When you started gaming, it was obviously with something. I've noticed that some people started out with one RPG, but very quickly dived into a whole variety of games quickly, but others stuck to a single game for quite a while before diversifying. What kind were you?
RPGPundit
I guess really I started with AD&D when I was almost 12, and played almost nothing else till I was 18-19. I saw other games around, like Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes, but I just couldn't imagine what you did in them. And I was happy with D&D.
Then I played and ran Rolemaster for a few years, maybe 6? and only after that really started branching out. There it was a case of, "where are the gamers in this town, I'll join them, what are they playing? okay I'll give it a go."
Well I was going to say I played Basic D&D for many years. But come to think of it. It was only a year or two after that that we started playing T.M.N.T. and other strangeness. A year or two after that we branched into a couple other palladium games. Then all kinds of games. So I guess I diversified pretty quickly.
Over the years I tended to stick with one game system for many years. I did sample or try other game systyems, usually as a player ....but my main game system I always stuck with.
Its kind of like serial monogamy with game systems for me.
Like I said in that other thread, my main Role Playing Games over the years have been:
classic TRAVELLER
The FASA STAR TREK: the Role Playing Game
GURPS
....with sort of coming full circle and running GURPS:TRAVELLER the past 4-5 years....with a side trip of running GURPS: BANESTORM.
I own the books for about 6 or 7 other RPG systems - I just haven't attempted to run them yet.
SAVAGE WORLDS or the CORTEX system would be the first two candidates if I did try to run something new.
- Ed C.
I started sniffing around a whole range of games pretty early. System monogamy ain't my style.
Regards,
David R
My experience has been constant change, both in terms of games I run as well as who GMs for the group. I can think of a couple of exceptions.
There was one spell of about 3-4 years I ran Gamma World almost exclusively, even had two campaigns going in parallel.
Also, there was patch a couple of years ago in which D&D was literally the only game in town. By the end of it I really got to the "if I see one more elf I'll scream!" point.
Started with AD&D in 1978, went on like that with forays into Gamma World and even Boot Hill until 1989 when I discovered Palladium (TMNT and Beyond the Supernatural). Messed around with Champions a bit in college and then DC Heroes.. playtested for Torg. Came back to D&D in 1999 (AD&D2e just as it was dying). These were lean years for gaming where I had to work really hard to pull a group together.
REdiscovered D&D as D&D3 in 2000, found out that there were tons of people actually playing, and since I like to game every week, I haven't left D&D since.
I think I've been rather quick, as we switched from TDE to Shadowrun 3 within just 1,5 years.
However, we've been stuck with SR for 4 years, so if there has been any One System Dude phase in my life, it has been my SR phase.
I played D&D from 1981, until a couple years later when I discovered Gamma World and was hooked even more so in games than I expected. So it wasn't terribly long.
Actually getting into superhero games took even longer--it wasn't until 1989-1990 that I got really hooked on those with MSH.
Basic D&D Boxed Set for about 2 - 3 days when I was 9... I got the advanced books at the same time and dove into that immediately after getting thru the boxed set material thinking it was all one big system at first, then putting the boxes aside and taking the books to school. Kept that up until I was 18 when I got introduced to my first FLGS and started playing about 6 other games at the same time.
In November 1977, my mom bought me D&D (can't remember what edition) for my 21st birthday. I loved it! Before I ever played or ran it, I went to my local game store - which I knew very well, being a wargamer since I was a kid - and bought a new game called Traveller. I loved it even more. So I was a game slut since the beginning. I've told this story before, so I won't go further.
-clash
Well, when we were younger and had more piss and vinegar, we played a hell of a lot more and we played several game systems and/or campaign concurrently. However, there were several systems that dominated the group for years at a time:
1985~1990- 1e Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
1986~1991- RuneQuest III
1990~1995- 3e GURPS
1990~2000- 2e Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
1995~2000- 2e D6 Star Wars
2000~2004- 3.0 Dungeons & Dragons
2004-2008- 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons
2004-2008- D20 Modern
2008- ? 4e Dungeons & Dragons
These were the big systems during the time periods, but we did play other games throughout the years. Also, throughout the years we tinkered with systems and creating our own systems. We created a western gun-fighting game based off a hybrid of RQ/GURPS rules and played it extensively.
Started with basic D&D, soon switched to AD&D, tried lots of other games (most that have been mentioned already) that are fun, but none that compares IMHO. I think I'm an AD&D lifer, though I plan to try C&C soon as I hear great things.
Basic / Expert / Companion / Masters / Inmortals D&D since 1985 to 1988. The I discovered RQ and COC (they were translated here). Since then I'm a slut.
Quote from: Imperator;289249Basic / Expert / Companion / Masters / Inmortals D&D since 1985 to 1988. The I discovered RQ and COC (they were translated here). Since then I'm a slut.
With me it was the opposite. I did
RQ first then felt up
BECMI. I was always a slut, though.
Regards,
David R
I don't think I made it through a year (though it's a little hard to remember that far back now) before I tried a second game. The pattern since trying that second game, which I think was Gamma World, has always been to try new games. At last count I think I was over 60 different rpgs that I could remember, and that's with certain games grouped (e.g. all World of Darkness variants counted together as only 1 rpg played).
Played Amber Diceless for 4 years pretty much every week. Kult every other week for two years.
Ran L5R 1st edition for about 2 years, played BESM for 1.5 years.
After that, it is a maelstrom of systems and campaigns as my gaming horizons continue to expand.
I like long campaigns, but some of my players prefer shorter campaign commitments and trying out new systems every few months.
Quote from: Imperator;289249Basic / Expert / Companion / Masters / Inmortals D&D since 1985 to 1988. The I discovered RQ and COC (they were translated here). Since then I'm a slut.
A similar experience, we started playing D&D BECMI, then we dropped it and play another game, only I can't remember if it was MERP or RQ.
I started with RuneQuest II in 1981. Changed to RuneQuest III in 1984 and have played that almost exclusively until 2000.
On the way I dabbled in the other Chaosium stable of games such as Call of Cthulhu, StormBringer, RingWorld, ElfQuest, Thieves' World, etc. but we did mainly play RuneQuest.
Now I mainly play HeroQuest though I am reading PenDragon at the moment so you could say I mainly worship at the RPG Church of Greg Stafford!
Quote from: Darran;289442Now I mainly play HeroQuest though I am reading PenDragon at the moment so you could say I mainly worship at the RPG Church of Greg Stafford!
Preach it, brother!! Mr. Stafford is definitely my most favoureite game and setting designer :)
We played a lot of AD&D in the early days, but within the first year or two we were playing Traveller, CoC (I owned 1e), Ruinquest, champions, and every RPG TSR made at that time. I can't really remember what was played when; it was pretty much always the same guys (after my initial two months or so) until I escaped form high school.
Quote from: RPGPundit;289022When you started gaming, it was obviously with something. I've noticed that some people started out with one RPG, but very quickly dived into a whole variety of games quickly, but others stuck to a single game for quite a while before diversifying. What kind were you?
RPGPundit
Well my Current group has been playing Star Wars D6 (Mixing the Star Wars
D6 R&E Book and D6 Space) for 5 months and it looks like we will be playing it for a little while longer.
Though I am preping to run a Torg R&E game shortly, so we may be changing up soon
Quote from: RPGPundit;289022When you started gaming, it was obviously with something. I've noticed that some people started out with one RPG, but very quickly dived into a whole variety of games quickly, but others stuck to a single game for quite a while before diversifying. What kind were you?
RPGPundit
The former, as far as my beginnings are concerned.
I was introduced to RPGs via AD&D and the Temple of Elemental Evil. After a few months, the DM offered me the Dark Eye RPG for Christmas. I ran games for some time with it, then came back to D&D via Mentzer.
It's only later that I chose to stick to one particular RPG. It was Stormbringer, for two/three years. Then I ran Vampire The Masquerade with a single campaign/chronicle for eight years. Longest running campaign I've run.
The OGL period is apart, I think, since I stuck to 3rd ed the whole time (and still do) but happily played, ran and mixed stuff up when it came to the miriads of OGL variants out there.
For me it was AD&D 2nd Ed. Played that for about 4 years, I think, before we found a copy of TMNT and Boot Hill.