[I know I'm probably pissing off all of the pros here... my apologies.]

I'm new to the whole serious RPG scene-- I've never been a hardcore player. The only real experience I've had occurred when my cousin finally got up from his computer for a drink, and I snuck on and continued his medieval fantasy play. I thought it was a bit odd, but fun nonetheless. Any suggestions? Should I wait it out and learn something here, or should I give up and get out of your way?

If anyone actually replies to this, it will be a small miracle... I hate being new.

clair

Well, there are certainly worse ways to get your footing in the hobby than to read some of the Actual Play posts listed here.  They may assume a couple concepts that are (from long practice) blind spots for us but confusing for you, but I expect most people would be happy to respond to private messages asking for a translation.

And, of course, you can get some people together to play a roleplaying game.  It's a fun way to spend an afternoon, and the actual experience of doing it will give you a solid grounding to discuss other people's experience.

All told, I imagine everyone's very happy to see you.  We do try to be an inclusive rather than an exclusive bunch of people, though some of the aforementioned factors (our blind spots, particularly) can conspire to make us intimidating by accident.

If you tell us a little bit about the types of games (roleplaying or otherwise) you like to play and the types of stories you like to tell and hear, that'd probably provide a good basis for people to suggest a first game or two for you to look at.  Meanwhile, welcome!  Make yourself at home.

Welcome to the Forge, clair!

I agree with Tony: read some Actual Play posts. Read some RPGs. You could start with some free ones, like The Pool. Then play some RPGs.

I should note that you are in a very rare situation. Most gamers are introduced to the hobby via traditional RPGs. You are learning about the hobby on the Forge, a site dedicated to studying RPGs and understanding (and challenging, where necessary) the assumptions present in traditional RPGs. I envy you! :-)

Hi, Clair!

I seriously doubt anyone around here will bite you head off for being new and trying to figure stuff out.  Most people here are a helpful sort.  I agree with Tony.  Some information about what interests you in RPGs and what kinds of stories you like would be excellent fodder for discussion.  Also,  when you say you picked up someone elses character and played, what exactly was the game, how was it conducted (I assume it was online) and what did you like or dislike about the experience?

One other thing...  while giving out specific information about where you live to strangers is not wise online, if you told us where generally where you lived there might be a public group of indie players in your area that could introduce you to some very cool games.  I know there is at least 1 such group in the New York area and I would be surprised if there weren't others around.

Hi there,

Clair, welcome, and feel free to read other threads and post to them, if they aren't very old (about two-three weeks).

I'm the content moderator. If you'd like some guidance about posting, ask questions in the Site Discussion forum.

There isn't much point to continuing this discussion, though, because you haven't done any actual play yet, and that's what this forum is for. So let's not post to it any more, and you can do some reading of older threads to see how things work around here.

Best, Ron

edited for clarity