I’m on the record for both taking part in the #RPGaDAY phenomenon and also for stating my “hatred” for it. Basically, I’ve enjoyed taking part in some years and experienced frustration (largely from clogged-up podcast channels) at not being able to keep up in subsequent years. Well, this year I am taking part, I’m taking part a day late, and I am doing it even though I feel uncomfortable.

Day Two’s prompt is: First RPG GAMEMASTER.

My first RPG Gamemaster was Daniel, He ran 1977 Traveller.

I’m not sure which was the first game that I Gamemastered. Thinking back, it depends on how you define that but, for the sake of simplicity, I will assume Gamemastering for a group. If I include solo then, technically, there’s a whole different range of answers.

I didn’t GM during the 1980s for the groups I played with. Or at least, I don’t think I did. As avid as I was in terms of playing and reading RPGs during my formative years as a roleplayer, I realise that I didn’t take the plunge as a GM until I felt I had to.

I don’t think I GMed anything during the early 1990s either. Certainly, I discussed play with folk at University and I might even have played in some games, but I don’t remember running RPG sessions. Of course, memory being what it is, the reality is that I might simply have forgotten.

Realistically, I might have GMed when I was a GW Store Manager (1994-1998) but I don’t remember… which is slightly worrying. The chances are that I ran some sessions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in the store. I certainly LOVED running games of Warhammer Quest and Inquisitor in the later years of my GW tenure. Are those RPGs?

What shocks me is the distinct possibility that I didn’t actually GM until I arrived in Nottingham in 1998. Attending the Nottingham Games Club (then meeting over in the slightly-dangerous Meadows area of the city), I met some AD&D players and joined in a game as a player. But I didn’t start GMing until I ran Alternity.

Alternity is the first memory I have of running an RPG for any length of time. It’s also the system with the most memorable campaigns I ever ran. Memory being hazy on this point, I am going to just roll with it as reality and allow friends / family to correct me as necessary.

That I (probably) didn’t GM a game until 1998 shocks me because I was certainly buying, reading, messing around solo with, playing in, and talking about RPGs throughout the whole time since I started in the late 1970s. But I wasn’t running games… as far as I know.

And when I think about it, I am shocked by how poorly I remember the period between 1989 and 1998 in my roleplaying games hobby. Perhaps I need to sift through some old games and see what memories arise. But for now, that’s what I have got.

Game on!

P.S.: To cover Day 1, the first RPG I played this year was (surprisingly) the Pathfinder 2e Beginner Box with the students at the school club. The first personal game was Mongoose Traveller. It’s neat that I know this because my Bullet Journal records these facts.

Update 4th Aug: According to my oldest friend from University, I ran a session of “Toon” around 1990 for him. Being reminded of this unlocked a whole bunch of earlier memories connected to playing “Toon”, “Killer”, and other board games like “Snit’s Revenge” and “The Awful Green Things From Outer Space”. Oh, and I was introduced to actually playing Warhammer 40,000 (1st Ed) around the same time.