I think I mentioned before that I had become aware of role-playing games, namely dungeons and dragons, before 1981. I think I also mentioned that in junior high school I met people that actually played them. However, my answer to this question is… Nobody.

Or, looking at it another way, I introduced myself to them.

When I received the basic set in 1981, I read it from cover to cover a few times. I got the understanding of how the game works. I didn’t know the other people well enough to ask them to join their games, and I really didn’t live that close to them. So, I decided I would run it for other people. It seemed like something that I should be able to do. It also seemed very fun.

It took a while to get things going, and I never really did have a success with a stable group when I was younger, but I managed to catch the RPG bug all by myself. All I needed to be able to do was read!