Just wanted to say welcome to the newcomers here:

Brickman
Riannal
Cushionbeans
Kamelion
Sardan
Keir

Hello and welcome all.  

Mark  

Hi, all. I've been lurking for a while, gleaning information here and there and essentially learning the rudiments of AD&D collecting. All I've "collected" are my playing materials from 25 years ago, recently retrieved from my parents' suburban Baltimore home, and most of which are in pretty good shape, but still of negligible collector's value. Their sentimental value, though, is through the roof.

My playing days spanned ‘81 to ‘88 (ages 10 to 17), though the vast majority took place from ‘81 to ‘83. My first gaming group played a spontaneous mish-mash of Advanced-Expert and AD&D (we placed Tomb of Horrors in Mystara and The Isle of Dread in Greyhawk). This group was ignorant, immature, hack-n-slash campaigning at its worst, and I loved every second of it, until our DM's mother (hideous evangelical shrew!) received a chain letter from Patricia Pulling's BADD group, and, convinced that we were all raving Satanists, confiscated and destroyed all his rulebooks, modules and accessories. (A couple sidenotes: said DM, who has not gamed since, has been my brother-in-law since 1996. And in 1997, while living in Richmond, VA, I took some ghoulish pleasure at clipping Ms. Pulling's obit from the Times-Dispatch and displaying it for several years on my fridge.)

After that, gaming was far more sporadic, and I never really fell in with a core group for a true, prolonged campaign. During the last couple years I got much more into the game design aspect of it and didn't play much at all. My last real gameplay was in the summer of ‘88, a two-man Greyhawk campaign with the younger brother of the DM mentioned above -- played clandestinely at my house so his mother (hideous evangelical shrew!) wouldn't go ape-*%!$ again.

I've searched the forums here and read with great pleasure some of the best/favorite threads, and have decided to add a few of my own rather than bumping long-dormant discussions:

Favorite module: To DM, U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, by far. Loved fleshing out the town, loved the swashbuckling atmosphere. Duly noted that several posters have pointed out plot points lifted wholesale by the movie The Goonies (very true), but the module narrative itself owes a huge debt to an old Hammer film called The Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg) with Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed. The follow-up, Danger at Dunwater, was a lot of fun, too, throwing a huge wrench, as it did, in the hack-n-slash paradigm. (I'll never forget my players' indignance at having to make reparations to the lizard man weregild after wiping out about half the colony!) As a player, X1 Isle of Dread really dominated my early playing days, and I recall it very fondly. And S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was memorably traumatic -- one of my favorite characters, Drovin Laverus, an 8th level illusionist, came to a grisly end when we met up with the behir on level two.

First character rolled: an elf (using basic rules) named Legolas (very original!!) for a session using the random dungeon generator tables in the AD&D DMG (told you we played a mish-mash of rules at first). If I recall correctly, he was done in by a gelatinous cube ... hence my handle.

Favorite player class: I loved playing illusionists, largely because they were so sketchily demarcated in the rulebooks, and dms didn't really know how to handle them -- which usually afforded my a lot of latitude.

Favorite neglected monster: grimlocks.

At any rate, I'm not sure how often I'll post, but I peruse the forums daily. And if anyone in the Pittsburgh, PA area has a 1st ed. campaign going, feel free to contact me.

This group was ignorant, immature, hack-n-slash campaigning at its worst, and I loved every second of it,

This is the style endorsed by Gygax.. so don't fret it!

Kosh Vorlontay wrote:
Sorry all, I know we are supposed to ignore the troll but I could not help myself (for obvious reasons.....pours another drink   )

You misinterpret -- and perhaps I didn't make myself as clear as I could've been.

I love hack-n-slash. I'm critiquing the players (myself included), not the game. In my earliest gaming sessions, there were too many instances of "You kill the bugbear and pick up a ring of protection +4, a robe of eyes and a vorpal blade" -- none of which the recently deceased bugbear had actually used to defend himself, of course. (This of course is hyperbole, but you get the point.) As we were all learning the game mechanics together, we had very little concern for game balance or verisimilitude -- it was alll about acquiring powerful swag as quickly as possible, and in too many instances our DM was all too accomodating. So when I deride "ignorant, inexperienced hack-n-slash," that's what I mean. Sorry if I made it sound otherwise.

Gelatinous Q wrote:...First character rolled: an elf (using basic rules) named Legolas (very original!!) ...

LOL my first one in `77 was Thorin... A grizzled dwarf !

Welcome aboard

Hi all!

My name is Bill or on ebay Azhag2000.  I'm a collector/reseller.  I started gaming out of the back of Kland's Hobby shop in Fresno CA in 1980.  My first character was a dwarf fighter that got pulverized the first adventure.  I'm a father of three wonderful kids and use AD&D as a motivator for good behavior in school...we are just wrapping up B1 (monochrome, of course!) and playing entirely with Heritage Dungeon Dwellers figures.  Recently I had a setback in my collection...my mono G series, all in NM condition, walked away from my desk at work.    that'l learn me.

Anyway, Hi!

(oh shameless plug...please check out my auctions!)
eBay listings

Azhag2000 wrote:Hi all!

 Recently I had a setback in my collection...my mono G series, all in NM condition, walked away from my desk at work.    that'l learn me.

Welcome!

I can only assume that you work in some sort of office where they understand the value of the items.  The only thing likely to happen in the offices I work in is that the items may get chucked in the bin by the cleaners.  

improvstone wrote:
Welcome!

I can only assume that you work in some sort of office where they understand the value of the items.  The only thing likely to happen in the offices I work in is that the items may get chucked in the bin by the cleaners.  

Yeah, I work in an internet technical support call center.  I'm basically Office Veal, plugged into my cubicle with a pc and a headset.  Our call center is populated by as many permutations of geeks, nerds and outcasts as exists.  70% either have Warhammer, Manga/anime, D&D, LOTR or something form Cartoon Network on their desks.  I've learned my lesson though...I don't keep any D&D stuff at work anymore, I just keep stuff that is easily replaced...like my Space Ork 40K army.

Azhag2000 wrote:Hi all!

My name is Bill or on ebay Azhag2000.  I'm a collector/reseller.  I started gaming out of the back of Kland's Hobby shop in Fresno CA in 1980.  My first character was a dwarf fighter that got pulverized the first adventure.  I'm a father of three wonderful kids and use AD&D as a motivator for good behavior in school...we are just wrapping up B1 (monochrome, of course!) and playing entirely with Heritage Dungeon Dwellers figures.  Recently I had a setback in my collection...my mono G series, all in NM condition, walked away from my desk at work.    that'l learn me.

Anyway, Hi!

(oh shameless plug...please check out my auctions!)
eBay listings

Hi Bill, it's about time you got here...

Sorry to hear about you G series

Lance O.