how do I get into tabletop rpg?
I never played one but it looks cool
are there online possibilities?
help out a newfag
Do you have a store in your area that sells hardcopies of RPG books?
>>45727641
there is a "roleplaying" store around in the city where people go to play children cardgames, maybe there
>>45727623
for online possibilities you want to check out roll20.net virtual tabletop, looking for groups etc. most groups dont last all to long before they break apart though. but by now i got a group that plays 2 times a week since about a year. ( since all my real life friends lack the dedication for a regular game)
im only posting on /tg/ since today though so i dont know about /tg/'s general opinion on roll20
Dear OP:
Why are you too retarded to type your question into Google?
>>45727747
thanks I'll check it out
>>45727781
I wanted a discussion
>>45727641
But where will I get my potions?
>>45727623
Ok!
I have nothing better to do, so I'll be more exhaustive.
First of all, depends if you want to play IRL, by post, by chat, or whatever.
For playing IRL, of course you should go to either find some friends with the same interests (>Implying anyone on /tg/ got friends) , or you can go to your local game shop : usually the ones that organize games for Magic The Gathering , Yu Gi Oh, or whatever floats their boats. Ignore the cards, and go to find the owner to ask him if he knows anything about some roleplaying group in the area. With good odds, he won't know any details, but at least he can tell you of a vague idea that a bunch of guys gathers in this place -or talk to gather somewhere- to play tabletops.
Or you can check out the shop's noticeboard. That works too, if it got it.
Either case, even in case he doesn't know of any groups playing in there, do not give up!
Tell him to keep you informed, or ask him -where- you could search for this kind of people, or another similar shop in the surroundings.
The rest it's mostly up to you to pull out your stick out your butt, and actually go out and socialize.
(cont...)
>>45727833
What the fuck is there to discuss? You start playing RPGs by finding people to play RPGs with. How is this complicated?
Jesus, I feel sorry for anyone who has the unfortunate luck to end up with you in their group.
>>45728474
Now...playing by post, it's something that I personally wouldn't reccomend, but sometimes it's the only options for people that do not mind long waiting times and potentially never manage to finish a single campaign/one-shot.
Pretty much means to go in a roleplaying forum, and join a group that is doing play-by-post.
This means that pretty much you'll be stuck waiting for other people replies to progress at all in the campaign. Which might take seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or might not actually happen at all and the game crumbles.
So, yeah.
Might want to overlook this option.
(cont...)
>>45728475
He just wanted to force his lame meme a little. Ignore him.
>>45728549
Alright: At this point we get to the play by chat...which is likely the best option to play online.
Playing by chat, could be done either all in text, with video and sound, or whatever, depending on the preferences of the group (read: GM)
By classic standards, there is a noticeable amount of people that wants to be players, and very little amount of people that want to GM.
In case you were enough of a newbie to not even know what a GM (or DM) is, it's Game Master, or pretty much the dude hosting the game 'n stuff.
From here, you can easily check what to do to get in a group: roll20 is a pretty ok option, but the game finding system can be a bit of a mess.
This said, while in here try /tg/! Virtually everyday there is a thread called Game Finder, where you can find other /tg/ people to join in fantastic games! ....
...
...In theory.
I won't spout bullshit, and let you know that you have 95% of odds to find utter shit.
Shit players, shit DM, shit game, shit system, shitty shit, shit settings: shit happens.
But do not desist.
Because the options are 3:
1-You keep browsing through shit
2-You get lucky, and actually find a group you like
3-Get in a couple shitty games, keep contacts with the people that -aren't- shitty, and after a few tries you'll get your own group with people you didn't choose at random, and maybe actually manage to go on those grand tabletop adventures you were looking for.
As a person with a rotten luck, I suggest the third option, of course.
More or less, with this I summed up the main ways to play!
Do you have other questions?
How to get started on a system, or how to deal with the game etiquette, or whatever?
>>45728766
Pretty much this. Online has the lowest amount of work over all to enter, but due to that you can see a lot of bad games or players. If you're lucky though you can find a pretty steady group to play with.
>>45728766
I'm not OP but this helps tremendously.
Where is a good source to learn the systems? Which should I start with?
You can't handle tabletop rpgs, they're too strong for you
>>45728766
I already roleplay with writing back and forth with someone already. Will tabletop be much different if I do it online?
>>45729112
Depends on the game.
Most tabletop RPGs have a 'GM' who is the 'game master', or generally a combination of NPC-player, group arbiter, referee and 'person who has some kind of a story in mind'. There are RPGs that don't, but they're less common.
The best way to get into RPGs:
Do some research into games in a genre you like (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, whatever).
Decide if you want lots of rules, or being a little bit more loose and freeform.
Research games to see if there's one that meets your combination of rules complexity + genre.
Then go get some friends - don't play with strangers, get your FRIENDS - and go play that game, learning together.
>>45729080
Glad you asked!
Now, let's be fair and sincere: /tg/ shits and vomits on D&D (no matter the edition), but at the same time it's the most played system: you'll end up finding always some players and DMs for it.
So in the end, that might be the right system to try out if you want to do classic or weird fantasy games.
There can be other systems that are better and/or easier to get into, but the fact that nobody plays them worth a crap, makes the point moot if you don't actually have a group for it.
So, let's check out the various systems.
OD&D: only geezers play this system anymore. Plenty of odd stuff too (example: an 'Elf' is a class, not a race.) , but whatever.
AD&D: Geezers 2: the revenge. Or also some lovers of old-style gaming play this one. I actually like this system personally, but still. Except for a couple of weird counterintuitive things such as the THAC0 (don't ask), this system is actually pretty easy to learn. It's much more gritty and deadly than the other newer system though, so it might not be everyone's piece of cake.
3.5/Pathfinder....oh boy.
If you can handle the mess that is this broken thing, you can handle virtually any system. Now: It's actually fun, because the brokeness of the system allows incredibly silly situations, an incredibly large amount of customization and whatnot. But yeah, unless you have someone to follow you step by step on this one, I can't truly suggest it to a beginner.
The 4e can be a pretty decent edition to learn how to play. There was a lot of support in this regard, and it made things very simple. At the same time, though, it made every class look similar by giving everyone special powers.
5e 'just' came out (an year and something ago I think?), so I can't say much on it. Personally, I haven't found it that much interesting, but it surely seems simpler than the mess that is 3.5, and seem to mix a bit of all the other system's things.
(cont...)
>>45729386
"But anon! I hate fantasy, and I don't want to play it!" you might ask...
Well, why you didn't say it sooner?
"Because you're writing my lines, you dipshit" you might reply
And I will ignore it because you are being a smartass. Theoretically.
But that said, there are many other systems for other things. Of course, most systems regardless of genre, should require someone to teach you the basics.
Lacking that, you can also have fun to have a group of complete noobs of the system, and bash your head for 7 hours together against the rulebook until you'll figure out the basics.
The 'factotum' of systems, can be GURPS or Savage Worlds. The latter being more simple in the end in my opinion. Those two systems are made to -theoretically- play any kind of system. Personally, I believe they work the best for scifi or modern games.
As other systems, if you like Warhammer (as most people on /tg/), there are many systems. Dark Heresy, WHRP, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, and whatever else /tg/ will spout out.
For superheroes stuff, I admit I'm not that much expert, but Mutants & Masterminds might work decently: it was literally made for that.
There are so many other systems, fitting virtually any preference... and you might want to google them.
Or alternatively, also a check to 1d4chan (/tg/'s wiki) can give a few ideas.
I mean, theoretically speaking nobody stops you to play systems like "Everyone Is John". I don't actually know what you want to play, and with who.
Either way, if you -are- going to start with D&D , I'd like to point out that there are SRD sites online, that will point out all the basic rules and virtually anything you need to get a game going with said system.
Was this info enough?
>>45728475
Well aren't you salty. There's often helpful and more personalized info that can be ascertained through initiating a discussion over a generic search. Simmer.
>>45729112
Well, personally speaking?
I like play by chat.
It's mostly a matter of preference of -how- you want to play it.
The advantage to play by chat, is that you usually have enough time to write an answer, but without having to wait for millennias for a reply (assuming the other players ain't dipshits).
Games are of course slower than they are IRL, but they still move at a pretty fast pace.
I managed to complete from start to finish a long term campaign that lasted a whole year. Hell, even more than just one campaign for that matter.
And everyone had fun, which is the most important thing.
Some people prefer to play with voice and video, and those -do- speed up the things, but in all fairness not everyone wants to show themselves to a bunch of people from the other side of the world or whatever.
So, in the end it won't be that much different...but different doesn't necessarily mean bad. Do what will be more fun for you!
>>45728446
You'll go elsewhere. You'll go elsewhere for your potions and you'll never come back.
>>45728446
You couldn't handle my potions.
>>45729872
>>45729883
Jesus fuck. I just saw OP's pic and had to make the joke and here you are posting it a minute earlier.
Creepy hivemind shit happening here.
It's not really related to OP's problem, but as a player in a group, new players suddenly joining put me on edge and make me nervous. They threaten to ruin the synergy or stability of a group, especially if it doesn't seem like they're quickly shaping up.
Any tips for how I can get over this, or at least keep a damper on it enough that I don't feel discouraged and ruin a session? I don't want to be the dick that scares away new players because they're slow to learn or do things differently.
Is it possible, just once, that we can delete these threads instead of people rushing in to suck newfaggot cocks and make sure no one is ever mean to them and coddle their balls so that they don't get scared away from fucking gaming?
Are you people seriously so desperate to be liked and approved by others that you'll go out of your way to baby every inbred douche who comes here and asks "lol how i play gaems guis" instead of just typing that shit into google?
No, apparently we can't. Because /tg/ is SJW Hugbox Land these days.
>>45729972
Nothing bad can ever come from "scaring away" new participants. If they are fragile enough that they'll drop something completely just because someone wasn't super-nice to them, they deserve to be run off.
>>45729984
Lmao why the fuck are you even here?
Like "Back in my day xyz" like nigga nobody gives as shit about your opinion. Someone made a thread. You could have ignored the thread like everybody else. It was one click of a button versus coming in and typing all that shit. Please consider suicide, you #Triggered, autistic fucking nerd.
>>45729984
Stop samefagging, dope. If you don't like the thread ignore it. You're the only one bothered by it, no one agrees with you
>>45730060
This is it. This is /tg/ today.
Should we make a banner that says "This is a safe space. No being mean"?
>>45730111
But you're ass flustered right now because I don't fucking agree with you
>It's only a hugbox when people aren't mean to everybody but me
Again, I strongly suggest logging out and killing yourself
>>45730111
You can be a dick if it makes you feel good,. We can be a dick to you in response, and laugh at your goofy ass for taking things so seriously.
>>45730163
Nigga you're not being "mean", you're on your knees sucking off every douche who pretends that if you're super nice to them and never use bad language and spoonfeed them everything they ask, they might pretend to join your little nerd hobby.
And we all know how much everything is better when new people join, right? Totally worth bending over and taking it up the ass to make sure they don't run away, right?
>>45730196
>Muh seekrit club
Why are you still here, senpai?
>>45730231
Didn't you know, /tg/ is supr-srs. l337 pr0s only faggit
>>45729648
>>45729575
>>45729386
>>45729198
This is all really helpful, thank you. I found some PDFs for those systems and signed up for roll20
>>45729080
My best advice right now is D&D 5e.
You'll have decent luck finding players right now since it's the currently supported edition of D&D, which pretty much has the largest market share of players by default. What's more, 5e is pretty user friendly when it comes to access. ESPECIALLY for someone who is new to role playing in general, it's probably the best edition of D&D to start with. It's also, because of the quality of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide in initiating the uninitiated, the best place to start if you and your family/gaming group are looking to jump into something with everyone at ground zero.
4e has a small, loyal fanbase. On the surface it has easy access but it's a rabbit hole of optimization and builds. it's arguably more "balanced" but does so at the expense of the Fantasy. It's a very game-y system (some would call it video gamey, and I can't say there wrong) and I for one do not care for it in the least. But if you want Fire Emblem: The TTRPG, and can find a group, it's the right call (and I love Fire Emblem so I can see how that'd be appealing)
3e, 3.5e and Pathfinder are all basically the same game. Pathfinder is the USSR to D&D's USA: The slightly backwards but very major rival. As such, it'd be about as easy to find a Pathfinder group as to find a D&D5e. The problem is that 3e/Pathfinder is complex. Even the core books are a little harder to access than 5e, and the rabbit hole goes to much deeper, darker places than 4e's. This system is MASSIVE, having between the current Pathfinder and its semi-compatable 3e original over 15 company-years of releases. It's also notoriously "imbalanced" so if you're playing with a group that's quite competitive, or doesn't know how to cooperatively have fun, you can have a bad time. That said it's by far the most versatile system, with the most options and the deepest library of Stuff you can pull out.
(Continued)
>>45730306
Then you have the OSR. the Old School Renaissance is a massive collection of games based on OD&D or AD&D, First or Second edition. However, they're all pretty closely related, so if you know one OSR game (Say, AD&D 2e, or Lamentations of the Flame Princess) you can transfer your skills to the others and learn way faster. Despite being stereotyped as grognard games for grognards, they're a growing market, and in the waning days of 4e the OSR was hitting top-seller lists above core-line D&D material. These games are very complex LOOKING but at their heart they're pretty simple. They're sort of the anti-4e in that way: they focus on the fantasy of the scenatio first, and the game side second. They've got a lot of wonky mechanics between them, but all of those mechanics support "Yes, I know this and it is going on in-universe". That's their big advantage.
Outside D&D, pickings get weirder and slimmer. White Wolf has its systems: OWD and NWOD (Old and New World of Darkness, the latter of which may be going by another name now) are kinda ok, I'd recommend staying FAR away from Exalted, especially as an introduction to roleplaying. GURPS is a thing that can do anything if only you combine all 5 million of its books is the right way, but it's not terrible. The Warhammer systems are probably the best NotD&D systems of the mess, or at least the most recognized, but even they're dealing with an anemic player count. If you like scifi, you might find something to do with Traveller, or if you like cyberpunk+magic, Shadowrun. Both good games. And new games are coming out all the time, both more familiar offerings like Iron Kingdoms and really interesting, innovative things like Ryuutama (which might be a great start if you're beginning your journey with a bunch of close friend/family newfags, since it's more coop than usual even). It's a big world out there to explore!
>>45730324
As for interface, while nothing beats face-to-face gaming when it's good, Roll20 and similar sites allow telepresence gaming that's pretty nice! Heck, you can even play over Skype. I've done it.
>>45730277
Glad of that.
Have fun, and good luck!
>>45730324
>>45730306
Not OP but Hanks an on, all this info is really helpfull
Why isn't this kind of info in the sticky?\
There's no link to a wiki or anything.
Is it possible to play role playing games with a group of only 2 players and a master? Any opinions on the subject? pic not related.
>>45730719
probably because nobody agrees. Compare >>45730306 to >>45729386
>>45730884
>Is it possible to play role playing games with a group of only 2 players and a master? Any opinions on the subject?
Absolutely. As long as you have one GM and at least one player, you're good. Two is usually better, three is good, four or five is the ideal number. More than that and shit gets too unwieldy because you usually end up waiting a long time between actions, and it's hard for monkeys to track things in groups larger than five.
As someone recommended earlier, the newest version of Traveller (published by Mongoose) is a great sci-fi game that's easy for new players to understand.
>>45730884
Like >>45731315 said, very much yes! IMO to get a good table experience, 2 players and a master is the minimum. But we're still good at that minimum for most games out there. Basically, the players need other players to bounce ideas off of and interact with while being challenged collectively by the master.
