Resolved/Answered Table-top RPs

A tabletop RP is just any roleplay run under any number of tabletop gaming systems (such as dungeons and dragons). There are hundreds of different systems out there, so if you're looking for a more complex answer, it would be difficult to provide. Each system has its own set of rules.
 
Not hard to learn, but there is a lot to learn and it's time consuming. There's loads of free player handbooks for various systems. You need someone with the time and patience to walk you through the mechanics of the system; not everyone is a great teacher because of this.
It also requires a lot more time availability, sitting down for multi-hour long blocks with limited interruption.

A lot of the parts of forum writing like this are still present. It's a lot easier to get people to follow along and go for a major plot, and easier to resolve conflicts instead of resort to 'I'm more badass than you' arguments. You can quantify experience and ability with attributes and skill allocations. It gives room for actual in-character arguments and violence to cause pause for thought, because there's an authority above the players that (ideally) won't take sides and will let you know if you're dead, you're dead.
Honestly, because of that, you get less... I hate this word, but, edgy idiot characters who look for any way to act out, and people are a bit more polite. They're more willing to talk things out. Of course, like any game or creative exercise, there are a few in every bunch who aren't, but it's much rarer.

One of the popular systems that has most rulebooks present online is Pathfinder, there's several wikis and comparable websites that give information on how the game is run. It also happens to be my favorite to play.
Other systems are harder to find the complete rulesets for free online.
 
ok,

I'm pretty good at understanding the systems, so I'l take a look at the pathfinder ones

I usually use D&D but it can't be all that different.
 
A co-worker of mine who started playing together with me described pathfinder as 'DnD 3.5 with the serial number scratched off' and it's an apt comparison I think.
 
That's because it pretty much is D&D. It just wasn't made by Wizards of the Coast.

D&D had an open game license. When 4th edition came out, so many people where unhappy with it that someone took it in themself to make a different edition (pathfinder), which was modified and directly developed from 3.5 to fix a lot of the flaws of the 3.5 system, while deviating less strongly from it than 4.0 did. It's actually meant to be backwards compatible with 3.5

Because of the open license, this was perfectly legal.
 
D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder are both massively fun, if a bit rules-heavy. They are very thorough, with rules that take into account innumerable situations that might come up, both in-combat and out. And yes, as Tiko said, I would say that Pathfinder is a slightly polished 3.5e, with some interesting additions and changes. I can't speak for D&D4.0 since I haven't played it, but I can say that D&D5.0e places a much heavier focus on the storytelling/roleplaying aspect of it, with a fairly bare-bones ruleset that allows much more freedom in how the players and DM interpret and resolve situations.
 
4.0 can be fun if you don't take the books/sheets as gospel and allow yourself some creative liberties. It also helps if you don't make the mistake if assuming a character sheet is what creates RP. I actually like 4.0 for very large groups because of how quick and smooth it flow. We ran a group of 20 people fluidly under 4.0, and it didn't get bogged down in mechanics like other editions are prone to. We went from getting maybe 2-3 rounds of combat in, in a single session, to getting multiple combats in, and plenty of RP time in between combat encounters.

I definitely prefer other editions for smaller groups though. 3.5, Pathfinder, and 5.0 are all very nice editions.
 
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