Hey everybody I know what it is like being the new guy but it is probably going to be different as I have never really done a real role play so I gotta get somebody to hold my hand and walk me through this ... not really I like learning how to do things on my own but if anyone has tips feel free to ask. So basically... Hi!

Hello Ivan :)

Welcome to the site, it's a great place to RP :)

Check out the FAQs and the Help links at the top right of your screen, always a great place to start.  You can also post in the Wanted GMs forum to find a GM willing to teach you any system you like.  You can also try free form games, no real systems just straight up RP'ing :)

Rpol has a lot of great players and GMs here, you'll fit right in ^_^

Have fun and again, welcome to the site ^_^

In reply to ginny (msg # 2):

I don't know what anything about the "systems" and such I am pretty new to role playing at all I don't know anything except for a few things I might not even be right about never seen a role play by post game before actually then again I haven't really looked just started because a friend got me interested without asking me to actually play. I will look around on the posts.

Systems are the game, Dungeons & Dragons, GURPS, Amber Diceless, just to name a few.

I would suggest checking out free form games then, just to get you into the swing of things. :)

Play by post is writing out a story with other players, taking turns posting according to what's been written already.

In reply to ginny (msg # 4):

Umm.... free form? I assume that is where you just go around in a world free playing but not sure I am a major newbie as you can tell....

Free form games are games with no set rules or books to use.  You use your own imagination with other players.  The GM, game master, will set up the 'world' and all the other Non Player Characters (NPCs), and the rules for their game.

If you're not used to role playing, I would check out the free form games.  IMO, it's a good place to start to get you into gaming :)

What I would recommend, coming into role-playing as a total newbie, would be to find a game--any game, freeform or D&D or something else--with a setting that sounds interesting to you.  Contact the GM of that game and ask to be added to the game as a lurker.  That gives you access to read everything in the game (you can't post anything, except in private messages to the GM), and you can 'follow along' for a while to see what people are doing and how they're doing it.

Unless, of course, you're okay with the 'jump in on the deep end' approach, in which case I'd say find an interesting game and just ask to join the game, and explain to the GM (and the other players, if accepted) that you're totally new and need some coaching.

There's only so much we can tell you here to help get you 'up to speed', because there's a huge variety of games out there and even within games of the same type, there's a lot of variation in how the GM will run them, specifically.  In general, yes, the games mostly run the same, but just about every GM has their own specific tweaks to how games run.

Games run across a spectrum. At one end there are games with lots of rules and every time your character takes action you have to roll dice to see how successful you were. These games were derived from wargaming - if you've ever moved model soldiers around a table or map grid using dice and ruler in accordance with a set of rules, you'll have the idea.

Few games here are that rigid, and most involve an element of role-play, where you think, speak and act for your character.

At the other end of the spectrum are free form games, which are closer to playing Consequences. In these games there are no rules, apart from simple fair play and consideration for others, and everyone simply decides what their character is going to do and has them do it. This type of game is effectively collaborative writing of a story, where you each write the part of a single character.

The other 'axis' is Railroad vs Sandbox.

In a railroady game, the Game Master gives you a task to perform, and the game unfolds like a three-act play. You are in a cave system. Your objective is to fight the monsters and take the treasure. There is no alternative.

In a sandbox, the GM creates a world, then you decide where you want to go and what you want to do. You want to explore the caves? Go ahead. You want to set up a farm and raise cattle? You're free to do so (but you may not get many others to join in with such an adventurous choice). Of course, the GM is equally free to have your farm raided by outlaws...

Hope that helps.

I am Ivan's friend he spoke of and brother. Honestly I found someone nice and willing to teach and jumped in on a game because I don't like watching so I just jumped in.