new to this and have some questions

now when i say new to this i mean ive never played a game like this before at all. real or digital. almost played pathfinder once had a kickass character all made up and everything. people lost intrest unfortunately and never really got to play. only got like 2 or 3 hours done. it kinda sucked. but i dont want to give up yet. so first and foremost im wondering if this would be a good place to play a first campaign or if i really should do that in person.

Jacob I., Roll20 is absolutely a great place to take your first steps on the road to lifelong gaming happiness! ^_^ To get kicked off right, I'd suggest watching both of the introductory video series: 1) You're absolutely brand new to RPGs and want to know the general idea of how they are played, which game to choose and then find a group of fellow gamers: Check out our Introduction to Tabletop RPGs series . 2) Our Roll20 Crash Course . This is a step-by-step overview for creating your very first Roll20 campaign, and will help you understand more of what's going on at the table. You can NOT break anything by poking at your first campaign, honest! This tutorial uses the Pathfinder RPG to frame itself, but it's not a system specific tutorial and you should be able to follow along without knowing one single thing about Pathfinder. Also, check out the Looking For Group Tool and be certain to completely fill out your User Profile with the games you're looking for and your available times, and a bit about yourself to maximize your exposure in the Player Directory . If you've any questions about Roll20 and how to accomplish various things here, browse the wiki and post questions here if you get confused. Happy gaming!

thank you. i watched those videos and found them very imformative. ill probably check out the looking for group as well and see if i cant find a pathfinder game thatll take a noob. lol. i do have another question. do i need the books for these games?

Pathfinder and 3.5 have SRD (system resource documents) sites that give you the OGL (open gaming licence) rules that are needed to create characters for free so you really don't need to purchase the rule books to start out. Just go to our Compendium for Pathfinder and research what you want.but if the needed info is not there, you can go to <a href="http://www.d20pfsrd.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.d20pfsrd.com/</a> and read the rules also.

thank you very much. made sure to bookmark both of those websites.

Sliiiightly straying off topic from Roll20 matters, but I generally recommend newcomers to pathfinder check out DawnForgedCast' youtube tutorial series. They're very methodical, and geared towards explaining why rather than just showing how. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77nb34DB6Gs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77nb34DB6Gs</a>

You might also want to check out the 5th edition D&D rules. They are more straightforward than 3.5/Pathfinder, and the Wizards Of The Coast website has some free PDFs that contain the basic stuff (not all of the races/classes but enough to get a feel for the games/rules).

are the 5e rules that different from the 3.5? also thanx for the video. but i know all about what that one is about. ive got several character sheets made out in real life that were meant for irl games that fell through. i have like 3 exotic races and only the rogue/ninja doesnt have a prestige class cause i cant find one that would fit. course ive never actually played any of these characters. just have them made up. and would need to make new sheets online for games here. but i will look into other videos from that perticular playlist

They are in some ways, but you won't be too lost if you've played 3.5/pathfinder/d20. They are somewhat simpler, without loosing the flexibility and feel. To me, it feels like the simplicity of 1st edition, with the power of 3.5 and some good things from 4th edition. I've really been enjoying listening to the Going in Blind podcast, which is a fantastically great production of a 5th edition game with some players who have never played before. The presentation of how to play is really great (if you've ever listened to the BBC radio show version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's just like when Peter Jones pops in to tell you various entries from The Book) as is the show in general.

well ive only ever actually played for a couple hours of pathfinder if that. i baught a giant squids body to be made into an airship and some equipment. and then we got ready to head out and then stopped playing and everyone else lost interest. so i dont really consider that having played pathfinder. lol. but im familiar with the races stats and classes. and extremely familiar with the general setting thanx to the forgotten realms games. i figure the actual gameplay ill likely pick up as i go by actually playing and watching videos of others playing. the real problem for me is going to be knowing what numbers to use for rolls when. and stuff like that. im really not good with numbers haha. but if i double and triple check them enough im sure i can play this game as well as any other lol.but heck i figure learning to use this website fully and what not will take the most learning as ive been doing research on pathfinder for months. and just to make sure. there isnt any program i need to download to be able to play games is there? i dont think there is. i havent seen anything mentioning anything about a program i need. but someone brought up to me that everyone theyve seen play games like this online uses some program or another so i figured id make sure.

No problem. There is no other software you need than a compatible webbrowser. This is what makes Roll20 so exceptional and really sets it apart from its competitors. Rest assured. (And tell your friends! =D)

gotta say aaron. thank you for pointing me towards going in blind. it didnt really tell me anything i didnt already know. and his description of neutral evil sounded like chaotic neutral to me. but i find listening to games like this rather entertaining and itll help me in learning the actual game. tho listening to and doing are two different things of course lol.

I got directed to it from the Dungeon Master's Block podcast (which is also very enjoyable, though the first 3-5 pods are a bit rough -- they find their voice after that. =D ) and quite enjoyed it. One of my friends / players / GMs I co-gm for is legally blind like Kat or Maddy, so Going in Blind is especially interesting to me. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!