First time player. Questions about Roll 20 and tabletop RPGs in general.

Hello, I've a couple -- hopefully quick -- questions that I was hoping you folks would be able to help me out with. Full confession, I've never played a true tabletop RPG before, but am keenly interested in diving right in! I have a couple friends that are equally interested and we've gone so far as to read the DnD player's handbook and DM's guide only to stall out on character creation as we've absolutely no experience in the matter. Anywho, that ordeal lead me to Roll 20 in hopes to A: find some mentors to show us how to play and B: to provide a place for us to hold game sessions with a greater number of people. So first question: If I were to post in the "looking for group" section, would I likely find someone willing to put in the time to show me -- and my friends -- the ropes? Second and very much related question: One of the biggest hurdles to my friends and I getting into tabletop RPGs is time commitment. We've all got different working hours and family lives to tend to so getting together regularly is a chore. Can Roll 20 be used asynchronously? While we might not be able to sit in the same room at the same time for hours, we can easily check in a dozen times a day as our schedules permit. Is this a viable way to play? Third and final question: Assuming asynchronous play is viable here and not many people want to play that way, is it possible to run a game with only two or three people (ie DM and one or two adventurers?) Thanks for your patience in dealing with a newcomer. I appreciate any and all guidance!

Hi Joe, Welcome to Roll20! For your 3 questions, here are the answers: 1) There are definitely people out there willing to teach new players the ropes. You can search for games that "welcome new players" to fine games people have declared to be new player friendly. Additionally, there are people that will run a one-shot or pickup game that only lasts a single evening. That's a great way for new people to get a feeling for the pastime. 2) Roll20 certainly supports this mode of play. You could consider this to be a special case of the "Play By Post" style of play. It might be harder to find a GM or existing group that's interested in this play style, but they are definitely out there. 3) It depends on the game you are playing, but generally playing with more or fewer players just requires the GM to balance the game differently, definitely something an experienced GM would be capable of doing. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest checking out: Introduction to Tabletop RPGs series . Roll20 Crash Course . These will give you some idea of what RPGs are all about and how to use Roll20. You can certainly ask all the questions you want, we have a very active community with a ton of helpful people that will jump in and answer your questions. Happy gaming!

Joe H. said: Hello, Hello Joe Joe H. said: So first question: If I were to post in the "looking for group" section, would I likely find someone willing to put in the time to show me -- and my friends -- the ropes? The Aaron hits it on the head. You can use both methods (listings and forum) and just put in your post that you are totally new to the hobby and willing to learn the system while learning how to play. I would recommend you also add in details such as your timezone, what system you are wanting to learn (you mentioned books but not what system), how many of you there is (you mentioned you and friends) willing to learn, if you want to do voice, voice and video, text, or even a mix of them, and etc... Joe H. said: Second and very much related question: One of the biggest hurdles to my friends and I getting into tabletop RPGs is time commitment. We've all got different working hours and family lives to tend to so getting together regularly is a chore. Can Roll 20 be used asynchronously? While we might not be able to sit in the same room at the same time for hours, we can easily check in a dozen times a day as our schedules permit. Is this a viable way to play? Third and final question: Assuming asynchronous play is viable here and not many people want to play that way, is it possible to run a game with only two or three people (ie DM and one or two adventurers?) Asynchronous play aka play by forum / chat posts is very much viable here. I've ran those games many times and I usually recommend them as the speed allows you to learn the system at your pace. If you have specific questions about how to run those games you can post those questions or drop me a pm. I have no problem talking about the in and outs about running play by post games as my preference is text based games anyway.

Joe H. said: Third and final question: Assuming asynchronous play is viable here and not many people want to play that way, is it possible to run a game with only two or three people (ie DM and one or two adventurers?) I agree with Aaron, how you handle 1-2 players depends heavily on the game system. (And for some systems, it depends on the kinds of characters the players create.) A quick search on the RPG StackExchange turned up a few questions that seem relevant to you: Playing D&D 4e with two players Simple fantasy-themed RPG for just two players and a GM? I'm DMing for a party of two. How can I make sure my players have classes that can play well together? (D&D 5e) Average experience per encounter for a two person party? (D&D 4e) Examples of Fate mechanics for telling team stories with one player Paranoia playable with just two Troubleshooters? Homebrew D&D with only 2 players (plus DM) (D&D 3.5e)

Fantastic help you three! That's exactly the information I was looking for. I'll be sure to read through the links you've provided and then head over to the game forum to hopefully find a match for what I've described here. Thanks again for all the help, it's very much appreciated!