The oldest RPG I played is also the first game I played: D&D Basic Set. It was the red boxed set, where species was your class. Want to play a wizard/fighter? Be an elf. Otherwise, be a human … and a wizard OR a fighter
The Basic Set went to level 3, at which point you needed the Expert set to go further. As a kid the whole Basic D&D vs Advanced D&D was confusing. I had both … but didn’t grok why one referenced all these advanced spells (entirely rule clarifications) that I didn’t have.
Obviously, I figured it out eventually.
Basic D&D spawned my first two characters, Battle Axe (later known as Samuel “Battle Axe” Longriver) and Magic (transformed into the archmage Robertson). The characters were rolled up in grade school; the names came considerably later, in middle or high school, when I realized that naming your character after elements of their class was probably a little too on the nose.
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Cover art from the D&D Basic Set. Credit: TSR/Wizards of the Coast