Either you have come here from our previous post, introducing TTRPGs, or you’ve found it because you’re interested in getting started playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Well it’s both very simple and fairly complex. My first piece of advice is to find out if any of your friends have played these games before and ask them what they played. If they enjoyed their experience they will, without doubt, tell you everything! If, however, you just want to start learning now, then keep reading.
There are tons of different games to choose from
Truth up front, there are more types of games than I know about, so I’ll talk about the most popular games (and some others too). Chances are you have heard of Dungeons & Dragons and if you are at a loss it is an excellent place to start. Why? Because it is the most popular game, so there are loads of resources to help you begin, especially if you are playing the current version – 5th Edition. But it isn’t the only game.
If heroic fantasy is your thing, D&D or Pathfinder are great choices. Both focus on the classic swords and sorcery heroics that you might see in films like Conan or shows like The Witcher. Pathfinder is slightly more rules-heavy and technical so might be better suited to someone with more gaming experience. Both are designed to have roleplay elements mixed with a relatively large amount of combat where you use magical weapons and spells to defeat enemies. These games have starter sets available that gives you a light version of the rules. You can also find long-form videos of people playing these games on YouTube and Twitch, so if you learn by experiencing then this can help you out.
Other games, like Call of Cthulu and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy have you play as very “squishy” characters in a world where horrors from beyond the void want to destroy you and you’ve got to try survive with your body and mind intact. Powered by the Apocalypse systems have more give and take between Game Master and player Other systems take you through Cyberpunk futures, are more or less story oriented or combat oriented. Games like Avatar: The Last Airbender TTRPG are focused more on telling a cinematic story than having a tactical combat system. Oh yeah, there are a bunch of TV, film and book based RPGs!
Listing every type of game would be impossible! If in doubt, start with D&D or search your favourite media or genre and see if there is a game related to that. Once you’ve had a think about what you want to play, you’ll need a few things to get started. Click here to find out what!