Well Cx2, to be honest tabletop rpg's have the potential to be one of the most accessible things Vi people could do, provided with a laptop, and a dice program.

rule books wise, the pdf's can be a pest particularly with tables, but for joining a regular group, having the rules isn't always necessary so long as you can pick up the basics, and have a good character concept, not to mention good rping ability and interaction with people, ---- but all that is very dependent upon the group of players and the Gm. i'm quite lucky in that I have a number of friends who are interested in that types of thing anyway, so finding a group wasn't particularly difficult once I asked. Right now I'm playing mutants and masterminds, ---- basically a modified version of D&D with superheros, most saturdays, and 7th sea whenever I go back to see my parents in Nottingham.

I didn't have the books for either game, ---- of course for M&m it helped that I was familiar with D&d originally, and just had to pick up some extra rules.Having the skill list etc available is useful, but not necessary, provided you have a reasonable character concept, know what your character is doing and can play accordingly.

for locating a group, I'd suggest university. when I was doing an extra year during my A-levels, I really wanted to try tabletop rpgin. At the time, 2nd edition D&D was on the way out, and 3Rd just coming in. My brother had got me Ms word coppies (on a cd rom), of loads of 2nd edition rule books, which i'd read, so was familiar with the system.

I found a group at uni playing 3rd ed, and it was just a case of picking up extra rules again.

actually running games though, might be a different matter sinse you'd need all the materials, -- or at least the core rule book and tables etc.

I'm slightly surprised about the players handbook and dm guide being described as supliments. in the 2nd ed stuff I read, they were the core materials, ---- of course, apparently 4th edition D&D has just come out, so it's possible the 3rd ed books will be turning up on line.

How much all the rule info is needed in a game depends entirely on the group and the sort of person you are. If your in a game (imho the less fun sort), which basically devolves into a grinder, and all your there to do is minimax your characters (I have once played a game like this and it was indeed as boring as it sounds), then you need the rules, and need to know them pretty well.

the more fun sort though are the heavily character driven ones, where the rules are only used when there's some doubt about things, and for that, you can usually muddle through with a basic knolidge of the rules and just pick things up as needed. This is what I did in 7th sea, ---- tthough being very open ended, and highly genre specific and descriptive (not to mention slightly tong in cheak), 7th sea is made for that sort of thing.
As far as community etc goes, there are only two major obstacles, ---- and one potential problem, I can see to Vi people playing rp games along side everyone else.

1: book availability. Obviously, if your in a really plot driven world with many factions etc, knowing background helps, also having a skill or fighting style list. You can get by without these (as I have in mutants)lk, but only by asking a lot of questions.

2: other people. Like everything else, i suppose it will depend how reasonable people are. I have heard a lot of tabletop rp people say though that many sited players often play without the rules anyway.

Hmmm Cx2, well I see the point about the books if they are really Ii versions.

I think for me, the hole playing online thing wouldn't feel quite as correct, sinse lots of the fun from tabletop rping is interacting quickly with others and getting a good atmosphere going in real time.

when a big scary ogre jumps out and clobbers your character, it's much more of an impact if you have to react fairly instantly, than wait for everyone to post.

I suppose I'm also mildly unsociable in terms of internet web games, in that i tend to prefer single player exploration and questing than trying to rp, ---- that's why I've never got into games like Hollow or the dark Grimoir.

for something entirely forum based, where world, skills, rules and history is all available, you could have a look at Ramath lehae found hereO

Potentially interesting I thought.

For finding a group though, I've just been lucky in that I've run into people who have that sort of interest.

You could ask the society in the local uni, ---- as I did when doing my A-levels. The friends who i play 7th sea with when in Nottingham also play a larger game at the uni. though one of my friends is indeed at the uni doing a degree in maths, the other (her bf), is working, ---- yet he gm's the games!

another idea, is if you've got a local shop, ---- such as games workshop, which sells roleplay materials, they might know people.
My brother is more into collectable card games these days than tabletop role play, but
the shop where he buys his cards also sells rp books. they run card tournaments in the shops, and quite a few people in those (including the shop owner), are involved in rp games.

I had actually considdered myself perhaps trying to run a game over skype, being as the only online real time game happens at a rather nasty time if your in england.

the thing is, A, I don't feel confident enough in my rp ability to try it out yet, and B, for that I would most deffinately need rule books, ---- and I'd probably ask the players to read the rule books as well so as to make things easier, but the only ones I could get access to would be the 2nd edition D&D stuff, (which I believe Phil vlasac uses in his games), which, while understandable, isn't the world's easiest system to pick up and play, ---- and in fact is a system I've never played myself.

Unfortunately, dealing with random people is sort of part of rping. though the gm and one player (his gf), of the mutants game were friends of friends who I'd at least been introduced to before, I didn't know any of the other players at all before I started, which wasn't fun, ---- and of course back when doing my a-levels it was a case of meeting a completely strange bunch.

one thing I did do though was start fairly early in the academic year, that way nobody else knew each other either, which helped.

As reguards games workshop etc, I suspect what happens with war games is the same as happens with ccg's. there are lots of 12-14 year olds who tinker with it and go along to miner tournaments, and then there are the people who really take it seriously, go to major national or international events, spend lots of cash on the games etc, ---- and they will all be 18 and over. to illustrate my brother played a local tournament with about 70 people. by the time they were down to 16, there were no kids left in it, and they will be the people who do tabletop rping.

I hope this is helpful. It's a real shame that there isn't a central organization you could contact to know where your nearest games are, ---- but as I said, unfortunately things tend to be fairly informal.

Hal 9 has got modifications to look at pdf's, which i haven't played with yet, so it's possible I'll find some of the books readable enough to vaguely considder trying a game of some sort over skype.

i'm actually surprised more things aren't run over skype myself, but I suppose mikes are onlyt owned by specific people.

update: Okay, I've just had words with my brother. apparently the main place around the lincoln area is a shop called Phenix games, he agreed with me that that would be the place to try to get into the loop and meet people doing tabletop.

hth.

well agreed on that, i do enjoy reading about setting. My problem with extracting pdf's is that adoby always seems to muck up the text order, which isn't clever, ---- i'll have to try that other program you mentioned.

I can check with my brother about Hull if you like. I certainly know Hull has a uni.

I also really dislike busses, but for mobility, I'm a big fan of trains. obviously it depends upon proximity, but I could suggest investigating a train route to the uni. I regularly get the train from Durham to newcastle to do light opera with the newcastle society.

the other advantage of trains, is stations are a good place to get taxies if you don't know where a particular place is.

Ach, local trains. do they have any announcements at all? i've been known to sit by the doors and count the stops, or actually physically time trains with my watch before.

As to character concepts, well it doesn't have to be as specific as an entire bio, just a general idea of what sort of person the character is like. That's one great thing about 7th sea. The hole game is built around hammy historical cliches and rediculously overblown dramatically described fights, so your character can be incredibly general.

In my first game, I played the archetypal gentleman officer, complete with long winded curtacy, ---- it went rather well sinse my friend was playing a scummy female thief, so we got in lots of amusing bickering, ----- especially whenever I tried to defend her honour, which was fun.

the next game, I decided to try something different, and had a go at a scummy pyrate, complete with nortical phrases and lots of arrr!

that was fun, though I seem more naturally inclined to play gentlemen than scum.

i will say though, my friend who runs those games is incredibly into games which are purely for fun, and not serious, complete with heroic heros and very villainous villains, and the entire system of 7th sea is built for that type of thing. You can't even die (well not unless you reeeeealy annoy the gm), you just take dramatic wounds, then wake up a bit later captured by the villian.

It's one of these odd things, that all the old cliches are very boring to watch in a film or read in a book, ---- but hugely satisfying to play in a game!

Hmmm, maybe I should write up an example, ---- or better stil, perhaps if I asked my friends nicely they'd let me reccord some of our next game (not the hole thing sinse we go on for a good while). I'll see what I can do.