Completely new

[Hitotsu]

Hi all,
I am completely new to the pen and paper or tabletop world. Well I did play like once or twice with my friend and his miniatures but that about it. Since then I have had an interest in playing tabletop style games. I don't really have the money atm to buy the DnD books and don't know anyone that plays so I figured I would try something free, teach myself to teach some friends, and make sure I fall in love with it before i shell out the money for the books.

I haven't fully read the rule book yet but Im working on it. I was looking at the maps and was curious if you can play with your own mini and make the maps into tiles. I guess im kinda comparing to what ive seen from people playing DnD cause it seems like it would be really hard to keep track of your characters without a game board. Im trying to do as much DIY stuff to make it fun and cheap gaming. Maybe go buy some random minis or make some with clay. From what ive read so far DnD characters are 25-28mm and the game boards have 1"x1" squares that they fit in? So is this game run similar or can it be ran like such?

Thank you all
Ben

[SmootRK]

Welcome Friend!

I don't generally bother with minis, nor complicated battle mats. In complicated battles, I might take a moment to sketch out some environs and mark some locations with x's and o's... like a football play. But on the whole, actual battle maps are too much effort, and they constrain some imagination... if I didn't draw it there, then it clearly is not there, but if I leave it a blank slate a character might say something like "I look for cover behind something" and I might reply "OK, XXX jumps behind a wood pile (made up on the fly) and now has cover from their archers"

I prefer the battlemap in the imagination over one drawn up, but I can readily understand that some, coming in from other preconceptions, might think it necessary to play.

I hope you get a group going soon... I am sure you will love it.

[Solomoriah]

You might let us know what part of the world you are in. Might be someone nearby who knows their way around the old school, and would be willing to show you.