On Twitter the other day @Grand_DM posted a 30-day D&D challenge. I have no clue where it originated, but I figured rather than limiting myself to 140 characters on Twitter, I would give myself ample space to elaborate on my opinions. So without further explanation...
DAY 1: How You Got Started?
I started playing D&D in 2009 in my freshman year of college. Growing up hearing all the stereotypes of D&D I was skeptical at first, but one of my friends was DM'ing a campaign and asked if I wanted to play. I was reluctant at first, but I started playing as a Human Cleric and really enjoyed the experience. Most notably, during my first session I rolled a triple critical (20/20/19) which as a house rule was an instant kill! Since then I've played in about 4 campaigns, the longest of which lasted 2.5 years (Level 13 Lumi Cleric) and I am about to start playing in my 5th campaign this evening.
I started DM'ing that following winter with eight of my high school friends. In retrospect it was too large of a group to have as a first DM experience, but it had a pretty simple storyline starting with a bar brawl, leading to an adventure into a Formian hive with a single PC death along the way. Since then, I have definitely improved on my DM skills and am pretty proud of what sort of situations I've come up with to place characters into. I have been the DM for 4 campaigns the longest of which is continuing after a little over a year.