a Noob enters the room

[LAC]

Ok hi I'm a total noob when it comes to table top games and I was wondering if any of you guys would explain a few of em' to me

[fathom123]

Do you mean Pen and Paper RPGs, board games, card games, etc?

Pen and paper RPGs: Dungeons & Dragons, Castles & Crusades, GURPS, Savage Worlds, etc.

These are games where you create a character and a Game Master (or GM) spins a tale an you determine the actions of that character as it pertains to the scenario. When you create a character you use a character sheet. This has stats on it that you use to determine what your character can do in a game. You use dice to determine the game mechanics such as combat and skill checks. You roll the dice and add modifiers to the dice based on your abilities stated on the character sheet. If the score is high enough (or low depending on the game system), you succeed at what it is your character is trying to do in game.

Here's an example of a character sheet:

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.p ... tid=377435

Board games: Settlers of Catan, risk, axis & allies, king of tokyo, etc.

These are games that you buy pre boxed and usually has everything you need to play right away. There are games that blend the Pen and Paper RPG genre with the board game genre (Castle Ravenloft, Lords of Waterdeep) where you take on certain RPG style roles to accomplish your tasks in game. Some board games can be extremely complex (Arkham Horror took 4 hours just to set up, granted it as our first time playing but yea) and others you can play right away (King of Tokyo is a good example). On youtube there is a show called TableTop with Will Wheaton. I highly recommend it to anyone getting into board games.

Card Games: Magic: The Gathering, Munchikin, Flux, Kittens in a Blender, etc.

Some card games you have to buy boosters and build your own decks in order to play others. Magic: The Gathering is a good example of that. You buy a starter pack that gets you going but usually only includes run of the mill cards. When you become proficient with the game you begin to develop your own style and tactics so you buy boosters that add to your gaming style.

Munchkin, flux, kittens in a blender are called deck building games. These games usually start you out with a really light hand and you progressively gain cards and abilities as you progress through the game. TableTob also features several deck building card games (Chez Geek, Munchkin, and Flux).

Miniature Games: Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Warmachine, HeroClix.

Here's the money vacuum. Some of these games require you to purchase the figurines and then paint them. I believe Arctic Fox paints them. There's a thread demoing his work here:

http://www.christcenteredgamer.com/phpB ... iIRjDaccgk

With games like Warmachine and HeroClix your miniatures already come painted out of box.

Miniature games operate like Real Time Strategy games (like StarCraft, WarCraft, Dawn of War, Command & Conquer) only you are responsible for all of the game mechanics. So you build your army, roll dice and use rule books to determine what you are able to do on the battlefield, where as RTS games do all of that for you.

Well, I hope this helps!