How to play pen-and-paper rpg's?

[Shmibli7]

Recently, I came across the James Bond pen-and-paper rpg. Expecting it to be simply one game, I started searching and found that it is a bit complex. There are games for most of the movies from the 60's-80's along with other documents like the "Q Manuel", which, from what I gather, is the guide to equipping items in the field, a book called "For Your Information" which I believe is the gamemaster's guide, and many other books devoted to running the game rather than playing it.

 

All this introduction to say... I don't know how to play pen-and-paper games in the slightest. My coach plays D&D but in the short time I have with him, I can't ask him to spill the secrets of how to play pen-and-paper role-playing to me.

 

Does anyone know how to execute a pen-and-paper game?

[Xortberg]

If you're talking about the really old James Bond game that came out in 83, you probably aren't getting that one without a lot of searching and probably paying a fair bit of money for someone's old copy.

For tabletop RPGs in general, you decide on a system, get the core rulebook, and then read it. Most games are completely playable with just that one book, but lots of them also have supplemental books that add options and such.

If you wanna play D&D specifically, D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder are both effectively free. This is a link to the 3.5 ruleset and this is a link to the Pathfinder one. These websites both have basically every rule necessary for you to play the game, from picking your race and class to picking feats and equipment. You'll be missing out on extra goodies from the supplemental books, but those cost money.

And aside from D&D, there's quite a few systems that are totally free. Most cases, it's because they're unofficial, self-published ones, but there's some gems out there so if you're looking for something specific, like a way to play a Bond-esque game, I can help you there.

But the best thing for you to do is just find someone who plays and have them ease you into it. If you know your coach does, go ask him about it. He'll probably be thrilled to have another player around.