A complete newbie here

Hello everyone!
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to tabletop RPGs, I've never played any, but I'm eager to try!
I've always found fantasy stuff fascinating, and been watching a lot of RPG related content on YouTube lately.
I'm somewhat shy, and definitely not brave enough to play something live and with voice chat on my first ever try, so I feel PbP format might be the best for me now because of how relatively slow the games are typically going (or so I've heard).
Naturally, I got a couple of questions!
First one being, what game(s) should I try first? I've only ever heard of DnD, and I'm looking for something similar (taverns, dungeons, magic etc). I'm open to any new experience, but It's probably wiser to have some understanding of what's the game about before joining something random and finding out it's set in distant futuristic future or something. xD
And another question is.. Should I read the entire DnD Basic rules book before I start playing? I'm probably going to anyway, but just to be sure I'm not wasting time on something unnecessary.

Thanks in advance for your answers. Any additional advice is welcome!

P.S. I've already read the F.A.Q., rules, starting guide etc.

Welcome to GP, glad to have you. We get a lot of new players here, and a lot of GMs who run games for those new players, so you should be in good hands.

As for systems, there are so many of them out there, that it'll be hard to narrow down a recommendation. I recommend taking a quick glance whenever new games or interest checks pop up, and see if any catch your attention. Try different systems and genre out when you can.

We do get a fair amount of DnD games, especially DnD 5e, if you're interested in that. If you're new to the hobby, one thing to note is that the different editions of DnD are different games, so make sure you have the right books for the game you want to play. For example, 5e rules are not meant to be compatible with 4e rules.

Hello Jusika. I had never played TTRPG's either until I joined here. It's a great community and a great place to start. Welcome!

Divine welcome to you! There are lots of simple (light) fantasy games that may be worth cracking your teeth on. But D&D isn't hard, either, so I hope you find some great games.

Thank you for your replies!
I got another quick question - am I required to own some physical books and stuff to play DnD?

Games will usually tell you if you need more materials beyond the main book. Dice are rolled virtually, and character sheets are also virtual, so you don't need any physical items.

Welcome Jusika! Looking forward to seeing you around the forums! I would suggest listening for games that have a premise that appeals to you and is advertised as beginner friendly. PbP is usually slow enough that you can learn the game system as you go.

Welcome, Jusica!

Looks like you've already read a lot of the stuff I usually suggest to new players, but maybe it might be interesting for you to have a look at some public games to get an impression of how the site and games on here usually work :)

You can also always join us on the Discord server where people can answer all your questions in real time or you can just hang out and have conversations with other players.

Happy gaming!

Hello and welcome!

Welcome aboard

hi Jusika! You'll like it around here, it's a great community

I think Jusika is hiding the killer rabbit from monte.

Welcome, welcome! Yes, D&D is the granddaddy of RPGs, so you can't go wrong with buying that basic book and maybe joining a game of that here. Fifth edition is the current one. That said, this is also a great place to get your feet wet with lots of different systems. Most of the time you don't even need the rulebook to play if the GM is open to new players with little or no system knowledge. Good luck!

Welcome!

Jokes on you I AM the killer rabbit! xD

It’s worth a glance over the free basic rules download, but you don’t need to learn it! A good DM will help with character creation.

Playing is easy. Just say what you want your character to do and if dice are needed your DM will ask for them. Over time, you’ll work out which ones without being asked.

Welcome!