Timewaster's Guide Archive
Games => Role-Playing Games => Topic started by: Faster Master St. Pastor on April 17, 2006, 04:52:58 PM
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I've decided that I want to start playing RPGs, and to start a group, so, any suggestions on books or publishers to take a look at? Also any that would be good for a beginner, and also some books or publishers to keep the heck away from. Anything really would be nice, and don't pretend you don't know anything; I've seen those articles.
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well, what kind of setting do you want? RPG's run the gambit from sword and sorcery to hard sci-fi. to somewhere in between. What are your interests?
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Swords and sorcery with a little sci-fi every once in a while.
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Weeeeell. It may be a little heretical of me, but look into D&D the core rules. I personally like d20 Modern more (all the rules you need in one book) but others hate it even though the rules arent really that different from D&D. Also GURPS is good for flexablility.
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Define flexability please.
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Get a group. Play the games they play for a while. It's really not worth buying books until your certain you want to run something, and that you will be able to run that something (with the groups schedule, your spare time, etc). Spending money on RPG's is silly otherwise.
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Flexability? How about Universal, GURPS does just about everything from hard sci-fi to generic fantasy to superheros. Most of it could be done with the base books. But Ent is right, search around for groups first.
You may find that one persons favored game is another persons nightmare.
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I can't imagine trying to play in a game with no one who's ever played before. There's enough confusion with experienced players. Find an existing group and join them.
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thats funny because back in the day thats just what us old groganards did. We'd buy the D&D books and pour over them, learning the rules and experiment making character after character...
Then finally we'd run a game.
Its how I learned just about every game I ever played.
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That's how my very first roleplaying experience went. I bought the D&D PHB and tried running a game for a couple friends. Of course, it was a dismal failure and it took me another year odd to get another group.
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That's also how I learned, but she has a really good point: it's so prevalent now, you really don't have to do that anymore. Finding a group and joining or sitting in is a great way to ease into it.
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It just seems silly to reinvent the wheel and try to run your own game from scratch your first time when you could learn from people who already know and save yourself the headache.
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It does matter if you can find a group to join. Preferably one that meets regularly and at a time when you can be there. I would suggest asking around at the local game stores.
If you really want to form a group with existing friends, the D&D starter set is a good way to go.
Also I support your interest in learning to play pen-and-paper RPGs. I attribute my years of gaming to the completion and passing of my Statistics class after having not taken any math for many, many years.
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It does matter if you can find a group to join. Preferably one that meets regularly and at a time when you can be there. I would suggest asking around at the local game stores.
See the problem with that is that I only know about one nearby, and I don't really like it all that much. I guess it's time to bring out the old phone book.
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yeah, you'll have to get over those issues.
I couldn't stand the Dragon's Keep when I lived out in Provo. Maybe it's improved, but back then it was dingy and the nerd factor was very high. HOwever, I still went there. Had to if I wanted to preserve my game and comic habits.
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It's a lot bigger now that it's moved across the street. As for the nerd factor...well...no comment.
No, seriously, I've actually made some amazing friends there.
Are you in Utah Valley, FMP? I can't remember if you live out here or not. If so, I recommend the keep. I could even ask around for you to see if anyone has a game they'd let you join.
Edit: I see that you are in fact a Utahn. The offer stands, if your parents are cool with it.
Edit #2: If the keep is the one you don't like, there's also Games People Play in University Mall, and Game Den down at Provo Town Center. But they're not as cool.
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does DK still look like a castle cellar? Or is it clean and well-lit? Also, if I walk in to look at Venom comics am I going to be forced to listen to two large, unbathed employees yell at each other about Vulcan culture (this is not an exaggeration, the were both very overweight, very smelly, and had raised voices on exactly on this topic)? Finally, will I be mocked for not knowing some trivia or not having the views of the employee (something that also really happened to me there -- I hated TA Computers for exactly this reason, and the only reason Dragon's Keep still got any of my business at all was the extreme lack of alternatives).
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DK has gotten new management and a new store in the last year or so. It's now well lit, it has sort of a show case area in the front of the store, and has these cool cubby holes where they have little miniture battle vignettes.
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wow! Sounds good then. Maybe I'll drop in next time I'm in the neighborhood (August-ish, likely)
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It's a lot bigger now that it's moved across the street. As for the nerd factor...well...no comment.
No, seriously, I've actually made some amazing friends there.
Are you in Utah Valley, FMP? I can't remember if you live out here or not. If so, I recommend the keep. I could even ask around for you to see if anyone has a game they'd let you join.
Edit: I see that you are in fact a Utahn. The offer stands, if your parents are cool with it.
Edit #2: If the keep is the one you don't like, there's also Games People Play in University Mall, and Game Den down at Provo Town Center. But they're not as cool.
I'll have to ask my mom, but if she's cool with it then that would be great.
Coincidentally Games People Play happens to be the one I don't like, but some of that is attributed to the fact that they kept moving around until about a year ago.
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If you want, dixon middle school has an RPG club that provides an inviting enviroment to learn new systems in. It also provides a great example of how to DM decently (Mr Lockwood) and players who you can practice DMimg on who wont care if you screw up (the middle schoolers)
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I liked DK's castle dungeon look. But I like the new place, too.