Share your Dungeons and Dragons memories.

[J.B.]

Had a lot of fun playing in the early 80's. We would buy and paint the small figures and the DM would draw out scenes on plastic covered black cardboard with a white marker that he could wipe off for the next scene. The best character I ever had was a high level Paladin with a Holy Avenger Sword. The little figure that represented him kinda reminds me of the Pink Larami Martian. Here's a gutty little Halfling:

[Werewolf]

This is awesome! I did not expect so many responses. Lots of D&D fans here.

[Figuremod73]

Throughout the 80's and early 90's I had a good deal of interest in D and D. I never could actually get any one to play it with me but I did own the basic set and would buy many of the spin-off properties, my favorite being Dragonlance.

I read the DC comics of Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance as well as most of the books, which later got me interested in Anne McCaffreys Dragons. I'm a big fan of Larry Elmore, Todd Lockwood, Jeff Easley, Keith Parkinson and many other fantasy artist, including those from the fantasy magazines.

The figures and dragons are very fun to collect. They're alot harder to find in actual stores now though.

[palitoy]

I was intrigued although I kept falling asleep while trying to read the manual.

Later, a friend in the 8th grade invited me to a game or I invited myself, not sure anymore. Unfortunately, I also knew the DM and he was a high strung, uptight weirdo that would lose it at the slightest thing. It was too tempting, I spent the the game upsetting him in new and interesting ways. I asked a lot of pointless questions and my character mostly walked around with his pants around his ankles. After a while, the other players (who were amused) begged me to stop so they could have a normal game.

I just sort of shrugged it off and went home or something, I don't think I could actually play a normal game. I kind of used humour in that situation to mask the fact that I didn't really get role playing games, I tried a bunch of different ones in college but it just wasn't my thing. Maybe it's the way my head works, I dunno, more of a backgammon guy I guess.

Bought a couple of the action figures and watched the cartoon.

[sprytel]

I was intrigued although I kept falling asleep while trying to read the manual.

I was totally the other end of the spectrum. I used to read RPG manuals for fun.

It was like that scene at the end of Beetlejuice, where Jeffrey Jones is happily reading the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. "This thing reads like stereo instructions!"

[Werewolf]

Lol, yeah, playing D&D requires a LOT of reading. But pouring through player's guides and monster manuals was all part of the fun. Kinda makes you wonder why more parents didn't like D&D since it required kids to read so much. Reading, rolling dice and painting minis. I love minis.

[Iron Mego]

The closest I ever got to playing D&D was looking at the little metal figures at the local toy store. Much like Palitoy I never understood the appeal.

[MIB41]

I remember this being the first game that literally kept me tied up all weekend, every weekend for months. I remember D&D slumber parties. But the essence of it was graph paper and dice. I made all of us folders and drew the characters for each player. I remember we had it down to a science. Our team seemed unbeatable because we had a perfect balance of warriors and wizards to apply the healing factor after battles. What ultimately did us in were Frost Giants. They froze our wizard which set off a chain reaction that killed everyone. It was a sad day, but unforgettable. The best part though? No video graphics. It was a great exercise in using your imagination and working together as a team. Good times.

[71roadrunner340]

My brother and I and several friends played at least once a week from around 77 to 80, then about once a month through about 84. We must have had about 300 of the miniatures, I still have about 100 of them. I think I liked buying and painting those better than the game

[Godzilla]

Oh man, so many good memories. Playing the game, painting the minitures, watching the cartoon, reading novels. I was sucked into the whole thing. And then D&D was a gateway to other games.

[Werewolf]

Besides the fantasy setting that drew me in, another thing I really liked about the game was the cooperative nature of it. All the players had to work together to finish the quest. The Dungeon Master isn't supposed to be the opponent either. The job of a good DM is NOT to try and kill the players but to guide the story and fairly referee the rules.

[Ninersphan1]

Nobody else, I was really enjoying this thread...

[Werewolf]

I was really enjoying this thread...

Me too!!

[torgospizza]

I have an affinity for it. But never had any friends that played! I only played twice in my life...I WISH I had someone to play with. A group would be nice.

That's kind of where I was with it as a kid. I guess in a way, I liked the idea of it more than the actual game. Never owned any of the LJN figures until a few years ago, when I scored a complete Northlord off eBay. I'd still like to get Warduke. I have the DVD boxed set of the cartoon, but didn't really watch it much when it was originally on--I think my little brother and sister were watching the Smurfs and we only had one TV.

[Falstaff13]

I have to agree that the idea of D&D probably was stronger than the actual game for me, but I've always liked it. When I was little (6 or 7), a friend of mine was into the game. He was five years older than I, and he introduced me to it, showing me how it was played, how to create a character, etc. I set up more than one character and always enjoyed the design element of the game (including designing dungeons on graph paper, coming up with scenarios for adventures, etc.). And I definitely enjoyed going through the manuals, finding different spells, learning about the different creatures and species, and getting the basics down. However, I never played more than a few actual games. Part of this was logistics and having the time to sit and play a full quest (as well as the fact that I didn't know anyone my age who did play, so it was rare that I did play with my older friend and the one or two others he actually had to sit down with for games), and part of this was economics--my parents never objected to me playing the game, but as I discovered the costs of manuals and modules and the like, my desire to pursue actual play waned. I did get "hand-me-downs" from my friend, including some of the metal miniatures.

What I did get into were the Find-Your-Fate/Choose-Your-Adventure paperbacks (actually being given the first two by my friend), the LJN figures (great designs for a great line--I used them with my MOTU and only regret I never got the Fang Fortress playset), the cartoon (a good story that hit just perfectly for my age), and the comics from DC (I especially loved the Forgotten Realms series). While I've never enjoyed the movies, much as I tried, I think the D&D concept remains very dear to me, even though I was basically a casual gamer.