Alright. I can't offer you a game(as my games are less combat heavy and have more emphasis on heavy intrigue and puzzle solving) but i can help you clear a few things up, be wary as this might get a bit lengthy but it should give you a better idea. Deciding on a system: There are 3 system options that are (actively) being played on roll20 that are d&d in nature. To my knowledge 4th edition and the earlier editions aren't too easy to find groups for in general due to being lesser prefered systems by the majority of the people on here. If you can find 4th edition games like the one Edwin is setting up, by all means go for it as it should still give you the rough idea of how it works. D&D 3.5; This is the eldest system thats still being played a lot to this day mostly because it has the most depth in terms of additional content and thus options to the players as more books get published thus the ruleset and character creation options gets a whole lot bigger which is great for veterans or people willing to do a lot of research but it can feel a bit overwhelming to newer players. D&D 5th; This is the latest and is (in my humble opinion) the easiest one to get into as in most cases having the core rulebook will suffice. It is a fair amount more simplified then 3.5 or pathfinder. Pathfinder; Based off 3.5 but with some revised rules and streamlining in terms of a handfull of things like character progression. It also has a lot of additional content in terms of rulebooks which might overwhelm you as character creation has a lot more options because of the additional content but playing it for a while feels rewarding every time you level up compared to 3.5 & 5th edition which aren't as streamlined in that notion. Honestly, if you know how to play one of these system you know how to play all of these systems in theory. Yes the rules and classes/races/abilities change a little bit but the base idea behind how to play these games does not change. My personal recommendation because there are a lot of groups for it and its easier to jump into and thus more ideal for a new player friendly game would be 5th edition. There are one shots and there are long term campaigns. You said you
don't want to overcommit so one shots are your best bet and in my
opinion a good call for getting a feel for it, i will mention now
however that typically one shots are less in depth and thus have a
different style then longer campaigns because of it. Published against homebrew; (You shouldn't have a preference yet untill you've played through a few games, thats normal) -Published generally means that the DM runs a story step by step straight out of a book that includes everything. From monsters, interactable characters, locations and obviously the reason that all of this is happening; Usually you only play a published game once as otherwise you already know whats going to happen before it happens thus making it less enjoyable for most players(think of it as watching a movie for the second time). -Homebrew means that the DM made up his own story and fictive world and will guide you through the world that he created. How to play: It really is as simple as saying you want to do something, explaining what it is you want to do and then seeing if your DM requires you to roll dice in order to do so(in most cases, you would require some kind of roll). The rules that are in the books are generally a guideline on what the DM should ask you to roll for the action you want to take, the reason players should read these books typically is so that the DM doesn't need to ask you to roll something each time and you'll automatically do it to avoid slowing the game down. Obviously to figure out what you are rolling, you'd need a character made which is likely why you wouldn't be certain how to play the game. How to find a game: (Or increase your odds in addition to this forum post) You can find these in the "looking for group" section of this website found here ( <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/search/" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/search/</a> ) by pressing show advanced options and ticking "once" under "to be played" and then under "playing any of these games" you'll want to imput the systems you are looking for. You'll also want to tick the "new players" option there aswell to make certain you'd join in a game where people don't mind new players. At this specific point in time i see 3 listings using the above mentioned settings along with all d&d/pathfinder games, see which game you'd prefer and apply to it by creating a new topic under those games explaining the situation your in as you've done so properly over here. Games can also be found on other websites; there are groups on facebook and google+ dedicated to running one shots for d&d type systems around that recruit there people from there. I personally don't have experience with this but i have a few people i'm playing with that have found numerous groups there. I'd personally advice to wait with this as typically these groups are for veterans but i'll mention it in advance already incase you'd have had some fun in your first game and want some more options for groups. PS: Sometimes it can take a while to find a game even for people more experienced as typically there are more people willing to play rather so then run a game, because of that there are more players then DM's and thus it is harder to find games to play in. Just don't give up! In the meantime: As you said you'd rather not read all the materials which i can understand, you could look at some youtube videos of games played on roll20 to give you an idea of how a long campaign works; its not quite the same as playing but certain ones (like f.ex: the populair "Critical role") do a really good job at getting new players an idea of how a game is played, keep in mind however that (in my example series that) these guys are all voice actors so their character impressions are of a lot higher quality then the average group. Or if you'd prefer; older video game RPG's (like f.ex neverwinter and baldurs gate or even more recent ones like sword coast legends) should give you an idea of the system aswell as those games are based off it.The main difference with the video game RPG's and tabletop being that unlike in video games, you share the title of "protagonist" with the other players your playing with, it has worse graphics and lastly more manual dice rolling instaid of the game doing it for you. Hope this cleared a few things up good luck with your search /T
