from 89 to 94.
I lived in St. Albans between 1980 and 1984. Of course I was a small child, but my strongest memory of the UK is going into Hamley's(?) in London with my dad. He took me to the basement level and it was dimly lit and full of miniatures and wargames and D&D and my dad bought some figs for his D&D game and he bought me a box full of Judge Dredd minis.
England is awesome.
I have been in London for a week over ten years ago, does that count? :)
And good number of people mistake me for British (not the Brits, though). I guess I have enough Oxford in my speech to fool non-native English speakers...
And aren't all the Brits playing Warhammer anyway?
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Born on the southcoast in Portsmouth, lived there for my formative years and bailed when I hit 21. Now I reside in the glorious town of Reading, although I'm about to start work in Oxford.
My first rpg experience was as a teenager, where I forced a bunch of friends to try out the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system. I think we lasted a session! About three years ago I finally got around to trying D&D, after nosing through the books in the local Waterstones for months. Almost by accident I ended up DMing after a somewhat irregular campaign under another DM staggered to a halt (it was pretty easy to tell that his heart was never in it, canceling a session an hour beforehand more regularly than we actually played kind of gave it away!). I'm now an online player, as well as a tabletop DM, and thoroughly addicted.
Like others have said, mentioning RPGs in Britain does tend to get you a bunch of funny looks. My girlfriend sums it up as "playing with little men", but does boast about living with a geek quite proudly...I've never had trouble finding players, though. For anybody that is, I'd recommend trying the local universities for a games society, as that's how I find/found mine.
Ukos
Londoner now living in Leicester but commuting to London daily.
Started playing in '82 after experimenting with Fighting Fantasy. D&D was the major cause of me failing at school but made for great memories. I'm still in touch with my school time players albeit online.
I currently play with some pals from London on a monthly basis. I go down there one month and the next they come to mine, and we share the cost of travel to make it manageable. We even do a yearly camping meet, which takes us over a weekend in the summer and our partners our okay with this.
Talking about D&D to other Brits? I just do it and compare it to online gaming except with your friends in the same room with you, promoting its social slant. I have won over a few gamers this way, despite their inital reactions. The best thing is to just invite them around to watch and they just seem to want to get involved and be in on the in-jokes. :)
BTW, who said Warhammer? If you swear once more on these boards I'll have to report you!!!
Where do you play in London, Aub?
Indeed, we need to get in touch again. I'm in the middle of a house move at the moment but maybe we can arrange something soon. I'm also looking at beginning a campaign at Leicester University in the near future and will let you know when that looks like kicking off.
BTW, I know Loughton very well, having lived in Woodford Green for a few years and then moving to Walthamstow. Small world and all that...
Apologies to everyone else here if this seems like thread-jacking. :)
I think those Fighting Fantasy books may have been my first exposure to fantasy and roleplaying, it seems like I'm not alone there.
I tried the Titan and Out of the Pit books with a couple of school friends as a ten year old but we simply could not understand the rules and got quite frustrated if I recall correctly.
Later came the Games Workshop stuff. :)
Still in the east of Leicester, half a mile up the road but to a bigger house. :)
Very broke now. :(
But I have more room to play D&D! :D
Apologies to everyone else here if this seems like thread-jacking. :)
Not at all old bean! :)
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I think those Fighting Fantasy books may have been my first exposure to fantasy and roleplaying, it seems like I'm not alone there.
I tried the Titan and Out of the Pit books with a couple of school friends as a ten year old but we simply could not understand the rules and got quite frustrated if I recall correctly.
Later came the Games Workshop stuff. :)
I really liked the Fighting Fantasy stuff - I have very fond memories of the Sorcery series, which was a triumph in the medium of solo quest-type game books.
Raging Swan Press
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What Ho All,
I am an English gamer and live in Devon (in the English Riviera to be precise). Currently, our group has two campaigns - every other Sunday we play Savage Tide and on Tuesday nights we do an ad-hoc game in which we take turns at DMing. We are starting Fright of Tristor next week as a blast from the past. Several of us played it when it first came out but with two members just rejoined who haven't played 3.5 D&D it seemed the perfect "beginners adventure."
I've never really had that much of a problem finding a group; it's finding the time to play that's difficult for me!
Creighton Broadhurst
Living Greyhawk Core Supremo
"Oh Hugh, you're wonderful."
"No Rosemary, not wonderful just British!"
"Oh Hugh, you're wonderful."
"No Rosemary, not wonderful just British!"
Huzzah!!
Hi there here in Portsmouth
Starting gamimg when i was in school early eighties and tried to puzzle my way through gygax's prose
Played with 4 friends by the mid eighties, and we still game now , one has moved away past cambridge.
We still play 1st edition though i play them thru the ,modern dungeon adventures.I have a lot of 3.5 rules,they are still playing some of the same characters from the mid eighties but obviously they are high level now.
We have had breaks because of uni , careers etc travellimg across australia etc, but my players have
21st level cleric, saint david ,
16th lvl ranger lord captain ansi,
16th level cleric archbishop cuth bert
12th lvl paladin lord tokagawa
and kalcyn 15th lvl ranger
we also game with one players step son and his mate as low level
starting
the savage tide campaign.
The two 17 year olds love it. to them its like pirates of the carribean meets d&d.
Recently met as new gamesclub in pompey and shock horror , they play no d&d but lots of one off horror gameslike c&c, kult , werewolf, warhammer fantasy role play and lots of independant stuff i have never heard of.
I really liked the Fighting Fantasy stuff - I have very fond memories of the Sorcery series, which was a triumph in the medium of solo quest-type game books.I think those Fighting Fantasy books may have been my first exposure to fantasy and roleplaying, it seems like I'm not alone there.
I tried the Titan and Out of the Pit books with a couple of school friends as a ten year old but we simply could not understand the rules and got quite frustrated if I recall correctly.
Later came the Games Workshop stuff. :)
I also loved all of the steve jackson , ian livingston stuff. I have even converted death trap dungeon into a Dm and one player game. it was great!
why does not wotc release solo adventures or one dm one player games?Have computers completely taken over?
Im from Halifax west yorkshire and there are quite a few groups in my area and i even have one person coming to my shackled city campaign every other week from south wales.I have been playing since 1977 and with a few breaks inbetween have been gaming constantly.I also do play warhammer,but dont hold that against me its really not my fault,i was plyed with alcohol and told that it wouldnt cost much money to play!yeah right. oh and please no more stereotypical british put downs.my teeth are white and straight.
oh and please no more stereotypical british put downs.my teeth are white and straight.
<Insert joke comparing teeth condition against morals here>
Gaming since 77? You old beggar! I can only claim 83... the D&D basic red box with the red dragon got me and my brother... he's now in denial.
After/during that it was fighting fantasy, lone wolf (is that the title?), and two books which took place entirely in a dungeon. Two people had to read them together, one person read one, the other read it's companion and the picture on the page showed the dungeon from the character's pov. If you ran into the other reader you had to fight him IIRC. Weird, but cool.
High school playing (intro to Forgotten Realms there) and Uni play followed. During which I became part of the local gaming club (hi Snorter).
That continued until I got married and had kids. 4 year hiatus ensued...
Thank god DM Demon asked me to play. I freaking love D&D.
... sorry for the americanisms and not-so-british gushing there...
...and yes, that-tabletop-game-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken made an appearance too. Best two grand spent on lead and pewter ever...
Matt
I am a little mixed up. I was born in Britain, Left at age eight. I have only been home once, to hitchhike around for a few months after my twenty-first birthday. I have lived in South Africa since 1981 and in Taiwan since 2002. If anyone asks my nationality I immediately say British. Not because of nativity, but because of my culture. I always felt myself to be somewhat of an exile.
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oh and please no more stereotypical british put downs.my teeth are white and straight.
<Insert joke comparing teeth condition against morals here>
Gaming since 77? You old beggar! I can only claim 83... the D&D basic red box with the red dragon got me and my brother... he's now in denial.
After/during that it was fighting fantasy, lone wolf (is that the title?), and two books which took place entirely in a dungeon. Two people had to read them together, one person read one, the other read it's companion and the picture on the page showed the dungeon from the character's pov. If you ran into the other reader you had to fight him IIRC. Weird, but cool.
High school playing (intro to Forgotten Realms there) and Uni play followed. During which I became part of the local gaming club (hi Snorter).
That continued until I got married and had kids. 4 year hiatus ensued...
Thank god DM Demon asked me to play. I freaking love D&D.
... sorry for the americanisms and not-so-british gushing there...
...and yes, that-tabletop-game-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken made an appearance too. Best two grand spent on lead and pewter ever...
Matt
I'm bumping this thread, to get more UK gamers on board.
I only found it after the message boards ate my response to DMDemon in another thread, and I went looking for it in his profile.Anyone wants a regular game of Warhammer (or any other wargame, really), in the Halifax area, get in touch with me or DMDemon.
How strange to find you had an old avatar, Matt. Who'd have thought?
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As ericthecleric says, I am indeed a Brit - an Englishman in fact.
I was born in Derby, where I lived for 18 years before going to university. I first played D&D at a school club when I was about 13, although I'd played other 'nerdy' games (e.g. Warhammer, Heroquest, Advanced Fighting Fantasy etc.) before that.
I went to Oxford University, and still have friends in the city, so if there's anything you want to know about it, Jeremy, let me know.
I now live near Chester, where we have an active RPG & board games club. That reminds me, I must give that thread a bump...
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Currently living near London (though work in Cambridge) but I've lived in quite a few places around the UK and never found any trouble finding players and games. (Best place has been Sheffield though)
I started playing in '83 at school when a Maths teacher started up a D&D club. Yeah, you get a few funny looks when you're talking about a game while traveling on the tube but I think with the increased popularity of computer RPGs then it isn't seen as too odd.
I'm the DM of a 3.5 group, like Greyworker we are also on the English Riviera in Devon. Playing since 2003 we generally have more trouble keeping numbers up than finding time to play.
Somehow despite being in the same area we have never come into contact with Greyworker's group. Greyworker, fancy a chat on Messenger or a drink sometime.
I'm renting a cottage in the Mendips for a week early this summer, and I live in Oxford...but Oxford Ct. US, plus I own a 65 Triumph Trophy that shifts on the correct (right) side, does that count?
How strange to find you had an old avatar, Matt. Who'd have thought?
And I've remembered the e-mail address I used with it! Anyone wanting to know the skinny on Dazylar will have to ask before I create a profile for him. He is extremely cheesy. I was only 11 at the beginning of his legend...
OK, now we've all got together, let's reveal the true nature of our gathering.
Remember highlanders, the boy is mine.
Is he the 25th-level paladin?
Possessions;
Full Plate +3
Shield +3
Holy Avenger
'Bag of other stuff';)
If only it was that balanced... final incarnation had him be a paladin/bard (Arthurian legends had it, so why not a PC?) and a holy avenger was not quite good enough...
Hmm... I think I'll try to look up all the stuff.
It isn't really as bad as you may all think.
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Raging Swan Press
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I'm the DM of a 3.5 group, like Greyworker we are also on the English Riviera in Devon. Playing since 2003 we generally have more trouble keeping numbers up than finding time to play.
Somehow despite being in the same area we have never come into contact with Greyworker's group. Greyworker, fancy a chat on Messenger or a drink sometime.
Grabbing a drink or having a chat sometime would be great. I'm always keen to discuss the minutia of the setting with another fan. You can reach me on creighton [at] greyworks.co.uk
Who here is from UK? Just curious. :)
And how did you come to play D&D as it's not exactly popular over here is it?
Londoner, now living in Essex (close enough to London to reap the advantages of the big smoke though).
20 years man and boy rp'ing. Red Box d&D to start; through lots of powergamey AD&D, MSH and then graduated to proper roleplaying with the midweek group that has been a regular fixture for something like 15 years. Played Vampire, GURPS, Cyberpunk - lots o' stuff
Ran Torg for 4 years straight at Uni; ran Ars magica for 3 years non-stop. Infamous for never finishing a campaign; hoping to complete RotR.
Just finished 'Burnt Offerings' - as I'm working and studying I can only ref for the November - February period; so I'm now on a 8-month reffing layoff until November '08.
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Pompey lad here, been playing since I was 9 (I'm 33 Tuesday). Currently playing with a group in Southsea (evil campaign Lesser Aasimar Dread Necromancer 9th level) and running a game round a friends (Burnt Offerings , Barbarian, Duskblade, Cleric, and rogue/swashbuckler currently recovering after the briar battle).
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I'm in Portsmouth too, we have a fun little group that runs at least one game a week.
As for how I got into it.. I've always been around RP & wargames as my dad is a real geek, he ran a tabletop game of some description (possibly runequest, I don't remember all the specifics) for me and my two younger siblings when I was 13 and I guess I got corrupted!
I did some LARP and other tabletop systems before finding my D&D group who I've been playing with for about 4 years now :)