Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2003 15:40:41	How far back does the game go...? I'm contemplating at how early an age a character born in 1961 could have played the game...
#2 lord_gwydion Nov 30, 2003 17:56:26	Well, I don't think there were any characters born in 1961, but if you mean players, then that would be about the right age to have gotten in on the original incarnation of D&D. IIRC, the original game was published around 1975 or '76, so a player born in '61 would have been a teenager then.
#3 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2003 18:49:25	Actually, I mean a character in another story, that played D&D when she was young... Her birthdate is firmly established, and I don't want to be anachronistic in the other storyline...
#4 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2003 18:55:02	Fourteen or so, though it's unprobable that a female would play it so early.
#5 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2003 18:58:29	Actually, I was thinking 16 or older, and introduced to the game by an older brother...
#6 lord_gwydion Nov 30, 2003 23:49:19	I see. Well, yeah, I suppose that could happen, but remember, the game was brand new back then, and pretty different from what it is today! (Contact Diaglo for details, I didn't start playing until the mid-80's). Good luck!
#7 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2003 23:55:55	So what was the game like back in 1978...? Had AD&D appeared yet...? My old Player's Handbook was printed in 1980...
#8 zombiegleemax Dec 01, 2003 9:45:14	1974 was the first published D&D 1972 it was in play as hand scrawled pages passed around among friends.
#9 zombiegleemax Dec 01, 2003 11:13:40	I'm just trying to figure out if she would have been playing D&D out of the blue book, or 1st edition AD&D...
#10 zombiegleemax Dec 01, 2003 11:45:45	Originally posted by Foxiekins I'm just trying to figure out if she would have been playing D&D out of the blue book, or 1st edition AD&D... first blue book was released late 1977 as Basic D&D. it was 2edD&D by J. Holmes and was later revised in 1978. and then eventually became 3edD&D (not the current 3ed which is 3edADnD really) 1edADnD hit the market with the release of the Monster Manual in Sept 1977. Original D&D, OD&D, is more like 1edADnD in mechanics, but more like Basic D&D in the smaller number of rules and easy of use. she could've played any of them. as they were sold all at the same time.
#11 zombiegleemax Dec 01, 2003 11:54:15	Hmmm... Well, with multiple options, that gives flexibility... Which version had more experimentation with optional character classes...? I'm envisioning her older brother as getting into the game in college, and being an experimental sort of DM...
#12 zombiegleemax Dec 01, 2003 12:32:28	at that time. 1edADnD: Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Cleric, Druid, Magic-user, Illusionist, Thief, Assassin, Monk, and Bard or OD&D with the Supplements and the Strategic Review: Fighting Man, Cleric, Magic-user...and then Thief, Paladin, Druid, Monk, Assassin, Illusionist, Ranger Basic D&D stuck with Fighting Man, Cleric, Magic-user, Thief and also had the Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling Classes.
#13 zombiegleemax Dec 03, 2003 5:45:08	Okay, thanks much... I'm gonna be going with 1st ed AD&D, during early 1979... The idea being that her brother tried inventing his own character classes, and experimented on her with them, for the playtesting... Quote: "What am I *this* time...?"
#14 zombiegleemax Dec 03, 2003 7:31:03	don't forget 1edADnD allowed multiclassing and dualclassing. and OD&D (1974) also allowed dual classing (although it didn't explicitly limit it to 2 classes only. however the rules only allowed fighting man/ magic-user or fighting man/ cleric; no magic-user/clerics. the trouble came with the new classes. ;) ) for humans. and multiclassing for elves in a way. they had to pick between adventures which class (magic-user or fighting man) they wanted to use for that adventure.
#15 tzor Dec 03, 2003 10:51:58	Seeing that I was born in 1961, I have some general knowledge on the subject. You can't go purely on dates here. TSR published D&D in the mid 70's but the general audience was war gamers and college students more than high school and younger. I only discovered AD&D in my first year of college '79. It might be possible to have discovered it during my high school years '75-'79 but I can't really say for sure, so I would suggest a college age. I'm not sure when AD&D started drifting back to high school levels. E.T. has some young kids playing the game in the early 80's.
#16 zombiegleemax Dec 03, 2003 13:44:07	Her brother, who DMed, and introduced her to the game, was born in 1956... So he was definately College Age or older when the games came out... 1st ed AD&D was also the first version of the game I played myself, so I'm more familiar with it... One thing I definately remember was the "make your own homebrew class" trend, but I'm not sure how far back it goes... Also, the setting is Yearing, Nevada, so that might have some impact, although he went to College in a much larger town, probably in California...
#17 zombiegleemax Dec 04, 2003 16:31:27	Try here for a site that should give all of the official publication dates. Side note, I was born in 59. Began playing right at the end of the white boxes (1977). The player's handbook came out first (1978?) (or maybe I bought it first). Anyway, the PC's were much stronger than the monsters for a while until the AD&D MM was obtained. You had to be a pretty knowedgeable geek to play before AD&D. The marketing was not there. About the only ones playing were coledge (SP - university) kids. This was until 78 when AD&D arrived and was promoted somewhat at game shops.
#18 zombiegleemax Dec 15, 2003 10:09:46	I started playing with the first set of rules in high school about 1975. The box was long gone but the first three rulebooks I bought from my buddies who introduced me to the game for about $5.00 a book. We loved it from the first moment we found it. I don't know about you later folks but back in the 70s D&D was the single best entertainment we had aside from watching reruns of Star Trek, and reading Tolkein and Fritz Leiber novels. I wouldn't call that geeky. Ah... the good old days... I've still got all of the original pamphlet sized books from men and magic right through to the yellow miniatures rules - bet my old friends wish they had those now! Old Dungeon Master