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I thought about this a few minutes ago, and I realized it had nothing to do with D&D or other fantasy genres.
It was a Star Wars sourcebook detailing all the ships and vehicles of the Galactic Empire. For the life of me, I can't find it in my bookshelf, or online. I don't even know the exact title of it, or even what game system it was for. All I know was that it detailed the stats of each ship (it wasn't a fluff book, it was game rules).
I think I bought it in the mid to late 90s. Anyone know it?
Red box.
Red box in 1981.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Okay, the first gaming book I ever bought? That would be Vampire: The Masquerade Revised (the green one with the rose on the cover). I believe I purchased it around 1997-98.
The first gaming book that I ever had, however, is the D&D 2nd Edition Player's Guide, given to me by a friend in 1993. I was 11 at the time.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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The blue box set with the red dragon on the cover, 7th printing (contains B2 Keep on the Borderlands), with the famous blue book rules in it. Pretty sure I had dice, not chits. Summer, 1980 is when I was given the set. I know I didn't actually "buy" it, but I asked my parents to buy it, so... :)
Basic set art and edition information can be found here:
http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/basic.html
This set is sometimes erroneously called the "red box" due to the red dragon art on the cover, but the red box set actually came out in 1983 (red box/red dragon), after the magenta box (magenta box/green dragon).
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The first book I purchased with my own hard earned money (cutting grass) was AD&D Players Handbook.
My parents bought me the Basic and Expert set before that. One day a kid from my little league team shows up with all these hardbound books and I'm like "What the hell is all this?" The following weekend I'm at the store buying the PHB.
but the red box set actually came out in 1983 (red box/red dragon), after the magenta box (magenta box/green dragon).
Thanks for the link, Russ. I thought I had "red box," but I see the site you linked to calls it "magenta." The printing I got appears to be early-80s vintage.
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This set is sometimes erroneously called the "red box" due to the red dragon art on the cover, but the red box set actually came out in 1983 (red box/red dragon), after the magenta box (magenta box/green dragon).
I guess I had the magenta box then (1981 release) with the green dragon and Keep on the Borderland in it. But I'm still pretty sure I bought it in March of '83. The rulebook was red.
Interestingly enough, I don't have my original book/box anymore. I gave it to my brother who lost it. But when he gave me my books back, he gave me a new box with a nearly mint copy of the rulebook and B2 inside.
And though I was only 10 at the time, I bought it myself with my birthday money. I had been introduced to the game earlier by a friend.
Well, when I started dating my husband he already had an extensive collection of D&D books, so I pretty much had access to all of the 2nd edition stuff. But the first one I ever bought was the Encyclopedia Magica, vol. 1. Actually, it was a birthday present for him.
1st Edition Unearthed Arcana, binding intact, in 1994 for $55.
The first book I got was given to me by my mom's boyfriend. It was the D&D Basic set in 1978. Thereafter, I picked up all the core AD&D books, and pretty much everything thereafter.
The first book I bought at a convention was every single one of the little books for Traveller 1st Edition, a $45 purchase made ten minutes into Gen Con 1981. That was all the money I had to spend all weekend, and I blew it right out of the gate on a game I never played before that. Best purchase of my RPG life.
Mike
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Officially marking myself as a neophyte, the first gaming book I ever bought was the 3.0 PHB, in the year 2000 at the tender age of thirteen.
I'd gamed a couple of times before, but it was 2e, and we didn't have any books- just photocopied shite. We didn't even really use the rules. However, after my fateful purchase, everything changed...
AD&D Player's Handbook, fall of 1980.
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The first book I bought at a convention was every single one of the little books for Traveller 1st Edition, a $45 purchase made ten minutes into Gen Con 1981. That was all the money I had to spend all weekend, and I blew it right out of the gate on a game I never played before that. Best purchase of my RPG life.
Mike
Yesssss!!! Those books were awesome!
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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The first RPG book I ever had was the D&D Basic Set (1011), previously referred to as "the red box". I got it for Christmas in 1983.
The first RPG book I ever bought was the D&D Expert Rules, back in 1984.
Still have them both, too, along with the Companion Set. By 1985, I had found an AD&D group, and made the switch.
Bought? Tome of Magic, AD&D 2nd edition. I was playing a lot of spellcasting types at the time, and I wanted some ammunition.
Received? Uhh...
It is a toss up as to whether it was the D&D basic box set or the Star Frontiers box set. Sometime in the mid 80s.
Man, I had a ton o' fun with Star Frontiers!
First rpg book I ever bought was D6 Star Wars. Paid for it with my "birthday money".
70's brown box set. I picked up Greyhawk, Blackmoor, a later version of Chainmail, Strategic Reviews...
And when Gods, Demigods and Heroes and Eldritch Wizardry came out I practically leapt over the counter to get at them. *Naked woman on the cover AND gods?
*I wasn't one of those "girls are icky" eight-year-olds.
The first RPG "book" i had was a D&D "box" (without the box), in 1981.
The first RPG "book" i bought was D&D Red Box (this time with the box), in 1983.
B4: The Lost City.
We'd received the basic set as a gift for christmas.
to this day B4 is one of my favorite modules.
- Ashavan
B4: The Lost City.
We'd received the basic set as a gift for christmas.
to this day B4 is one of my favorite modules.
- Ashavan
Ash, when I saw reference to the Argonautica today I thought up Zargonautica. Pointless aside, but I had to tell someone.
I DMed b4 from an apartment building rooftop during a sunning/D&D session during the summer of my 14th year. That and Castle D'amberville... same location, same week. It was a kieros... a golden moment. I even wrote a song about it.
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Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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It is a toss up as to whether it was the D&D basic box set or the Star Frontiers box set. Sometime in the mid 80s.
Man, I had a ton o' fun with Star Frontiers!
Preach on, Brother Kane!
Worked in between all the D&D stuff, I bought the SF boxed set when it came out. I am still sad that Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space vol. 1, did not get a vol. 2. :(
Can't remember for sure. It was either the original FR Gray Box or the Temple of Elemental Evil. I borrowed game books till later.
my first rpg book is teenage mutant ninja turtle & other strangeness in 89 at a use book store
Dungeoneer, the core Advanced Fighting Fantasy rulebook is probably the first true RPG I bought. Simple, fun stuff that expanded on the gamebooks and allowed you to play with your friends. Brilliant!
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West End Games d6 Star Wars, I'd wager.Thanks. It was West End Games Imperial Sourcebook. I would recognize that cover art anywhere!
Ah, the dreamy days of 1993.
That was the best summer of my life, before High School started...
Now to find that time capsule and get re-acquainted.
Heh I had the same experience. The best roleplaying I did was with my close friends during summer vacation 1993 (right before high school started). We gamed pretty much every day that summer, with me running marathon 16 hour sessions of Palladium modern games (Ninjas and Superspies, Heroes Unlimited, Turtles, BTS). Damn good times and I've yet to recreate the magic.
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I remember seeing kids reading the D&D Basic (magenta/green dragon) Rulebook on the schoolbus. I asked my parents about getting it for my birthday. My dad went out and bought Knights of Camelot which was a TSR product, a boardgame with a little bit of roleplaying thrown in. I played it for a little while, but really, really wanted to play D&D, so my parents got me the D&D Basic Set for Christmas that same year (1982, IIRC).
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1983...
Mentzer's red dragon cover...
For what its worth, I can also remember playing the hex map wargame module, X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield (basically the entire world of Mystara at war, don't let the rehashed Dragonlance cover art fool you) over and over again one summer with my cousin and my brother until the map was frayed around the edges and the die-cut cardboard counters were faded.
For sheer joy and entertainment value, I'd have to say that this one sticks out strongest in my memory.
Officially marking myself as a neophyte...
Not quite.
First book I got was the 3.5 Player's Handbook, 2004 or 2005.