Greetings! I've been an avid reader of fantasy novels, RPG video games, et cetera, for nearly my whole life, however I've never -actually- tried out Roleplaying, and 'tis something I'd love to get into. However, to start with... I have absolutely no idea how to do so. I find this website to be a tad disorientating, and haven't been able to find any 'Guides' if you will. So, it would be hugely appreciated if someone could point me to one, if they exist, or explain the basic 'rules' to me.
I'm new to all of this
- Thread starter Kastro
- Start date
What are you looking for? What kind of guides?
Well, there are no real guides of that kind, AFAIK, but if you post a thread about those kinds of questions, people WILL help.
General- this forum- deals with all RPG systems except those covered by particular forums. The Pathfinder forum deals with PF only. The Legacy forum deals with all other kinds of 3Ed/3.5Ed d&d related games. The 4ed forum deals with 4Ed D&D.
Campaigns are basically interactive storylines- one (or more) players does the "housekeeping" of running the non-player characters that the other players interact with using heir player characters.
Character creation is game-specific. What game do you want to learn about?
General- this forum- deals with all RPG systems except those covered by particular forums. The Pathfinder forum deals with PF only. The Legacy forum deals with all other kinds of 3Ed/3.5Ed d&d related games. The 4ed forum deals with 4Ed D&D.
Campaigns are basically interactive storylines- one (or more) players does the "housekeeping" of running the non-player characters that the other players interact with using heir player characters.
Character creation is game-specific. What game do you want to learn about?
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the Jester
Legend
Most roleplaying games are actual games consisting of a boxed set of stuff or a series of books.
Most of the discussion here is about Dungeons & Dragons (D&D); references like "1e" or "3.5" refer to "1st Edition" D&D or "edition 3.5" (3rd Ed had a major rewrite partway through). These things are the kind of things we D&D geeks discuss in excruciating detail on this site, which a non-D&D player might view as rather arcane.
Anyhoo, a typical D&D game consists of four or six people that sit around a table. One guy is the "Dungeon Master", while the rest are "players". Each player controls a character; you might be a fighter, wizard, etc. The DM controls everything else, from monsters to sidekicks to the weather.
The best way to get into a game is to find a group. You might check local book stores and hobby shops to see if they have a bulletin board, post in the "Gamers Seeking Gamers" forum here, etc, or buy a few books and try to start a group your self. (To play the current edition with a fairly minimal investment, you can pick up a "Heroes of the Fallen Lands" or "Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms" book and a "DM's Kit" and a "Monster Vault"; then get a bunch of friends together and go crazy.
The essential form of the game is that the DM sets the scene and the players describe how their characters react. The rules tell you roughly what your character is capable of and give the dm a palette of monsters to work from (and rules to make more). Usually the characters join into a party and go adventuring, slaying monsters and taking their stuff.
There are also tons of other RPGs out there that provide vastly different play experiences, but this site is pretty focused on D&D and its various cousins, nephews and nieces.
Most of the discussion here is about Dungeons & Dragons (D&D); references like "1e" or "3.5" refer to "1st Edition" D&D or "edition 3.5" (3rd Ed had a major rewrite partway through). These things are the kind of things we D&D geeks discuss in excruciating detail on this site, which a non-D&D player might view as rather arcane.
Anyhoo, a typical D&D game consists of four or six people that sit around a table. One guy is the "Dungeon Master", while the rest are "players". Each player controls a character; you might be a fighter, wizard, etc. The DM controls everything else, from monsters to sidekicks to the weather.
The best way to get into a game is to find a group. You might check local book stores and hobby shops to see if they have a bulletin board, post in the "Gamers Seeking Gamers" forum here, etc, or buy a few books and try to start a group your self. (To play the current edition with a fairly minimal investment, you can pick up a "Heroes of the Fallen Lands" or "Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms" book and a "DM's Kit" and a "Monster Vault"; then get a bunch of friends together and go crazy.
The essential form of the game is that the DM sets the scene and the players describe how their characters react. The rules tell you roughly what your character is capable of and give the dm a palette of monsters to work from (and rules to make more). Usually the characters join into a party and go adventuring, slaying monsters and taking their stuff.
There are also tons of other RPGs out there that provide vastly different play experiences, but this site is pretty focused on D&D and its various cousins, nephews and nieces.
First, correcting my error:
I meant Legacy covers all Pre-4Ed versions of D&D and "clones" of Pre-4Ed D&D.
PF is just an abbreviation of Pathfinder- a particular role-playing game (RPG), one that is based on and very similar to 3.5Ed.
3Ed/3.5Ed refers to the third version of D&D and its revision. 4Ed refers to D&D's fourth edition.
There are all kinds of RPGs- some deal with fantasy settings, some with sci-fi, horror, superheroes, action, western, cartoons, manga and all kinds of mixes and fusions of those...and more.
I meant Legacy covers all Pre-4Ed versions of D&D and "clones" of Pre-4Ed D&D.
PF is just an abbreviation of Pathfinder- a particular role-playing game (RPG), one that is based on and very similar to 3.5Ed.
3Ed/3.5Ed refers to the third version of D&D and its revision. 4Ed refers to D&D's fourth edition.
There are all kinds of RPGs- some deal with fantasy settings, some with sci-fi, horror, superheroes, action, western, cartoons, manga and all kinds of mixes and fusions of those...and more.
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theredrobedwizard
Explorer
The best advice I can give is to go to the Gamers Seeking Gamers board and look for local groups who are seeking new players. It's hard to explain The Game to people without being able to actually see it in play.
That or look for video blogs on YouTube of peoples' D&D campaigns.
That or look for video blogs on YouTube of peoples' D&D campaigns.
Libramarian
Adventurer
PF*, 3e, 3.5e, 4e are all editions of Dungeons & Dragons, the big kahuna of RPGs, the one that started it all in 1974 and remains the most popular.
D&D does medieval-esque fantasy roleplaying with a particular focus on killing monsters and taking their shiny gold. The specific rules vary quite a bit between editions. The latest edition is 4th, released 2008. It has had a polarizing reception among D&D fans and they're working on the next edition now, asking for all D&D fans to come together and contribute to an open playtest to get everyone back on the same page. That's what the "New Horizons" subforum on this site is about.
* Actually PF refers to Pathfinder, a game created by a different company than that which currently owns and publishes D&D as a sort of "clone" of edition 3.5, where they use the same rules but change around some names and concepts to prevent copyright infringement. It competes with the official 4th edition. It counts as D&D, it just has a different name. There are also "clones" of really old editions, going back to '80s era Basic and Advanced D&D. Swords & Wizardry is a clone of original 1974 D&D, Labyrinth Lord is a clone of 1981 Basic D&D, OSRIC is a clone of 1979 Advanced D&D. The clones mean we have all editions in print now. Actually except for second edition...is there a 2e clone yet? Not sure.
There are many, many, many other RPGs besides D&D. In fact I think there are too many, and that this is a primary reason why the hobby is intimidating to get into. If I were you I would just start with D&D and not bother looking into anything else just yet, since you said you are into the fantasy genre.
D&D does medieval-esque fantasy roleplaying with a particular focus on killing monsters and taking their shiny gold. The specific rules vary quite a bit between editions. The latest edition is 4th, released 2008. It has had a polarizing reception among D&D fans and they're working on the next edition now, asking for all D&D fans to come together and contribute to an open playtest to get everyone back on the same page. That's what the "New Horizons" subforum on this site is about.
* Actually PF refers to Pathfinder, a game created by a different company than that which currently owns and publishes D&D as a sort of "clone" of edition 3.5, where they use the same rules but change around some names and concepts to prevent copyright infringement. It competes with the official 4th edition. It counts as D&D, it just has a different name. There are also "clones" of really old editions, going back to '80s era Basic and Advanced D&D. Swords & Wizardry is a clone of original 1974 D&D, Labyrinth Lord is a clone of 1981 Basic D&D, OSRIC is a clone of 1979 Advanced D&D. The clones mean we have all editions in print now. Actually except for second edition...is there a 2e clone yet? Not sure.
There are many, many, many other RPGs besides D&D. In fact I think there are too many, and that this is a primary reason why the hobby is intimidating to get into. If I were you I would just start with D&D and not bother looking into anything else just yet, since you said you are into the fantasy genre.
We don't have any guides here. The various companies who produce RPGs explain how it works in their rulebooks, or sometimes on their websites. Each game is different, and there are hundreds of them.
Welcome to EN World, by the way!
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