There are many "non-gamers" who want to enjoy the storytelling offered by a roleplaying game, like the ever-famous D&D or any of countless titles on the market. This series aims to help them get into the hobby, answering important questions that a person might reasonably ask before getting into these games, and giving hints and tips that might not be available elsewhere.

Why Roleplaying?

The fundamental nature of roleplaying is that it's play, but not necessarily in the same sense as video games. Roleplaying involves taking on the mantle of a character (or, in some cases, many characters, but we'll get to that in a bit).

Roleplaying is a social activity, depending on other players. It's also more centered on storytelling than the rules of a game, generally speaking.

Think of roleplaying as structured collaborative storytelling. The rules of the game generally exist to set reasonable limits on peoples' actions, so nobody gets to define too much of the story. Don't be afraid to try things that don't immediately seem obvious to you.

Since it's (generally) heavily character driven and storytelling focused, you can do things with roleplaying that other games don't do, and it's not as heavily focused on skill. People will typically be happy to help you explore, and the vast majority of experiences are cooperative or have a "Game Master" that can help a newbie.

It's worth noting that there are various levels of play. The majority of players don't do anything nearly as fancy as what you might see on YouTube or other pop culture representations of roleplaying, but that doesn't mean you can't. We're strictly going to be talking about more mainstream roleplaying experiences, and not live-action roleplaying or other more experimental experiences; you should check them out if you want, but the core principles of roleplaying are universal.

How Do I Start?

Roleplaying games come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so the first thing to do is find something that interests you and go from there. D&D is an iconic game, and it's well-made, but it's not going to be everyone's favorite. There's something powerful in the classic fantasy experience it provides, but there's no reason it has to be your first game.

Roleplaying games exist in as many genres and styles as any other sort of media, and your favorite genre (or even favorite show or movie) may be represented by a game. These licensed products tend to have a higher quality than licensed video games, but be forewarned that they may not be the cheapest, or easiest, entrance into roleplaying.

If you know someone who plays roleplaying games, and you'd be surprised how many people play, that's a good starting point. Join them for a session or two of their favorite game (if possible) or ask them for further help getting started; if they know you well they can typically make a suggestion.

It's worth noting that many roleplaying games have (typically free) quick-start guides, and some even have fairly generous free content. DriveThruRPG is a great site to look at games, but be cautious about going down the rabbit-hole.

If you're willing to invest a lot of time, you can go for pretty much any game, especially if you're into video games with a lot of complicated systems, but I have a few suggestions.

First is the five-hundred ton dragon in the room: Dungeons and Dragons. D&D is not only the iconic roleplaying game, but it has tons of tools to help it be friendly for beginners. The D&D Basic Rules are entirely free, and allow you to play the most-played game out there.

If you don't enjoy D&D, though, there's no reason why you wouldn't enjoy other games. I'm personally not a giant fan of D&D; I'll play it with my group, but I don't swear by it as a magical perfect game.

Tomorrow, I'll give some recommendations for how to find a game that fits you.