New to table top looking for advice and tips

[Thorburgh]

Hey everyone this is my first time on the site i hope i am putting this in the right area. If not i am sorry and maby someone could direct me to the correct location to open said thread.

Anyway like the title said I am new to table top and new to RPing in general took an interest in it after reading some skyrim RPing on a forum once over this summer. But my help is I am looking at picking up a set of books and such for D&D and was wanting to know what the best edition for a beginner would be and maby some tips on putting together a story and general DMing or if there are any great campaigns that would be good for starts to learn how to dm and gain a handle on the game.

Like I said I am very new to table top RP games like this and would love some tips/advice to getting a good group/game going that my friends would enjoy have several interested just need the material and know how to play and advice/tip would be very helpful thanks!

 

[Ramaster]

Welcome to the hobby! You are going to have the time of your life!

Well, for starters, IMO the best way to start roleplaying is finding an established book. It is SO MUCH easier to get a good grasp on the rules and the general gameplay aspects that way. It will also give you the chance to try out some different systems before making a purchase.

Right now, my favorite game is probably Pathfinder, which is the "Spiritual Successor" of the 3rd edition rules for Dungeons and Dragons and so I highly recommend that.

I would advise against starting with D&D, since the new edition comes out next year (probably) and is looking out to be pretty good (YMMV).

Welcome again to great world of RPGing!!!

 

[Thorburgh]

Thanks! I will look in to pathfinder right away but first what do you mean by spiritual successor haha I am very new to this and if you have any suggestions on where to get these and maybe what books or how many books it will take i know i had a friend although never played had some D&D books and had like 3-5 cant remember but a few so like what titles am i looking for and how many books will i be getting. I know a little but unsure in if i am getting the right things or not hah and thanks again for advice will look in to pathfinder right now haha

 

[sheadunne]

First determine what type of game you want to play (what genre of game): fantasy, sci-fi, western, spy, gothic horror, horror. It will help determine what game system you should get. If fantasy is your cup of tea there are intro box sets to both D&D (4th edition) and Pathfinder.

You can also try to find an existing group of players in your area and join their group to get your feet wet.

Best of luck!

 

[S'mon]

The best introduction to RPGs IMO is the Pathfinder Beginner Box. If you are looking to put together your own group of novice players, I definitely recommend it.

The big alternative to Pathfinder is Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. My recommendation there would be to get these D&D Essentials books: Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Monster Vault, and DM's Kit. It's a much bigger game than Pathfinder Beginner Box, but a very good game IMO.

Either of these are good places to start. If you are looking to join a group, find out what they are playing and ask what book(s) to get.

PBB: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pathfinder-...3729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358257792&sr=8-1
4e Essentials:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Players-Ess...3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1358257843&sr=1-3-catcorr
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dungeon-Masters-Kit-Essential-Dungeons/dp/0786956305/ref=pd_sim_b_3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monster-Vault-Essential-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786956313/ref=pd_sim_b_4

 

[Bluenose]

Hi Thorburgh. Welcome to EnWorld.

At the moment there are two widely available types of "D&D". One, D&D 4th edition published by Wizards of the Coast, has a starter set that really isn't very good. If you avoid that, your starting point would be either the line of Essentials products (Heroes of (Various Things), DM Kit, Monster Vault) or the more traditional Players Handbook, DM Guide, and I'd still by the Monster Vault. The alternative is Pathfinder published by Paizo, largely based on the 3rd edition of D&D. There the starting point is easier, the Pathfinder Core Rules containing the material from the PHB and DMG. Pathfinder also has a starter set, which apparently is very good and a much better starting point than the 4e version. And Paizo have a large line of adventures which might help a new GM.

Having said that, if your interest was sparked by Skyrim then I'm not sure I'd pick either game. I don't think either game really would get the "feel" of Skyrim right. I could suggest several alternatives, but my first thought would be Legend from Mongoose Publishing. It's a pretty simple system that would get closer in many ways to the way Skyrim works, and it has the advantage of being pretty cheap with one book being all you need. It also has several supplements and is similar enough to several other games (Runequest and the rest of the BRP family) that supplements and adventures for those are very compatible.

As for how to start, there's nothing that really beats doing it. I'd say a few things. Find out what your friends would like to play and use that as a starting point. Start small, even if you've got ideas for epic things later on. Doing your own thing is often a better way to learn than starting with someone else's material.

As an example, this is the starting premise for a game I ran for some people new to tabletop RPing last year. The characters started off as young adults in a village in the hills, part of the clan that lived there. And that clan was feuding with the clan one valley over. So, let's go and steal some of their cattle. I had an idea about the people they could ask for advice (some of which was "Don't do it"), I gave them a rough map of the area's landmarks so they could plan a route, I had a couple of ideas for situations they might run into either on the way or on the way back, and I had a small group of young adults from the other clan who would be guarding the cattle they wanted to steal. Whatever happened, they were going to out of this with a reputation (good if they succeeded, bad if they didn't), rivals in the young people from the other clan, and some more knowledge of the area. Plus the two encounters they had gave out a couple of plot hooks for things they might choose to involve themselves in next time we played. To let you into a little secret, the people they fought from the other clan - I copied their character sheets when we made them the week before, changed a few cosmetic details, and used them. The two encounters they also had didn't need full stats and didn't get them. That greatly reduced my preparation time, allowing me more time to think about the problems they might have rather than generating enemies.

 

[Thorburgh]

Alright thank you all so much this will help me alot I am planing on starting to save up a bit of money for picking up some started books and hope to be playing soon