Avid artist and writer

>avid artist and writer
>love roleplaying
>want to DM
>literally know nothing about DnD or modules or actually written out stat systems
>know nothing about getting a roleplay group together out of thin air

i've been roleplaying for probably about 11 years on video game mediums like MMO's and gmod and other shithouses where i could scrape it up and i don't honestly think i could get into a roll system and have to check stat sheets when really all i'm interested in is the writing and creative aspect

where do i even start? can i even start? am i doomed to scribbling down thousands of roleplay ideas and worldbuilding elements into a dusty ass word document for the rest of my life?

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img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1425/08/1425086033948.pdf
nearbygamers.com/
penandpapergames.com/forums/memberlist.php
reddit.com/r/lfg/
enworld.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?49-Gamers-Seeking-Gamers
findgamers.us/
twitter.com/AnonBabble

No,

If you are an alumni of a university, see if the tabletop gaming club (because every Uni has one) is accepting new members. If so, there you go. Observe the first couple of games, tweak your stuff to fit, then offer to DM a game.

If not, you could always try going to a local Hobby Shop and see if there are any events or tournaments nearby. Be able to meet some people that way.

If you already have friends who like fantasy or tabletop games, then start watching youtube tutorials on how to play DnD. Learn the character sheets and find a website that offers them for printing. Here is a neat link for character ideas if your friends need inspiration: img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1425/08/1425086033948.pdf

Invite a small group over. Controlling a group of 4 is much easier than 8 or even 6 (believe me). Have some snacks available and offer the opportunity to BYOB. Have some speakers playing the LOTR soundtrack or anything else fantasy related for ambiance, and then open up the campaign. Short, sweet, allow your friends to be creative or be assholes. The game is for ALL of you, not just the DM to be a stifling 'god'.

Try reading a book, faggot.

if you mean your autistic dnd manual then no you retarded faggot

Find a lighter system than D&D. There are tons of roleplaying games that require very little in the way of "system mastery". There are even games with no random element whatsoever if that's what you're into.

Then shut up and fuck off, faggot.

>i don't honestly think i could get into a roll system and have to check stat sheets

Your first and biggest problem, OP, is that you're jumping to conclusions and assuming it to be worse than it actually is

D&D isn't the only system; there are narrative systems like FATE out there more suited to what it sounds like you're trying to do
Sure, you're going to have a rulebook, but reading a PDF of a lite system isn't as daunting a task as lugging around a big expensive PHB and memorizing a shitton of stats and numbers like you might've been imagining it to be

However, the REAL nightmare is finding a group, which can be more RNG than the hobby itself
Can't really help you there, you just have to get lucky

>Avid writer
>Doesn't even bother to use proper capitalization.

I feel like that time may have been wasted, user.

By reading the game's rules

How about actually reading the god damn book. I started with GURPS when I was fucking 15. GURPS! Man up and join a game online. Do it enough times and you'll get lucky to score a good party.

Monster of the Week has the most complete advice on running a session I've seen, it holds your hand through all steps of the process and comes with an adventure. Should be some Let's Plays on YouTube.

If you don't want the rules of D&D, don't DM D&D. GM some other game that you like. How is this not obvious?

Modern roleplaying systems are some of the most easy-to-read manuals out there, and none require any degree of specialised knowledge. If you can't understand them, you're probably retarded.

Don't try to understand the old school systems unless they come to you easily / you have a tutor.

i mean you could read the book, but really d&d isn't catered to your interests.

you seem more like a dogs in the vineyard type of guy, you just need a basic mechanic for conflict resolution and not much else.

Get the fuck out of this board and kill yourself, you fucking faggot.

hop in /5eg/ discord and ask someone to guide you through character creation and combat
the rest can be ez figured out, skimming DMG is pretty useful

As others have said, there are systems other than D&D. I'm inclined to push you away from D&D, because I don't think that it is a very good system. You can tell dramatic, tense stories in it, but the mechanics don't do much to support that. It is difficult to divorce the gamist nature of it from the rest of the game. I would point you in the direction of FATE, if you want almost loosey-goosey gameplay, or GURPS, if you want to have more bases covered by default. FATE has some free versions floating around, and their revenue is mostly donation-based. GURPS Lite is free, short, and easy to read; it contains the core of the game, and as such is very easy to follow with the rest of the fantasy and supernatural stuff not included in Lite.

Honestly, best tip I can give you to get you GMing instead of hemming and hawing about system too much, or worrying about a long campaign. Write a short, one-shot adventure. Give it a few encounters, a few situations to get through, and feel free to heavily guide it in play. Railroading is generally frowned upon, but since the adventure is a microcosm, a things unto itself. Just like with stories, fucking get writing. Just do short-stories, I mean, do one-shot adventures; same difference.

Whatever you do, just don't start with DnD.
If you start DnD, you will be trapped with DnD, believing that DnD is synonymous with RPGs. It's not. It's one RPG. One fairly shit RPG.

Begin with something freeform and theater of mind so you can feel out a group and find out what you and they want from their games. Then find a published game that fits those preferences.

There is nothing wrong with D&D in any flavor just be aware it’s not the only game in town.

I recommend you start playing first, preferably in person. I’ve moved a lot and have had good success using online postings to find a new group.

If you are in a very low population density area you may have to use Roll20, google meeting, discord etc to play.

Find Players/Groups:

nearbygamers.com/

penandpapergames.com/forums/memberlist.php

reddit.com/r/lfg/

enworld.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?49-Gamers-Seeking-Gamers

findgamers.us/

There are 2 schools of Game Mastering. The old school which combines procedureally generated story elements: characters, monsters, locations, items, etc to create emergent gameplay and story telling.

And the Storygame in which plot which hews closely to a prewritten narrative. The world is already built before play begins.

> i don't honestly think i could get into a roll system and have to check stat sheets when really all i'm interested in is the writing and creative aspect

Welp you came to the wrong place. Back to vidya with you scum!

>I wabt to gm but not put in the work
Lazy is a better descriptor than artist.

Agree. I’ll add if you see reading a few Rules books as “work” this is the wrong hobby for you.

You will have to read the book to DM unfortunately. You're right that the DnD manual is pretty hard mode for a beginner.

As usual first post is best post. Finding a convention or club game to join will increase your chances of success massively not least because it shows you how easy it can be. Even Arneson and Gygax new this and made sure to DM massive games to literally train DMs and send them off to proliferate the game in their areas.

However this is not necessary. Keep it simple and it'll be fun. DnD 1st edition is worth reading because it's short and simple but for an even easier one look for RPGs for kids like Monster Slayers. Monster Slayers claims to be DnD for 8 year olds so if you have the facultys of an 8 year old you should be able to run it and believe me it's more than enough to have ALOT of fun. Especially if you have skeptical players who just want to take the piss the first few sessions.

There are even simpler systems like Crab Truckers and Lasers and Feelings but these 1 page RPGs are too simple for you to grasp how an RPG actually plays.

Use a pre written adventure and hand out premade Characters. This makes life much easier for you but also takes all the pressure off your players to understand anything but the minimum mechanics.

Players need. 1 character sheet. 1 pencil/pen. An extra blank page for taking notes on the adventure and preferably their own dice. In a DnD game they will require 1 d20 and the dice described on their sheet as their main weapon (longsword 1d8 for instance.).

As the DM you will require a d20. Damage dice for various NPC weapons. A copy of the adventure. Some note paper and a pen and the rules nearby. A cheatsheet for mechanics is great too for more complex games.

Don't fuss too much just get started and see how it all comes together. In it's simplest form. You describe a place with a few clues as to what the story might be. The players ask you questions which you answer with more clues.

oh and ofcourse the 5th edition starter set is a great place to start.

>You're right that the DnD manual is pretty hard mode for a beginner.

I'm a carpenter who has never been to college and I figured out "hardmode" AD&D 2nd Ed. when I was 10. Its not that fucking hard. If basic literacy, reading comprehension and arithmetic are barriers to entry then find another hobby.

It's hard in that it's intimidating. I started with the core books of 3.5 being equally as oblivious as he is and it was just too much book for me to ever confidently bring the game to the table.

These books are well written and easy once you have some framework for how the game works but sadly many education systems of the world churn out burnouts who recoil at even this level of system comprehension.

Keeping it simple and just running SOMETHING is better for this sort of person.

Sadly we've chased off OP but I think Monsterslayers with OPs own simple story stringing together the encounters might really have got him started.

is't old vs new school "Player skill vs Character build"?

Amateur Thespian drama club artists are the pink haired faggots that are behind storygames infiltration of gaming in recent years. They can't be bothered to learn "complicated games", which they define complicated as using tables or having numbers on dice. Off to your narrativist story game rubbish.

Cry tribalism all you like but when you fundamentally try to change an existing hobby, whilst cloaking yourself in the traditions and themes of that hobby don't be surprised when you get push back.

>It's hard in that it's intimidating.

If someone is that easily intimidated I don't what to say other than "this probably isn't for you".

If you value story the most, play FATE or Fiasco or something. Both games put storytelling over rolling dice. Stay the hell away from D&D because it's going to make you miserable if you only care for the story.

Also keep in mind that RPGs are collaborative storytelling. Your players are not your dolls, they're storytellers too. Don't get butthurt if the player characters do something that you don't want them to do.

So we've seen from this thread.

Growing the hobby is actually good though so it's worth helping people to get started.

RPGs don't have to be complicated and once they have a framework to learn around they can get as complex as any system.

Uni club or just getting some friends on board is a good idea.

Spare yourself and play something other than D&D is you're not going to enjoy it, maybe open up with one-shot, short campaign or narrative orienteered stuff like Dread, Fiasco, Paranoia, Apocalypse World and all it's children or Teenagers from Outer Space.

ehh yeah if you be arsed to learn the rules or put down the effort, perhaps the hobby isn't for you

ITT: Hipster intelligentsia creative type can’t be bothered with reading rule books. Did we done run him off yet cuz?

Start simple.
Start with one page.
Work your way up from there.
With a bear.

I'm pretty sure you're just your political boogeyman on to OP when he's just an apolitical faggot

I don't understand why you would have trouble understanding DnD unless you had mental issues