Welcome to the world of TTRPGs (Tabletop Roleplaying Games)!
Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or a curious newcomer, this guide is designed to provide you with the essential knowledge, tips, and advice to enhance your gaming experience. Here, you'll learn the basics of gameplay, understand the roles and responsibilities of both players and the Gamemaster (GM), and discover the intricacies of character creation, role-playing, and game mechanics. You'll also learn how to conduct yourself and your character, taking into account action/reaction dynamics and character ability - play to your strengths!
NOTE: You do not need to know every rule or regulation for each game you decide to experience. All you need to do is play your character how you think they should be played according to their backgrounds, abilities (or lack thereof), feelings, or current predicaments.
Basic Gameplay
With nearly every Tabletop Roleplaying Game in existence, there is a set of foundational principles that rarely - if ever - change, even with entirely different rulesets in play. These principles can be broken down into three distinct phases, which are almost always present within each roleplaying game experience you find yourself a part of. They are as follows:
Character Creation - You can't play a roleplaying game without a character (usually)! Character Creation is a very exciting part of the TTRPG experience, as it allows you the opportunity to shape the character you'll be playing from the ground up, picking and choosing their statistics and abilities as you see fit. For many, this part of the TTRPG experience is the most exciting because it is anticipatory - having a playable character ready to be thrown into a new world gets you fired up!
Roleplaying - This is the act of speaking and acting as you believe your character would, which can include using particular voices, mannerisms, or attitudes. Try to stay true to your character's personality, but be flexible - you must adapt to the unfolding story.
Action/Reaction - The game progresses through a cycle of actions and reactions - Newton's Law. You decide what your character does, and the GM describes the outcomes of those decisions, good or bad. Such decisions often come with the act of rolling dice to determine the outcome, which are affected by your character's abilities or statistics. Actions can range from talking to an NPC (Non-Player Character), attacking a monster, investigating a mysterious object, or breaking your comrade out of jail - there are no limits (usually)!
How to Conduct Yourself
Table manner is paramount to the success and continuity of a session, and plays a significant role in the experience and level of fun each player at the table can have - if the players aren't having fun, something is wrong. This being said, there are several important things to remember:
Respect everyone - Listen when others are speaking, and do your best to avoid interrupting game flow. Allow each other the chance to act through their characters, and provide input when needed or warranted - TTRPGs are always a collective effort, which makes everyone's opinions and actions valuable.
Immerse yourself - Stay engaged with the game and dive into the world around you - become someone new! Try to limit your distractions (this is not always possible, but do your best), and avoid having side conversations if you can help it.
Collaboration - Work together with your fellow players to build the story. Encourage others, share ideas, and be open to where the story might take you. Remember, it’s not about “winning” the game; it’s about creating an exciting and memorable story together. "Winning" is not always possible when the randomness of the dice roll is taken into account.
Session Flow
Within your time at my table, sessions will rarely ever be the same, but their basic structure will remain constant throughout all of the rulesets available for play. Though there will be slight fluidity, the session structure is as follows:
Session Open - Sessions quite often start with light banter before a brief recap of the previous session's events. This helps everyone loosen up and get back into the story that has been unfolding, and may even serve to remind the players of certain important events that may have taken place! This also narratively "sets the stage" for the session...
In/Out-of-Character - When you speak as your character, that is known as "in-character". When discussing rules, tactics, strategy, or any other non-game-related topics, that is usually known as "out-of-character". It is important to know the difference between both, ensuring that nothing said out-loud isn't meant to be taken as character action.
Making Decisions - When performing an action with your character, describe what they are doing in as much detail as possible. If dice are needed to decide the outcome, the GM will call for a roll, narrating the results to drive the story forward.
Final Thoughts
So long as you follow these standard guidelines when you're at the game table, you shouldn't ever have a bad experience. Too many times have I heard horror stories of people's first experiences at a game table, brimming with excitement, only to have their maiden-voyage session marred with negativity, abuse of authority, and bigotry - this should not happen, and is now considered to be in direct violation of the rules of the game. There are paragraphs in nearly all of the rulebooks from a wide array of new rulesets that cover this very topic, and because of that, TTRPGs have quickly become a monument to the antithesis of these ideas. Inclusivity, respect, collaboration - it all plays into a thoroughly exciting and captivating experience
I have very much enjoyed meeting different people who lead different lives than myself, and I've become good friends with many of them. To that end, I've obviously encountered my fair share of "bad apples", but they are few and far between. Over the years, I've had wonderful experiences with vastly different people - you can have the same if you try.
REMEMBER: It is on -ALL- of us to provide the best experience possible for everyone at the table - this has become known, colloquially, as the "Platinum Rule", a rule that I intend to enforce at all times.
