New to games, where to start

I'm brand new, what should I start with? Some kind of dnd, pathfinder?

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D&D and Pathfinder are among the worst systems to start with.

If you can find a group to join, whatever they're playing is fine.

If you want to learn how to run your own game, Ryuutama (Fantasy, scenario-based) and Apocalypse World (post-apoc, sandbox) have you covered.

Do you think you'd like a game with a lot of dice rolling and numbers to focus on the gaming aspect of your adventure, or simpler mechanics and a focus on the story? Your answer might help the anons give better advice.

Story, by far

Thanks to all above!

D&D and other d20 systems have lots of rules, far as I know. If you already have a group of people you want to play with or want to learn how to run your own game, I'd go with what the first user said.

Apocalypse World has fairly simple rules, but I think the pdf has about 300 pages. You should give it a read, even if you don't end up playing it, 'cause as said, it's a good choice to learn how to run your own shit.

I can't really speak for Ryuutama as it's the first time I'm hearing of it, but I quite enjoy Apocalypse World and its many hacks.

Apocalypse World is a really good option, DnD 5e is what you're more likely to find a group for. I'd strongly suggest against Pathfinder unless you can't find anything else.

>D&D and Pathfinder are among the worst systems to start with.
Hence why you should always start with them.

get the bad habits out of your system early.

That depends on what kind of genre do you want to play in? Western Fantasy, Historical Roleplay, Eastern Fantasy, Contemporary Setting with or without fantasy elements, Military Fiction, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, etc.

Give an old-school system a try.

D&D Basic is a great, and has a lot of clones that have made some arguably better tweaks. Look into Basic Fantasy RPG or Lamentations of the Flame Princess. They're free!

Don't listen to this guy, he's just upset because those games are popular.

You need to start with F.A.T.A.L.
Any other system will warp your mind against what the hobby is really about.

D&D 5e is not only easy to start, it's a good game with a lot of players. In fact, one in three roleplayers play 5e, making it by far the easiest game to get a group with if you don't already have friends interested in roleplaying with you.

You can download the basic rules from the website, or download the full pdfs from the 5e general. The people there can also help you out with what you need to start.

When people discuss D&D here, they mean 3e or later unless specified. 3e (which PF is a fork of) came out in 2000 under a different company than the D&D that is famous and beloved, and it is a very different and generally hated game, though PF is worse. 5e improved on it by a significant degree, though it's still built on a cancerous foundation, while 4e took an even more radical departure towards tactical miniatures-based combat, and succeeded decently. None have much anything at all to do with Original D&D; besides AD&D 2e, especially it's late supplements.

If you want to play the D&D you've heard of, seen in movies, heard namedropped so much, seen videogames so heavily affected by, then OD&D, B/X or AD&D 1e is the game you're looking for. OD&D's rules are very confusingly written and has a few gaps, but a well recommended rewrite of them exists as Sword & Wizardry White Box. Basic/Expert (which also has a freely available, reorganized clone in the form of "Labryinth Lord") is the one most commonly played by the old school community today, while AD&D 1e is preferred for people who want more 'crunch' additions (mechanical complexity). What most DM's will do is take a foundation of OD&D or B/X and pick & choose elements from AD&D or other sources that they like to their personal game.

If you don't intend to DM yourself, good luck finding a proper D&D game. The closest you'll find easily is 5e, though expect Skyrim, not Ultima.

They breed bad habits, not let you get bad habits you do not have out of your system.

Except most games past 2000 were based on 3e

What would a fighter with 30 STR be comparable to
Like I imagine this guy is strong but how strong

Depends on the system.

Dnd 3.5
If I were going to compare them to a hero or character

You have a table showing the effects of 30STR in the sense of lifting weights and such.

d20srd.org/srd/carryingCapacity.htm

Why people still ask questions like this.
"Hey, I'm new to books, what should I read?", "I'm new to movies, what should I watch?", "Hey, I'm new to eating, what should I try?"

If you know that roleplaying games are a thing, you ether have some kind of idea what they are, or you should google it first to get that basic knowledge.
Then you can ask questions with some substance.

dark heresy/only war/deathmatch/black crusade

Obvious Troll Post

>Caring about spoonfeeding on Veeky Forums
Shut up and shill your system.

arduin.

>it's popular so it's bad!!
>check out these hip alternatives ;)

Fuck the haters: D&D 5e is how I got started and it makes a nice beginner game. It has a fair amount of rules, which has the combined effect of preparing you for rules-heavy systems (e.g. ASOIAF) and making you appreciate rules-light systems (e.g. FATE). Plus, if you're all starting out as a group, it's easier to say "D&D" than to try to pick some obscure game that no one's heard of.

Also, fuck the purists. 5e is alright, I enjoy it unironically. Original D&D is for tryhards, virgins and old men who long ago abandoned any hope for real happiness.


Alternatively, FATE can fit any setting (in theory) and is (as I said before) rules-light, making it a bit easier to pick up