New to Role Playing Games

[missnash]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd start this thread for folks who are new to RPGs and would like some help in on maybe where to start if they were interested in playing their own campaigns.

I was introduced to it from Wil Weatons YouTube Shows TableTop and Titans Grave. From there I started trawling podcasts for shows to listen to, where I came across Rusty Quill (which is my firm favourite). I've got a fistful of friends who are up for playing and from all the limited things I knew to research I've bought the D&D 5e starter kit, it comes with a (essentially beginners) manual, a step-by-step campaign, dice and 5 pre-created characters (who all seem to have good back stories and thought put into them). We're going to make a weekend of it over Halloween! (Wish me luck, I'm the DM.)

- I went with this as It had some of the best reviews and seemed like a good idea for a group of people where no-one's ever played before, but I'd be really interested in:

• How other people discovered RPGs
• How you first started adventuring
• Original Character Generation
• Campaign pre-written suggestions
• And creating original adventures

(See! So many questions...)

I'm just interested in other people's experiences and if anyone has any resources they can recommend?  Much appreciated, Loves x

[theoverlord]

I must admit I am recently new to role playing games, however I knew of the pathfinder system before the podcast came out but never played it and I have played some Warhammer RPG's. However since the podcast has come out I have become interested in the savage worlds set (Deadlands, Weird Wars, etc) as well as a RPG using the V6 engine called 'Atomic Highway' which is a quite good apocalypse style RPG (as well as being absolutely free) however the rules do require some fudging regarding equipment, as there is a very limited equipment list. However if you look at the favourite fictional universes thread, some good RPG's are also mentioned.
I hope you have fun for your first time DMing and I hope it is a good set.

[Alex Newall]

If you are able to hold out, I am editing a meta cast where me and Bryn go into everything you should need to know to run a long term campaign in any rig system. We will try to get it uploaded a.s.a.p. next week.

[Brave Sir Robin]

The 5th edition starter kit has certainly had pretty good reviews. I did not like 4th edition, but it sounds like 5th doesn't suffer from the same problems. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I starter roleplaying when I was 12, that is a full 19 years ago, for those keeping track. I was into board games from a super young age, got into Warhammer and Warhammer 40K as a preteen (via Hero Quest and Space Crusade) and heard of D&D and thought it sounded fun, so tried it out. I've been playing on and off ever since.

Me and the friend or two I had when I first got interested sort of muddled through. We didn't play any pre-written adventures we always just made up our own - though I did read a few and use some elements to spark ideas. As teenagers they were pretty poor, stuff was formulaic and simple and we didn't cope well with the unexpected. There's no substitute for experience. I think it's really tough to GM for the first time, most people I know did not do it well. And if you haven't played before either it'll be harder - but I'd guess that listening to the many podcasts will help. Remember though that for the podcast we cut out the pauses, the missteps, the looking things up, we don't run as smoothly as it might appear. This is not meant to be discouraging - give it a go, learn from it and you'll get better rapidly. Don't be afraid to chat to your players about the experience honestly. If everyone can be honest about the good and the bad, you'll be able to do well.

In terms of writing characters and adventures I never had much trouble. I've been a huge fan of fantasy and sci-fi for as long as I can remember. Reading huge numbers of novels and watching a lot of TV. It always gave me enough inspiration for stories of my own. I tended to read roleplay books and get inspired by story details or setting information from the game itself. Genre stuff is full of tropes to explore. I'v enjoyed both playing classic archetypal characters, and subverting cliches. When you're in a group, other peoples ideas can give you ideas of your own. There's a million and one ways to find inspiration, so just relax and let it come.

Above all, enjoy it! As long as you're having fun, you're doing it right.

[missnash]

Really good advice, thank you! I'm doing a lot of prep (reading up, podcasts vocal exercises etc) We're all looking forward to it, so hopefully it'll go alright! (I'll try and let you know how it goes!) ?

[Brave Sir Robin]

It will! Don't let my negativity infect you. All I mean is don't be disheartened if it doesn't work in reality quite how it did in your head. Let yourself be a beginner. But you've put in a huge amount of prep, and that is bound to pay off.

[missnash]

I didn't read it as negative! It's definitely good for me to be reminded that it's ok that we're beginners

[Oneiros]

In response to the OP:

Good luck for your adventures! I hope they turn out well and look forward to hearing about them.

I got into RP with AD&D (D&D 2nd Ed) when some new kids joined our school (age 16, about 19 years ago) and hooked a couple of my other friends. I'd been a long-time fantasy fan and when I lost my friends to RP, I wanted in too So I joined their current campaign to save the world as the archetypal fire-throwing wizard, providing artillery support and battlefield control and not a lot of nuance at the beginning. Eventually I discovered I preferred playing clerics and support characters, so I retired Cail (after having kinda disagreed with some of the other PCs on party decisions and marrying one of our previous antagonists).

As far as original character creation goes, I kinda let the setting and character class descriptions guide me. I often have vague ideas of what I want to play but they're usual driven by specific class abilities or a hook from the campaign setting. So, yeah, background reading helps and I try to play something different each time but mine are all, broadly, support characters.

I can't really advise on pre-written campaigns as I'm not familiar enough with the 5E stuff but I've adapted lots of 3E ones to fit my campaign needs. They're very useful if you need a stock encounter or adventure if you're otherwise at a loss. As for new campaigns, find out what your players want from a game. If you have an idea, pitch it to them but don't be too upset if they don't go for it. Often ideas can be modified to create something that everyone wants to play. Also, you can use your players' backstories and abilities to craft new ideas. If you are using an existing world or setting, read it. A lot. There are always plot hooks buried in the setting info that you can use, something that will grab your creative attention.

For a first time GM I would also offer the following 'pieces of advice':
- Make sure you get some experience as a player too. Look to rotate the GM's position regularly at the start. I am a firm believer that the best GMs have also good experience as a PC (and it also doesn't hurt for a PC to know what the GM's position looks like).
- You will probably get things wrong. It might end up being a complete mess - my first time as GM was an unmitigated disaster - but there are always learning points and, hopefully, as a group, you'll understand where things went wrong and how to correct for them.
- Don't be afraid to get feedback from your players during the campaign (e.g. post-session) so that you can adjust things between sessions if needed.
- If you have an involved or complicated plot, make notes. Also make notes if something happened in-session that could be used to craft another adventure or a callback later.

All the best to you and your group. If you want to discuss things further, do feel free to drop me a line.

[missnash]

- This is an awesome reply, thank you! (And to everyone actually! I really do appreciate the advice.)

I can officially say that I have got my entire group obsessed with Rusty Quill (as you can probably tell by the Twitter Feed) and they're all creative, supportive and close friends so I know they'll give me feedback (we're all aware that we're going to get some stuff wrong and make mistakes! But we'll have fun regardless!)

We've got an: ex-solider cleric dwarf/ a human folk-hero / a wizard elf

...and my friends are getting properly stuck into creating their backstories! Can't wait to see what they'll lead to

From everything I'm reading the bonus about using the first 5e pre-created campaign is that it's a good step by step for someone who hasn't DM'd before, I'm from a design and drama background so I'm pretty ok with running it (my boyfriend says I'm too much of a stickler for rules to not!) but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in!

(I could maybe do a write up about it once we've played through and let people know how complete novices found the experience?)

I'd love to get involved as a PC somewhere and play with people that know what they're doing but for some reason they're very hard to find up in Norfolk! *sigh*

I'm going to make so many notes! And read so much stuff! But I'm getting there!

x

[Alex Newall]

I strongly advise you to rejigger your campaign once you know what people are playing to provide them opportunities to make use of their abilities and back stories. Always makes it feel a bit more complete and gives people chance to show off in the spotlight.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Yeah, I think a published game is a great way to start when you haven't played before, but if you can throw in a few personal touches that'll help bring it alive. If you do get a chance to do a write up I'd love to read it.

Playing and GMing are both great, but they are great in very different ways. They feel even more different than you would expect. Most people find GMing much more exhausting than playing for example. I think you really have to want to GM for it to go well, if someone feels obligated or pressured in to doing it then it won't work. I GMed so much up until about two years ago, and I just got fatigued with it. Had one campaign that was really close to finishing, and had gone great that I just couldn't bring myself to sort out. Haven't had the desire since, though I am sure it will come along again. RQG is helping.

[missnash]

Oh yes! That's what I'm hoping to do want to try the improvising thing with NPCs and build a bit more of a real world with their characters and histories

[Alex Newall]

Just don't underestimate how much you have to handle on the fly. no amount of planning can save you from that.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Yeah, it's amazing how much doing a few years of improv helped me become a better roleplayer.

[missnash]

...so I think it went well - we all loved it and want to play again. Soon. And DMing is tiring! (Even more newly found respect) and thank you loads for your advice (and the meta cast!) it was all very helpful

It turns out all my goblins sound like whispering/croaky cockneys... I think I need to work on some more voices...

Feedback on the 5e starter set? It's pretty good, there were only a couple of things that we had to look up further - but it's really hard to read up the pre-written campaign as you go along... (Even though I did read it beforehand you can't tell what's going to happen) I imagine this is where writing your own world/campaign is better - you're the one with the answers, and not worried incase your team killed someone that narratively they shouldn't have... Gah.