How did you get into the hobby, and what makes you stick with it?I'll start:>I always had an interest in DnD around my college days, but I was never confident enough in the rules to actually join a group without feeling like a burden.>I got really into BG3 after finding out it was a turn based RPG and played over 600 hours.>I got bored of playing the game over and over again and decided to push myself to join a group and start playing.>I enjoy the freedom of narrative that you don't get in any other medium from making character backstory to getting a say in a character's actions.I know, 'DnD bad', but I enjoy it and I'll get to other systems eventually.
>>97446757for me, it was *teleports behind u* tier forum rp in the early 2000swhen somebody told me about resolving shit with dice rather than escalating debate bullshit I was sold pretty immediately
>>97446757>Years of lurking on /tg/, hearing every rpg horror story under the sun. >Finally get pushed by my brother (who’s been playing for years) to finally do it. >First ever table, store just opened after the koof. DM seemed nice, but turned out to be shit. >Let my resentment build a little too long before I left that table. But I learned enough to realize 5e is NOT for me. And if I ever want to play in the kind of adventures I want to do, I’ll have to GM it. >Fuck it, I’m a GM now. Two games a week. >Am I the best? Hell no. But I love it. And I figure I’ll have to git gud at some point.>The part I love the most is coming up with my own horrifying monsters to inflict upon my players. Pic related is one of several monsters I’ve dreamed up.
>>97446757i got into the hobby because when i was 13 i saw a pathfinder 1e beginner box at a local hobby shop and thought it was some kind of neat board game or something. couldn't figure out how to play it so i ended up looking stuff up about it online and slowly learned what a "ttrpg" was and how to run them. been running games for friends online and in real life ever since, i'm about to be 28 so it's been nearly 15 years.
>>97446757Playing hex & chit wargames with my dad when I was a kid, being really bad at it and shifting over to making my own rules for using the Buck Rodgers boardgame models and maps mixed with whatever I could mix together from old White Wolf and White Dwarf magazines and catalogues. Eventually got better at both wargames and reading well enough to figure out Marvel Superheroes and the classic Traveller box that was sitting at the bottom of a pile. The combination of small scale conflict and heroics mixed with the kitchen sink space opera of everything I thought was cool stuck with me and a few friends. I stick with ttrpgs it because its endlessly enjoyable to create weird situations and see how my friends figure them out. Boardgames and wargaming are good too, just different itches and more about spending quality time with my family now that they're older.
>>97446757>Grew up with my dad reading fantasy books to me.>Loved medieval weapons, armor, and history>Autistic about miniatures and game systems.>Art teacher at the time showed me D&D.>Playing Warhammer Fantasy/40k video games.>Going to game and hobby stores and playing with others.>Internet memes and /tg/.I love that there are games that allow me to live out the fantasies and stories I had in my head as a kid, and still do. Wargames are fun because I like simulating grand fantasy battles. TTRPGs however are endless, I love the creativity involved with creating monsters, kingdoms, magic items, dungeons, etc. Running a rpg for my group gives me the same feeling as when my dad used to read The Hobbit to me.
I just loved reading monster manuals during the 3.5 era, it would be 5 years of collecting those books before I got to run my first game for my friends. My current campaign is probably 3/4 of the way done and I'm trying to figure a new game for the next one; one of my players runs Werewolf (W5 unfortunately) for us when I need a break>>97447780>>Fuck it, I’m a GM now. Two games a week.what games?
>>97448530Salvage Union and 5e. Sadly, haven’t gotten them to switch to a new system but I’m working on it.
>>97446757Hunter: The Reckoning from the 90s. Saw the videogame first.From there, TTRPGs became my favourite hobby and I've amassed a small library since
>>97446757Nice idea. >a long, long time ago on a planet far, far away>be me, dumb kid playing vidya>have no idea tabletop RPGs even exist>see kids at back of the school rolling dice>think it's gambling or something... with dragons?>try to join them, even offering money>they think I'm retarded, refuse to let me join>leave, go to comic store>see RPG books at the back that look similar>store owner answers some questions about them>I decide to buy pic related bc fuck, those are cool Maori tats>blows my mind>memorise the whole book in 1 week>start my own group with friendsIt's been an amazing ride since then.
>>97446757>be me>grade school child>no idea what dnd, let alone a TTRPG is>would play "Reaction" with friends on my school bus>it was a child's version of D&D where I'd say something like, "You wake up in a dark cave, what do you do?">even did random chance for actions by holding out my hand, choosing a few "good" fingers, and telling my friend to pick a finger.>began dumping an inordinate amount of hours into serious Half-Life 2 Roleplay on Garry's Mod during middle school >literal thousands of hours>sometimes, as a server administrator, I would run events that also took on the form of GMing>still no real system, just rolling a d100 occasionallyFinally, long after the servers I played on died, I would get together with the people from them to at last play true TTRPGs, such as AD&D and the FFG 40k RPGs, and we've played them as well as homebrews off and on since then.
>>97446757I started when I played early goldbox stuff, wizardry, M&M, and ultima. Slowly branched out into trying out an early warhammer rpg and call of cthulhu. My friends and I then bought some 1e, 2e, and 3e stuff and tried to mix all of them together thinking they were compatible. We had no idea how the fuck to play it until we looked into it weeks later. We got out of it for a bit after that but got back into it when dawn of war came out with dark heresy. So much of my earlier games were poorly balanced and probably shit, but I have so many fond memories of goofy shit.
>>97446757 Cyberpunk Edgerunners threads on /a/ started getting deleted by jannies, so a group of regulars made a Discord server. One of the guys proposed running a campaign using Cyberpunk RED since we all wanted more cyberpunk adventures. I've been playing various online games ever since.
>>97446757>always liked medieval fantasy, noblebright heroic values, bant was my favorite mtg aesthetic>my entire ttrpg experience is the dexter's lab episode>move cities for cram school, to get into college, live with 15 dudes in a tiny house>4 of us happen to be interested, 2 played before, 1 has GM'd>GM hands us out a printed booklet of his go-to system, 3d&t, as computers weren't allowed in the house, and we didn't have smartphones yet>I create a rogue-ish character with a wooden marionette, because I was a narutard and liked Kankuro>experienced dude creates a minotaur paladin-ish guy>inexperienced dude bails as he's accepted into medschool and suddenly moves>we play one session, exploring old ruins, minotaur curbstomps enemies, I kinda cheat at some puzzles with the puppet serving as a "10 foot pole">I try to steal shit, Minotaur doesn't let me>we have fun>SATs getting near>GM can't run any more sessions>everyone goes to different collegesI would eventually find a group of similarly-inclined friends in college, who wanted to run a VtM campaign, but the GM was kind of not vibing with my character's origin story so we just played a lot of TCGs instead.I first played an actual campaign when I moved again back home, and found out some old friends were now running dnd 4e, it was fun too. Then I started running myself a bare-bones WFRP 2e and the percentual system just clicked with me, though I barely know anything in depth about it given how much I wing it.
>wargamingwas always a nerd. it was maybe 20~ years ago that I found this box at the flea market for 5 bucks. I went crazy over wargaming for a while, but because I was young and had no car, I couldn't find players. I abandoned the hobby for a long time until I became a working adult and could afford it.>roleplaying gamesMy friend had the old AD&D red box and wanted to try it. We got together and played. My other 2 friends got bored quickly and stopped playing mid game but I had a completely different experience. We ran into one of the first rooms and saw 2 orcs and a cookpot. I asked if I could run up and kick the fire and cookpot into their faces and he said "of course you can", I realized this type of game grants you freedom and rewards creativity, and at that point I was hooked, and I've been roleplaying ever since.
>>97446757I got into a stranger's car and that started a domino effect and now i have 12k followers on twitch and 9k subs on yt.
>>97446757Started playing D&D because of Baldur's Gate of courseBG1 that is, around middle schoolA classmate said he has friends who want to play and one is going to DMWe played 2e using unlicensed translations then added some 3e stuff in with no regard for balance or whatever just because it sounded cool, just like that other anon >>97452780
>warhammerI was always driven more to rpgs by big dumb heroic bullshit where one guy could obliterate everything around him. got into warhammer through that cause even though it was a tactics game it did have a lot of that sort of thing. Had characters you upgrade to absurd levels and fight other dudes with, even gave them names as dorky as that was. Eventually I grew to appreciate the nuances of wargaming more and moved on to other wargames that were more “pure” but it’s still a special game for me cause its the one that really got me started.
>>97446757Strange set of circumstances.>be nin10yearold>4Kids anime dubs on saturday morning cartoon blocks>had to convince Christian parents that Harry Potter books and Yugioh cards talking about magic wasn't literally Satan>never know what a Magic: the Gathering is beyond a single Forest that came in a bulk card collection from a yard sale, despite my older brother evidently having played as early as Fallen Empires>nearly no friends, get radicalized by the youtube rabbithole and become a ponyfag>lurk 4chan>partake in GET dungeoncrawls>lfg thread for a 3.pf campaign ~2013>had heard of the mythical D&D in the context of Chess Club and building social skills for autistic nerds>be me, retarded autist>make a throwaway Skype to join and make an elf ranger that shouldn't be in the setting>be DM, retarded autist>allows it>DM is a massive tool, forcing "sessions" in the play-by-post RP where if you miss it he'll have NPCs just ignore you, docking quest rewards>DM tries trolling a guy that missed a session>troll instincts take over and I bait him back>tries to hide behind depression when pushed>say I've attempted suicide and he's still a bitch>ragequits the skype group>new guy volunteers to take over as DM, isekai's the campaign to Ravnica cuz no notes>fun new setting with cool factions and a nice DM>after a hiatus, IRL friend joins with a conversion and retcon to 5e ~2016>tfw get to play magic pretend with friends onlineOnly downsides are that WotC lore is not as good as the campaign, and one player got me into casual EDH deckbuilding and then ditched me to the slop addiction for competitive Pauper.
>>97446757My origin story is the same except replace Baldur's Gate 3 with Baldur's Gate 1. It's been a minute, but I am glad to know that RPGs have the ability to enchant and mesmerise today as they did 25 years ago. Been playing them on and off since and having a good time. This week's session we're solving a crime in space..! And for Halloween I am planning to run CoC's Panacea.
