I first started playing D&D in late 1982 with 1st Edition. My friend Michael from karate class invited me to play in his game. I never played before so he brought an adventure to my house so I can learn the basics.
My first character was a 3rd level fighter named Gallandro (name stolen from the Brian Daley Han Solo's Revenge). We spent a few hours going over the stats and what they mean. Then we played one-on-one for a while. It didn't last long since my character died about an hour later frmo a fatal white dragon breath weapon attack. So much for Gallandro.
But this led me to a love I have to this day, leading to many other characters: Dack Blackhawk, Noriyuki Yemana, Fern Flowerchild, Mendwynn Toulousse, Lars Ulrichsen, and many others.
After 3 editions, now I have 4th. I have yet to play 4th Edition with anyone. I'm interested, but I have some trepidation. Maybe DMG2 will make me feel better. I dunno. We'll see.
