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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Do You Remember Your First Player Character?

Remember that first RPG session? The magic, the confusion, that first player character?

Mine was Cyrus. This was back in 1980 or so. I hope he wan't named after Cyrus Vance, the VP, but I really don't know at this point.

Cyrus was a 1st level fighter that killed some skeletons and other beasties in a solo adventure in which my DM and best friend Kenny only owned the DMG. We had to call one of his school mates to see if I hit second level.

I don't remember Cyrus's initial stats, as he fell victim to the "stat inflation" that was common during my early teen years, but I'm sure they were nothing special ;)
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22 comments:

  1. Dyson LogosJune 5, 2013 at 12:25 PM

    My first character lasted exactly 14 minutes. I don't recall his name. He was an elf. He was slain by goblins. His brother (played by a friend) got a +1 to hit and damage vs goblins for the rest of the campaign after watching my character die so ignobly.

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  2. Gus LJune 5, 2013 at 12:49 PM

    I was nine: Charlie the Fighter and Mace the Thief (who really wanted a morning star). Charlie had a 15 strength and died to a grey ooze in the Cavern's of Chaos. Mace survived - inexplicably despite his inability to attack more than once every two rounds with his improper weapon.

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  3. Dithering FoolJune 5, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    My first character died in the pit 20 feet into Cave A of Keep on the Borderlands, about 15 minutes into my first game. I don't remember a thing about him other than his death...and he's still my favorite character.

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  4. MarcJune 5, 2013 at 1:05 PM

    Kracky the Hooded One. A 1st level cleric and one of the sample characters from the back of B1 In Search of the Unknown, my first adventure. My recollection is that he made it all the way through.

    My first "I did it myself" character was Shadow Warrior, a martial artist/ninja superhero for Champions 1e.

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  5. PadreJune 5, 2013 at 1:07 PM

    I remember my first character, but not the name. He was one of the winged folk. I want to say his name was Black Wing or something like that. After listening to the GM (Dick the Ego) tell us about his awesome NPCs for a few hours of narration, three of us asked if we were ever going to fight or do something. We explored a cave and had a TPK and then got a lecture about how we should have stayed back at Camp Cranial-insertion and stood in awe of "his character" Bravo the "Monty-Halled" Demi-god. While it did sour me on D & D, luckily Dragonquest saved my gaming future. Gosh, I haven't thought about what an ugly introduction that was to the game in such a long time.

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  6. HarleyJune 5, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    Dithering fool ... my first PC died in exactly the same place.

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  7. HarleyJune 5, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    Wonder how many #1st PCs are in that pit.

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  8. ravencrowkingJune 5, 2013 at 1:28 PM

    Damien the Undaunted, a magic-user in Holmes Basic.

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  9. BaronJune 5, 2013 at 1:41 PM

    Marloraltin the Magnificent, a thief that was allowed to loot all the treasure in some adventure that had lots and lots of little islands - I can't remember which one. The DM would say "go in that room and look behind the chair, don't go in that room there's a trap". We were 12, so yea, there was some cheating going on.

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  10. 2eDMJune 5, 2013 at 2:07 PM

    Well, this depends. The first character I created was a Fox Hengeyokai Bushi, but at that point, I didn't understand what D&D was, and just used it to fuel my outdoor games of make believe(I was 5 at the time). My first character in an actual game occurred a few months later, a 1st level mage named Oreo. He lasted not 5 minutes as he was crushed by the front door of the dungeon when it fell on him.

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  11. AnonymousJune 5, 2013 at 2:12 PM

    AD&D-Halfling Thief-and because I was a precious unique snowflake, I didn't name him Bilbo or Frodo-I named him Sam.

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  12. Simon ForsterJune 5, 2013 at 2:19 PM

    My first PC was a wizard named after an ewok. He's retired, living happily in the City of Greyhawk.

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  13. Timothy S. BrannanJune 5, 2013 at 2:29 PM

    Johan the Cleric. Rolled up for Moldvay Basic. I still have his sheet.

    It has been a tradition of mine to roll up a new Johan for each version of D&D I play. So six generations of clerics and paladins.

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  14. UnknownJune 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM

    My first character was a Dwarf Fighter. I was 10 years old and my 16 year old cousin had bought me the Red Box for my birthday. Since I was 8 years old I had occasionally been able to sit quietly and watch the older kids play D&D.

    So here it was my first time playing. It was just me and my cousin DMing. I had my Dwarf Fighter and a helpful NPC Cleric. We were protecting a caravan and were attacked by Goblins.

    I successfully fought off the Goblins and the wounded Goblins ran away. At this point my DM says I could continue down the path or follow the Goblins. "It might possible that the Goblins will have gold and treasure at their camp"
    My eyes glazed over at treasure and I followed the goblins. There may have been treasure at the camp, but what it did have for certain was a bunch more Goblins! Alas that was the first & last adventure of Champ the Dwarf.

    This taught me two things. First money isn't everything. Second you can always make a new character. :)

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  15. TomJune 5, 2013 at 4:34 PM

    My first D&D character was Dirk the Daring. Hey, Dragon's Lair was brand new and I adored it.

    Dirk was a cleric and I had no idea what that meant. I just knew he could both fight and cast spells, so that was awesome. We didn't understand why he had to use a mace instead of a sword though. And I had the character going before we realized he didn't get spells at first level.

    None of us had read the rules that closely when we started. We were a tad excited.

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  16. JohnJune 5, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    I was a cleric. I lasted most of the session, I think. I laid an angry ghost to rest by giving its bones a proper burial, got turned evil by a statue, and walked into a wall of magical darkness, never to be seen again.

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  17. JDJarvisJune 5, 2013 at 6:12 PM

    I had a dwarf that managed to have lots of loot and was building up an army. Holmes AD&D mix typical for the era back in the tailend of the 70's. He never died as I often Dm'd and moved.

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  18. Gothridge ManorJune 5, 2013 at 6:14 PM

    Umm, I think it was Sukey, I'm sure he was a fight. human cause that's how I always start out to learn. I was 12 or 13. He didn't die because the GM translated a Charisma is how many followers you got. So I just sent them into battle. He lasted for a few encoumters, but then the followers dwindled to nothing and then he got killed. I have no idea by what, but I must have enjoyed it because it 34 years later and I'm still rolling up characters.

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  19. BlUsKrEEmJune 5, 2013 at 6:19 PM

    Deaver Trevel, the second Ed Necromancer lasted one session before the DM told me to make another character. See I took Deaver from a short story that I had written in grade school about a Necormancer that believed that Healing magic was stealing energy from the divine life force, which would eventually lead to the end of times. He was so adamant about this that he refused healing and tried to prevent the cleric of the party from healing others. So not exactly the best AD&D character. The DM was a little hesitant about killing off a newb's first character and politely asked me to make a new one after the first session in order to "get a feel for the rules" (or something to that effect.)

    Deaver never technically died, so he still makes appearances as an NPC every now and again. Last I saw him he was a student in Glantri.

    For the life of me I can't recall my second character, but I'm sure he died a grisly and foolish death somewhere.

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  20. faoladhJune 6, 2013 at 3:22 AM

    My first character was a 1st level magic-user who was rolled up to accompany a party of more experienced characters on an expedition into the Tomb of Horrors. Having no experience with the game, I asked if I could hire some people to help me, and the DM looked up the mercenary rules for his very first time. Since he didn't really understand how to run NPCs, I was able to make it through the module without dying by throwing large numbers of mercenaries at everything.

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  21. AnonymousJune 6, 2013 at 12:54 PM

    Fall of 1979.. Freshman in college.. Dorm-neighbor rounded up three of us to try out this "cool, new way of playing a game." It was "too hard to explain," he said, "you just have to try it." So I did. First character was Cleric #3 from page 28 of B1, called "The Mystical One," although I changed the name to "TJ". Don't remember what TJ stood for, if anything. The TV show TJ Hooker was still a few years away... Anyway, TJ entered B1 with a Dwarven fighter and a Thief of some type. We survived, although we never got together again. The following spring, 1980, I saw a group playing "the game" in one of the dorm lounges and joined in. They were deep in the clutches of B2, and were grateful for another healer in the party. TJ lives on today, married and retired to a keep in The Land (the last DM was a big fan of "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever." Those were the days...

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  22. NathanielJune 6, 2013 at 6:42 PM

    I hope he wan't named after Cyrus Vance, the VP, but I really don't know at this point.

    Lady Blackbird actually has a pre-gen character named Cyrus Vance, simply because the name sounded cool and the writer forgot where the name came from.

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