New to site not new to Rp

[Gusto]

Name :- Ian aka Gusto
Area :- UK ( GMT )
Back Ground :- i used to Dm back in the day that is about 20 years ago i am sure i have forgot more than i no about the game. I am also sure that the rules have changed enough that i will need to be treated as a real new player. i used to play D&D, GURPS, and other games.

I have a wife and 2 kids so play time is best for me evenings and weekends i would love to find a group of people to refresh the rules and stuff i have only the basic free account so i think i need a ultimate DM so i can play as from what i understand i look forward to hearing from you soon
good luck looting.
Gusto.

[Mgrancey]

There are 4 license levels:

Demo or unlicensed
Lite -- player only
Full -- gm and player, but only 1 unlicensed player
Ultimate -- unlimited unlicensed players as GM, but this can be hard on you connection


If you want to run games, you only need the standard GM license ($40 USA) to be able to run games. If you only want to play you only need the Lite/player license.

[Gusto]

Ok so i have the unlicensed one it seamed to just download i would like to just play at first to get used to the new rules and meet like mind people then when i have both the money and knowledge i would love to start to run games but i want to walk before i run.

[Andrepartthree]

Welcome to FG Gusto :) .. I'd recommend looking over the threads on here and looking specifically for GM's who have an ultimate license who are looking for players - that way you don't have to purchase the lite license right away which I think is what you're after ...

Having said that here's the thing.. there's a big variety of FG games out there... on top of that there are many different types of players out there - one player might absolutely love the gaming style of a GM and a group while the other player might dislike it to the point of dropping out.. on top of that there are some FG games that go long term and GM's and players who are in it for the "long haul" and there are other FG games that splutter out either due to the GM suddenly realizing he/she doesn't have the time to run it after all or the players all being flakes and no-shows and the GM gives up in disgust (by GM I mean " Gamesmaster", the more generic term for the "Dungeonmaster" term you're probably familiar with from 20 years ago ;) ) .... so it's a matter of trying a bunch of different FG games until you find one that you have fun with and that doesn't "splutter out" .. sometimes this can take quite a few tries, sometimes you get lucky right away :) ..

If you check out the "downloads" page of this forum Xorn's video tutorials are a HUGE help (they helped me big time back when I was GM'ing :) ) so I'd strongly recommend giving those a look through ...

One thing to consider that might sound a bit strange when I bring it up.. are you an average or fast typist or would you describe yourself as a "slow" typist? There are actually quite a few FG players who are slow typists who , for that reason, strongly prefer to back up their FG game sessions with a free-to-use voice chat internet program (skype for example)... they still use FG to run the game but they say pretty much everything , whether in or out of character , via voice.. other GM's prefer not to do this and to have everything typed because they feel it adds to the mood and atmosphere of the game (I prefer everything being typed in character myself.. to be honest I've found all voice chat no typing can lead to so many out of chararacter jokes and running commentary that it ruins the whole FG game for me.. but there are gaming groups who love this sort of thing and don't mind spending half or more of the FG game session with an out of character jokefest too :P , so again depends on your personal preference)... obviously if you're a slow typist and everything you do "in character" is typed you're not going to have much fun in the FG game session as you will routinely lag behind all the other players and feel like you're not participating :P .. other GM's prefer a "best of both worlds" scenario, voice chat for any out of character questions or GM clarifications to speed up FG game sessions but everything you do or say "in character" is typed... this was what I did back when I was GM'ing but, again, slow typists will not be happy with this approach.

When you get to the point where you want to GM expect a certain amount of frustration as far as player turnover... you'll find some players will be a strong presence at first but then drop out for whatever reasons, boredom with the campaign after that initial "new campaign thrill" , real life forces them out of the campaign (I've seen situations where players become a new parent and of course as you know from your parenting experience babies keep you busy ;) .. or their work schedule changes forcing them to drop out ... or the player realizes they thought they'd have time for the campaign and turns out they didn't , my munchkin's unanticipated academic demands forced me to drop out of a campaign that I loved :( ) ... there will be a certain amount of player turnover that can be frustrating if you're the kind of GM who likes to write up personalized subplots for his characters... if you stick with it long enough after going through enough players you'll eventually find a "core group" willing to stick around for the long haul.

Also beware of the following ... rules lawyers (yep they're still alive and well 20 years later in the role playing games scene :P ) who have no problem bringing the FG game session to a crashing halt while they incessantly argue some rules point with you.. players who decide to get into a "whose reproductive organ is biggest" argument to the point where conflicts between their characters start to disrupt your campaign (which I recall being an issue 20 years ago too so that hasn't changed either :P ) ... players who get upset in real life over the way the campaign is being handled or in-game events and who don't really care that you're spending the valuable spare time you have (in your case particularly valuable since you have a wife and kids which keeps you busy - I know this from personal experience myself ;) ) running a campaign for them.. you'll see a certain number of FG threads in here where the GM is practically screaming " mature players only PLEASE ! " .. this is the reason why they do so. You might want to clarify in advance this is NOT the kind of player you're looking for.. even then be prepared to have them pop up anyways from time to time (kind of difficult to figure out if you have one of those types of players until the campaign has already started :P ) and to have to deal with them when it occurs.

Having said all that, I had a mix of mature and.. well, not so mature.. players when I was GM'ing.. I had a ton of fun GM'ing for the more mature players and I think you will too when you reach the point where you're ready to GM :) ...

Dungeons and Dragons has changed a lot in 20 years, for the better I think :) .. this website is a handy online reference to version 3.0/3.5 of dungeons and dragons which is still very popular here on FG

https://www.d20srd.org/

Though for ease of reference I'd recommend the following instead.. try a website like amazon and look for version 3.0 of the Player's Handbook which you'll be able to buy used for under ten dollars including shipping and handling.. technically version 3.5 is the most recent "correct" version but i found the two are practically identical from the point of view of a "newbie" :) to version 3.0/3.5 and vers 3.0 of the book is much cheaper... read it through bit by bit when you have the time (say when you're in the bathroom maybe :P or waiting in line somewhere) to see what's changed since 20 years ago ...

Now that's assuming you WANT to go with that version of D&D though.. version 4.0 of D&D has come out since then, that player's handbook is more expensive even used (around $18 or $19 including shipping/handling I think? ) ... there's a huge ongoing debate over which version is better.. version 4.0 is much more steamlined and less "rules heavy" which results in a faster FG gaming session not bogged down by rules, which some players love.. other players sneer at 4.0 and decry it as too "video-game-ish" and overly simplified (to be honest I found the fact you automatically regenerate hit points so often in 4.0 a bit puzzling .. I was wondering " Shouldn't there be some sort of healing spell that triggers this instead? Or at least a certain set maximum number of hit points you recover each day through natural healing?"..) .. fans of 3.0/3.5 find it to be more realistic and that it offers a greater number of options far as what kind of character you can run but then the version 4.0 fans sneer at vers 3.0/3.5 being so rules heavy the FG game sessions slow to an unmanageable crawl..

[Gusto]

Thank you very much for your amazing reply i will be sure to get a players hand book to help me with the rules, And i will go check the vids you talk about right now i have a mic and head set as i do stream games on twitch from time to time and this was another thing i was hoping to get to at some point. But as i said i want to walk before i run, again i thank you for all the info in your post it is a great help and i will look in to all you have said i hope to meet you at a "table" at some point.
Good luck looting

[Mgrancey]

Also, if you haven't checked it there is thread here in the guild house, "attention new adventurers" that has a list of GMs that will demo different systems if you want to try some out. The PFS is also good for trying out Pathfinder as a system.