I'm 42 and started around 1980 or so. AD&D 1st Edition with Efreet on the cover of the DMG. Good times...
Same Here.
Perhaps I should explain my earlier comment about being wet behind the ears as for playing. I started playing at the end of 2e just before 3e came out, so make that in 2000. Yes I started very late in life.
At 41 (42 in December), there's no way I'm beating silverhair2008. I started playing with the Holmes box in 1981. Played a little Red Box, but jumped to 1e AD&D as soon as we could buy the books (which took a while, they weren't cheap on middle schooler allowances).
fray wrote:
Chris Mortika - I loved my Arduin books! So bummed they died in a flood.I have the Compleat Arduin, book one and two. Are those what you're talking about?
I don't know which he's talking about, but the first ones I saw were small tan covered paperbacks made to match the original paperback books for D&D. I think there were about five books maybe plus some spell books and monster books. The books were incomplete- they didn't have base classes. Just started with new classes and continued with world info.
edit : Bottom of the page!
I have a old tan Arduin book, but for some reason I thought he referred to Dave Hargrave's work. Are they the same thing? I've got some big Arduin compilations that came out after his passing.
Wow! I'm feeling younger and younger (and not so fogeyish.) :P
I'm a spry 53 and started and have played steadily since 1975 with the little booklets and have not switched game mechanics until this August when I'll be starting up a Pathfinder game.
I loved the wine and spirits lists from one of the later Arduin books. So many crazy effects from drinks with fantastic creatures and concoctions mixed in. True alchemy!
- Senator
No where near the oldest but I am 33 and started playing RPG's with mech warrior and Marvel super heroes in 90 or 91 kinda fuzzy on which year I know I started playing Ad&d in 93 however as that is when the book was printed :}
I had a feeling Silverhair was going to win this one the moment I saw the thread title. Thus far, nobody comes close to 62. I'll begin engraving the trophy plaque.
I'll be 40 in a couple of months, and started playing with (I believe) 2nd Edition D&D back in 1988. Also played Star Trek, Star Wars, Battletech/Mechwarrior, and Marvel Superheroes (or something like that-- it was a short-lived campaign).
(Though I took a loooooong break after a couple of abortive attempts at finding a group in grad school, and didn't pick up the hobby again until a couple of years ago.)
Chris Mortika, you didn't play chess for any of the St. Louis schools did you? I played with the Alton,IL team but we were in the St.Louis school league.Yep. Played for Chaminade.
Too funny. I loved playing then. I'm awful now.
43. Heard about D&D as a concept and we started playing without the books or any idea how to do it (and our parents wouldn't buy the books for us) in... '77 or '78.
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Oh, no! His evil even predates the very idea of hair. We're pretty sure he was some form of hyper-intelligent protoplasm, or perhaps a sentient black hole.An ambulatory moustache?As for playing I am still wet behind the ears, but as far as age I turn 62 in August.So, you were probably around to see Cosmo prior to his current human form.Have you seen a picture of that thing? I'm not certain it's hair - it could be protoplasm.
But in any event, I can't imagine it's hyper-intelligent protoplasm, unless we're talking about intelligence for a protoplasm, and even then, I'd want to see some data for how smart the average protoplasm is.
Ah yes! I meant hyper-intelligent compared to most humans. For a protoplasm, that'd be impressive. But you could be right about the chemical composition of the stache. I've heard rumors that it can reach out from his "face" and devour unsuspecting gamers.
I feel some times that at 24 I might be the one of the youngest gamers on the boards. Which is sad, because I'm starting to feel old.
I feel some times that at 24 I might be the one of the youngest gamers on the boards. Which is sad, because I'm starting to feel old.
No we at have lest one 13 year old that posts on here and a few in the late teens early twenty's.
And during the beta-testing we had a few posters who sounded like they were five.
Scranford, you beat me by two years in both categories.
What books were you using? (Do you remember Arduin?)
I started D&D in St. Louis just a few months before moving to Iowa for college. Where were you when you picked up your first books?
I started out with the white box (3) little books, then added Chainmail, Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry, and the Gods book (Can't remember the name of it), and still have them all in the white box, but that game was only me and one friend.
I really started with the Blue box, and we played in pizza hut on Saturday afternoons without really knowing what we were doing. I took over as DM because we ended up with numerous TPK's every session. The DM didn't understand why 1st level characters weren't ready for trolls, and dragons yet.
Then went to Traveller, and 1st edition for years. Ended up skipping 2nd edition for Palladium, and came back with 3.0.
I certainly remember Arduin. I had all the little tan books, loved the charts but used them as a supplement not a game. I then found a little 32 page book called "The Arduin Adventure" or something like that with the base rules in them. Unfortunately I traded all this back in the 80's for a copy of "Ringworld" with it's supplement. (I had just read the book, and wasn't thinking clearly). Tried to trade back several times, but he wouldn't budge.
I bought the new edition which was two softcover books, when they came out, and recently got 3rd edition (?), and about two years ago the world book which is about an 800 page hardcover. Thinking about it makes me want to run it again...
I was living in NC at the time, in the middle of the bible belt, and it was tough to find the books in stores. Used to order from Wargames West a lot.
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Looks like I’m somewhere in the middle of the pack, I’m turning 33 this year. Started playing AD&D (2nd edition) at the beginning of 1990 I think. At the end of that year the guy who had been DMing (and owned all the books), moved away, and the rest of us (being about 13 and not being able to afford to buy the books) found someone who’s older brother had all the first edition books. So for about a year we played with those, before slowly phasing back to 2nd edition as we could afford to buy books. Tried a few other systems here and there over the years, but mostly played D&D.
Kept playing 2nd edition when 3rd came out, but eventually switched to 3.5 to play the Shackled City Adventure Path.
However, before I played D&D I used to play those ‘Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks’ by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and then later the multi-player version of Fighting Fantasy. I think I discovered those about 1986 or 87.
I'm 66.
My wife and I started playing D&D in 1979 after hearing a description of the game. We didn't even have rules, we just made it up imagining how this new type of game should be played. Then, the next morning I walked uphill in the snow to work, and at the end of day got paid in fruit.
I'm 66.
My wife and I started playing D&D in 1979 after hearing a description of the game. We didn't even have rules, we just made it up imagining how this new type of game should be played. Then, the next morning I walked uphill in the snow to work, and at the end of day got paid in fruit.
Tosses out the plaque he was working on and begins anew. "Wizard, ya say?"
Ladies and Gentleman... we have a contender. Considering that 6 year olds have visited these boards... that's an impressive range of shared interest.
So, is this like Logan's Run, and once we find the oldest gamer, we have to hunt him (or her) down and kill him (or her)?Consume their brain so that their knowledge will be part of the collective.
The collective ...
We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships.
We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
Your culture will adapt to service us.
Resistance is futile.
Just turned 31 this past weekend. I figured I was "up there", but I guess not.
I'm 66.
My wife and I started playing D&D in 1979 after hearing a description of the game. We didn't even have rules, we just made it up imagining how this new type of game should be played. Then, the next morning I walked uphill in the snow to work, and at the end of day got paid in fruit.
Can't beat that...
I'm 46
GRU
24 here. Which is kind of weird cause scranford is a player in Kingmaker PBP game I GM on the boards.
38 here. I started out with the Red Box I bought used from a retired gaming group. The box was bought in London, I believe, and our DM was a friend of one of the previous owners of our basic set. I still have a couple of the dice.
It was was a happy accident really, my english was not that good, and the rules was not available in any local store I knew about. (Kids these days are spoiled brats! *grumble* *grumble*)
27 (28 in less than a week)...started playing in the mid 90s or so...I started on 3e IIRC.
DAMMIT!
So then so far it looks like Wizard gets the Methuselah award..and yours truely is the Grognard's Grongnard in terms of playing experience...if only by a few months.
That's slightly scarey
So then so far it looks like Wizard gets the Methuselah award..and yours truely is the Grognard's Grongnard in terms of playing experience...if only by a few months.
That's slightly scarey
Wee me started playing in '74 too, thanks to some welcoming college guys in Boston. :)
My first character, Forgus the Fighting-Man. He didn't last long. Gaming's come a bit further since then, eh?
Who want to get together for an original game of D&D?
So then so far it looks like Wizard gets the Methuselah award..and yours truely is the Grognard's Grongnard in terms of playing experience...if only by a few months.
That's slightly scarey
Wow and I though I was old - Wizard for the win, I wonder if they would add the Methuselah tag to (like Contributor or subscriber)to Wizard as a badge of honour.
As to my age from the original post, as my laughing wife pointed out to me, I am 37.... I forgot :-b which happens as you get older apparently.
I'm feeling pretty good here in the middle of the road. I'm 40 now, and I started in '78 or '79? Not exactly sure. It was with 1e. I have gone through a lot of gaming systems in the intervening years, and was away from the hobby for much of the last decade for a variety of circumstances that I won't bore you with.
27 (28 in less than a week)...started playing in the mid 90s or so...I started on 3e IIRC.DAMMIT!
I feel some times that at 24 I might be the one of the youngest gamers on the boards. Which is sad, because I'm starting to feel old.
Allow me to make you feel worse on that front :P- I'm 21, been playing about a decade now, since 3E.
Just to knock FHDM a few more pegs down :P
I'm 25 myself as of this past June, been playing for about seven years.
Wow, 40 does feel like somewhere in the middle now.
Woo-hoo! 1981, here I come!
I got the D&D Red Box for a birthday present when I was 10, having graduated from the Peter Jackson/Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books, and 22 years later here I am.
Is it really ~70% of my life I've been playing D&D?
When I was that age, red rule books came in magenta boxes, and we LIKED IT THAT WAY.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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When I was that age, red rule books came in magenta boxes, and we LIKED IT THAT WAY.I got the D&D Red Box for a birthday present when I was 10, having graduated from the Peter Jackson/Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books, and 22 years later here I am.
Is it really ~70% of my life I've been playing D&D?
Well back in MY day we didn't have these fancy, new-fangled dice. We turned to the back page of our Grey Star the Wizard books, closed our eyes and STABBED a g++%@%n random number.
I may only be 24 but I do have one of those red box sets with the 4 or 5 blue dice and the crayons you used to color the numbers. There was the solo adventure you could play through and everything.
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I'm 36, and started playing in 1984 or so. The DMG was one of the first things I ever read in English (I still remember looking up every third word and being completely stumped by 'dice'). We got into gaming by an unusual route - we were model-builders and wargamers, so we started our AD&D careers with Battlesystem and reenacted battles across Krynn and Oerth long before getting into the roleplaying aspect of things; bizarrely, the PHB was the last of the core books we invested in.
I may only be 24 but I do have one of those red box sets with the 4 or 5 blue dice and the crayons you used to color the numbers. There was the solo adventure you could play through and everything.
I'm 27 and I started playing in 1991 with 2nd Edition AD&D during my after-school child care program. I was 9 at the time. Lots of people think I'm older. I don't know if that's a complement or not, so I'll just take it as one! :D
Damn you for being eternally younger than me!!!!!
Well back in MY day we didn't have these fancy, new-fangled dice. We turned to the back page of our Grey Star the Wizard books, closed our eyes and STABBED a g+@+@!n random number.
Amen, brother. AMEN.
Only 30 and playing since early '94 in home made system after learning that you can actually play without dice (which were hardly availablie in Poland then) from Amber review. First time I read about RPGs in late 80s but description was too vague to make something of it. In meant time Polish version of Talisman and a few other boardgames was closest thing to real RPG I was involved.