Share your Dungeons and Dragons memories.

[Random Axe]

From the age of ten I was a devoted player, so in other words I was a complete geek from the age of ten onto adulthood. I can't imagine anything in my life that inspired my inagination more than this game, and it also spawned a bunch of other, homemade games we used as well. By the mid 90's we switched to Middle Earth rules, which are far more realistic. I have nothing but fond memories of those times.

[Figuremod73]

I knew a few people who were into a different type of role playing system called G.U.R.P.S. (Generic universal roleplaying system), supposively, you could mix different genres more easily. They use to talk about it all the time at lunch in school.
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[Sideshow Spock]

My friends and I played D&D for several years as we transitioned from middle to high school circa 1982-85. A couple of my friends were more hardcore than the others (one being the DM), and we mostly relied on them for having all the manuals, modules, and accessories. They were good times. Some modules we took more seriously than others, often our games would devolve into a lot of silliness (or controversy), especially if our characters weren't faring well.

All the manuals and modules ended up with me. I ended up selling over 50 of the modules on eBay in a lot a couple years ago (which included several Gygax originals), and making almost $400 on the sale. I kept a few that I remembered more distinctly and had some sentimentality.

[Falstaff13]

I have a memory of one for the LJN line--I remember something that revealed the Fortress of Fangs had a place where the walls closed in (a feature I thought was really cool). If not a commercial, I guess it could have been some profile of toys, but my memory has it as an ad.

[Werewolf]

Classic TSR D&D commercial.

Unfortunately, I don't think LJN made a commercial for the AD&D toy line.

[EmergencyIan]

I had friends who loved D&D. For whatever reason, I could never really get interested in it or any other role playing games.

However, I did watch the cartoon series. I had a D&D game on Intellevision that was fun. And, I had at least one of the action figures. He had blonde hair.

- Ian

[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.

[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.

[Werewolf]

I was really enjoying this thread...

Me too!!

[Ninersphan1]

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

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.