I remember when I first entered an RPG store, in Arlington in the early 80's. The sights, the smells, the shelves filled with possibilities and wonder. The game called "Wabbit Wampage", about these giant mutant bunny rabbits running around with chainsaws. The very early D&D, that were published in little flimsy chapbooks with almost no artwork...I think it was Avalon Hill. The original Deities and Demigods, the one with the "Cthulhu Mythos" entries. The stuff by Boot Hill. Ah, those were the days....

I've got the Deities book. The one with the Cthulu mythos. Awesome stuff. Also Wrath of the Immortals . My all time favorite weird/esoteric RPGs: Tunnels&Trolls and Army Ants.

First game though: D&D 2nd edt - Rage of the Rakasta

Chainmail.

Campaign for North Africa. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1st Edition). My home-brewed crossover between Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer.

I'm kicking myself...I used to own a copy of the Dragon magazine that was published with full color reproductions of the Deck of Many Things. I understand it's worth some serious change now. Bloody jackass.

...damn, and here I am sitting looking at my gaming bookshelf...

Chivalry and Sorcery - the Fantasy game that required a fully programmable scientific calculator for character generation

Space Opera - and people complain that SRIII has too many rules for combat. A game far ahead of its time, for you needed an PC to run (which like the game) was still in the realm of SF at the time. Made me really appreciate the fact I learned how to use a slide rule back in high school and a hand held flight computer during my pilot training (the kind that didn't use batteries).

Champions - The Superhero Role Playing Game (the "original" blue cover book) Champions II, III, Golden Age of Champions... Bif! Whammo! Zap! man I really miss Superhero gaming.

Traveller (the GDW version) Great setting, simple mechanics. Still one of the best SF games ever written.

Car Wars OK not a true RPG but a hell of a lot of fun especially on a Saturday night in the dorm commons (beer & pizza a necessity).

Beasts Men & Gods. Never heard of it? Not surprising. Co-written by a former associate of Gygax's along with a long time friend of mine. The first roleplay game I ever became involved with. Innovative chargen, combat, spell, skill and and armour system for it's day. Our local college group played it instead of the game that shell not be mentioned. One of the coolest character types was the Shadow Mage which combined Theiving abilities with a specialised form of illusion magic.

The game that should not be mentioned. Yeah have several the core rules and supplements from both the "Advanced" and 3.0/3.5 eras. Ended up beating out BM&G (above) only because of market share.

...yeah, those were the days alright.

One game was popular with a neighbor of mine. Published by TSR, I think, but I can't remember the name. It was set in a post nuclear apocalypse Earth, and the characters could have all these neat mutation powers. The villains, as I recall, were an organization called "Trident".

Alternity

One of the pleasures I got from reading Dragon Magazine were two features: "Bazarre of the Bizarre" and "Snarfquest". I think the latter was published in condensed book form; I'll have to get it someday.

Red Box D&D, bought from a stationers. Didn't find any other players for about six months, then convinced some friends to try. My first character was an elf with 18 con.

Red Box D&D, followed by Blue Box D&D, 1st ed, 2nd edition, 3rd edition... By 3.5 they lost me...

Twilight 2000, Traveler, Rifts...

I've had a copy of Top Secret forever but I've never gotten to play it. I keep it around because it came out the year I was born. That and it's awesome.

I've also got the Alternity Gamma World floating around here somewhere. I've heard it's not "true" Gamma World, but I don't recall what the cited differences are.

My first exposure to gaming was SR1. My first real gaming group played AD&D 2nd edition almost exclusively, with me introducing them to Shadowrun with 3rd.

I had a love/hate relationship with putting attributes in the order they were rolled. I recall trhem being -1 con as well. Stupid fairy elves.

Gamma World Rocks!

"Wrath of the Immortals"....was that the TSR box set where you essentially played a god? You could create your own worlds, servitor races, etc. I'm sure the D&D as satanism crowd just loved that one. I remember how excited I was when I picked up a copy of "Unearthed Arcana"; the Cavalier, the Thief Acrobat. Killer art, too.

The cavalier rocked.

And yeah, that's Wrath was about. Half of it at least.

My favorite AD&D adventures: Vault of the Drow and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I think the former was where the "Elder Elemental God" was first introduced. And who can forget Oriental Adventures, with it's ninja, wujen and kensai? Much better than the current version, IMO.

Kesnsai rocked.

If you liked Queen of the Demon Web Pits , read Paul Kidd's Justicar series : White Plume Mountain, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and Queen of the Demon Web Pits. Great books.

Shadowrun, my first and only love. Sure, I've dated a few others, but I always come back.

This is too emotional for me to write about right now. It would be easier for me to write about my other first time, the one that is clarified against in the secondary title. I'll be back later.

As much as I am loathe to say, my first RPG was, yes, 2nd Edition AD&D. My science teacher brought a few of us in his Senior Science class together during lunch period & we created our characters, learned teamwork, strategy, ect. *sigh* Those were good times.
And yes, I eventually bought the books. I had almost all of them, but when SpellJammer & PlaneScape debuted, and WotC bought the game & redesigned it, it just wasn't the same. I soon sold or traded them off.
Marvel SuperHeroes was my next, I had all of those books too....Basic & Advanced. Then they got cancelled.
Fortunately, I just picked up Palladium Books' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness. I found it refreshing from being burned out on the old hack & slash: which led to Robotech, Heroes Unltd., Rifts, Systems Failure & NightBane.

But it was in 1989, when skimming through a comic shop's latest flyers, I discovered the first Shadowrun promo. It's been a wild ride ever since.

My first time was in the back of a car.

~J

Re-reading this thread made me realise how much I miss that old material. I'm going to trade in all my old Call of Cthulhu and SR backstock to a place for store credit, but I'll keep the SR4 books. I've already got Dragon #148 (Deck of Many Things) and #200 (killer cover), plus the collected Snarfquest volumes. Ah, can't wait....

Just wanted to give some free advertising to the game store I mentioned. It's called Compleat Stategist, but back when I first found it, the name was Strategy & Fantasy World. It is located in Falls Church, VA. This store has been around since 1974. A fairly small, bare bones rpg store, and very dear to my heart. Drop by and spend some cash.

Gaming wise was AH's Afrika Corps.

Roleplaying wise it was 1st ed D&D.

First TTG was modern table top minitures game in HO scale. Had a full company of T-72s.

Other games played since 198X when I started get into wargaming:

Roleplaying games:
All flavors of D&D
Twilight 2000 (original version)
Paranoia (original version)
SR (versions 1-4, 3rd was the least played version)
Star Wars (west end games version)
Gurps (Usually a 1 shot)
Gamma WOrld (4th Ed)
Rifts (TNMNT)
Mage
Werewolf
Vampire

Table top games (miniatures):
40K (Rogue trader and 2nd Ed, and 1 game of 3rd)
Warzone (all 3 versions-not the Fantasy flight though)
Warmachine/Hordes
Silent Death
Man of War
Blood Bowl
Space Hulk
(Some others as well)

Board Games:
Too numerous to remember them all or list.