Hey everyone! Since I couldn't find an "Introduce Yourself" thread around here (if there is one and I missed it, please direct me!), I decided I would create my own for now.
I consider myself a multilevel noob because as of Halloween, I had never played any tabletop roleplaying games before. I knew of D&D only in awe of watching my brother talking about his characters when I as younger and stealing his AD&D edition of the monster manual. I have done forum-based roleplaying before, but not with combat systems, only as storytelling; I like to consider myself an avid gamer in computers and consoles, although I am sure I am not nearly as foaming-at-the-mouth as I used to be ^_^
So why Halloween? A good friend of ours had already started a Pathfinder game, but he had an extra character that he had to play and was having difficulties keeping everything smooth with her on tow as well. I thought, "Why not? I've always dreamed of playing D&D". So now I'm hooked and I barely know how to play ^_^ I even already bought my first dice set (Olympus gold in case you are wondering) and even though I am already playing Kyra lvl 2 cleric, I am contemplating creating my own characters for various scenarios, which is probably a big no-no considering I am still barely done reading the core Player's handbook and still have trouble getting past the spells portion on my character sheet >_<
So yeah, I'm rambling o_O I can't help it, I am so excited to finally be getting into the tabletop games, but I am also a bit nervous because my zealous is matched by my total inexperience. Besides the obvious of me finishing reading the manuals, what other advice can anyone give me? I was even thinking of trying to see if a DM wanted to do a one-on-one PbP with me to get me accustomed to rolls and such (perhaps mutually benefiting since then they could test out ideas with someone who isn't really set into any single method or way **hint hint DM's, don't be afraid to message me about this ^_^*) and also since I have previous experience with PbP roleplaying without combat, it wouldn't seem to difficult to meander into that.
Anywho, I'll shut up now ^_^ Like I said, I ramble.
There are tons of rules, but I wouldn't worry about it. While you should, of course, read the manuals, it's pretty much the DM and the more experienced players' job to teach you how to play.
The only other advice I'd give you is: make sure you're having fun!
Oh, and, it's morally wrong to kill goblin babies.
Welcome to the site, welcome to the hobby.
Remember, most of the rules are online, so it's wise to look them over before investing in a hardcopy. If you're like me, you enjoy reading real books so much more than a screen, so you'll buy books anyway... the online resources (see the PRD in the site sidebar on the left) just help you to figure out what you want.
Also, find a good group of like-minded people who you wouldn't mind hanging out with to watch a movie or something. Those are the people you should play with. Game stores and clubs can have really great GMs and players, but you're also getting some of the people who don't have groups because they're jerks. As with all hobbies, be careful about jerks.
Don't let the forum trolls give you the wrong idea about how the game is played. That's just how they like it. There's a great silent majority of players who don't give a damn about half the things you'll read in the rules forums. Until you've had a chance to see things for yourself, don't worry about the high-minded pronouncements about "casters vs. martials" or "rules balance" or anything like that. It's just stuff people talk about when they want to play and can't.
The Beginner Box looks like a good tool for recruiting your own group.
Welcome again! And good times.
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There are tons of rules, but I wouldn't worry about it. While you should, of course, read the manuals, it's pretty much the DM and the more experienced players' job to teach you how to play.
The only other advice I'd give you is: make sure you're having fun!
Oh, and, it's morally proper to kill pinko commie goblin babies.
Have fun, learn as you go. Don't feel bad about making your own first character.
Aw, thank you so much for the warm welcome everyone .^_^. Your encouragement is greatly appreciated. And Evil Lincoln, I am like you and prefer the wonderful feel of the book pages, but at the same time I am willing to sacrifice aesthetics to just having easy access to the rules and understanding of the game now. Thankfully I think my first couple of games will still be with that same group of friends as my first time, which helps since they were friends to begin with and they have integrity as friends, so I think the same kindness and cooperation will show through in our campaigns. Plus, the friend that is DM is really nice and understanding and so he doesn't go above and beyond to try to kill our characters, but he always tries to give us a challenge, which I greatly appreciate.
Overall, I'd say for starting out, I think I got lucky ^_^ I could have started with a way less supportive group. I just wish we could meet more often.
On a random side note, has anyone seen TreantMonk's guides to various classes, namely the ranger switch hitter one? Has anyone tried it? I thought that looked positively awesome ^_^ Tempted to try it out for our first game with our own characters, but without prior gaming experience, I wasn't sure if that would be a waste of time or not.
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Welcome to Pathfinder Agent Q.
I'd say go for it, jump in there and create a character. My opinion is, make the character you think would be fun to play, not what someone else says is the best optimised character (unless your group are really into optimisation).
Afraid I haven't read any of Treantmonk's guides, though I've heard good things about them generally.
Thank you Mothman!
Actually, in the Pathfinder Database site, there was an awesome user created pregen set for all core classes and races with some extras that I have found extremely useful. The hardest part I have found so far with creating is knowing the initial stats, feats, and such that I need to use for specific characters. Those pregens are amazing at allowing me to just figure out which one to choose for the results I would like to see.
For example, with Treatmonk's ranger switch hitter guide, he recommends a half elf ranger with primary stats going to str and secondary to dex, so I use the pregen for a half elf ranger and all I have to change is switching the numbers for str and dex and its pretty much perfect and ready for me to go ^_^
If anyone else is looking for it, the info you look for is "Pathfinder Society Pregens for Pathfinder RPG by Adam Thomas-Brashier". I'd post a link, but I haven't had a chance to read over the forum rules regarding links yet, so forgive me on that one ^_^