Just before my 11th birthday in 1981, I was in Waldenbooks for new reading material and saw the Red Box. I immediately decided that I HAD to have it. My first several games were just me and 1 friend because we didn't have a group of any kind; it was a lot of years before I played with more than a single person.

In 1984, I saw some older kids in the library talking about their D&D game while one of them prepped a dungeon. I remember it to this day; he was rolling up ghouls with 2d8, and one of them had 2hp. I was hooked immediately, especially when they let me flip through the DMG - I went home that day and spent a year trying in my vain, 9-year old way to write a game. How hard could it be? I knew about -dice-.

Halfway through the next year, the New Kid joined our class, and was along with me sent to the 'Challenge' program for the bright kids. The first day we were both there, he brought his copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. We made characters at lunch and played for about 30 hours that weekend. I've never looked back.

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

Read an article on RPGs in Space Voyager magazine in 1982, cut out the TSR coupon and ordered a set of basic D&D. After 2 or 3 months of this we concluded' "This is a crap system" and bought Deluxe Traveller. After one month of that we thought,"This is cool, but the system is still crap", so we bought RuneQuest II.

Haven't looked back since (the gulf of years is too scary).

Quote from: GRIMFighting Fantasy gamebooks.

Ditto.

What first sparked my interest was a very breif sequence during the opening scenes of one of those Saturday morning Yoof TV serials, where the kids were playing D&D with paper maps and tiddlywinks as markers. I thought a game you invented yourself must be pretty neat. I guess this was about 1980 or 81.
Shortly after that my mum introduced me to fantasy books with David Eddings Belgariad series which got my interest in fantasy novels going. I found some Fighting Fantasy gamebooks at my local library, initially mistaking them for novels and was hooked. The folks brought me the first of the Sourcery! series and next XMas I asked for fighting fantasy gamebooks at got the first trio of Dragon Warriors - which the folks had mistaken for gamebooks.

Quote from: JimBobOzIt's my belief that most gamers don't become gamers by wandering into a game store and picking up a book, but are instead brought in by other gamers.

So, how did you get into your first rpg session? Did you buy or were given the game book, and start from there, or did some other gamer drag you in? Or something else?

My love of SF made me into an SF wargamer.From there it was only a short commute to being an SF roleplayer.

Quote from: GRIMFighting Fantasy gamebooks.

If this counts (technically its slightly different than actual RPGs but close), that's how I started too.

There was that, and being in the "zone of influence" of RPGs by going to comic-book stores.  Put together, it was only a matter of time before I picked up the D&D basic set and the Robotech RPG, my first two actual games.

I think that this is a factor you discount at least in North America, Jimbob; that a lot of people might have gotten into them just by being in comic stores.

Not to mention the awesome FF gamebooks.

RPGPundit

It was a combination of my city library's extensive collection of gamebooks (mostly Fighting Fantasy), the library's small collection of miscellaneous D&D materials (a couple modules, the player's handbook, etc.), and -- no kidding -- the D&D cartoon.  

All of these made my brother and I (I was eight, he was 11 at the time) aware of D&D and eager to try it.  Fortunately, a toy store in the local mall carried RPGs, so we were able to get the D&D Basic Set and later the Expert Set from them with our own saved-up money.

So, I'm in the "on my own" camp.  It wasn't until junior high that I actually met others who gamed, and I didn't set foot in a bonafide game store until I was a senior in high school.

I clicked other but after reading into the thread I think I should have picked "another gamer".

I went camping with my friend Greg, and there was a kid in the next camper we hung out with. One night we were drawing pictures of superheroes and he started telling us about this game (which turned out to be AD&D 1st Edition). The next day he invited us over to try it out.

We had a great time, and I told my parents about it. Later I got the DMG and the D&D basic set as a gift. It took me a long damn time to figure out those were two different games.

We didn't get the PHB until 4 or 5 months later, and the Monster book a couple of months after that.

As far as RPGs go, a kid at my high school was running D&D, and invited me in. My first character was an elf fighter, with an axe. I may still have the sketch I drew of him squirreled away somewhere. He encountered a fellow PC, lying helpless on the floor, who had fallen victim to some monster. The DM prompted me "Take his stuff!" so I did.

Before that, I had played a few wargames with friends, but never really got the hang of it. The old SPI games, with the folded paper maps and cardboard chit counters, where the fold would "pop!" and send units flying, drove me crazy.

My Godfather bought me the D&D Red Box for a Christmas present -- that's what got me into the hobby.  However, outside of the occasional cafeteria lunchtime Monty Haul dungeon bash, I haven't actually *played* much until I bought myself the original Marvel Super Heroes box.  Playing super heroes was a much easier sell to my friends than playing wizards and warriors.

My older brothers played D&D and AD&D way back in the early, early '80s.  Since they were stucking watching me when the parents were out, they had to let me sit in on their game sessions.  Eventually, they let me play with them (probably to shut me up).  I got into D&D, AD&D and Star Frontiers (and Car Wars!) with that group.  My oldest brother gave me his Moldvay/Cook D&D books, and I started bringing them to school and trying to get my friends to play.

Ken how did your brothers get into it?

I never thought to ask the guy who I first played with, his name was James, and his brother how they got into it.

Quote from: Serious PaulKen how did your brothers get into it?

I never thought to ask the guy who I first played with, his name was James, and his brother how they got into it.

Honestly, I'm not sure.  They, and a bunch of their friends, got into RPGs at about the same time.  I'm inclined to think that they were brought into it by others, though, just from what I remember of the personalities in that group (I was in the single digits age-wise then).

There are two possible candidates for this.  Well, three, as one possibility is the Lambrecht brothers, Dan and Tim.  The other is a guy named Brian McAlister. Those three were the most intense about gaming, seemed to always have the newest (and most stuff), and did the lion's share of the DMing.