Questions from a newbie!

[chongjasmine]

I am a newbie when it comes to play by post? How to begin? Which thread should I look into first? What is IC or OOC? How to roll die? How to create characters? What determine their stats/attributes?
Is there any book I need to buy? How to know when you are required to roll a die or not in role-play? I read the dungeon and dragon's guide and discovered sometimes you need to roll dies.
Besides during combat, how do you know when you are required to roll a die or not? Another question, how do you know what to add to the attack? For instance, some posts I read add 2 or 3 or even 4 attack points to the dice roll. It is not consistent. Some players add 2, some 3, some 4. How do you know how to determine what points to add to your initial dice roll?

Also, which rpg systems do you recommend I check up? DnD or PF? Why? Do they offer pdf or epubs? Are they newbie friendly?

Sorry for the questions, I am new and keen to learn the ropes.

I am asking more for pbp roleplay than face to face. I am too shy to roleplay face to face.

Final question: How do I actually join a game here?

Edited January 22 by chongjasmine (see edit history)

[Vladim]

There's lots of questions there, and I don't have the time to address them all-maybe later. Many of those can be answered by reading a specific RPG book-for example, the player's guide book for D&D 5th edition. The answers can vary greatly depending on the system, and there are hundreds of not thousands of published systems (RPGs) these days. Some are available for free, and almost all offer pdfs.

Joining most games here usually requires an application and selection process. Check the game ads. Individual games use different systems, application processes and selection criteria, but they usually involve submitting a character (and the associated mechanics and backstory).

[Papa Bear]

Also, check out that "User Guide" link across the top of the site. There's a lot of good info there, such as a bunch of stuff on how to use the die roller here, which is very powerful.

[Yamazaki]

17 hours ago, chongjasmine said:

I am a newbie when it comes to play by post? How to begin? Which thread should I look into first? What is IC or OOC? How to roll die? How to create characters? What determine their stats/attributes?
Is there any book I need to buy? How to know when you are required to roll a die or not in role-play? I read the dungeon and dragon's guide and discovered sometimes you need to roll dies.
Besides during combat, how do you know when you are required to roll a die or not? Another question, how do you know what to add to the attack? For instance, some posts I read add 2 or 3 or even 4 attack points to the dice roll. It is not consistent. Some players add 2, some 3, some 4. How do you know how to determine what points to add to your initial dice roll?

Also, which rpg systems do you recommend I check up? DnD or PF? Why? Do they offer pdf or epubs? Are they newbie friendly?

Sorry for the questions, I am new and keen to learn the ropes.

I am asking more for pbp roleplay than face to face. I am too shy to roleplay face to face.

Final question: How do I actually join a game here?

Thankfully, we do just play-by-post here, so no worries there.

 

So as for how to best cut your teeth into the world of TTRPGs... that's a tricky one, and frankly, there's no solid answer to that question. Some folks will just throw you into D&D and call it a day. I don't like that one, but you could do far worse.

Instead, I recommend you poke around the various game ads 'round here. Find one that calls to you. If it sounds interesting, based on premise, apply for it. Check the specific details about how to apply. In many cases, you'll need to buy books - most systems offer their ruleset as PDFs (because it's cheaper), which you can find on sites like DrivethruRPG or Ich.io . The main exception, besides stuff from more than 20 years ago, is D&D - which only offers its rules in either hardback or through D&D Beyond, an app for their entire thing.

Personally, between D&D and Pathfinder, I pick Pathfinder 2e specifically. It's a bit rules-dense, but it's very consistently written across the board, and tactically minded combat. I found it easy to teach my relentlessly casual players who never read the rules for anything, mainly because of a web app called Pathbuilder, which helps with character creation. Also there's some solid youtuber support. And the whole ruleset is offered free thru the Archives of Nethys

That said, I only recommend PF2e if that sorta thing sounds fun to you. That's the kicker about TTRPGs - there are thousands of games out there. For example, one of my favorites is Lancer, a mech game by the guy who writes/draws Kill 6 Billion Demons (he's also responsible for ICON, which is heroic fantasy). I also slowly getting into Fabula Ultima, which is basically Final Fantasy the TTRPG. And then there's Shadowrun, which is cyberpunk fantasy, which I cannot recommend to a newbie because dear chaos that's a mess but it exists and it's cool.

Poke around, find what sounds fun to you. Trust your gut, then do your research.

 

As for how often you might roll, and when to roll, and what to add, and all of that stuff, is going to vary on system and even some GMs. You'll have to do your homework and read up on whatever systems you're focused on. Same with applying - consistently, you'll follow a game ad into its forums and poke around, but the exact details will vary from GM to GM.

[chongjasmine]

Thanks for your help!

[leons1701]

On the whole how often you roll question. I have had games where nearly every post contained multiple rolls. On the other hand, in a game with regular posting, one of Ruben's Mutants and Masterminds games went for over a year with no die rolls at all. Made up for that with a big fight at the end of that story arc, but we were rather amused when we noticed how long it had been.

[Roughtrade]

As both a GM and a Player in PbP, and I do strongly suggest playing in a few before trying to run a game.

 

As a Player. Try new games. There are dozens of D20 style games, sure go ahead and join one. Even Mutants and Masterminds is D20 adjacent. Most GMs are very accommodating to new players. Some players are almost too eager to give advice on builds and game rules. It irks some of us, but then I am a curmudgeon who hates everyone. So just read the game info and pop in to something that looks interesting.

But also jump into some of the weird stuff on Baldr. Savage Worlds, FATE, there are a lot of games which rely on more narrative choices than attributes for resolving things.

[Michael Silverbane]

On 1/21/2024 at 7:16 PM, chongjasmine said:

I am a newbie when it comes to play by post? How to begin? Which thread should I look into first? What is IC or OOC? How to roll die? How to create characters? What determine their stats/attributes?
Is there any book I need to buy? How to know when you are required to roll a die or not in role-play? I read the dungeon and dragon's guide and discovered sometimes you need to roll dies.
Besides during combat, how do you know when you are required to roll a die or not? Another question, how do you know what to add to the attack? For instance, some posts I read add 2 or 3 or even 4 attack points to the dice roll. It is not consistent. Some players add 2, some 3, some 4. How do you know how to determine what points to add to your initial dice roll?

Also, which rpg systems do you recommend I check up? DnD or PF? Why? Do they offer pdf or epubs? Are they newbie friendly?

Sorry for the questions, I am new and keen to learn the ropes.

I am asking more for pbp roleplay than face to face. I am too shy to roleplay face to face.

Final question: How do I actually join a game here?

Lots of questions, here. I'm going to go through each of them and see if I can give a (fairly) simple answer.

I am a newbie when it comes to play by post?
Even though this isn't technically a question, since its got a question mark at the end of it, and I'm all jazzed up on coffee, I'm going to answer it anyway...
Everybody starts off as a newbie. It is both perfectly natural and entirely unnecessary to be nervous about starting a new thing.

How to begin?
The first thing that you should do is to decide what sort of game you want to play, and start to learn about that particular game. Are you interested in 'traditional' western fantasy, then perhaps a game like D&D might be to your liking. Are you interested in science-fiction space fantasy? Maybe Traveller would be a good choice. Do you want a more conversational style game, or a more rules-based game? A "Powered by the Apocalypse" style game would satisfy the former, while a "d20" game might be a better fit for the latter. There are lots of choices here, and the only consequence for a wrong choice is that you find a type of game that you don't prefer.

Which thread should I look into first?
If it were me starting out, I'd start a thread in "Gaming Discussion" about joining a game as a new player and see if someone is willing to start a game with the intention of it being a how-to for starting to play in and run a game. This thread that you've already started should serve to do that, or you could start a new one.

What is IC or OOC?
"IC" stands for "In-Character" these threads (or posts) are for you to express the actions and thoughts of your character in a way that matches the 'narrative', or ongoing story through which you are playing. "OOC" stands of "Out-Of-Character" these threads or posts are for you to discuss metagame issues (i.e. to talk about the game) or to talk about non-game stuff. It is common for In-Game posts to contain both IC and OOC talk. You describe your characters actions, and then you expound on the game-mechanical stuff about those actions, or you do your game post, and then note that you'll be unavailable to post for the next couple of days due to a holiday or work commitment, or whatever.

How to roll die?
To roll dice, you'll use either the dice tower, or the in-line dice roller.

How to create characters? What determine their stats/attributes?
Character creation will be different for each game and campaign that you play in, when you apply to or join a game, you'll follow the character creation method described for that specific game. Similarly, attributes will be generated as part of character creation, using the method described be the person running that game.

Is there any book I need to buy?
This depends on the specific game. There are several games that have free, legal, on-line resources that you can use to reference the rules. Other games must be purchased, though in many cases, you can find a free "Quick Start" book that has a abridged version of the rules that you can use to determine if you like the game enough to buy it.

How to know when you are required to roll a die or not in role-play?
Besides during combat, how do you know when you are required to roll a die or not?
Generally, the person running the game will let players know when they need to roll. If you're running the game, the game rules will provide specific rules about dice rolling, but in general, a player should roll when A - the success or failure of their stated action is in doubt and B - the difference between success and failure is interesting.

Another question, how do you know what to add to the attack?
How do you know how to determine what points to add to your initial dice roll?
The specific rules of the game you're playing and the fictional circumstances surrounding your character's action will determine what to roll and what to add to that roll.

[chongjasmine]

Thank you very much. You are a real help to me.

[rorytheromulan]

If you want to buy books, you can visit DriveThruRPG, they are pretty much your one-stop shop for digital and print versions of rpg player guides and source material. If you can think of it, there's probably a rulebook for it.

If you're interested in Pathfinder 1e and DnD 3.5e, here are some links to SRD sites that are all free to browse.
https://www.d20srd.org
https://www.d20pfsrd.com
https://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
www.realmshelps.net