For: New to Table Top RPGs
I see a lot of threads where someone confesses that they have never played an RPG before and want to try - but aren't really certain how to go about it. You are confronted by giant tomes of information that contain everything from lethal creatures to magical powers to how far you can go if you carry 'x' amount of weight.
The beauty of it is that you don't 'need' to know any of it in order to play.
What you do need is imagination. We all have one of those whether we admit to it or not.
In every game there will be a Game/Dungeon Master. Note: It's possible to have more than one, but for the sake of argument, let's say one.
The DM = fate. It's as simple as that. A real life equivalent is: If you go to the grocery store and a shopping cart rolls across the parking lot and bashes your car door - that was decided by the DM of the grocery store RPG.
"What do I mean by that?" You ask.
One of the best things you can do for a GM is to ask questions. Questions are your eyes, and it also allows the GM to understand what you are thinking/seeing. After all, the DM is fate, and should know what you are thinking.
Examples:
Blurf the Half-Orc rogue decides he wants to climb a wall.
Bob - the player controlling Blurf states. "I am climbing that wall."
A better thing for Bob is to ask: "Do I think I can climb that wall?"
DM's like this sort of thing. At least I know I do. It allows me to add to the scene things that I may have not otherwise thought to describe. Plus if you have an unforgiving DM you might learn that there is a -5 penalty because it's coated in something oily. If you don't ask, you find that kind of thing out when you are half-way up.
That's a simple example, of course - but the point is is that the players shouldn't sit on their hands while the DM is forced to recite all possible details like Morgan Freeman in a movie. Your questions are like the mind’s eye into the world where all of the players can see.
With that being said - I will move on to the aforementioned 'imagination'.
If the DM says it's raining - then smell the rain in your mind.
If the DM says the road is cold and muddy - then imagine icy mud saturating your worn leather shoes and sending shivers up your spine.
When the DM says an Orc is charging at you - imagine the slathering monstrosity, screaming and recklessly closing on you with all intentions of eating your face.
Know your other party members races, descriptions and names.
Imagine their dialects.
Imagine the distaste of the locals over your good bud Blurf the Half-Orc even though without him the village would have been lost to the Orc army.
See it in your mind like you are reading a book.
In my younger days, before the computer was a viable means to play games on, my gaming group would turn off all radios, tv’s, and we'd close the door to the game room. People who stopped by to say hello and talk about their day were politely asked to leave, and if they didn't, they were asked not-so-kindly. Harsh? Maybe? But have you ever tried to read a book with someone talking to you?
The imagination works best when it has no distractions. So, make as little distractions as you can at game time. Obviously you can't ignore your children or what's cooking on the stove, but if you are able to then turn your cell phone off and log out of Myface it helps. Perhaps, light a candle and turn off the lights, and open your imagination and be ready to 'see' what's happening.
As far as ‘rules’. I can't believe that you would encounter a DM who would not let you play because you don't know how to calculate your attack bonus, or you have never seen a D12 before. If you do run into one that throws you out over it then trust me, you don't want to be there anyway.
Mechanics can be learned easy enough – so don’t get hung up on that when you are starting out. Rule questions inevitably come up during play. Some DMs prefer to make rulings after the game is over for the sake of driving the story, other DMs like to open the books and review what the rules are on a particular circumstance. I prefer the latter personally, even though my ramblings may indicate otherwise. That being said, if you discover you like to play, get a PHB and read a little everyday - it may help when you are able to help resolve questions during the game if that is the type of DM you are with.
Lastly, the BEST times in games are when something happens that makes you laugh for 20 minutes. I bet that topic alone could spawn a plethora of tales from the collective community.
In closing, if you are able to open your mind and use your imagination, and you are able to paint vivid picture of it, it will last well beyond the game - like memories.
That's D20 in my opinion. If you go to sleep still seeing the crazed, great-club wielding, slobbering Orc materializing out of the moon lit forest with its only purpose being 'crushing your puny head' then you've played a tabletop RPG.
P.S. Who knows? Maybe the orc did crush your head.