Jason Cordova
I just finished Bonus Episode 2 of the Gauntlet (just found the series a week ago and powering through Gauntlet and DR,) and our first games sound EXACTLY the same.
I too started off playing Marvel Heroes ran by an older neighbor. I remember the crazy tables with crazy random powers. And I remember how uneven each player was, with some players being Daredevil power while others being practical Superman gods.
I too had that ah ha moment when I brought the hero (I too love villains ….. Go Magneto) through a town fountain, just to freeze them in their tracks.
I too then went to 2nd Ed, literally copying by hand charts from someone I met in another neighborhood. Introducing to friends …. badly. Teaching a 11/12 year old THAC0 is near impossible,.
I had all of my material burned by my overly protective parents during the satanic panic and was asked if I wanted counseling for being into such things.
What followed was an even greater increase of RPing, including finding secret groups of 2nd ed and then what defined my RPIng which was Vampire, both Larping and the PnP game have given me the greatest of memories (to the point in which I have translated Vampire into multiple other systems including D20 modern and Urban Shadows.) The combat was horrible, but the politics and bureaucracy of everything shows me a side to gaming that wasn’t kill, kill, kill.
Plenty of other stuff afterwards (3/3.5, Shadowrun, ect…) and the last 5 years, mostly story games (after a failed coming back to RP through Pathfinder,) but when I listened to your list …. felt like I was giving the story myself. Thanks for sharing as it brough back memories of time almost forgotten.
I am guessing you are close my age … 37ish.
That’s awesome! I just turned 39 yesterday.
That’s awesome! I just turned 39 yesterday.
Jason Cordova Happy birthday! So yes, we are from that exact generation of those initially experimenting with RPG’s, the blacklash and what was to come.
Jason Cordova Happy birthday! So yes, we are from that exact generation of those initially experimenting with RPG’s, the blacklash and what was to come.
Probably one age group removed (there were people who came before me who faced more intense Satanic Panic backlash). We were probably in the second group.
Probably one age group removed (there were people who came before me who faced more intense Satanic Panic backlash). We were probably in the second group.
Second Wave RPGism is where it’s at
Second Wave RPGism is where it’s at
Hey, me too. I just turned 37 on the 10th. 2nd edition was my intro to D&D, but the first game I ever owned was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. What a weird intro to RPGs that incomprehensible pile of beautiful garbage was.
Hey, me too. I just turned 37 on the 10th. 2nd edition was my intro to D&D, but the first game I ever owned was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. What a weird intro to RPGs that incomprehensible pile of beautiful garbage was.