Reddit mentions: The best fantasy gaming books

Long post incoming; some of this stuff is copied from other posts I've made:

Getting into D&D is going to be a lot simpler and easier to rolling your own RPG system, unless the system you design is ultra simple and rules-light. And unless your friends happen to be game design experts or prodigies, what they come up with probably isn't going to be as fun, balanced or robust as a system designed and iterated upon by professionals and the RPG geek community.

D&D isn't rocket science, but the first few sessions will almost certainly be fraught with confusion, rules referencing, and/or people getting the rules wrong... but all that's OK. The key is to keep a relaxed attitude and for the DM err on the side of what seems most fun and entertaining. After a few sessions, everyone will probably have a decent grasp on the fundamental rules and things will go a bit more smoothly.

If you do decide to play D&D, you have to decide upon an edition to play, as there are several and they aren't compatible with each other. Right now the two most popular and recent editions are 3.5 and 4th edition. A 3rd party spin-off of 3.5 called Pathfinder is also popular. A big advantage to Pathfinder if you're on a tight budget is that pretty much the entire system is available online for free. For your conservative friends, the fact that it's not called D&D may also eliminate some of the social stigma, making it an easier sell.

My preferred edition though, and the one that is most newbie-friendly, is 4th edition. A slightly dated and incomplete overview of 4e's rules is available in this free quickstart guide. This tells you about 90% of what you need to know to sit down at a table and play as a player, and includes some pregenerated characters, but lacks the rules for character creation and progression.

A free 4e adventure, Keep on the Shadowfell can also be downloaded and perused by the DM, but KotS is not the finest example of adventure design, though you can find fan suggestions online to improve and tweak it.

As far as what products you should or need to buy, the Red Box Starter is probably the simplest and most straight-forward route. Avoid paying more than $25 for it new (a lot of 4e products seem to have spotty availability, which means sometimes they are overpriced).

Like the free quickstart guide, however, the Red Box does not you access to the full rules, but rather a simplified and stripped down overview. It almost follows the model of a choose your own adventure book in some respects rather than true D&D, which can make it a good stepping stone, though some players are impatient with it. It does, however, include some items that will remain useful to your game even when you outgrow the rules and content of the box: a double-sided poster map which can be reused, punch-out cardstock tokens to represent player characters and monsters and a set of dice. At $20 shipped, it's a good value if you feel your need a really gentle introduction into D&D.

However, if the members of your group are not averse to doing a couple hours of reading before their first adventure, and would rather skip the frying pan and jump straight into the fire, you can safely skip the Red Box.

What you really need is: a book that descriptions character creation and level 1-30 character options, an encounter design guide for the DM, a monster resource, plus some physical tools/props.

As for as the player resource goes, any one of the following will fulfill the need: the Player's Handbook, Heroes of the Forgotten Lands, Heroes of the Fallen Kingdoms. I would recommend the latter two, as they are 4e "Essentials" products, which are more up to date and feature more newbie-friendly steamlined design. However, all of the books are compatible with each other, and you can use them all.

You also need a book that tells the DM how to design encounters, run skill challenges, and reward teh players. You have basically three options here: the Dungeon Master's Guide, the DM's Book from the DM's Kit or the Rules Compendium.

Each has their pros and cons. The DMG is written with the new DM in mind and gives you all the rules info you need that isn't include in the players' books, but as one of the originally published books in the edition, it's less refined and does not include the latest errata (which you can download online, though it's a bit of a pain to read through all of it). It's probably your least expensive option.

The DM's Kit seems to be out of print (or on a reduced print run) so it's selling at above retail price. IMO it'd be the best option for a new DM, as it contains useful goodies (tokens, maps, and two quality published adventures) like the Red Box, plus a more up to date version of the Dungeon Master's Guide. But if you have to pay $55+, that's kind of difficult to justify.

The Rules Compendium has all of the rules information a DM needs, and it includes most of the latest errata, and it's generally a handy reference that you'll probably want to get eventually anyway. The problem is just that: it's a reference, and is light on insight and advice on how to build entertaining adventures and run a fun game. Like the DM's kit, it may be out of print, but it's still a good value. The Rules Compendium may be the best option if you're willing to read forums and web sites for DMing advice, which can be system neutral.

The DM also needs a monster resource. Hands down, the best option here is the Monster Vault. It's basically a far superior revision of 4e's Monster Manual, and contains an adventure, a ton of tokens and a battle map to boot. It's a steal at $20.

Another recommended product would be a D&D Insider subscription, which will give you access to the Character Builder, which as the name implies, makes building/progressing characters a cinch, and the Compendium, which gives you access to every bit of crunch in the entire published history of 4e: all the classes, powers, feats, races, monsters, items, themes, etc. as well as a glossary which describes much of the rules. You also get access to Dragon and Dungeon magazine archives, which contains a lot of flavor, design advice, and many pre-made adventures (see this thread for some highlights). It also has a handy monster builder tool. A subscription is $10/month or less if you commit to a longer subscription. Getting one subscription and sharing it among the group can be worthwhile.

Finally, you also need some physical things:

• A sufficiently large playing surface and seating.
  
• Pencils, paper for character sheets.
  
• Dice. You could get by with a single set (including 1d20, 1d12, 1d10, 1d8, 1d6, 1d4) but you probably want a full set for every player plus some duplicates. A pound of dice would likely suffice.
  
• A blank/customizable gridded map. There are at least three good options for this:
  
• A basic Paizo flip mat to be used in conjunction with erasable markers
  
• Gridded easel pads which work equally well for preparing detailed, pretty maps before a session, or whipping up something quick and dirty at the table -- a single pad will last you a good long time. This is what I use.
  
• Gaming paper which is like a compromise between the previous two options.
  
• Miniatures, tokens or other markers to represent monsters. As previously mentioned, several 4e Essentials products include tokens (if you get the Monster Vault, you're set). You can also buy miniatures from gaming stores, on eBay, etc. or you can use just about anything that's roughly a square inch in diameter -- coins, polished stones used in aquarium bedding, dice (though this can get confusing), etc.
  
  Finally, as for convincing your friends, as you've said, D&D is essentially no different from Skyrim, World of Warcraft, etc. D&D is pretty much the granddaddy of those games. If you can tolerate the "occult" elements in those other games, there shouldn't be anything offensive about D&D. And ultimately, the DM and players have full control over what they want to allow in the game. Have a discussion and decide if there's any subject matter that is the party finds offensive and exclude it from the game (or re-fluff it so it it's not so offensive).

Phew This'll be a long a post, but certainly reward to read by the end of it. Don't worry about 2E replacing anything, as that takes time to do and is at least two years aeay from being a thing, even if it's fulling released this year. Playing D&D/Pathfinder really is the Nerdiest, Nerd thing I've ever done, and it is a lot of fun! Watch +DawnforgedCast's Session 0 video and download his checklist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0FmGxmJLiw That checklist will help you out greatly in starting out as a GameMaster/Dungeon Master or as a player to learn what you want in a game, for a new group, with or without veteran players. However, if you're one as the GM and you have a vivid imagination, or are good with thinking on the fly (believe me, it gets better with time) then you'll already have a headstart on the majority of GMs out there. A great beginning module that has a little bit of everything, adventure hook (i.e., reason why your players should be doing this), NPC interaction, wilderness adventuring, dungeon crawling, is the Hollow's Last Hope module for 1st Level Players as it works for both D&D and Pathfinder. You don't really need the print version, since you can download it for FREE at Paizo's website https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Hollow%27s_Last_Hope

I greatly recommend you get the Pathfinder RPG: Beginner Box ($25-$35) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601256302 it is a different game, but the rule set is uber-simplified and honestly, superior to the D&D Starter Set ($15), and is worth the extra money. The Beginner Box literally has the all of the beginning needs for play. Pre-generated characters, blank character sheets for the four classes (Wizard, Rogue, Cleric, and Fighter) with either of the three races (Elf, Dwarf, and Human) that are easy to introduce new players to, a flip out map that you can use dry-erase- or wet-erase markers, and permanent markers on (all of which can be erased off, I use these wet-erase makers that are $9 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IFGW because I'll draw camp fires with brown, yellow, orange, and red colors, green helps with trees and shrubbery, blue for water, and black for everything else), a Hero's handbook, and really, really, good GM guide, plus thick, cardboard punch-out marker pawns of various Monsters, NPCs, Player characters, and other creatures, that amount to a wealth of miniatures that would take a lot of money and time to paint them all up, plus they're easier to store in the box. Unfortunately, it only comes with one set of dice, so it wouldn't hurt to get these on these 7 sets ($12) on the cheap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDJNE93 and pass them out to your players, or if they have their own, then you'll have plenty of extra multiples of dice, which will come in handy during combat with spellcasters and sneak attacks by Rogues. I handed them out to my players after they told me what their favorite colors were. =P

That'd would be all you'd really need to start, $30ish Beginner Box, plus $10 for markers, and $10 more if you or your players need dice. Now, what follows is what I used for my first GMing of a game, based on many different people's recommendations. In order to make combat work in a logical way that I could understand, I bought the Pathfinder Combat Pad $20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601255470, along with those wet-erase markers from earlier. It's usefulness has been far better, and worth it's price in gold, to use than a cheap $1 store notebook, when I would have to erase or rewrite when players would defeat monsters or would hold their actions, or would tell them the wrong initiative bonus to start (lol!). Again, rather use a dollar store binder, I bought the Pathfinder GM Screen $16ish https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252161, because it was short enough for me to look over rather than 3-ring binders or a paper folder at the actual game table. Speaking the table, I bought the Chessex Battlemats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015IQO2O this is a link to the smaller one ($20), since I bought the Megamat ($35), only because I had a large table, and players could use it as a coaster for drinks too (even though I did have coasters, to prevent spillage). As an added bonus, I recently discovered the Condition cards $10 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252854, to use with Pathfinder, and they are great to hand out to players (as you would already know these conditions since it's written behind the GM Screen) so they know what condition they are in at a glance. Keep in mind though, you only get 4 or each, so if you are lucky enough to have more players, it wouldn't hurt to buy an extra set (however, it would be strange if all of your players had the same condition).

Now, let's say you enjoy Pathfinder, and you bought the Core Rulebook $20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601258879 (if it's a hardcover, always look inside for the Sixth edition printing, the paperback will already be that edition) but are getting tired of looking up Monster stats online, then grab the Paperback version of the first Bestiary $16 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601258887 which has the great majority of all of the "regular" monsters in either D&D or Pathfinder. If you're not much of an artist, then there's the recently released Pathfinder Traps and Treasures Pawns Collection $25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259719 but be warned that you only want to place on the board AFTER the players find out what it is or after they trip it since it does have text explaining what it is as a trap, and if you're use the treasure ones, make sure you add whatever is actually printed on the tile is IN the list of treasure you give the players, because they can and will ask about, "can't I grab that cup or sword, it's on the tile?" ;)

Lastly, if you enjoy being the GameMaster/Dungeon Master, the storyteller, the world builder, then I'd recommend getting the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide $15 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259492, which again, can be applied to both RPG games. And if you what better weather effects to throw at your party than what is presented in the CRB and GMG, then Pathfinder Ultimate Wilderness $30 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259867 has all that you need, and then some, plus some cool spells and tons of new animal companions and familiars for spellcasters alike, and a new shapeshifting melee-fighting class called the Shifter, which is pretty neat to use (albeit, you may want to check out Paizo's website for any official errata or clarifications, just in case). If you want to actually create a campaign and are having a hard time coming up with ideas, locations, groups/factions, kingdoms, races, then one more purchase, which is what +DawnforgedCast used for his Pathfinder games seen here is the Inner Sea World Guide $45 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252692 It is pricey, but again, very much worth it, to create your own world or to use the pre-made world, as well. Remember, the Beginner Box, Markers, and Dice is really all you need, the rest of this is to expand out. I hope this helps you and anyone else out as well. =P

There's a lot in this space and it's mostly pretty damn good.

• Savage Worlds - $8.68 - As /u/HuddsMagruder mentioned, Savage Worlds is a great bang for your buck purchase. Lots of supplements and it's genre agnostic. You don't need to pick up those supplements if you don't want to.
  
• Basic Fantasy RPG - $5 - This is an old school RPG. It's honestly really well done. You can pick up the base book and all of it's supplements in hard copy for about $35. Note, all of it's supplements are around $5. It should also be mentioned that the base game and all of it's supplements are available as free PDF's.
  
• Dungeon World - $20 - The hard copy is temporarily sold out most places, but a new batch is on the way. Despite arguably being the worst Apocalypse World hack, there's so much damn fun to be had here. Me and my group love it, though admittedly we've rewritten significant portions of it.
  
• Monster of the Week - $22.37 - Oh man, this one is loads of fun. It's what it says on the can. If you've ever watched shows like Buffy, Supernatural or even X-Files, you already have a fair idea of what's in this. Fantastic fun.
  
• Urban Shadows - $20 - Kind of a cross between World of Darkness and The Dresden Files. High emphasis on debts and relationships in a sort of noir style. Honestly, it's probably my second favorite tabletop game.
  
• Fate: Core System - $20.54 - Another genre agnostic system that's a little easier to work with. Note, this game is very GM dependent. It's great, but without a GM that's on the ball, games tend to stagnate.
  
• Fate Accelerated - $5 - A condensed version of Fate. Easier to understand and arguably plays a little better. Still the same problem though, you need a GM that is on the ball.
  
  Honorable Mentions:
  
  
• Mouse Guard - $22.93 - This can be a bit of a hard sell for a group, but man it's a lot of fun. The general premise is that mice have evolved over time to be more intelligent, build tools, etc. They have their own towns and such. Sort of a medieval mouse society. The heavily emphasis teamwork and problem solving over straight up combat. Great fun for all ages.
  
• BubbleGumSoe - $21.90 - Teen mystery game based on the Gumshoe system. It's a hard sell but can be a ton of fun if you can get players invested. Sort of a primer for playing Trail of Cthulhu.
  
  As much as I love Mouse Guard, I just can't quite fit it in the list with a budget of $100. In any case, that's a lot of great tabletop fun for ~$100!

These are my usual reccommendations. I'v struck some i think you'd be less interested in.

OSR Games

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Retro Clones

• Swords and Wizardry(ODnD) Almost a direct rehash of the very first edition of DnD
  
  
• The Black Hack (ODnD) A very modern hack of ODnD. Fast and streamlined.
  
  
• Labyrinth Lord (BX DnD) - Almost a direct rehashing of the old BX dnd system. There's a separate Advanced Edition Companion which makes it more like ADnD.
  
  
• Lamentations of the Flame Princess(BX DnD) - This is the current OSR hot stuff. Dark and Mature with a great ruleset. Lots of the best supplements coming out are based on this system. Veins of the Earth, Vornheim, and Deep Carbon Observatory were built with this system in mind.
  
  
• Basic Fantasy RPG (BX DnD?) BX dnd with race separated from class.
  
  All of these have complete free versions on their websites(usually minus art)
  
  
• I would also recommend the Rules Cyclopedia as one of the most complete versions of dnd ever created. It's now available as print on demand!
  
  New Stuff
  
  
• Maze Rats Even if you don't play it, get it for it's amazingly useful tables. Made by /u/ludifex aka Questing Beast.
  
  
• Shadow of the Demon Lord Starts with a basic Character and then builds in complexity over time. My favorite class system. Horror/dark setting but easily stripped out.
  
  
• Dungeon Crawl Classics Beautifully done. Every class feels really unique. A bit of a gonzo Aesthetic
  
  
• Stars without Number Possibly the best sci-fi RPG you can get right now. Bit of a cross between traveller and B/X Dnd. Free Version Here
  
  
• Godbound High powered OSR style game by the same guy who made Stars Without Number.
  
  
• Index Card RPG 2e What it says on the tin. Check out the youtube channel of the guy who made it.
  
  
• Freebooters on the Frontier Great for short campaigns. Requires Dungeon World, a great game in it's own right, and The Perilous Wilds
  
  
• World of Dungeons 1 page OSR-like Dungeon World hack. I feel it's OSR so fight me.
  
  -----------
  
  Non-OSR Games
  
  ----------------
  
  
• Chuubo's Marvelous Wish Granting Engine Diceless System with a slice of life and Ghibli-esque adventure feel. Beautiful Art.
  
  
• Numenera Discovery + Numenera Destiny - One of the most unique Sci-fi settings. This is the newest version which will release in July 2018.
  
  
• Eclipse Phase A transhuman sci-fi setting, focused around the solar system. Really well fleshed out setting. Second Edition is in playtest and the quickstart is available here. All books available as free PDF's.
  
  
• Blades in the Dark The new story game baby. Interesting ruleset, strong victorian-fantasy setting. Clocks galore!
  
  
• Shadowrun 5e Cyberpunk+Fantasy. Love the Setting, put up with the subpar sub-systems.

I just ran my first session as a new DM with LMoP last week! I'll jot down my experience running a group of 4 beginners. (so take my advice with a grain of salt as a beginner that has not finished the campaign)

---
First, read through the books in the Starter Set! (If you can afford the Player's Handbook, that is a good idea as well.) I highly recommend going through the rulebook (or Basic Rules) then at least skimming through the entire LMoP module. You don't have to memorize everything but as a DM it is important to have the idea of the setting in your head.

For combat, you have to decide if you are going to run "Theater of the Mind" or battlemat+miniatures for combat. Theater of the Mind is more flexible and requires less preparation but battlemats give great visuals at a cost of preparation and supply.

Then you have to decide if you think your players would want to make their own characters or not. For my beginner group, I decided that they would be a lot more invested/excited if they could identify with their own creation so I chose to not use the pre-generated character sheets. Once you are comfortable with the rules of D&D enough, set a date to meet with your group.

Since we had to make characters, I held a Session 0 to introduce the basic concept of what to expect in committing to D&D as well as character creation. I highly suggest making characters together a separate day before Session 1 because it usually takes a decent amount of time for the first time (3ish hours for me).

My Session 0 looked like this:

• Introduction to D&D
  
  
• Explaining all races, classes, backgrounds and letting them pick
  
  
• Giving character sheets, rolling stats
  
  
• Guiding them through the char sheet by referencing DNDBeyond for background/race/class bonuses
  
  After everyone was done, I let them take home the character sheet and work on character appearance, personality, and background story.
  
  The week after, we had Session 1. Make sure you actually read through the LMoP module in depth, at least up to Part 1-2 beforehand. I also decided to take some elements of this supplement Part 0 for LMoP to use as a tutorial for my players. Then, begin your adventure! My party took a lot longer than I expected and only got to the entrance of the Cragmaw Hideout after 3 hours.
  
  Good luck to your campaign, I'm looking forward to my second session!
  
  ---
  
  Some recommended guides I used:
  
  
• Matt Mercer tips (all DM's love this man)
  
  
• Don't Stop Thinking guides (great graphic visuals and in-depth coverage)
  
  
• Matt Colville tips (gives a good idea of how D&D should look like at an advanced level)
  
  
• DungeonDudes (channel that covers good topics)
  
  
• DNDBeyond (amazing website for the Basic Rules, classes, and races)
  
  
• OneCritWonder LMoP tips (helpful overview of the module)
  
  
• LMoP enemies (generator that adapts to how many players you have)
  
  ---
  Supplies I personally prepared (BUT ARE OPTIONAL):
  
  
• Beginner dice (shared with my beginners, they are planning to get their own sets soon)
  
  
• Custom character sheets (a bit overwhelming at first but I find helpful for each class)
  
  
• Spell cards (I don't think many people use these but I find it an amazing resource to give your players if they are spellcasters)
  
  
• Battlemat (use with Wet-Erase markers)
  
  
• Paper minis (dedication and time required, can use coins, legos, or anything instead or even real miniatures if you can afford it)
  
  
• DM Screen (the official and most standard and affordable screen)

Just gonna throw my hat in the ring here with some suggestions:

IF YOU WANT AN ASSORTMENT OF BOOKS

GURPS 4th Edition Basic (~60 USD): A simply fantastic game which, for everything that it can do, along with the absolute wealth of materials, both official and fan made, combined with it's pretty stellar price point (You can pick up everything you need to play anything you want for about 60 USD), it's hard to argue with. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, GURPS modularity is probably its key selling point, but on top of that, it sports a system that, when you break it all down, is actually incredibly easy to learn, and very simple. I've taught the "base" game in just a few sentences.

Savage Worlds Deluxe (~10 USD): I'm listing the lower price here simply so I can cram more into this list under the 100$ budget, but Savage Worlds is exactly what it says on the box: A fast, fun, and furious system, on top of that, I don't think I've seen a cheaper game that does as much as Savage Worlds. It shares similarity to GURPS in its modularity, you can run a lot of different settings and and hack in your own rules with relative ease. SWDX also has some unique rules from time to time (Using playing cards for initiative, the way that bennies work, etc.) and for speed, you generally can't beat Savage Worlds. Chargenning is speedy, and combats are among some of the fastest I've seen, allowing you to really get into the roleplaying aspects of a game more than just the crunch.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten (~15 USD): I personally got my copy of this game for 19.99 at my local book store, but it seems like it's been out of print for awhile. You can still get a digital PDF of it for 15 dollars at RPGdrivethru, however. I've run All Flesh Must Be Eaten numerous times, and with its ruleset, you can run a variety of different zombie games. Its fairly simple, with chargenning taking a fairly short period of time, combats running by fairly smoothly, and not a lot of "bloat" in the rules. It does what it does well, but might need some tweaking if you want specific types of games (I had a game where the PCs were zombie killing gods near the start of the game, for example, didn't play too well for my gritty game.)

FATE Core System (~15 USD): I listed 15 USD as the price here, but you can pay what you want for it on DrivethruRPG I've not actually run this game myself, but I do own it and have read the rulebook cover to cover. This is a very freeform system from what I can gather that takes narrative roleplaying to a pretty different level. It focuses on essentially creating "conditions" on characters, items, environments, and so on, and using those conditions to spawn the action and contribute to dice rolls. It's truly a unique system, and is designed to run any setting you particularly want. For 5 bucks, you can't go wrong adding another generalist RPG to your repetoire.


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IF YOU WANT JUST ONE SYSTEM AND SETTING IN PARTICULAR:

Shadowrun, 4th Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition (~50 USD): There is not a single game on this Earth that makes my imagination go gallivanting quite like Shadowrun. The setting, in my mind is one of the most finely crafted, and most fun settings I've ever played. The gist is that it's a fantasy-cyberpunk game, you got dwarves, elves, trolls, orks, humans, etc. in a cyberpunk world with nasty corporations waging wars in the shadows, and there's magic and technology and it's just wonderful. The 20th Anniversary edition is the one I recommend purely because it I'm familiar with it, but it ALSO is a basically a "done" edition, and it comes with the 4th edition errata already written into it. It's also full colour, with beautiful artwork and it even has Shadowrun fiction between each chapter. And the best part is that you can get this book for 50 USD on Amazon. I got mine for 60 almost brand new, and the hardcover book is worth the investment.

Shadowrun 4th, Augmentation (~12 USD): This book contains lots of new cyberware augmentations for characters, and I consider it one of the "Core" splatbooks to be used. You can get it for about 12 USD on Drivethru RPG.

Shadowrun 4th, Arsenal (~12 USD): Another one of the "core" splat books in my opinion, this one basically contains craploads of guns and new ways to kill people. Fun! You can pick up the PDF at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Runner's Companion (~12 USD): Contains a metric crapton of character creation options, but for the love of god, screen the characters your players create. RC is fantastic, but it lets in some broken options. You can pick it up at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Unwired OR Street Magic (~12 USD for either): I put these two in a lump category because you couldn't buy both on the $100 budget, so it's up to you what you pick. I consider both to be the final parts of the "Core" splatbooks. Unwired is an entire rulebook that elaborates all on the technical side of Shadowrun, about hacking and the matrix and devices and all of that. Street Magic gives new spells, adept powers, traditions, etc. You can find Unwired on DrivethruRPG here for 12 USD, and Street Magic here on DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

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That was long winded! But hopefully this helps out, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know!

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.

4e is pretty simple. Even simpler than that is Swords and Wizardry which is made to resemble old school DnD. Microlite 74 is similar but does not hew as closely to any incarnation of DnD. All of these are free.

Swords and Wizardry has quick start rules here. I listed some beginner modules for it.

>Is there a D&D "basic" set in its latest incarnation?

You mean like this?

The Red Box, then Rules Compendium, Heroes of the Fallen Lands, and then the Monster Vault.

The Red Box comes with some premade characters and a quick adventure. Its pretty cheap and will help you determine if this is the system you want (note your free options.)

If you like it, then:

Then the Heroes book will help you guys build characters.

The Rules Compendium contain all the... rules. (What happens on each players turn, etc etc).

Monster Vault has monsters for the DM.

Not a lot of good adventures available for 4e though, though if you like 4e and want to run premade stuff for it, some options are laid out here.

You also have the option of subscribing to a service called DnD Insider, which will give you access to, among other things, an online character builder for the players and a monster builder for the DM with all the stuff from the books,. It costs like 10 bucks a month... but its an option that you should be aware of.

You might get some recommendations for Pathfinder, because redditors love them some Pathfinder (which is based off DnD 3.5 so if you know that, you know PF). It's a good system--I'm playing it right now--but its so complex that I have some trouble recommending it to absolute beginners in good conscience. You can look into it here. If you do go with it, I highly highly recommend a character builder like PCGen.

EDIT: Fixed some links.

Yes, the Core Book for Savage Worlds is this one. If you really like it, there are great expansion books for it, but the core can take you pretty far.

Monte Cook, the creator of Numenera/Cypher System thinks it's a narrative system, but that's because he doesn't know what that means. It's really not very good at being a narrative system, and is difficult to run that way. It's very good at being a more traditional rpg, though. It's also very easy to GM. I don't like the Numenera setting either. The Strange was really good, and yeah, Predation looks pretty good. There is also the setting neutral Cypher System Rulebook, which can run a very wide variety of settings.

BRP is definitely one of the % systems, and it's a good one. % systems can be a bit clunky, usually when it comes to things like character creation, but during play they are actually very simple (usually). The core mechanic is definitely easy to understand, as if you have a 62% in something, you have a 62% chance to succeed.

If you are going to try to do GURPS, grab the core book (maybe match the edition to the supplements you have, but I don't think that's super necessary, as the supplements are usually pretty universal). I haven't played a lot of GURPS, but from what I understand, you can choose to play without all the rules options and it can be comparatively light.

If you want to check out Iron Kingdoms, they have three different free quickstarts (which are all pretty different in feel, even though they are the same world/rules). Steampunk Fantasy pdf link, Playing as the monsters, and Playing as evil samurai elves pdf link.

Lots of great advice here. I'll try not to repeat too much.

Regarding your struggle to describe things, have you tried using tables? If I draw a blank on what a room looks like, I grab a list of 20 or 100 room descriptions and roll some dice.

There's a ton of free ones everywhere, and here is a list of all the tables in the DMG. If you want to really break it down, scroll down to "Dressing and Embelishment" here for 100 floors, 100 walls, 100 ceilings, and much much more. Finally, Table Fables has a bunch of good ones in one neat little package. My copy is filled up with tabs and gets used almost every week.


Regarding your players not engaging in RP, I solved this problem in my game by putting them in situations that they had to act their way out of.

For example, I introduced a lodge run by retired adventurers that have valuable information about monster weaknesses and such. They're just a bunch of old dude who want to drink and relive their glory days all day long; so to apply for membership you had to tell a tale of your most glorious adventures. Whomever told the best tale wins! Even if the RP is cringey, most players will come up with some pretty hilarious stuff and everyone will have a good time.

Another idea is to give them a mission where they have to assume a false identity and deceive someone. Or just make them need to persuade somebody. Royalty or nobility work great for this because they don't care about gold and have bodyguards, so they can't be bribed or intimidated; making the party's only option to engage in some RP.

Another good trick too spice up combat a little is to have your monsters say creepy shit during battle. Little things can go a long way to adding some depth or making a generic orc encounter more memorable.

Lastly, check out r/dmacademy. Super supportive community and tons of great advice.

Good luck!

>I'd go buy a standard price book (RPG books tend to be waay more expensive where I am than in the US).

I'm not sure where you live efrique, but the above description meets the description of Australia pretty fair and square (where I live) so I'll throw some bitlets of info out and if you're in Australia and it helps it will be cool, and if you're somewhere else you might get some ideas nonetheless.

So, on a long ramble during my break from study, please see the below screed of 'maybe knowledge' ... although, first:

TL; DR

I'd go Dungeon World, OSRIC, Fate/FAE in that order ... but thats just me ...

Anyway:

Fate

Fate is 'setting neutral' ... a lot less crunchy that D&D and Co, and is a story game with supplementary rules rather than the other way around. Its made by the nice folk at 'Evil Hat' who provide it on a pay what you can basis (incl. $0) right here. There is also a 'condensed version' of the rules called 'Fate Accelerated' which is similarly 'setting neutral'.

Fred Hicks from Evil Hat will be better at explaining "why Fate", or you could also look at this thread from /r/rpg

Dungeon World

Its good that old school D&D feel with a 'to do it, just say it' kind of new school story telling mechanic. Its $10 as a pdf from here. I like it, its good for beginners to role playing and its collaborative story telling as you go.

OSRIC

OSRIC is a re-release of what is basically the original D&D rules under an open game licence. There are kind of a lot of different versions of this kind of thing and, to be fair, I have no idea what the actual differences are. Someone might pip in and tell us hopefully. You can get the book for free as a pdf right here at lulu.com or apparently to get them to print, bind and post it to you it costs only $17.81 which, as an Australian, seems far too good to be true ...

Pathfinder


I've used bookdepository.com in the past to get the hardcopy of Paizo's Pathfinder Core Rulebook ... which at around $50 and no postage is a lot better than the $80-110 I'd have to pay if I bought at a local bookshop, and better than you can get directly from Paizo who charge $40 for the book and $40 for international postage.

Pathfinder Core might be a bit too complex for what your looking for at this point though, but bookdepository is by far a cheaper option if you can find what you're looking for compared to buying local (which seems counter-intuitive, and while I'd like to 'support local' I just don't have that much cash!).

D&D


D&D 4e (which I've never played to be honest) has a bunch of 'essentials' A5 size books which summarised the preceding years of rules glut down into some basic books: See the 'frequently bought together bit half way down and also there is a Rules Compendium - apparently that's D&D 4e, the summarised version ... $60-ish the lot if you are in Australia, and I've seen them for $20-$25 each at the "FLGS" so you saving a bit there ...

Alternately, Wizards of the Coast are currently 'playtesting' the 5th edition of D&D and you can sign up to be a beta tester and download the lastest test version for free here

So for 5e there are a couple of things you can look at getting:

• Basic Rules: Look at the section for "Free Basic Rules". These PDFs are basically what you need to start playing D&D. The D&D 5e Player's Basic Rules has information about the basics of the game for players. It's got 4 races (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Human) and 4 classes (Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard) and one "subclass" for each class (Life Domain Cleric, Champion Fighter, Thief Rogue, and School of Evocation Wizard). Items, customization, character building, and the general "here's how you play!" are included in this document. Great resource for a simple lookup if you want to introduce someone to the game, since the characters you can build out of it are generally solid characters. The D&D 5e Dungeon Master's Basic Rules is the starting point for your DM. For the most part is bunch of creature/enemy stat blocks with explanations on how to balance encounters to the players' levels, as well as a quick off-hand on how to generate magic items. DMs are the creative source of the campaign, so there isn't much required to actually build a simple campaign.
  
• Dungeons & Dragons 5e Starter Set: This is the most basic form of the game you can get with most things included. Looks like it's $13 on Amazon right now, which is pretty good. The box set comes with a 32-page player guide (mini Player's Handbook), a 64-page Dungeon Master's guide (mini Dungeon Master's Guide/Monster Manual), a couple of pre-generated characters, and a few dice. It's good for getting into 5e if you've never played before since the rules are greatly reduced down to levels 1-6 and there are only 8 classes. Most of the content is the same stuff you can find in the Basic Rules, minus the story that comes with the Starter Set. If someone gets this, everyone else can download/print the Basic Rules and should be good. Most of the content is all about how to play the characters that are in the starter set, not about character generation and the like, so make sure to look at the Basic Rules if you want to play a Halfling Fighter for example. See this comment for more explanation.
  
• Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons 5e): This is the core of most of your games of 5e at this point. This has all of the basic necessities, like character classes, character races, items, spells, feats, etc. This is exactly what you need if you are a player, since this and some imagination allows you to build some pretty fun characters. If you end up playing 5e a lot, I'd recommend that everyone have somewhat regular access to a PHB, considering that 90% of the characters you make will come in most part from this books.
  
• Monster Manual: This is where you'll find the largest collection of all of the "basic" monsters that you can meet in a game of D&D. Enemies in general are in this book, and there is a lot of good explanation into the monsters, their stats, their decision routes, etc. This is super helpful since you can basically do whatever you want with this book and make some awesome fights. Find an enemy you like, but it's too high level? Nerf it somehow, and have your players fight it. I'm actually planning on setting a dragon with her wings clipped and her firebreathing removed, give them a fight, and see how they react.
  
• Dungeon Master's Guide: This is basically world building, combat building, enemy building, item building... basically, if it's not covered in the PHB or MM, the creation of object X or something similar will be in the DMG. It's there for the DMs to be able to balance items or enemies against certain requirements, since there is a lot to take into account. Helpful for the DM who doesn't have as much experience.
  
  So the Basic Rules help out a lot, the Starter Set is basically a physical copy of the basic rules (plus some), and then the core 3 books in order of (my personal opinion of) usefulness are PHB > MM > DMG. I'd say you probably want at least everyone to have a PHB, or access if you guys continue to play.
  
  Aside from that, most of the other 5e stuff you can pick up from wizards are modules. Modules are pre-created campaigns that have quests, items, locations, enemies (number, size, etc.) already pre-designed for you. Each of the following books has some sort of extra character information (like more subclasses, new races, etc.), but nothing is absolutely required. Generally if one person wants to play something (say, an Half-Elf Bladesinger Wizard) they should pick up the book to help build their character and to provide the GM with references to how the character works, but it's not necessary.
  
  
• Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat are two halves to the same campaign aimed at stopping the biggest baddest dragon of them all, the five-headed chromatic dragon Tiamat.
  
• Princes of the Apocalypse is a cool campaign all about cults related to the 4 elements (Air, Water, Earth, Fire) trying to be bad. Pretty well designed, I'm currently running this with my group. They seem to be liking it a lot, but then again, I'm throwing a lot of other things in with it.
  
• Out of the Abyss is a campaign set in the Underdark. it sounds really cool, but I haven't looked into it much.
  
• Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide isn't a campaign but rather a campaign setting book. It's useful for reading up on how the Sword Coast in Forgotten Realms (the "main" D&D world) works. It's interesting.
  
  If you need any other help, please feel free to ask!

TLDR: GURPS isn't overwhelming, but it may be a lot of work for the GM; GURPS Combat is (usually) faster, but that doesn't necessarily make it more fun; unsolicited recommendation that the system Savage Worlds might be right for you. Good luck!

Overwhelming? - GURPS shouldn't be overwhelming to a new player, but it might be to a new GM. GURPS is basically a giant toolkit, so it's up to you to do a lot of upfront work.

Primarily, you need to decide which rules are appropriate for your setting (how gritty/pulpy do you want it to be), and you need to decide what skills and items will be available. If you make the lists concise, then players likely won't notice that it's really more or less complex. Thankfully, there are some character templates that will give you an idea about what skills might be appropriate. But still, that's a lot more work than having everything laid out (relatively) neatly for you in D&D.

I will note though that, in my experience, when playing a game that makes many, specific skills available, players new to roleplaying will often forget about skills that they have and never use them. D&D is in this sense friendly to new players because the skill categories are so broad. The GURPS solution is probably to just limit how many points they get to "buy" skills--they won't be very powerful heroes, but it will teach them to pay attention.

Combat - First, combat is always slow with new players. That's just how it is because it takes time for them to learn and get comfortable with a bunch of rules. Depending on how set up your game can be (and typically is) really gritty, so getting shot/hit by a sword even once will effectively put you out of the game. But it doesn't have to be this way. The thing that can slow combat down in GURPS is that there can often be a lot of maneuvering (feinting, defending, etc.).

Note on D&D Combat - Combat in D&D can be a slog, but it doesn't have to be. In my experience, fights become a slog (1) when players have no other goal in the fight encounter than "kill the baddies," and (2) when players and DMs stop fighting heroically--players and DMs should use skills in fights creatively, take risks, and narrate dramatically. As Matt Colville might put it, the magic of D&D is in the drama. But really the same principles apply to GURPS. Fighting may be faster, but that doesn't necessarily mean more fun.

Unrequested Recommendation - If you're looking for a low-cost buy-in, I would definitely check out GURPS Lite, which someone else has already recommended. The actual books are fairly pricey, so I'd definitely check out Lite first. But I might also recommend that you look into Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds uses a point/buy skill system, so you can do a lot of tailoring to character needs/desires, much like a (much) lighter version of GURPS. Character creation is FAST and relatively easy, which is a big bonus for new players. Combat is also fast paced and can have some really dramatic, unexpected results (there are many stories about players one-shotting a boss--or vice versa). Overall, Savage worlds is a nice balance of being flexible without being overwhelming and being simple but still crunchy. But maybe the best part is that the core rulebook costs $8.69 on Amazon.

I hope that helps. I'm glad to hear that you'll be playing with your family! GURPS, D&D, and Savage Worlds are all really great, fun systems (and so are a lot of others!). I hope you find the one that works best for you.

My favorites are the ones that fix mechanical weaknesses or add to missing conceptual space in 5e (which is also what I try to do in my own DM's Guild offerings!) I try to stick mostly to official, published things to keep my player's heads from exploding, but there's a few I really like:

• The Revised Way of the Four Elements Monk by /u/SpiketailDrake is generally considered the best of its kind, a homebrew "fix" for one of the two famously lackluster subclasses in the PHB.
  
  
• The Compendium of Forgotten Secrets is an absolutely massive resource, mostly for Warlocks but not entirely. Though the balance is sometimes questionable I love it because it has tons of amazing flavor, no part of it is boring and it has lots of cool ideas, both lore and interesting game mechanics. One of my players showed it to me and I fell in love.
  
  
• Not sure if it actually counts as "homebrew" so much as "third-party sourcebook", but the Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press is a great additional Monster Manual for DMs wanting more, very popular in the community. They just came out with the Creature Codex too, though I haven't seen enough of it to weigh in. Some monsters in ToB are a little on the strong side and there's a bit of weird conceptual repetition in the ideas, but it has so many to offer that it's still very much worth the purchase.
  
  
• While I haven't tried it myself, many people speak well of the Pugilist class made by Ben Huffman. It fills a useful conceptual niche in 5e, a non-monk unarmed combat specialist.
  
  
• In the same vein, Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter is a popular brew. Originally Witcher-inspired, it's gone through a lot of revisions and playtesting.

??? Like for inspiration?


For world building/city feels/flavor I like "Invisible Cities", which is a collection of tales from Marco Polo put together by Italo Calvino, translated from italian by William Weaver (here's a link I found on google for it)


For character creation, honestly read any fantasy. Wheel of Time has characters you can easily make character sheets for, excepting maybe Rand al'Thor. I also just read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, which was great for learning how a wizard/bard might work, as well as an innkeeper. Also, recorded book is boss.


But if you want to buy just one book, and you want something amazing and fast and simple I highly recommend "Table Fables" by Madeline Hale (it's on amazon for less than $11). This book has roll-to-make lists for almost everything, from PC and NPC creation to random loot, to monster attacks! This helps especially with random encounters and smoothing-over awkward "wait I have nothing planned for THAT direction"-moments, it's great! Here's a link to that too!.


Hope that helps, that's what I use, PM me if you need anymore help :) also, I think the more you read the more fun these games get

I'm a fairly budget DM (but I had an edge as you'll see). Here is what my solution for minis was:

Via BGG I was able to for a few of the Dungeon and Dragon Board Games ex: Wrath of Ashardalon. This gave me a decent enough set of minis but most importantly: multiples of many of them as many of them come in groups of 2-4. This is kind of a cheat as I have a large collection of board games and was looking to swap some out anyway.

Then I purchased Pathfinder Beginner Box. Its a good price and you get a playmat, mini adventure, dice and a bunch of Pathfinder Pawns. These pawns are great and come with bases which lead me to my next purchases.

I was very happy with the way the Pathfinder Pawns worked out for me to "fill in the blanks" where I didn't have any minis. Pathfinder offers a lot of sets for their different adventure paths for between $15-20 via amazon. They don't come with bases but the beginner box solved that for me. Best part of these sets, in my opinion, is they come with plenty of multiples.

My players use a mix of minis from the board games and their own painted ones they bring. I pick a mix of minis and pawns with a preference towards all of one if I can help it. The pawns are fantastic and if I didn't have the option of the board game I would be totally happy just using those. The only thing I might do in that situation would be to pick up individual minis for "bosses". While the art on the Pathfinder Pawns are generally good to excellent quality scale is really lost on the larger creatures imo.

As for actually running combat, I'm style finding my DM style but I've settled on a mix of 4 similar yet different methods depending on what I want the encounter to emphasize.

For quick, "uncomplicated" encounters or ones that I may want to not emphasize combat I use theater of the mind. In my experience the second a grid comes out players think combat. The speed of theater of the mind is appealing to me. As for technique: with theater of the mind I tend to narrate everything except killing blows and run turn order by starting with the characters name and a description of the state of the battle every turn.

If TotM seems a bit too imprecise I break out the minis/pawns and run what I call Table of the Mind. We put the minis/pawns on the table and use them without a grid. Keeps things quick and snappy but gives the players something to reference. For this method and all others below I assign initiative to one of my PCs.

If environmental effects are more of a factor I use "zones". I stole this from Sly Flourish. I tend to use it less often than any other method but I like having it in my bag of tricks so I'll mention it here. Essentially I place the pawns/minis on index cards with each card representing a vague location in the battle and features within that location.

For complicated encounters or for those I get DM Crafty with nothing beats a good ol grid map. The flipmat from the beginner box is always in my bag but I have a larger Chessex map for bigger battles. I like to supplement it with either interesting mechanics or bling. I'm working on a one shot right now for my friend's birthday where two of the battles will take place on gridded maps one of which involves me placing cardboard "trees" on it and the other a complex series of teleportation doors. PCs love bling and I love blinging out. It's amazing what you can do with cardboard and paper; it's equally amazing how a description of a battle changes my awful craft skills into an epic fight!. I do not think I could run my teleporting door encounter without a map to ground my players. It would be too confusing and demand too much memory from all involved.

Sorry this got so long O.o

Are you married to actually playing Dungeons and Dragons?

If not some other games I would suggest

Savage Worlds Deluxe - Quick and easy game that you can get for <$10. You can do fantasy but if you want to try out a different genre you can do that easily as well. The real meat to SW is the various settings that are out there. Some of my favorites are Hellfrost (fantasy) and Deadlands Reloaded (Weird west based off the Deadlands game).

OpenQuest is like a retroclone of old Runequest - This game has a "dev version" which is free but does not include the artwork (and 2nd edition will not include some new rules). The first edition dev kit is on the downloads page, second edition is not released yet. Sadly I have not had a chance to actually play this game but reading over the rules I like them and it is percentile based which is always good.

Runequest 6 The newest iteration of the Runequest game (first edition only came out a few years after DnD). Another percentile based game that is a bit more complicated (quite a bit in my opinion) but has rules about building a character not just a lump of numbers like in some games.

Then there are a lot of other games that I know if you want to get more narrative. But if you want to play DnD in particular the edition order that I prefer (I have only played 3 editions) would go 2e is my most favorite, then 4e, then 3.5 (I am not a fan of 3.5 at all really).

But DnD is not my go to game.

EDIT: Oh and I am not trying to talk you out of DnD per se, I just see too many people online and offline that started with DnD so every other game must of course be terrible. And, in my personal experience so I have no factual basis for this, it seems that people that start with a game other than DnD are more open to trying new games. And really this hobby has a lot of games to choose from and while you can have fun with (almost) any of them if you don't look around you may never find that game that is just perfect for you/your group.

It's hard, in my opinion, to levy that kind of criticism at a DM. What I would suggest is to just tell him all your ideas when you have them. My brother and I are both DM's and I play in his game and I hope he'll get a chance to play in mine. I am constantly gabbering ideas I come up with for my game to him. He obviously can't do the same, because I play in his game. I am a person that loves the challenge of design, so I'm pretty consistently developing new pieces of designs from world building, to mini games, to encounters, to narratives, to situations, etc. He has stolen or at least been intrigued by many of my ideas, which I love (since I can't always run them myself). I often ask him for design advice as well, so it's not one sided. He can't tell me about his ideas, but he can provide input on mine. Having consistent design discussions with a fellow DM can do wonders for both of your work.

Discuss Design for Fun: I think what you'll find is that if you just tell him design ideas you come up with just for the sake of discussing design for fun, your DM will naturally begin to pick things up and start experimenting with your ideas. You'll probably find that your ideas inspire them to come up with their own. I strongly encourage facilitating design discussions with anyone that has interest, including your DM. If, after a couple of weeks of discussing design, your DM still hasn't upped their game, that's when I would confront the issue. Say "hey, we've talked about a dozen different ideas, but you don't seem to be implementing anything new into the game. What's the deal?"


New D&D Supplements: Another really helpful tool for a DM (especially if they don't have the time to create interesting homebrewed scenarios) is the book Tome Of Beasts: https://www.amazon.com/Beasts-Wolfgang-Baur/dp/1936781565

The monsters in that are great and much more difficult than the ones in the monster manual. I still prefer designing my own stuff, because there are 400 monsters in that book and it takes a while for me to go through it. Just an example of a beautiful design in the book is the Living Wick. It's a construct, that comes to life when their wick is lit and they attack (or serve their master). They can also burn their wick in a single go and explode, doing a decent amount of damage for a low level party (like a toned down fireball, but I recommend turning it into a full on fireball). The trick to beat them, aside from killing them, is to dowse their wick. You might homebrew them a tad so they can fight against your players by also making them either immune to fire, or cause fire to make a massive chain reaction that causes them to explode. Also, using them as an ambush and having them tackle the party and explode.

Here's an idea I had for my low level from the tome of beasts: "You enter through the large doors. It's pitch black in here, but as you walk you can here your foot steps echo in what must be a massive chamber. If you create a light (or have dark vision), you can see that this is a great reception chamber, entirely made out of a deep blue marble. The walls are accentuated with impressive pillars. The marble chamber has such a high, elaborate ceiling that goes up about 50 feet. The hallway extends to the a decorated portcullis at the end. Along the full length of the hall are a parallel series of pedestals. Sitting atop the pedestals are a dozen or more statuesque figures, all positioned in various 'thinking' sitting poses. A closer inspection reveals that they are made out of wax. Above the hearth you entered is marble slab, jutting out from the wall with two metal tubes extending out of it. When the players walk close enough, two brilliant jets of fire shoots out from the turret above the hearth, illuminating the dark marble of the chamber. These two lines of fire rocket downward and the jet across the backs of the wax statues, before arcing back up into the ceiling and dispersing. The wax statues are now lit, like a candle from a protruding wick on their back. This dim glow is the only light in the room. The players here a quiet hiss (like the sound of a burning fuze) come from the burning wicks. They suddenly come to life in fluid, short bursts of movement. They move unnatural, almost like dancers. They move quickly and suddenly for seconds at a time, and then come to a complete stop, and then moving again. They all turn towards the players and immediately sprint towards them."

tl;dr: Start creating discussions about game design to bounce ideas with them, so they get a chance to hear some cool design thoughts without it becoming uncomfortable. Recommend the book Tome of Beasts

Hey, glad you're running a Neverwinter campaign.

NPC wise, here are a few links that might help.

Back in the 4e days, there was/in an actual campaign/setting book. Great reference.
http://www.amazon.com/Neverwinter-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Supplement/dp/0786958146

The MMO by the same name, has a wiki you might find useful and a source of inspiration.
http://neverwinter.wikia.com/wiki/Category:NPCs

And I found this in just a quick search. An Epic Words posting with npc's.
http://www.epicwords.com/neverwinter/npcs

From the Wizards of the Coast webpage:
http://dnd.wizards.com/dungeons-and-dragons/what-is-dnd/locations/neverwinter

Dungeonmaster.com has a review of the DnD Encounters game Storm over Neverwinter.
http://dungeonsmaster.com/2013/06/dd-encounters-storm-over-neverwinter-report-card/

A quick google search for Neverwinter map, brings up a ton of stuff. Use whichever ones you want for your game.
https://www.google.com/search?q=map+of+neverwinter&espv=2&biw=1346&bih=739&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=N1FFVJn7JsKqyASxmIKABA&ved=0CB0QsAQ&dpr=2

Ok... with those out of the way, remember regardless of "canon" material. Run the game how you want too. Maybe you want to use a Pathfinder adventure. Ok, just reskin it(as little or as much as you want) to fit your game.

It's your adventure setting. Make it relevant to your players, they won't care if it's 100% perfect.

Good luck, and have fun.

If you're interested in D&D, the starter set for the newest edition is a great deal. It's only 15 dollars here on Amazon. It comes with a guide to get you through level 5, a set of dice, pregenerated characters, and a premade adventure for you to run. It's definitely worth a look.

If you're worried about complexity though, my favorite game to pick up and run with newbies is Savage Worlds. It is 9 dollars right now on Amazon for the entire rulebook. You'd just need a set of dice. Its focus is, "Fast, furious, and fun," and it does it pretty well. The best part is that it's only 150 pages or so instead of the hundreds upon hundreds that most people use for D&D.

Either way, I'd encourage dropping by /r/rpg if you're at all interested. The community is super helpful and there are countless RPGs out there that are tons of fun to run and play.

Players don't need much. I agree with BenDunno's suggestion - PH1 is a good place to start. Depends on what they feel like playing. Community opinion is mixed on the Essentials builds in Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, but these builds are fully cross-compatible with the rest of 4th Ed, so if people want to play them, it won't cause a problem. A few players in my group tried out Essentials characters and had fun with them.

The Rules Compendium is amazingly handy for both players and DM's - easy to carry around, clearly indexed and consolidated.

(btw, I included Amazon links for clarity, but if you've got a dedicated game store near you, buy from them instead - your FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) is a really important part of the gamer ecosystem - give 'em all the support you can :) )

Hi there underneaththestars9!

2nd grade is a great time to get a kid interested in RPGs. Although disclaimer: I haven't ran for kids myself (I have run some solo games, though) - If I were to do so though, I personally wouldn't use D&D 5e for it. As streamlined as it is, it's still pretty darn complicated - especially for a youngin'

Instead, perhaps consider something like Basic Fantasy (They also give their PDFs away for free). It's super easy to learn and run - it's based on the Basic D&D set from back in the day, so most of it is very identifiably D&D - even if you've only played newer versions. Perfect place for a new adventurer to start out!

As for the campaign itself, I'm guessing it's gonna be just her? If so: make the game all about her. Ask her what sorta theme she'd like and pander to whatever kind of game she wants. Essentially find out the kind of character she wants to play and build a game based around the sorts of things that character would get into.

Also, maybe for inspiration read up on kids' fantasy. The Hobbit, Narnia, that sort of thing. Obviously some aspect of those works tick with young readers - whether it's the fantastical whimsy, the way they narrate events, etc.

I've got a binder and a small notebook. The binder has all the "ready to go" adventure stuff in it. The notebook contains all the "on the fly" stuff that happens mid-game. I make up NPC extras on the fly, so I jot them down here. Crap my players ask me that I didn't think of til just that moment gets added here too. Until recently, I also used it for initiative tracking (I've just gone magnetic wet-erase strips).

My "on the fly" stuff is later transcribed into my Google Docs if I feel it won't come up again for a bit. If it's super central/important to the current D&D adventure, I'll put it in the binder too, otherwise, I can always flip back a page on my notebook.

I use Google Docs cause it's in the cloud and I can very quickly pull it up on my phone if I need to.

I also have:

• Table Fables book for fast and funny random generation. I seriously recommend this book, it's awesome (and I'm not being paid to advertise it).
  
  
• Mini's for the whole adventure area they're currently in (whether plastic, metal, or paper)
  
  
• I use Pathfinder loot cards for the "cool" loot as giveaways to the players. I either handwrite or print out/cut/glue the stats to the back of the card.
  
  
• All my physical D&D books are also in PDF format on my Google Drive. Carrying a ton of books around is no fun, I take the DMG with me and that's it. At least 50% of my players have their PHB with them if it's really needed. If I need something else, it's on my Drive, grab phone, look up, done.
  
  
• An email draft that I update with how the story progresses. When a current adventure arch of the campaign ends, I email this out to the players as a recap along with how much downtime I'm giving them to do as they please before the next adventure sets in.
  
  
• A messenger bag dedicated to all things D&D that I haul to the game. That way I don't have to empty and refill it between games. Things that need to stay in the bag, stay in the bag in one location.
  
  
  
  Oh, my binder contains the following:
  
  
• Print outs of the monsters for the whole adventure. I'm a graphic designer, so I use InDesign to layout clips of the Monster Manual together on multiple pages to condense the info I need down.
  
  
• Print out of the general adventure/campaign and mini maps (these have enough white space on the pages that I can jot down notes specific to one particular area.
  
  
• A sheet or two of the "cool" treasure I plan on handing out. I mix custom items with WotC items, so having them all listed out together helps me a lot.
  
  
• An excerpt from Volo's Guide to the North for the area since the game I'm currently running is in the Sword Coast region. If I was running a homebrew world, this would be replaced with my own similar notes about the general area and population, etc.
  

It depends on what you're looking for. The campaign guides will give you a lot of old rules that won't always translate very good into 5e, but might give you some ideas on table resources like special subraces or divine domains. The 3.0 Campaign Setting will give you a good overview on the whole continent, which can be helpfull to get a bit of a taste on what the different regions are like. The "Players Guide to Fearûn" of 3.5 will give you a bit more insight into the planes (although I'd use the World Tree and Blood River only as additional transistive planes on top of an astral plane and not instead of one) and the "Races of Fearûn" have a nice overview on the different species and subraces that the players might want to play, although it's not so easy to translate those rules into 5e. If you're interested in translations of at least 2 of the 4 additional subraces of Elves the "Races of Fearûn" has to offer, I've worked on the Wild Elves and Moon Elves and I think they could work out the way I've mixed and matched their features now.

If you just want an overview on the History of the Realms, then there's a book even for that: "The Grand History of the Realms" provides you with the earliest history of the Forgotten Realms, over the creator races, with maps of that time and images of structures and creatures, some contemporary writings of those creatures, and up to the beginnigns of 4e story.

Uh! And then theres "Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms" with a bit of insight into the ways of living, by Word of God.

Happy to help!

Getting started... hmm... I think everyone will have different advice on this. Here's mine.

Give your players a reason to band together in the game, a challenge that requires all of their different skills, or an enemy tough enough that all of them really feel like they've contributed to defeating it.

One thing I'd try to do is start with smaller, one-off, episodic adventures - perhaps short enough to resolve in one or two sessions. You can start linking this into your grand, complex campaign narrative soon enough, but to start with this will give everyone a nice feeling of accomplishment. Delayed gratification is a great tool for later on, but it's nice to start by establishing a proper sense of having achieved something.

World-building is a great way to build immersion. When they visit the tavern they could hear rumours about what's happening in distant lands, some of which they might want to follow up! It helps if things make sense - why is this town here? What is this dungeon, why has it fallen into evil hands? What motivates character x to do action y? Politics? Religion? History? Geography?

This can be a HUGE amount of work for a committed DM (though it's also fun!). A nice way to get into this kind of depth without so much work is to get hold of a campaign setting (I like the 3E Forgotten Realms one: http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/0786918365/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381667228&sr=1-1&keywords=forgotten+realms+campaign+setting) and use that as a starting point. Or, even better - just set it in a universe you're already nerdily knowledgeable about. Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Greendale Community College, etc... carve out your own corner.

If you play Pathfinder, then note that they put all their rules and bestiary online for free and so you can save some serious dough. You can then spend your money on things like battle mats, paper miniatures, and adventure modules. They have an upcoming beginners box that would probably be perfect for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KPv80QsBfI

If you play D&D 4th Edition, you kind of have to choose between the original line and "Essentials" line (it's very confusing). Personally I say go with the Essentials line because it is easier, cheaper, and (to me at least) "feels" more like what D&D is supposed to be like. WotC doesn't publish anything online for free like Paizo, so you'll have to buy some stuff. I recommend:

• At least one copy of Heroes of the Fallen Lands (class book for fighters, clerics, wizards and rogues: ~$14 on Amazon
  
• Optional: At least one copy of Heroes of the Fallen Kingdoms (class book for rangers, druids, paladins and warlocks): ~$14 on Amazon.
  
• Semi-Optional At least one copy of the Rules Compendium:~$14 on Amazon. The reason I list this as semi-optional is because most of the rules you'll need as a beginner are contained in the class guide books
  
• Monster Vault. This contains monster stats and a whole bunch of tokens. ~$20 on Amazon.
  
  If no one wants to play a ranger, druid, paladin or warlock at first you can skip the one book and meet your $60 budget. Eventually you'll probably want to get a Dungeon Master guide of some sort. The kind of information in those books is mostly generic advice on how to run games and handle personalities, so it's possibly to buy an older used copy from the original line even though you are playing Essentials. Hell, since it's just generic advice, you could even buy the Pathfinder guide (which is amazingly well written) and use it for D&D.
  
  In summary - I think it's easier for you to meet your budget by going with Pathfinder, since they publish a lot of material for free, leaving you to spend your money on the adventure modules which is where all the fun is anyways. It's unanimous that Pathfinder does a much better job on published adventures too, since they are a company that started off as an adventure publishing company and that is their strength. However, D&D 4e (especially Essentials) is much easier to play, but you won't have as much money left over to spend on adventures (and those adventures kind of suck).

Do you have an adventure picked out? There are free Pathfinder Society adventures that you can run I'd recommend The Phantom Phenomena and then First Steps Part I: In Service to Lore. Both have lots of little quests you're doing so your players can feel like they accomplished lots of things in however long your session is. Or else the Pathfinder Box is great too. It comes with over 80 pawns you can use to represent characters and monsters and does a really good job at introducing people to the game.

I'd also recommend using pre-gen characters and not spending time on character creation on your first play. It's best to get people up and playing so they can learn how the system actually works before deciding what they want their character to be.

I'm pretty sure WotC came out of the gate with the affirmation that they wouldn't release more than a few books a year (most of which are adventures). I get the business decisions, they don't want to flood the market.

For those who want more, there are tuns of fantastic third party books and top-tier homebrew to be had. Check out dmsguild.com and it's parent, DriveThruRPG.com. Some of my favorite third party books (and PDF's) include:

• Kobold Press' Tome of Beasts and it's followup Creature Codex, two fantastic and huge Monster Manual type books. The monsters within tend to be a little over-tuned, but highly original and IMHO most the MM creatures are too weak as it is. Wish you had more fey & celestials, or crazy demon lords and dragons? These are the books for you. Kobold Press also has their own setting called Midguard though I don't own the books.
  
  
• The Heroes of the Orient & Monsters of the Orient by Mark A has some very cool new material, including two new classes, new feats, and stuff for existing classes. Very popular on dmsguild.com
  
  
• Matt Colville's Strongholds & Followers has great rules for player's constructing their own strongholds or coming together to build/repair a castle, raise an army and go to war with your campaign's villain!
  
  
• I am particularly fond of Onyx Path Publishing, known for fantastic writers, and RPG heavy games, like 20th Anniversary World of Darkness (V20, etc), Chronicles of darkness (my group's favorite game series), Exalted, Pugmire, and more. They also have a 5e setting called Scarred Lands. It's based on a somewhat lesser known 3e setting of the same name Set in a world like classical Greece, only an age later, after the world was scarred by the war between the gods & the titans.

hey man! little update for you. so the switch is definitely an upgrade. a major upgrade. i am absolutely loving 5e. its making my job as the Dm a lot easier and all of my players seem to like the much more role play centered, streamlined game play of it. we dont have to keep track of as many numbers and its really freeing for the players at a role play stand point, and me from a story telling stand point. another great thing about it if you're a dm is that there are so many books available! i bought the standard players handbook, monster manual, and Dungeon masters guide and they are all solid upgrades from 3.5 especially the dm guide. and with volos guide to monsters, and Xanthars guide to everything also available there are so many more options for fights, npcs, and playable characters. so i 100% recommend the switch if you are considering it. you will not regret it.

i also highly recomned this DM screen...lots of super useful info, and none of the fluff. DM screen

Either the Pathfinder Beginner Box or the D&D Red Box Starter Set will give you everything you need to start playing a simplified version of the full games, all in one box. Buy it, invite friends over, unwrap the box, start playing.

The rules are written in such a way as to let players get started immediately, but the person running the game (the Dungeon Master or Game Master) will probably want to look through it for a few minutes beforehand.

If you like the tutorials, you might move on to the full games. I like Pathfinder, so I'll focus on that one.

If you want to play the "full" Pathfinder game, you don't need the Beginner Box, instead you need:

• One copy of The Core Rulebook
  
• One copy of The Bestiary
  
• One set (or more if you want) of polyhedral dice, such as this.
  
• One character sheet per player [PDF]
  
• Some pencils
  
• Some tokens to represent characters and monsters (pennies, nickels and dimes will do)
  
  All other books you will see listed are optional: they provide more options, more content, more ideas. Don't buy them until you need more. You may never.
  
  You only need one set of books and dice, but having more copies will make life easier. It's totally optional. All of the important Pathfinder content is available for free on the internet in multiple locations, so technically you could skip the books altogether if you needed to. In practice it's nice to have a hard copy.
  
  Also, there are thousands of RPGs out there you could play instead of D&D or Pathfinder, but I would say try them after you've gotten your feet at least slightly wet.

You seem like you want to prepare. I'm also a person who prepares, so here are things you can do to come feeling like you have:

Email (or text or whatever) the GM and ask what version you're playing.

4th edition, D&D 3.5, Pathfinder or 5th edition are all very likely candidates, and all play different enough you will want to know a bit of the difference. The first night you don't necessarily need to have your own copy of the book, but it will be a lot easier if you do going forward.

If the group is totally new, everyone will be rolling characters. If you meant the group is new to you, and they're already playing, ask what character classes they have already.

You may be happy looking up what 'good' character classes are for that edition are (depends on how competitive you are)

Bring a cheat sheet on it the edition you're playing, a small notebook, 2 mechanical pencils, and a set of polyhedral dice

Cheat sheets:

5th Edition: http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1042

4th Edition: http://kassoon.com/dnd/crib-sheet/

Pathfinder Edition: https://sites.google.com/site/paolospathfinderpage/cheat-sheets

3.5 Edition: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?231897-3-5-Rules-Cheat-Sheets

You really need to look into which version it is to get specific recommendations from /r/rpg that will be at all helpful. Once you do get that answer on what edition you're playing, find 2 easy to play classes by asking here, or looking up "tier lists" on the internet.

If you're really up for it, after finding out what version it is, go buy the players handbook for that version, read it, and watch an hour or two of "Actual play" on the internet for that version.

__

Most of D&D is about 1> Standing in the right place 2> Hitting the baddie with your big stick/magic spell 3> Not falling into traps 4> Getting loot. The game is incredibly oriented on loot and small magical items that give bonuses to attack and defense. So when an item comes up that's appropriate to your character, ask for it! Don't be a hog, but don't make the mistake of not taking enough.

When making your character, there are a lot of okay choices, a couple really really bad ones, and some superlative ones. You're unlikely to figure out the superlative ones without looking them up, but you'll probably be able to avoid the really horrible ones.

If you're worrying about the Roleplaying part, instead of the game playing part, the book "Impro" is excellent at explaining how to play characters well (the chapter on status is worthwhile on life in general)

Savage Worlds sounds perfect for what you're looking for! The game is centered around the players being hard-to-beat action heroes. There are rules for pretty much any type of combat you can think of, and you can run nearly any genre you could possibly want with the system. Player creation is also extremely flexible, and you gain plenty of "edges" as you level up. I highly recommend the system for all intense action RPG needs. I've run a Sci-Fi campaign with the system, and it was super easy to learn and the players had a blast. The core rule book is only $8.99 on amazon, so it's definitely worth a try! :)

You could try Pathfinder expansions, or The Resistance (probably the Avalon version is most fun) is a great mix of board game and light RPG.

You can find out more about Pathfinder here: http://rpggeek.com/rpg/1627/pathfinder-roleplaying-game. Pathfinder is, as far as I know, an RPG system not just an RPG in of itself, that other RPGs can be played off if you have the core rule book handy, which some of which are listed in 'Linked Items' (to move through the pages, the link is hidden in the top right hand corner of the Linked Item box :) ).

You can also find out top ranked RPGs by the users of RPG Geeks here: http://rpggeek.com/browse/rpg, if you wanted them to get into a new RPG! Call of the Chtulhu is its own system, and apparently number 1! I've heard good things about it - if he's asking for a new RPG, the core rule book is here: http://www.amazon.com/Call-Cthulhu-Roleplaying-Lovecraft-Edition/dp/1568821816/. You can also buy spiffy dice for it here: http://www.awesomedice.com/rpg-dice-by-game/call-of-cthulhu-dice but they are pricey! The same site has nice sets of dice for D&D (so I THINK they can be used for Pathfinder but I'm not 100% - maybe check on /r/rpg for that) at a much more reasonable price, if you maybe wanted to opt for them!

The Resistance Avalon - there are bad guys and good guys, but not everyone knows who is who. The bad guys have to try and bluff their way through the game to sabotage all the missions, and the good guys have to try and stop them - but if the bad guys work out who Merlin is (and Merlin knows who all the bad guys are), then they automatically win anyway. Great group game (I don't own it but I know it), and fun. You can see the peeps from Shut Up & Sit Down play it here: http://susd.pretend-money.com/videos/v/play-the-resistance-avalon/

Someone else mentioned Pandemic, which I do own, and is a boat load of fun! A co-operative game trying to wipe out infections!

I've only played one RPG, once, before, so I'm not an expert! Board games are more my domain. But I hope this helps with your giftee! :)

I checked the Getting Started/Learning to Play thread and he recommends starting out with the Red Box starter set since it's only $20 but it's actually $90 on Amazon. (I PM'd him about it.) He recommends 4e or Pathfinder. The thread is old but it was updated 12 days ago.

Is this an okay alternative?: 5e D&D Starter Set

Or perhaps I should start out with the Pathfinder Beginner Box? as mentioned in the Choosing an edition thread.

I have 4 players and I would be the DM. Their attention spans tend to drift if things get TOO complicated and they are better at keeping up when someone already knows the rules instead of everyone learning at the same time. That being said, I want to be able to jump into something that will basically introduce us to the game mechanics in an easy and smooth as possible kind of way.

I really want to get into D&D with this group of friends and they already like some of the more "involved" board games in the world. I just need to keep them captivated. It might be folly to try but I want to give it a shot. I feel like there is a whole world of gaming that I am missing out on.

Thanks for the advice.

Edit: Sorry to drop this on you in this thread but I figured it was as good a place as any...

Edit: My fear is that the 5e will be overcomplicated and using Pathfinder would be easier... I don't know. Ahhh.

If you have another $30 or so I'd try and pick up a physical copy of the Beginner's Box. It comes with dice, quite a few handy physical props (pawns and a flip mat) and a greatly simplified set of the rules. It also has a short 'solo adventure' to get your feet wet and introduce some concepts.
http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Beginner-Box/dp/1601256302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398370528&sr=8-1&keywords=Pathfinder+Beginner%27s+Box

I'd then read the rest of the BB thoroughly, then watch the following video of one of the Pathfinder developers DMing a newbish group through that same BB adventure, following along in the adventure to see if understand.
http://www.twitch.tv/npccast/c/3193589
(Also see a similar thread with helpful info on http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qqoh?New-Guy-want-to-start-Pathfinder-RPG).

Alternatively, or in addition, you could see if a local game store runs any open Pathfinder sessions and hopefully join one that is friendly to newcomers. An alternative is to watch the www.roll20.net LFG forums - every couple of weeks it seems someone DM's an "Intro to Pathfinder" or beginner-friendly session/campaign, and all you need is a computer and a microphone.
https://app.roll20.net/forum/category/22

Good luck and welcome to a great hobby!

My suggestion when starting kids of this age in rpgs is always Savage worlds Its cheap, easy, fast, and versatile.

This week you can be playing super criminals(or cops) doing whatever in "not shadowrun". Then next week when he gets super into power rangers you can easily play "not power rangers" with the same rule set. Then when some pirate show comes on tv you can play "not pirates" or "not space rangers" or really whatever you want. There is a huge number of setting books (that you don't really need) for all flavors you could want.

The card based initiative system is great. Probably the best initiative system I have ever seen in something that has a codified init system.

it uses a target number 4 system with "raises" for each mulitple of 4 over your first. Dice explode and get added together. So it helps to teach math

its based on a 'benny' or benefit system where you have little tokens that allow you to do things like reroll dice. The game is based around an economy between player and gm, with the gm being encourage to give them out to the players for good roleplay, decisions in character, or bringing in their negatives. We can take this one step furhter with kids and use it teach them small life lessons. Encourage them to do things, like instead of fighting a guy, they talk him down, or help him, givem a benny.

I often suggest usings like candy to represent these tokens. He can't eat them until he spends them on something, but then when he is out of them he can't do cool rerolls and stuff. teach him restraint since he wants to do cool stuff, but also wants to eat the candy.

Personally, I have read (and listened to) RPO multiple times. I don't think D&D would be fitting at all for it, but maybe something like Savage Worlds? It allows for building your character out in a very open ended way, just as is demonstrated in the Story, and since it is meant to be the more intense and over the top, you could with ease work that in (They are actually working on a Rifts adaptation to Savage Worlds currently, which is also a ridiculously action packed kind of setting).

You don't have a class system in Savage Worlds, so characters can pick up skills as they increase in power, without having that sudden "Level Up," feel to it. And, because it is meant to be easily adaptable to any sort of setting, it even having a very good amount of varying settings/genres, there would be no problem in changing to different settings or worlds so quickly, since all you really have to do is copy the book's explanation, "Oh, yeah, your Phaser doesn't work here because this is a Magic Zone. Sword and Sorcery time, guys!"

Plus, the Main Book for Savage Worlds (which includes everything you would need to make characters, know all the rules, and craft a campaign) is only about $10.00, which you can find on Amazon or their Own Website. I highly recommend it, and trust me as someone who recently got into this system to say that it is very easy to learn and simple to teach. I honestly think it is a great system that isn't too heavy on the rules that they get in your way, but not too light to force you to try and make up too much on the spot.

And if you are worried about having content from D&D, converted over to this system for you to use, I recommend Zadmar's Magnificent Collection of Free Savage Worlds Content It even includes a load of Monsters converted to the system from both D&D and Pathfinder.

I can greatly recommend the Beginner's Box. It's not free, but if you split the cost among 4 players and DM it goes down to 7 Euro each. https://www.amazon.de/Pathfinder-DEC132328-Pathfinder-Rollenspiel-Einsteigerbox/dp/1601256302/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_2?crid=2VCG2RCWEDPKJ&keywords=pathfinder+beginner+box&qid=1556896408&s=gateway&sprefix=Pathfinder+beginner+&sr=8-2-fkmrnull

It uses a simplified ruleset that can be used up to level 5 and you can upgrade the characters to the core rules anytime you want. Plus there is an adventure included, some pawns, 4 pregenerated characters (5 if you include the barbarian you can download) and a map. And you can download additional adventures at Ulisses Spiele.
Also the character sheets are just two Din A4 pages with all information neatly arranged. So you can test the whole system for weeks on end before committing to buy more.

I personally learned to play with the beginner box rules and from there it was easy to expand via AoN and the likes. I just think it's much easier to get started if you have a book you can read back to front

Table Fables 1 and Table Fables 2 are a couple pretty awesome books for worldbuilding inspiration. Volume 1 has a bunch of tables with inspiration for loot, magical items, tavern names, festivals and celebrations, etc. Even menu inspiration for what's being served in that tavern you just had to name. Volume 2 has a lot more general world inspiration- villain motives, quests and plot hooks, etc. Kind of like a big collection of writing prompts to get a story moving. They aren't edition-specific or game-specific, so if your friend GMs other fantasy-type games, these would still be relevant.

Well, we're still really new to the game.. we only started playing in August. However, if you want to get a good idea of what gameplay is like and/or how to build a character, check out these links:

• 
  One group's weekly D&D game, recorded live
  
• 
  Dungeons & Dragons Official Homepage
  
• 
  Character building help: 27 Questions to Ask your New Character
  
  Also buy these books:
  
  Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms
  
  Heroes of the Fallen Lands
  
  D&D Rules Compendium
  
  These first two books are all about the character races and classes, and the last one is just a comprehensive list of all the game rules. Like I said, I've been playing since August, and I haven't read all of them cover to cover, because so far the only parts that have been pertinent to me were about building my character and leveling up. But there's a good, strong description of the gameplay in there, so you should get a pretty good idea of how it works.
  
  Hope this helps!

The Red Box for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons is more of a quick start than a full game. If you're wanting to run a full game in that edition, you'll want to pick up one of the following books:

• Heroes of the Fallen Lands This has character creation rules for Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Ranger.
  
  
• Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms Rules for Druid, Paladin, Ranger (different build), and Warlock.
  
  I'd also recommend the Rules Compendium as it has all the rules needed to run and play the game (outside character creation).
  
  These books are under $20 and you may be able to pick them up for less than $10 used. They're also Prime eligible (depending on the seller) on Amazon. They're also digest sized, making them easy to take with you when you travel. The Rules Compendium is available as a digital download as well.
  
  You can also find multiple character creation programs online, such as Hero Lab that are detailed enough you don't actually need the books. I believe the Dungeons & Dragons Insider character generator is still available online. Unfortunately, these require a subscription or software purchase. Other programs can do the same thing, but they're fan created and some of them go way over what's legally allowed by the license to do.
  
  These all assume you're wanting to stick with 4th Edition. If not, you can easily ditch it and make use of the accessories of the Red Box. If you want to go with D&D Next (the playtest of the edition that will launch this summer), you can pick up either of the Encounters seasons written for that edition because they include the playtest rules. Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle and Dreams of the Red Wizard: Scourge of the Sword Coast are available now.
  
  You can also go with Pathfinder, which is a modified version of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition. The Pathfinder Beginner's Box is one of the best introductory bundles I've ever seen, and it has rules for character creation and advancement for 1st through 5th levels (though you're limited to Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, and Cleric and Human, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling). However, you can use the Pathfinder Reference Document to expand on that for free.

The best thing you can do is to find someone who has some experience to show you the ropes for at least a few sessions. If you start asking around among your friends, you're likely to find someone who has a fairly decent grasp of it. Failing that, find a local gaming store and ask around for someone willing to GM for you. Tabletop gaming is one of those hobbies that makes 100x more sense once you've actually done it.

As for a game system, i personally like to suggest starting with D&D 4th edition. It's simple, most gamers know how to play it, and the general fantasy setting is one you're going to see a lot in other games. Once you have some experience under your belt, i suggest you try out some other games/genres (i like Pathfinder, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Savage Worlds).

Good luck and have fun! Feel free to ask me any additional questions :)

I'm not sure about this subreddit's policies on linking to Scribd and other book sites, but here is the Amazon link.

It's pretty interesting, and like the product description says it adds a whole new dimension to your game, which can be pretty amusing and fulfilling. It talks about different race's ideas on love, how to rp these types of encounters, and how different ideas dealing with this type of stuff would affect the campaign

List of Influential RPG Titles

Dungeons and Dragons - By TSR and WotC

Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition - TSR

• Core Rulebooks
  
• Adventures (Keep on the Boarderlands, The Tomb of Horrors, The Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition - TSR
  
  
• Core Books (PHB, DMG, MM)
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Campaign Settings (Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Arms and Equipment Guide
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 - WotC
  
  
• Savage Species
  
• Deities and Demigods
  
• Stronghold Builder's Guidebook
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, DMG, & MM)
  
• Expanded Core (PHB2, DMG2, MM2, 3, 4, 5)
  
• Psionics Handbook
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Complete Series (Arcane, Adventurer, Warrior, Divine, Champion, Scoundrel, Mage, Psionics)
  
• Campaign Settings (Ebberon, Forgotten Realms)
  
• Adventures (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 4e - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, PHB2, PHB3, DMG, DMG2, MM, MM2, MM3)
  
• Essentials (Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of Fallen Lands, Rules Compendium)
  
• Settings (Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Adventures (Tomb of Horrors)
  
  Pathfinder - Paizo Publishing
  
  
• Core Rulebook
  
• Advanced Player's Guide
  
• Advanced Race Guide
  
• Ultimate Magic
  
• Ultimate Combat
  
• Ultimate Equipment
  
• Game Mastery Guide
  
• Ultimate Campaign
  
• Mythic Adventures
  
• NPC Codex
  
• Bestiaries 1-4
  
  Not Dungeons and Dragons
  
  World of Darkness - by White Wolf
  
  
• Vampire the Masquerade - Vampires are so mainstream now...
  
• Werewolf the Apocylypse - Where there are vampires there are werewolves.
  
• Mage the Ascention - and witches and wizards.
  
• Hunter the Reckoning - and someone to hunt them.
  
• Changeling the Dreaming
  
  "New" World of Darkness
  
  
• Core Book
  
• Expanded Core (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf)
  
  AEG
  
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition Core Rulebook
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition Core Rulebook
  
• 7th Sea
  
• Deadlands
  
  Other
  
  
• Shadowrun
  
• Savage Worlds
  
• Dungeon World
  
• FATE Core
  
• Call of Cthulhu
  
• RIFTS
  
• GURPS
  
• Paranoia - Super expensive on Amazon, not sure why.
  
• Elf Quest - Also a very popular graphic novel.
  
  Authors to Look for
  
  
• Gary Gygax - Role Playing Mastery and Master of the Game
  
• Monte Cook
  
• John Wick
  
• Dave Arneston
  
  RPG Related Non-Fiction
  
  
• Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress - Shelley Mazzinoble
  
• Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
  
  RPG Fiction, also essential
  
  
• Dragonlance - Chronicles Triligy by Weise and Hickman - Set in a D&D campaign Setting
  
• Drizzit's Series - By R. A. Salvatore. Icewind Dale Trilogy and The Dark Elf Trilogy
  
• The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist - It's allegedly the story of the author's long running D&D game.
  
  Other Lists
  
  
• Good Reads Popular RPG titles.
  
• Wikipedia timeline of RPGs
  
  Honorable Mentions
  
  
• Star Wars - d6 Edition, d20 Edition, SAGA Edition, Star Wars RPG (Fantsy Flight)
  
• Star Trek - Various Incarnations
  
• Serenity the RPG
  
• D&D Comic Books
  
• Buffy the RPG
  
• Whatever the heck "Demon" is...
  
  *Please add suggestions below, I'll add to the list as I revisit this thread throughout the day. Adding Amazon links now.

Yes and Sly Flourish spends a great deal of time talking about this in his excellent book, The Lazy Dungeon Master.

The problem is if I spend 5 hours designing something that I love dearly and want to spring on my players, by the gods, they are going to go through it and ... that is railroading. Sly talks about how to spend those 5 hours smartly and prep for adventures that are flexible for you and the players and comfortable and enjoyable for you.

As a player and Dungeon Master, it makes me so happy to see /r/DnD making it to bestof more than once. :)

For those interested, the newest edition being released book by book right now is 5e (previously D&D Next when it was still in the playtesting phase). Player's Handbook (PHB) and Monster Manual (MM) are the only rule books out right now. The main storyline book out right now is Hoard of the Dragon Queen (HotDQ) and soon The Rise of Tiamat (RoT).

What you need to play D&D IRL:

• D&D Basic Rules for Players and DMs
  
• 3-4 players (PCs or player characters) is ideal
  
• 1 Dungeon Master (DM), who runs the game
  
• Dice (Wiz Dice is a good starting point if nobody has dice. Just buy the big bag.)
  
• Paper and pencils
  
• Optional: A battle mat (like this one from Chessex)
  
• Optional: Miniatures (minis) to represent your PCs, NPCs, and monsters. I use dice to represent monsters in my games, because minis are expensive.
  
  If you want to play a D&D online tabletop:
  
  
• Roll20.net
  
• Use /r/lfg, /r/roll20lfg, or their dedicated LFG function/forums to find other people
  
• Roll20 itself has all you need to play the game - character sheets, dice rollers, built in webcam/mic, special view for DMs versus players, music, handouts, macros, etc.
  
  
  Shameless plug: My group streams D&D 3.5e (older edition) on Twitch almost every Monday night at 8pm EST. I also play and DM 5e, so I'm happy to answer questions about either edition!
  

Dungeons & Dragons is the big dog, it's the only TTRPG most people have ever heard of and that name recognition means whatever the current edition of D&D is will almost always have the largest player base in a given area in the English-speaking world.

But if you want a different game you could go with something like Savage Worlds, which is a rules-medium system that can play in any genre you want. The corebook (which is the only book you'd need to play, though others are helpful) is less than $10, which is a plus. See the demo here: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peg-freebies/TD06.pdf
Corebook here https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

If you want to get some friends together and try some D&D (5th edition, which is the current one) though, I'd try it with the free demo rules before dropping between $90 - 120 on the 3 core books depending on where you buy them. Free demo rules here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

If you play a game with your friends you'll want some dice, unless you just decide to use a dice roller app on your phones. I'd recommend buying a big bundle of cheap dice rather than paying a lot for individual sets. A bundle like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KN7REWQ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01KN7REWQ&pd_rd_wg=8uUwb&pd_rd_r=HQQYF600AKZZA1GKEZHV&pd_rd_w=CjKc8

DrivethruRPG is the site you'll want for other RPGs and older Dungeons & Dragons material, they're the amazon or wal mart of TTRPGs, selling PDFs and print on demand books. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/

Needs? Dice and the PHB.

Wants? Lots of generators, luckily some great ones have been appearing on the app stores for mobile.
I personally love random tables, Table Fables is a great little book I picked up not long ago.
and if you are playing online, pyromancers is a great dungeon creators tool.

So the good news is: yes there's a rulebook with classes, rules, etc and you can play as Sith and Jedi. The bad news is: all of the editions of the game are currently out of print. The further good news: you may still be able to find the books new at gaming stores and you can definitely find them used on eBay and Amazon.

There's been three versions of the game as Gunnulf mentioned. Those most recent of which and the one you'll most likely find unused copies of the books would be the Saga Edition. The books are easy to recognize as they're 9"x9" rather than a more traditional 8.5"x11". To play the game you'll need at least the Core Rulebook which has the basic rules of the game and a decent list of vehicles and starships.

The additional books are not necessary to play and really contain supplementary information for their subjects. For instance if you want to play an Old Republic era game the [Knights of the Old Republic Era](http://amzn.com 0786949236) book would be pretty useful. It has setting information as well as game stats for things seen in the games and comics. However if you didn't want to buy the book it isn't that difficult to wing it and just write stuff up from Wookipedia. It's worth the money if you don't have the time or experience to write the stuff up yourself.

I don't really recommend the D20 version of the game as a lot of "Star Wars" feeling gets lost in the rules. It takes a really good GM to make the game feel like you're playing a Star Wars game. My favorite is the D6 version West End Games used to publish but it's long out of print and the books are getting harder to find. It's also a very different system than what you're currently playing with D&D. It might be tough to learn the whole new way of playing if you're still just learning to play tabletop RPGs. Come join us in /r/rpg if you want to learn more about tabletop games.

I'd recommend taking a look at Basic Fantasy Roleplay. The rules are based on D&D. They're free and complete (and very cheap if you just really want a paper copy) but more importantly for your players - they're short.

There are free adventures to download and you can also use the system to play older D&D modules from the DM's Guild.

As for extras - a nice luxury item I use all the time is a sleeved GM screen. I can pop in screens from PDFs of whatever system I want to run. If you do individual initiative, I'd grab a pack of index cards you can chop in half and tent them over your screen in order with each character's name, AC, class, perception score, that sort of thing.

I picked up the Neverwinter Campaign earlier this year, and I love it. I've barely scraped the surface of it and I've used it to inspire my encounters for half a year now. It's got tons of Faction info, as well as details on dozens of locations in the city (taverns, dungeons, temples), as well as an Neverwinter Woods and the "lost" Dwarven ruins of Gauntlgrym.

The book is just fantastic for giving you a foundation out of which you can build your own campaign. It gives you kind of a freeze-frame picture of current events, and allows you and your PCs to determine where the city and the surrounding area go from there. It's awesome, and you should definitely give it a look-through if you live near any hobby shops that might carry it.

Boy you aren't kidding, there just really isn't much about Sossal in any sourcebooks I can find, even going back to earlier editions. The old boxed set only has:

>AT A GLANCE: Far to the North, on the far side of the Great Glacier, is the legendary kingdom of Sossal. This remote nation is the home of Sossarhim, a very pale, very blond race that dresses in
white, and can conceal themselves among the ice.

...etc. The 3e book has a similar short blurb, where it otherwise explains pages about the other nations of the Cold North. The most interesting sources I could find seem to be from the 2e splatbooks "Wizards and Rogues of the Realms" and "Warriors and Priests of the Realms". From W&P:

> Sossal This fantastic kingdom of pale, blonde humans is the
northernmost nation in the Realms. Their ability to flourish in such frigid conditions is a source of amazement to others. Their warriors are unparalleled in arctic survival and cold-weather combat. Warriors of Sossal have very pale skin, ice-blue eyes, and pale blonde hair.

...and so forth. W&P has some good roleplaying notes for the warriors, and W&R has an interesting take on the wizards. But as for maps or cities or anything like that, it seems to be overlooked.

It's really not as complex as it seems. The rule books are thick, yes, but once you cover the basics you can get into action and use the rule book as a reference. That's why I recommend getting a starter box. It will give you the basic rules (maybe 30 minutes of reading), leave the complex ones for later, and let you learn as you play. It will guide both the DM and the PCs at the same time.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "the" rule book. There are quite a few different versions. D&D V1 and AD&D V2 are considered ancient. They're really, really old and outdated. I'd recommend you start with version 3.5 OR "Pathfinder," which is very, very similar to D&D in its gameplay under a slightly different name. Check this out.

It's a great way to break into the world of tabletop RPG, and you can supplement your collection if you decide you enjoy it.

All it really requires is you saying to three or four friends/family members "Hey, wanna try this out?"

I've never played the d20 version, but I play the standard d100 game. If you want to just give the game a try, you can download the quickstart rules, which come with a sample scenario. You can print out the rules, character sheets, and scenario, and run a game off of just that.

The only book you really need is the Call of Cthulhu rulebook. This book is pretty much a player handbook/DM guide/monster manual built into one. The great thing about Cthulhu is that the game is so basic that you only need 1 copy of the book (for the DM, or keeper) and can give the rest of the players quickstart rules that you can print online. Cthulhu is such a simple game that I think about 70 percent of the book is just flavor text and sample scenarios.

In that book, you can get some beginning sample scenarios that you can run with your group, which will give you a sense of how the game is run. One of the great things about Cthulhu is that the game is very story driven. Combat has very simple rules, and there are no experience points or levels, although you do increase skill points. The whole point of the game is that you are presented with a mystery, and the players must gather information and solve the mystery, at the risk of their own sanity. So don't expect any monster mashes or anything like that, unless that's how you want to run your game.

The absolute best way to get started is the Starter Set. It's everything you need to get started including some dice and an adventure. As you get more into it, you'll want to pick up the Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master's Guide (If you don't want to get them all at once, I recommend getting them in that order.) Also very useful is a Dungeon Master's Screen. Moving into more advanced stuff, Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a book full of a bunch of optional rules to spice up the game, and Volo's Guide to Monsters gives more monsters for players to fight, and some you can actually play as. If you need more adventures to run, Tales From the Yawning Portal is a nice big book of dungeons.

I started DMing fairly recently as well, and like you I tried to find some quick reference guides to keep things rolling smoothly. I typed up some stuff, printed it out, had it nearby...

And found I didn't need it. The game is exceptionally deep and complex, but surprisingly accessible. So long as your character sheets are correct then they'll tell you the most important info, you won't need to worry about calculating stuff on the fly. Just ask for relevant checks and make sure your players know what modifier to add (this is where character sheets being correct helps!).

It may be helpful to have a reference of what can be done in someone's turn in combat, but even then when starting out people will just move & attack. I wouldn't worry too much about doing anything else, unless your players ask about it.

The most important thing is being able to improvise. Go with the flow, be flexible, and learn to say 'yes, and...' (unless what they want to do breaks your game).

If you really want a quick reference, then the official DM screen from Wizards has a bunch of useful info on the inside of it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dungeons-Dragons-C36870000-Dungeon-Reincarnated/dp/078696619X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539533391&sr=8-1&keywords=dm+screen

Matt Colville's first couple videos in this series will be incredibly helpful, I think. He's focused on DMing.

If your more interested as a player and not a DM (though, one of your friends is gonna have to step up and do it), Colville has a video for that, too.

Bare minimum is buy dice, but getting the players handbook (PHB) is also great, though you can wait and see if you enjoy your first session before you buy it since they post the basic rules online for free.

Here is the SRD (free rules) in website form.
Here is the "official" PDF.

Also, if you really dig critical role, Matt Mercer put out a campaign book for the world. Whoever is gonna DM could buy this and run a game in the same setting.

I recommend this book. It makes life a lot easier and focuses your time to what really matters
https://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-Shea-ebook/dp/B00ADV2H8O

I used to spend hours upon hours making maps, fleshing out everything, etc. Two things happened:

1. I noticed that I kept guiding my PCs toward what I built because I spent so much time on it. My PCs never said anything, but I noticed, and I consider railroading a cardinal sin.
   
2. I was getting burnt out. What about this? How do I best balance that? What monster is best here? What 5000 ways will my PCs approach a situation, and how can I anticipate them all? It was to the point that my creativity froze and I couldn't decide on any path. When I let go and let the story tell itself, then it became fun again and my creativity came back.
   
   Here's the main points of being a great DM:
   
   

• The most important thing to flesh out in your game is the NPCs. Encounters come, go, and can be morphed. Your NPCs are the lifeblood of the game. But you don't need to spend too much time...what's their connection to the story? How would they react to the PCs? What are their goals?
  
• Keep your PCs the focus of your stories (they went and killed Lord BadGuy instead of helping an NPC. How does that affect their world? How will that NPC react to them next time? Did killing Lord BadGuy put a bounty on their heads?)
  
• Be flexible with your story/plot and the encounters (you wanted them to fight a group of thugs in a barracks but they went into the forest? Okay, now they're fighting wolves in an abandoned castle).
  
• Don't flesh out the story. You should know where they start and places they may go. Let the players fill in the rest.
  
• To that point, only prepare for the upcoming session. You never know when the story will spin in a totally different direction
  
• Leave plot hooks like they're walking through a meat factory
  
• Only spend significant time designing an encounter if it's inevitable. To stop the terrorizing of the town they are determined to kill the dragon. Okay, spend time fleshing out your encounter
  
• D&D needs to be fun for you AND the PCs! It should be a rewarding hobby. Make sure it stays that way!

Rad Hack is a great post-apocalyptic rpg for super cheap.

For a solid old school tabletop experience, I would also highly recommend Basic Fantasy RPG . It’s five bucks for a good sized rule book.

There are several good ones on DriveThruRPG as well.

Dungeon World and Fate are great games if you want to cut wargaming completely out of the equation. Both reduce combat to more a narrative exercise than a tactical one.

Savage Worlds is a great, and cheap, generic system that reduces combat to snap, and really amps up roleplaying.

As other suggested, 5e D&D would probably fit your bill too.

As for the story with Pathfinder, it is D&D 3.5+

When Wizards made 3rd edition, they invented something called the Open Game Licence (OGL). They wanted other people to be able to publish material for D&D while still protecting their copyright. So they put out a bazillion books, realized the game needed tweaking and then put out 3.5. At this time a bunch of companies, Paizo, Bad Axe Games, Kobold Press, etc were also pumping out adventures, rule books, and setting books, and Wizards had no control over what got published and the quality of what was out there. So books like The Book Of Erotic Fantasy came out and killed 3.5.

The jump to 4th edition came, and it was not smooth. Wizards changed the game in many radical ways, and a lot of people didn't like it. Some of them never actually played 4th edition, and just bitched about it on internet forums, some of them played it and hated how videogamey it felt, and some were just pissed at the hundreds of 3.X books they own representing thousands of dollars for a now defunct system.

Paizo decided to publish their own game. Interesting thing about copyright law is that you can't actually copyright game mechanics, only the specific words and phrases you use in your rulebook. So if someone came along and made a game where you had stats representing various character abilities, which gave you numbers you add to d20 rolls to check vs a target number, it would be perfectly legal. Furthermore, the OGL states that Open Game Content is defined as

>the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity....

So the rules are Open to everyone to use, but the Game Identity of D&D is not. So Paizo made their own game, used all the rules, and left all the D&D fluff behind. Tensor's Floating Disk became Floating Disk. Tasha's Hideous Laughter became Hideous Laughter. They cleaned up the rules, and packaged it into a neat, new edition. But it still had the heart of D&D 3.X inside.

The best help I've had are from Matthew Colville's Running the Game playlist, which has been incredibly helpful, and also Sly Flourish's Lazy Dungeon Master

But don't feel like you have to listen to all the videos or read/listen to the whole book. Just make sure you prepare enough for the first session which is usually 3 encounters or so and some RP scenes like introducing the player characters. Also, remember the phrase "What do you do?", it's a good prompt to show that you want player input. I like to print all of the monster stat blocks that I could need for that session into one or two convenient pages and have the notes or pages of the adventure I'm running in a binder. Once you have one session you'll have experience to build and reflect on. As long as you keep trying to get better, it's hard to be terrible.

While I never touched the old West End Games RPG (which gets a lot of love from old-timers), I have played both the Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) versions (e.g. Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, Force and Destiny) & Star Wars SAGA Edition from Wizards of the Coast.

The difference between those two is that FFG is it's own system that takes getting used to, and has a much stronger narrative focus than SAGA, with the dice system sparking all kinds of creative twists, surprises, and complications. One great thing about the system is that it scales up to starship combats/chases pretty well. It took some learning, but I found it really enjoyable as DM once I got the swing of it. It does use its own non-standard dice. And if you want a game with Force users alongside Clone troopers alongside Rebel spies, you're looking at picking up 3 books. Oh! And they also put out The Force Awakens Beginner Game boxed set.

Whereas Star Wars SAGA you can get by with just the core book, or possibly the core book + an era book. It's much less narrative and more conventionally d20-based. Combat can be quite deadly, whereas falling is almost inconsequential - reflecting how it is in the movies. Learning curve is waaay easier than FFG for a D&D player. One downside is that the starship combat/chase rules require you learning a subsystem (and likely devising some of your own challenges/hazards/complications without much guidance). One SAGA book I highly recommend is Galaxy of Intrigue, which has the best treatment of skill challenges in any book, much better than 4e and most of the hacks I've seen online.

That's a great question. Especially since the Realms are constantly changing and in flux. Or at least it seems that way. Coupled with a rich history and meta-story, it can be difficult to really figure out what the hell is going on currently aside from trying to read each and every novel out there. While that's do-able for some, it's not realistic for most.

Probably the best book I can recommend is Elminster's Forgotten Realms. It came out during the end of 4e and while is considered a 4e book, it really isn't. It's actually "edition agnostic," which is just a fancy way of saying that you can use it with any edition of D&D without any hassle. There are no actual stats for stuff within, it's all story stuff. Which is cool. It's like the gazetteers of old.

The only problem with the above is that it came out in 2012, and so its Sundering info is minimal, if it exists at all.

As far as more up to date information, specifically regarding The Sundering, there is the Forgotten Realms Wiki, though I cannot speak to its quality or accuracy.

Good luck and happy gaming.

If you want a really good book to go for, I have an off the wall suggestion. Pick up, "Elminster's Forgotten Realms".

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms/dp/0786960345

The base setting for 5th Edition is Forgotten Realms anyway, so unless your GM is specifically going against the flow, this will likely be useful. Additionally, this is written (at least in part) by the guy who originally designed the setting of Faerun in Forgotten Realms. It's a great read, and all it is, is background information about how people in Faerun live day-to-day. Things everyone would know like, how the temples are run, what kind of food they have, how the calendar works and what the regular festivals are. It's great for making the world feel like a living breathing world.

The Strike at Shayol Ghul details Lews Therins attempt to shut the bore.

Speaking of the Strike at Shayol Ghul, there is The World of Robert Jordan's a Wheel of Time also known affectionetly as the Big White Book (BWB) or Big Book of Bad Art (BBBA). It delves into a lot about cultures, features write ups of each forsaken, pokes fun at the covers and includes the entire text of Strike.

There was a short story called New Spring included in Robert Silverberg's Legends, this was later expanded into the novella New Spring

The short story about Bao is not considered connanical and is included in the short story collection Unfettered

Eye of the world was re-released for a YA market in two parts with a new prologue Ravens

The Interview Database, just click a topic that looks intresting and prepare to lose a day or two

The Wheel of Time FAQ back in the mists of time (late 90's early aughts) this was the best resource for all things WoT related. It hasn't been significantly updated since about book 10 (i mean, yes there were updates, but nothing on the scale and detail that it used to get). Gives great insight into what the fandom was pulling its hair out about during the two years+ between books. Also, some of the info is evergreen like historical references etc.

There was a terrible video game that has almost zero to do with the series.

There was a d20 based D&D rule set released and a adventure that explained how Taim got to Rand in time to rescue himat Dumai's Wells. RJ later came out and said that this was completely made up by the authors of the module and had nothing to do with the series, which was a BIG clue about Taim's allegiance.

I feel like im missing something, but I can't put my finger on it, so I will leave you with a random fact that you should know

Tar Valon is a vagina

The Sims 3

For a giveaway, I'd probably have people post something relevant to the game they're interested in such as personal art, favorite song from the OST, or favorite YouTuber's video related to the game. Something along those lines.

On the subject of RPG content, my favorite system is Pathfinder because it's one whole system in a book and it's a well-made system. Basically D&D 3.75. d20 stuff is probably the best system-independent content. I haven't looked much into that sort of thing. I've mainly played D&D and White Wolf games.

Akuma mentioned it, and I also want to suggest picking up the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. It's absolutely phenomenal in terms of detail about regions, events, history, setting, etc. You will see a lot of mechanics for 3.x, but it's easy enough to disregard or even use their fluff to convert and make stuff for 5e FR.

Also worth picking up is the 4th edition book (Ed Greenwood Presents) Elminster's Forgotten Realms. It has a lot of "on the ground, personal level" detail and fluff, like what people eat in different regions, how they worship, etc. Neat book, fun read.

If you are interested, check out the preview pages, for example on amazon

The main advice I got from it is spending preparation time on the most important/immediate parts of your adventure while staying flexible (consider 3 possible paths the adventure could continue on). There's some more advice on how to improve your game or make your life as a DM easier, often giving simple tools for it (at least simple steps you could follow to achieve it). The table of contents (shown in the preview on amazon) should give you a good idea on what's included.

We use this book: https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Roleplaying-Game-Fantasy/dp/0786919965

I think it might be the same as yours.

​

We haven't started converting it to 5e yet. We agreed to do a few one-shots with the original system and if people feel like it needs work we will convert it. I you start doing it sooner then us I'd be more than interested to take a look at it, converting a whole game to a different system is no small job and I wish you the best of luck!

Not sure how official it ever was but there was a system made for 3.0: https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Roleplaying-Game-Fantasy/dp/0786919965

Those archetype are certainly a lot more party friendly thanks.

Check out Mythweavers: http://www.myth-weavers.com/forumhome.php

It's a play by post site and you can join games for all sorts of different rpgs.

Personally, I would recommend trying Savage Worlds. It's a really fun and easy to learn system, and it can be used for a wide variety of games, from fantasy to modern to sci-fi. There's a free test drive of the rules that you can check out here:
http://www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/TD06.pdf

The full rulebook is $8.99 on Amazon, and it has everything you need to play: http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200#

Ah. Yeah, sorry you bought the wrong product if you want to get in to Pathfinder =(

It's not your fault though! There are a ton of products for Pathfinder. If you want to get started in it, I'd suggest getting the Beginner box if you are completely new to tabletop RPGs, or going directly to the Pathfinder Core Rule Book if you feel more confident about it all.

The way the game is played is that you have a party of people (usually 3-5 people) who are role playing as various characters doing their thing in the world, and one more person (the DM, GM, Sotryteller, whatever name you call him) who is the world. He plays all the non-player characters, the monsters, the environment, all of it.

If you have any specific questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!

Also if you have the MM and are looking for yet more monsters for your campaign, OR have players like mine that all know the MM by heart and it becomes a challenge to surprise them constantly with new and creative monsters... check out The Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press

Its worked great for me so far.

Pathfinder Pawns are a very good alternative to plastic minis. They won't have some of the more iconic D&D baddies like Beholders, but that is a minor complaint. I also use the Paizo battle mats but that is just because I got them for free somewhere. I lay a piece of plexi-glass over the map and just use a dry erase marker on the plexi. Way easier to clean up than the maps.

Tome of Beasts is a great supplement full of 5e monsters.

I like using the Dungeon Crawl Classics dice set. It is a simple, fun way to have "unique" monsters or abilties that roll odd dice to hit or for damage. Players always get a kick out of using something like a D30 when they roll to attack.

Hi TerraRising,

As mentioned above, adding Champions to the game that are not already owned by Wizards of the Coast/Dungeons & Dragons requires a lot of moving parts to align just right before it can happen.

The added difficulty with Critical Role is that those characters are also not in the Forgotten Realms. Because the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting is a homebrew creation there are the added complications of introducing characters truly outside the Forgotten Realms, which makes our conversations, design, and approval process with Wizards of the Coast more challenging.

We absolutely love The Mighty Nein, though. We would love to add them to the game!

You may try a technique called "The Lazy DM" . or the "Minimalist DM"

Basically, only plan the first 15 minutes of a session, do broad stoke planning on areas of interest (that can be interchangeable) and just improvise the rest.

Since you can't reliably plan for what the players are going to do past 15 minutes of play.... accept it and instead learn to adapt quickly and confidently to what and where the players are moving the story. keep a list of pre planned battle encounters \ interesting hooks and NPCs you can drop in anywhere in the story.. and you are good to go.

here is a great book with many authors, stories, and ideas you can read https://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-Shea-ebook/dp/B00ADV2H8O

All the creative energy you can spend building the world, npcs, factions and relations are great. And i enjoy Dms who can pull it off. but, 75% of your world building won't get explored. instead focus your creative energies in creating scenarios \ and fun encounters that can be switched in and out at will.

Plan broad strokes... and fill in the detail when the players arrive to a new location.

IE you know there is a BIG BAD ENEMY to the east... well the players went west.

Either invent a new evil organization on the fly... (all you need is a name.... then stall for time) or move your BBE to the west.

NOTE: this is an example of an improv heavy DM style.. but, it works great for true sandbox exploring.

Agreed. It's ridiculous that they don't have a more comprehensive book for FR given how heavily it's used for 5e.

The 3e edition campaign setting book is still my goto for FR lore. Course it's before the spellplague and a good ways in the past from 5e but it's loaded with great stuff. NPCs, organizations, governments, lore that are mostly still applicable to 5e FR. It details a much larger area than just the Sword Coast North and Chult. It's the best FR campaign book out there imo.

My group prefers to play the West End Games d6 version, but I've read through the SAGA edition for d20 and like it quite a lot more than the first d20 Star Wars RPG.

The thing I like about SAGA is that it is all fairly balanced and is very easy for a D&D player to get into due to the core rules being d20. A great many of the subsystems have commonalities with 4e D&D for speed of use, which I also like.

d6, however, has potentially much more lethal combat and allows for Force-users to really shine. That said, it can be a struggle to integrate a full-fledged Jedi knight with a regular party and not have him outshine everyone else. Depends on the story, of course, but we manage.

Premades are great if you're going that route. One of the best 3rd party resource books out there imo is the Tome of Beasts. I'm running CoS right now. After getting Tome of Beasts I paged through it quickly to see what creatures I could weave into the story. Came out with about 15 undead/creepy things to use. Volo's I did that same thing and came out with 4 creatures I might throw in. Highly recommend Tome of Beasts for any DM.

This is a campaign specific screen for Tomb of Annihilation. If you’re looking for a general screen, the DM Screen Reincarnated that Wizards makes is really the best option. I hemmed and hawed back and forth over which screen to get and I’m really happy with the standard one. I use this because a player in my campaign bought it for me and its great for the specific module.

What are you looking for? I've become a huge fan of Kobold Press' Tome of Beasts for new and interesting stat blocks. They have some really fun things. And I liked some of the character options from the Critical Role campaign setting. There are a few bits and pieces I've find elsewhere, including many of the free products from Dungeon Master's Guild. I've occasionally looked through the publicly available homebrew items and monsters from D&D Beyond, and I haven't found anything that fits me perfectly, but they have plenty of interesting and unique ideas.

The best general overview of the Realms I've found is Elminster's Forgotten Realms. It's system- and edition-neutral, and talks about many aspects of the Realms, including common festivals, education, literacy, and other elements that explain how this fantasy world is different than others. That said, the 5th Edition Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide gives you more stats and recent history, so it might be the more practical book.

That said, I recommend that you don't try to be completely true to the Realms. There's just far too much history and geography to learn if you want to be accurate. Start small and read up what you can, but feel free to shift things around as you see fit.

Good advice here in this thread. Earlier this year I combined two separate campaigns / groups into one. I'll skip my experiences / philosophy and jump straight into what's working.

What's Working

• Low expectations. The only thing I expect from players is participating in scheduling polls if they want to play.
  
• Clear, direct communication. I use email subjects that start with [D&D To-Do] or [D&D Session Recap] to help separate what a player needs to respond to, and what can safely be ignored. I also use the Respondable plugin for Gmail to help me write these communications.
  
• Using Doodle for scheduling. I set up a poll with days I'm available to DM in a given month. I send it out on the 15th of the month prior, and typically text players individually that it's coming.
  
• Limit the number of players in a session. My ideal session size is four players, but I'll take five no questions asked. I'll go to 6 or 7 once in a while if necessary.
  
• Focus on the PCs and prep using Mike Shea's The Lazy Dungeon Master
  
• At the end of a session, ask the players what they're thinking. What questions do they have about what just happened? Who they just met? What do they want to do next? It helps them clarify their version of events in their heads, and gives me a head start on things to include in the future.
  
• Use Downtime Activities between each session to set up hooks for the future. PCs meet NPCs before the rest of the party and have their own interactions/opinions, or learn information that becomes important in the not-too-distant future.

While reading the books is the most legitimate source; there is the slim possibility that you could find the D20 RPG book in a library. I did say slim? I probably should be honest and say next to extremely unlikely; as it's out of print from 2001- but it depends on your size of library system, etc. Or you might know a RPG friend that has one.

WoT D20 RPG Source book

Covers the system (while doing some D20 conversions) but does give a great overview of what could be possible with the magic system it and summarizes it in one book.

Thanks again, you've convinced me to get the DM Kit and core rule book (hopefully it supplements the D&D for dummies book i got). Theres been come conflicting advice but your reasoning makes sense.

But for players we'll need at least one players book between them if they want to level and stuff or create new races right? So This?
Or what others have been recommending

Lastly 3 Gameplay questions.

• As a DM when i role for initiative, if theres like 6 minions do i role once for all of them and they all go in a row or is it always a separate role for each creature?
  
  
• When the players enter the room i put down the goblin or two they see. but behind a door or around the corner theres some more. I read i should roll initiative for them from the start. but when do they engage? Would they hear the battle or 'war cry' from a goblin being attacked or is it eyesight or do i make it up based on the environment/creatures?
  
  
• Lastly how do i divvy up treasure? I've found a lot on this and apparently everyones got their own way so im curious as your thoughts? The end of the adventure in red box lists 9 parcels with 3 of them being magic items and i am to divy them out across the adventure. 2 of them are story based and can be unlocked so i assume they count, but there are 7 possible encounters. The others i throw in here or there? some people say its easiest for the party to have a collective bank so i might just wait till the end and let them sort it out. At least my first game so i can concentrate on other stuff.
  
  Thanks again

I'd recommend the Neverwinter Campaign Setting of 4e. While the mechanics are all for 4e, there's a lot of fluff specific to Neverwinter and the surrounding areas. Might not want to use all of it, but it'd certainly be great for background/descriptions/fluff/NPC and faction ideas.

As I recall, it has details for Castle Never as an adventure site, and has info on Lord Neverember and other important leaders of the city.

Here's the amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Neverwinter-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Supplement/dp/0786958146

The commonly accepted pronunciation, as determined by the creator of the Forgotten Realms is like now or cow or prow.

EDIT

This pronunciation may be specific to the Realms, or universal to all planes.

Source: This super awesome book I got in the reddit Fantasy exchange.

You can buy the rulebook for like $25 on amazon
. I really like it, i've played like 4-5 sessions of it. It plays a bit like D&D but usually you play as detectives (More in actions then in title, unless you want to play an actual detective) And combat is SIGNIFICANTLY more deadly. You won't be much stronger than the average cultist.

[If you want to see it being played I'm particular to Dice Stormers on youtube.] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oi1i70iaUM&list=UUiHMbAFXhVslHs0wPd8-JrA)

Not a novel, but Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms is a great resource for Life and Trade in the realms, including information about slave trade. I don't have my copy handy right now, but I think there's a few pages of information about it in there. Overall just a great book to own when playing in the Realms.

I understand now - sorry. I thought you were making a joke about the dice system because it is so free-flowing. I get it now. You did lay your complaints out clearly. I thought you were asking ironically. :)

I personally think that this system is so heavily narrative that it is not going to appeal to everyone. It just isn't. For me, it's breathed fresh air into a hobby that I really didn't care about anymore and caused me to discover a number of narrative-style systems and I find the complication of every single roll to be interesting and fun. I was so tired of just hitting or not and just playing math against terrain, conditions, and ultimately baddie hit points.

It sounds like you favor the "strategic" side of role-playing more than the creative nature of storytelling - and I've said this before on this sub, that's totally ok. There is no shame in playing the game the way you like it! I don't know that there's a way to address the complaints you have for the system without tearing out parts of the spirit of the game. For me, limiting how Advantage/Disadvantage and Triumph/Despair can affect every kind of roll is limiting the game potential both from a mechanical and a player perspective.

Have you played Star Wars d20 or Star Wars Saga before? It sounds like these systems would appeal to you far more than FFG's narrative dice system. They're d20 based and lend heavily to a grid map battle system and a simple "hit or not" system. They've got the Star Wars feel (especially Saga) with that tried and true "roll a d20 and add some stuff and simply hit or not" method of gaming.

Hope this helps - and sorry again for the confusion on your post. :)

For D&D4e, I recommend starting with Essentials. Personally, I prefer 4e because it has balance and encourages working together. You can get the 4e Red Box, but it is slightly inconsistent with everything else and will only take you so far. Anyway, here's a minimal shopping list:

• Heroes of the Fallen Lands
  
• Rules Compendium
  
• Monster Vault
  
  The Essentials DM kit is also good. With the exception of the Red Box, all 4e material is compatible across the board, so adding in new player options or DM stuff is as easy as picking up a supplement or getting a DDI subscription.
  
  If you've never played before, WotC holds an "Encounters" programs on Wednesday evenings at local gaming stores. It is specifically designed to introduce players to D&D as well as sell their latest product. If you live in the DC metro area, I can give you some pointers on where to go, if you're interested.

My recommendation would be to go pick up some 2nd, 3rd or 4th edition sourcebooks for dirt cheap at Half Price Books or online. The Forgotten Realms sourcebook from 3.5 is what I am currently using, it has a removable foldout map of Faerun, and detailed lists of major sights throughout the realms, including descriptions of the major cities, ruins, etc.

I've heard good things about the Greenwood Forgotten Realms book as well.

You can probably also find sourcebooks specific to Waterdeep, Neverwinter, etc. though I don't know the specific titles.

The point is that generally speaking the edition doesn't matter when it comes to background materials, physical descriptions, major characters, history, politics, factions, maps, etc. It just doesn't. So do yourself a favor and buy this stuff cheap from older editions.

Also, keep in mind that while you are building off of an existing world, and there is something cool about that, the minute you start to play in it it's YOUR world. None of these sourcebooks are going to have every single detail fleshed out, and often will just give you the flavor of a particular city, a few major landmarks, etc. From there on you should create your own landmarks, taverns, interesting characters, history, etc.

This is the book that I use a lot:
http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/0786918365/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417478819&sr=1-2&keywords=FOrgotten+Realms

Here are more:

http://www.amazon.com/Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms/dp/0786960345

Neverwinter book:
http://www.amazon.com/Neverwinter-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Supplement/dp/0786958146/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417478789&sr=1-4&keywords=Neverwinter+source+book

Waterdeep book:
http://www.amazon.com/City-Splendors-Waterdeep-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/0786936932/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417478895&sr=1-1&keywords=Waterdeep

http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Realms-Atlas-Karen-Fonstad/dp/0880388579/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417478853&sr=1-3&keywords=FOrgotten+Realms

Hope that helps. Also buy 4th edition stuff now if you ever think you want it. Lots of stores are having fire sales moving their 4th ed stuff.

Sorry for the long links but I'm on mobile. I use these. Yes they are intended as dnd monsters but the creatures are very easily adaptable. I'm using these 2 books for inspiration in a dungeon world game at the moment.

Tome of Beasts https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781565/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wKGzCbCPJ9KQ8

Creature Codex https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781921/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6HGzCbN9F22K2

I’m actually pretty much in the same boat (homebrew Adventure, about to start LMoP, looking for what’s next, the works haha) so I’d love to hear any answers.
That being said, idk if you’ve heard of/are a Fan of Critical Role (D&D campaign on Twitch/YouTube done by voice actors) but they released their campaign as an adventure: Critical Role/Tal’Dorei Campaign I’m getting it either way cuz I’m a fan of the show and will want to probably run this at some point, but I’m still interested in other people’s answers cuz I might not use this one right away.

www.oglaf.com

Its a comic series. Fair warning, its SUPER NSFW. Its basically if you were cataloging an adventure made from the Book of Erotic Fantasy, and everyone at your table had a GREAT sense of humor, this is what you'd make with it.

Here's the "Pinecone" comic which is one of few comic pages from that site that IS technically SFW (just a big ole gay smooch). Clicking next for page 2 is NSFW, but it continues the skit.

The Xoan Ambassador is my favorite character. He's like everyone's charisma-rogue/bard hybrid type.

More on the Zoan Ambassador nonsense (Nsfw)

If you're completely new to DnD, I'd go for either DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder. Neal uses an apparently very homebrewed 2nd Edition, so, you're not going to be playing the same game with regular old 2e stuff. It's clunky and aged, and he (presumably) still uses it because it's what he's always used, so he's used to it, and he's ironed out the kinks.

So, yeah, the most recent edition of DnD is 4e, which is commonly considered to be a little bit too dumbed down, but it doesn't really matter that much if you're new. Still, the books are expensive, so you should try to look into the different versions and find out which one sounds like you'd prefer it. 3.5 and Pathfinder are very similar, as Pathfinder is actually based on 3.5 with a couple things done to streamline some of the combat. Also,the art in the books is really pretty (completely superficial, but it's nice,) and you don't have to buy a rule book, player handbook, AND a bestiary, just the core book and a bestiary if you're DMing, so it's like thirty bucks cheaper, AND Pathfinder is backwards compatible with 3.5 books, so... yeah, that's also nice. They also have a DM's guide which is all about how to make and run a game. Pathfinder and 3.5 both have a bunch of ancillary resource books too, like NPC and equipment books. I know Neal has at least one weapons book, but they aren't necessary; they're just extra guidance.

I don't have the campaign specific ones. I did want to interject that "crap" is HIGHLY subjective. While it might not be the best per se, it isn't as bad as people say. It just isn't a one-screen-fits-all. Everyone wants something different.

FYI they are putting out a new WotC one this Fall and from looking at screenshots it seems better laid out and more optimized.

The Gale Force 9 screens are made specifically to complement the adventure with adventure art and specific info on the DM's side. So unless you REALLY like that Curse of Strahd art, I wouldn't worry with any of the GF9 screens. But I can't speak to the quality.

Dungeon Master's Screen Reincarnated

Picture of the new screen being used by Matt Mercer

Have you grabbed "Tome of Beasts" from Kobold Press?
https://www.amazon.com/Beasts-Wolfgang-Baur/dp/1936781565/

It's not "official", but it's pretty high quality. Many of the creatures are pulled from their Midgard campaign setting, so that may be your best source.

> I am currently playing a custom adventure under the 4th edition D&D ruleset.

The Star Wars Saga edition is pretty much 4.0 beta, but because it is out of print it can be a bit expensive. I am running it now, and enjoy it. There is also a campaign setting book for that era.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Roleplaying-Rulebook-Edition/dp/0786943564/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1

http://www.amazon.com/Rebellion-Campaign-Guide-Star-Roleplaying/dp/078694983X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_9

As for inspiration, I personally draw them right from the EU books. I am doing Legacy setting now, and took the campaign right out of issues 57+

Lets include more nonsense in this pointless debate.

4e D&D outsells Pathfinder!

4e Amazon Sales Rank: #4,549

Pathfinder Amazon Sales Rank: #14,423

Lets all just play the game you enjoy. Who cares which sells better.

The only thing the game does assume is that everyone has the Core Rulebook and the PFS Guide

You can get a pdf version here for 9.99 : http://paizo.com/products/btpy88yj?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Core-Rulebook

Or if you want the physical copy go to amazon and save a lot of money here: http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Core-Rulebook/dp/1601251505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377006408&sr=8-1&keywords=pathfinder+core+rulebook



Now the guide to PFS play can be found for free at : http://paizo.com/products/btpy84k4?Guide-to-Pathfinder-Society-Organized-Play

For those interested, In 3rd edition a book was published under the OGL called The Book of Erotic Fantasy It had everything from fertility rates of the races, gestation period, spells for helping birth and curing/causing impotence and love potions as well as more lascivious gaming aids. Among 3rd edition grognards it is a book of much discussion.

I make use of a wide variety of tools ranging from donjon to Table Fables and a bunch of things in between. I would like to say that I take the time to generate a list of names in advance, but in practice I don't really do that and I will just whip out one of many tools and have that name prepared in a few short seconds with a description if I can't think of one on my own.

However, if you are more... motivated than I am then you should make sure to have a list already made. Also, remember to cross names off the list as you use them.

There are a lot of entry points. Which one is best will probably depend on your level of gamerness (if that's a word?).

If you don't do much tabletop gaming (or your only boardgames are from Hasbro), the D&D fifth edition starter set is a great place to start. Eventually, your group will have to get the DM Guide,, Player's Handbook, and maybe the Monster Manual after you finish the sessions from the starter set.

If you're more of a gamer, and you like min/maxing, let me recommend Pathfinder. It's an offshoot of the 3.5th edition of D&D (considered by many to be the heyday of D&D's systems. Here's their beginner box - the great thing about pathfinder is that after you finish that box, you don't need to buy anything. Ever again. there are resource pages all over the internet where all of the source material is available for free. (premade campaigns, you'll have to buy if you want to use them, though, but that's the same as D&D).

Another option if you're a starwars fan, is the new Star Wars RPG by fantasy flight. There are different source books and begginer boxes depending on if you want to focus your adventures around smugglers and normal folk on the edge of civilization or members of the rebellion

As mentioned by u/pb_rpg the Waterdeep City Encounters of DMsGuild is a great asset to have to hand. Additionally, the book Table Fables comes in handy quite frequently when improvising pickpocketed items or fleshing out shops.

If you're willing to wait a month, you can use the Beginner Box Set, but if not, I recommend the 5th Edition book. The core rule book has everything you need except for character sheets, which you'll need to print, and dice, which I'm sure you can find.

Party Size: 1 GM + 2-4 players is ideal. 1 player "solo" adventures are fun, but can be difficult to run. If you have 5+ players, it can be difficult for the GM to manage, but it can be done. Consider splitting into two groups.

No, you don't need miniatures. You can use anything to represent your characeters on the map, such as rocks. Or don't use a map at all.

> You have previously mentioned familiarity with pathfinder... WotC owns >the franchise, they're publishing books for it.

Well I can't be blamed for misconstruing this.

That you can get the books cheaper than list price on Amazon doesn't matter. I can get anything cheaper on Amazon, including other RPGs. The cost difference is still the same and you should support your local game stores. They are central to having an active local gaming community.

Nevermind that two copies of Pathfinder at $31 is less than your $66 set anyway. Lets not even worry about Pathfinder though. It is essentially just an improved version of 3.5. The award winning SotC is also $30 from amazon and you could get two of those as well. You could get the core Savage Worlds rules plus the Fantasy Companion and Deadlands for that price. Thats good for at least 3 completely different campaign settings.

I can see that we will never agree on this. Consider taking Savage Worlds for a test drive. It won't cost you anything but time.

I absolutely love the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game based on the D20 system for lore. I used to play a lot of D20 on other systems but never this one. Didn't matter though - it's a fun reference. Find it here!

I've sent game books to a friend in a Federal prison.

The books must come directly from a publisher or bookstore. I can't ship him anything from my home. Dice are not allowed. They use homemade chits.

No boxes or anything other than books are allowed. The guards open everything before the inmate receives it and they won't separate stuff that isn't okay from stuff that is okay, so for example if a book comes in a boxed set with a map, the whole thing will be rejected.

Everything must arrive via USPS, so you have to do a little trick to get something from Amazon delivered (Amazon doesn't allow you to specify a shipper) - you list the address as a PO box even though it isn't, then in the second line of the address put the real address (along with the required facility information.) Amazon's delivery system sees it as a PO box, so ships it USPS. The mail carrier sees it as a real address and it gets there. If it doesn't you really can't complain since it's a funny little address hack.

There is technically a limit on the number of personal books inmates at his facility may have - I think it is 10 books and 10 magazines. That isn't usually enforced he said, but when a guard is angry for any reason, it is selectively enforced.

He is at a large facility and knows of at least five or six groups that play. OSR games and 3rd edition D&D are what everyone plays. He theorizes that 4th edition never caught on for some reason and 5th edition hasn't made an impact because people like to play what they played outside.

If anyone knows a gamer in a prison with an OSR bent Basic Fantasy Role-Playing is a great deal from Amazon because it is a clone of old school D&D, it's a complete game in one volume, and it's low cost (low enough to send them multiple copies over time so they have "loaner" books to play with).

It's pricey, but AEG's Ultimate Toolbox has tons of good stuff in it. I've also heard good things about the Table Fables books available on Amazon, but don't have any personal experience with them.
 
Lately, Hubris has been my go-to for adding in weird terrain features and plot hooks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/952590444X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_FGVXCbMRF6WTN is the physical book, though if you can get your LFGS to order it, that's always recommended.

If you're looking to go cheap, Basic Fantasy RPG is a a great option. It's available free in PDF form and dead tree copies are on Amazon. For $20 you can get the core rules and at least a year worth of adventures and campaign stuff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1503334945/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_DIVXCbCSGRPAT

I've found reading books on the subject like the Lazy DM or watching youtube Channels (Matthew Mercer on Geek & Sundry, Matthew Colville, and How to be a Great GM can help.

The standard 5E DM screen is excellent.

The starter set is also excellent.

/u/amightyrobot speaks truth. I'd mentioned CoC yesterday, but I guess it was easy to miss around all of the other posts. It's very simple to learn, has a ton of good adventures and setting books, and all of the published material is 99% compatible across editions.

You can even get the core rulebook for cheap.

Here's an Amazon entry.

Here's DriveThruRPG's PDF of the same.

You could no doubt find cheaper ones with some effort, but that was just off the top of my head.

And here is the Amazon page for it.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/1588463990

God, I love Amazon reviewers.

Probably too late for this weekend, but what you want is this: https://www.amazon.com/Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms/dp/0786960345/

That's the book Ed Greenwood put together talking about what everyday life's like in the Realms. Very interesting if you're looking for those sorts of tidbits.

Neverwinter is a lot like Waterdeep, Menzoberranzan, and Undermountain in that it is one of the most thoroughly designed, written about places in all of D&D. 4e has an entire 224 page book devoted to it as a campaign setting and the current D&D MMO is set there. There's so much to do there that your heroes could stop, buy a house, and adventure there for the rest of the campaign without stepping foot outside the gates.

There is an official Wheel of Time RPG, and it is, IMO, very well-written. I'd recommend just playing that or adapting it for Pathfinder. It's d20 3.0, so it's pretty easy to make the transition from Pathfinder to either playing or adapting the WoT RPG.

Since he is 10 I would go with a beginner's box.

Pathfinder is a wonderful place to start. It is what most people will recomend and with the beginner's box it will be a relatively cheap and fast way to find out if it is the game for him.

We also have the D&D 5th Edition Starter Set too. While I would not personally recommend it for reasons of personal preference it is a very beginner friendly rule set.

There are many other options (that can get freaking expensive) but those are the most beginner friendly and economical ways to start.

I went for the Dungeons and Dragons DM Screen Reincarnated:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/078696619X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_h4RoDb8RDFYX5

Its not too expensive and comes with all the basic info you would need on hand in a game. But feel free to stick more to it as well Haha.

Edit: edited broken link

You're missing one. Granted, it's not a WOTC product but definitely well worth it in my opinion.

There is no free official PDF for Critical Role. You can check out the Critical Role Fandom Wiki to find things that have occurred in the stream to help you out.


They have an official book that you can purchase. I don't own the book (yet) but my friend does and it's filled with so much information. It's worth the purchase if you're looking into having a CR campaign.

The Savage Worlds core rulebook is wonderfully inexpensive- $9.99.

They do have free Test Drive rules which would give you a very good idea of whats going on.

• Savage Worlds Test Drive PDF
  
• core rulebook on Amazon

The Wheel of Time already has a RPG, based on D&D 3.0 rules:

The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game

Additionally, there was one supplement:

Prophecies of the Dragon

It wouldn't take a lot of work to update that to D&D 3.5, or first edition Pathfinder (aka 3.75), and there's guides to update from first edition to the new second edition, so put in a night's work and you'd be able to play that with a current rules set, if you wished.

Hope that helps!

Oh wow that is tiny. Do you know if all of the 'DnD Adventure' listings on Amazon are all of the campaigns out at the moment?

Such as...
https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Tiamat-Adventure-Wizards-Team/dp/0786965657/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1466616249&sr=8-4&keywords=Dnd+adventure

OP, have a look at http://www.amazon.com/Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms/dp/0786960345

It's by the guy who created the Realms, and it's pretty good, I hear.

There aren't a lot out there specifically for 5e (assuming you're playing 5e, don't remember if you mentioned it) yet. In fact the only ones I'm aware of are of the campaign variety (a string of 'adventures') and there's nothing wrong with any of them. I've run Hoard of the Dragon Queen, The Rise of Tiamat, Princes of the Apocalypse and I'm currently running Out of the Abyss..

You can always take a module from an older version of the game (or from a completely different game even) but you'll have to do some work to get it ready. The stats for the monsters will be different - you'll need to look up the same or similar monsters in the Monster Manual and have the stats ready. Other than that though the plot, maps and the rest can be used as-is.

DriveThruRPG has some modules that don't cost too much. You get them as a pdf instead of a physical book, but everything you need is there. Again, if you use one from an older version of the game you'll have to do some prep work.

You can find them on EBay as well. Some of the most famous ones are Tomb of Horrors (really though - don't do it. Your players will hate you), Ravenloft (my personal favorite module of all time which a Redditor has converted to 5e) and here's a list that I largely agree with.

I don't know if I'd go Revised for a group like that, Revised is fairly similar to 3.5 in general IIRC. Personally, I prefer the Saga system, I feel like it flows a bit better overall.

Just to clarify, there is 1 Core Book (which is, as others have said, all you technically need), and 4 companion books - Super Powers, Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy. Then there are numerous setting books such as Deadlands, 50Fathoms (made by Pinnacle), or Beasts & Barbarians (made by the licensee GRAmel).

• Core Book - the stuff you absolutely definitely need
  
• Companion Books - extra optional rules in case you need rules for things like mechas in space (Science Fiction) or sanity rules a la Cthulhu (Horror)
  
• Setting Books - premade worlds for you to play in; often comes with a campaign already made although not always
  

Some book stores, you can go to a Barnes and Noble and ask an employee who can have it ordered for pickup for you. Other wise you can get it on sale on amazon right now

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781565/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_18Z-zb6VDY9JY

You could try to get the RPG game from Chaosium and such, stuff like "Call of Cthulhu" (https://www.amazon.com/Call-Cthulhu-Horror-Roleplaying-Lovecraft/dp/1568821816/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467686272&sr=1-3) and also some extensions like Delta Green (https://www.amazon.com/Delta-Cthulhu-Horror-Roleplaying-Modern/dp/1887797084). Most are nice to read even if you don't play the RPG.
Also books from Robert E. Howard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard).

Alternately, you can get either or both of these for character creation. They offer a different style of characters to play, and will be the same classes that you'll find in the Red Box. In my experience these classes are easier on new players than the PHB classes.

For any backround information, just refer to the wiki:

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

For the adventures, buy either of the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Wizards-Team/dp/0786965592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496916563&sr=8-1&keywords=5e+starter+set

https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Kings-Thunder-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786966009/ref=pd_sim_14_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0786966009&pd_rd_r=G32SS8JKKV8E0RJEWD11&pd_rd_w=q2eos&pd_rd_wg=Fl90h&psc=1&refRID=G32SS8JKKV8E0RJEWD11

https://www.amazon.com/Hoard-Dragon-Queen-Adventure-Wizards/dp/0786965649/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496916592&sr=1-1&keywords=hoard+of+the+dragon+queen

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Tiamat-Adventure-Wizards-Team/dp/0786965657/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496916610&sr=1-1&keywords=rise+of+tiamat

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=princes+of+the+apocalypse+d%26d&sprefix=princes+of%2Cstripbooks%2C573&crid=1MNP7K2PCNO3F

https://www.amazon.com/Out-Abyss-D-Accessory/dp/0786965819/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496917649&sr=1-1-fkmr0

You could also learn the lore while playing games like:

• Neverwinter Nights (1&2)
  
  
• Baldurs Gate (1&2)
  
  
• Neverwinter Online
  
  
• Sword Coast Legends

If this is the kind of game you want to run may I reccomend this book it's 3.5 but easily adapted:
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/1588463990

If not, "you are now capable of bending in such a way as it is possible" fade to black move on.

There is a starters pack that has pregen characters and more simplified rules and comes with an adventure it is fairly cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1601256302/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526747913&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pathfinder+starter+box

It explains and focuses on what you need to know, it's how I started GMing. It's easier than reading that huge core book and get your bearings.

To your first point, I make up cheat sheets for my players and I have the rules distilled down to about 8 pages that are quick to reference. If your players aren't going to read the PHB, then you can control how they upgrade and what spells they have. (More power to the DM! Ah ha ha ha!)

Second, I demand that players stay off the phone at the table. As a GM, I know I can get players and you will too. Rather than making it a direct confrontation though, put tools in place that speed up the game and cause them to pay attention. I use a timer during combat and give 90 seconds per player per round to take their actions. (This is a good thing to do anyway for a good number of reasons. You'll find that once the players get used to it, it's way more time than they need anyway.)

If your player knows the tropes, it's on you to get creative and challenge him. This is one where I don't have any sympathy for you. (Ok, I really do, but it's your problem not the player's.) You're basically being challenged to step up your game. If it's combat, be more obscure with your monster choices and maybe use an alternative monster manual like the Creature Codex and Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press. (I had to do this because of the veteran players at my table.) If it's puzzles, you'll just have to dig up more obscure material. For politics and NPCs, read Roger Zelazny novels for non-tropish inspiration. As far as metagaming, watch this video by Seth Skorkowsky for an alternative view: Metagaming Isn't All Bad - RPG Philosophy.

This book has some of the best tables in it I've ever used. Other DMs around me borrow it on sessions as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1542678595/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I feel the same way when I DM and of all the vids / posts / tips etc out there these have probably been the most helpful resources:

https://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-Shea-ebook/dp/B00ADV2H8O/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1539288037&sr=1-3&keywords=lazy+dungeon+master

​

https://www.amazon.com/Return-Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-ebook/dp/B07H51KHWB/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1539288037&sr=1-4&keywords=lazy+dungeon+master

​

At least for me. For instance I was getting lost in NPCs and various other info in the DnD Starter Kit module but those books helped me cut a lot of unneeded things out of the module and create a better experience / NPC's etc.

When I started play testing Next I purchased this book: http://www.amazon.com/Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms/dp/0786960345

It's Edition Agnostic! (It's just Ed detailing the Realms…) The photo with that link is awful. The material of the cover is fantastic! It feels like suede.

I underestimated how useful that DM screen is for quick reference. It has so much useful stuff and constantly referencing all the material slows down gameplay to a crawl. I eventually could pull it off the top of my head, but it vastly improved immersion/fun when I picked it up. I got this one but there are others