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Tabletop games for newbies?
- Thread starter Dragonie
- Start date
Scribe
Ravana
Istar
I don't think there are any "simple" fantasy games on the market any more. However, that's not really an issue.…
It doesn't matter what game you start with: what matters is the group you start with. Find some people who have already been playing for a while, and are working with low-level characters (ideally, beginning a new adventure). As a player, you don't need to "know everything": all you need to know is what your character can do–which, for a beginning character, is very limited. It's the person running the game that needs to know everything… or as much of "everything" as he intends to use, which almost certainly will not be everything that's available. You will pick things up as they become available to you, or as you see your companions do them.
If you aren't joining an existing group, but are trying to learn ab initio, along with other players who also have no background in RPGs… well, it will be a lot harder. Nearly everybody these days is drawn into an existing group–these days, hell: that's always been the way most people learned. Very few people ever went out and bought a Basic D&D box set and rounded up some friends, without any of them having been exposed to it through gaming with some of their friends.
Systems to avoid are easier to think of: GURPS and Rolemaster (intended for gamers who tired of perceived flaws in other systems); Hero System, while an excellent system (possibly the best on the market), should be avoided if you're trying to teach yourself (learning with a group is fine). I'd say the same about Palladium, though in comparison to the above, it's not that difficult.
Probably the "simplest" of the major ones is the White Wolf system; unfortunately, that's produced in conjunction with very specific settings, none of them "generic fantasy." If you don't mind your first RPG experience being one where you play a werewolf or vampire, the parts you as a player have to learn are a breeze. Unfortunately, I've seen far more bad games than good ones run in these systems, and the problem lies in the settings themselves: the GM must be very much into the world-requirements of the setting, and most aren't–they just treat it as a fantasy game with vampires (etc.) as heroes… which doesn't work. Even simpler are the superhero games produced for DC and Marvel settings… so if you have some friends who'd like to play superheroes, this might be the best place to start. (Superhero games not connected to specific publishing houses, such as Champions [Hero System for superheroes], are as complex as the basic rules set they draw from.)
I'm seated next to a file cabinet with more than thirty different RPG systems in it; I've played RPGs more than two-thirds of my life, almost from the first year they existed; and I can assure you that, believe it or not, D&D is actually one of the easier ones to learn. (Or at least was in the previous edition: nothing I've heard mentioned suggests it's gotten any more difficult.) But any of them can be learned easily enough with a group that's interested in helping you do so.
One final note–don't be overwhelmed by the amount of material available for any given game: for most games, the core system is only one or two books. D&D can be played with just the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide… not by you as a player (the players don't actually need any books, though they'll undoubtedly want to get the PH eventually, just to see what's possible), but by the whole group. As long as you don't mind not having any monsters, or the GM doesn't mind inventing them based on what's in those two books. Even adding the Monster Manual in is something only the GM needs to worry about… and it's only a resource: there are no new rules introduced in it. Absolutely everything else ever printed for the game is purely optional. In that sense, you might want to focus on the games that have the most printed material: it's a sign that they're well-supported and enduring, and aren't going to vanish into history, played only by a few hardcore devotees, as most of the 30+ aforementioned systems have.
It doesn't matter what game you start with: what matters is the group you start with. Find some people who have already been playing for a while, and are working with low-level characters (ideally, beginning a new adventure). As a player, you don't need to "know everything": all you need to know is what your character can do–which, for a beginning character, is very limited. It's the person running the game that needs to know everything… or as much of "everything" as he intends to use, which almost certainly will not be everything that's available. You will pick things up as they become available to you, or as you see your companions do them.
If you aren't joining an existing group, but are trying to learn ab initio, along with other players who also have no background in RPGs… well, it will be a lot harder. Nearly everybody these days is drawn into an existing group–these days, hell: that's always been the way most people learned. Very few people ever went out and bought a Basic D&D box set and rounded up some friends, without any of them having been exposed to it through gaming with some of their friends.
Systems to avoid are easier to think of: GURPS and Rolemaster (intended for gamers who tired of perceived flaws in other systems); Hero System, while an excellent system (possibly the best on the market), should be avoided if you're trying to teach yourself (learning with a group is fine). I'd say the same about Palladium, though in comparison to the above, it's not that difficult.
Probably the "simplest" of the major ones is the White Wolf system; unfortunately, that's produced in conjunction with very specific settings, none of them "generic fantasy." If you don't mind your first RPG experience being one where you play a werewolf or vampire, the parts you as a player have to learn are a breeze. Unfortunately, I've seen far more bad games than good ones run in these systems, and the problem lies in the settings themselves: the GM must be very much into the world-requirements of the setting, and most aren't–they just treat it as a fantasy game with vampires (etc.) as heroes… which doesn't work. Even simpler are the superhero games produced for DC and Marvel settings… so if you have some friends who'd like to play superheroes, this might be the best place to start. (Superhero games not connected to specific publishing houses, such as Champions [Hero System for superheroes], are as complex as the basic rules set they draw from.)
I'm seated next to a file cabinet with more than thirty different RPG systems in it; I've played RPGs more than two-thirds of my life, almost from the first year they existed; and I can assure you that, believe it or not, D&D is actually one of the easier ones to learn. (Or at least was in the previous edition: nothing I've heard mentioned suggests it's gotten any more difficult.) But any of them can be learned easily enough with a group that's interested in helping you do so.
One final note–don't be overwhelmed by the amount of material available for any given game: for most games, the core system is only one or two books. D&D can be played with just the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide… not by you as a player (the players don't actually need any books, though they'll undoubtedly want to get the PH eventually, just to see what's possible), but by the whole group. As long as you don't mind not having any monsters, or the GM doesn't mind inventing them based on what's in those two books. Even adding the Monster Manual in is something only the GM needs to worry about… and it's only a resource: there are no new rules introduced in it. Absolutely everything else ever printed for the game is purely optional. In that sense, you might want to focus on the games that have the most printed material: it's a sign that they're well-supported and enduring, and aren't going to vanish into history, played only by a few hardcore devotees, as most of the 30+ aforementioned systems have.
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hectorchacon69
New Member
There are a lot of RPGs out there, and most of them are pretty dense.
I've heard good things about the Mouse Guard system. It's based off of a graphic novel series about a bunch of mice that are knights. It's a kind of kid friendly theme, but that's what helps make it so easy to understand. It's also more based on the concept of story telling than constant dice rolling, which helps uncomplicate things.
Otherwise I think you're good getting a D20 Modern or D&D 3.5 or 4th Edition book and checking it out.
I've heard good things about the Mouse Guard system. It's based off of a graphic novel series about a bunch of mice that are knights. It's a kind of kid friendly theme, but that's what helps make it so easy to understand. It's also more based on the concept of story telling than constant dice rolling, which helps uncomplicate things.
Otherwise I think you're good getting a D20 Modern or D&D 3.5 or 4th Edition book and checking it out.
One of the better 3.X/d20 tabletop systems is Castles and Crusades (simple, but you can make it as complex as you want).
4th Edition D&D is pretty bad, in my opinion, so I can't recommend that to people. Learning 3.X or Pathfinder can take some work. But Castles and Crusades provides the dungeons and dragons experience without unnecessary complexity. They even had some of the guys from 1e D&D working on their products.
4th Edition D&D is pretty bad, in my opinion, so I can't recommend that to people. Learning 3.X or Pathfinder can take some work. But Castles and Crusades provides the dungeons and dragons experience without unnecessary complexity. They even had some of the guys from 1e D&D working on their products.
