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[timferius]

Isn't FATAL free though? And as for casualness? I tend to operate in a Table Top range of about .5 to 19.7375 (Hell, I was just playing Candy Land the other day!).

[Tack]

The only thing I know about FATAL is it's propensity for lewdness

[scriver]

It's also built around ridiculously convoluted mechanics to the point that it's almost impossible to actually play, let alone play fluidly (no that is not an entendre) and at a good pace.

[Reelya]

Ok, DnD question:

Do I have any chance of learning how to play the game by just reading the manuel, or do I need someone to actually be there to help be through? Because I really want to learn to play, but I dont know anyone that does play, so I'm kind of stuck in limbo...

Don't worry too much and just start reading. RPG manuals are designed to teach you the game via reading, and will often have little snippets of hypothetical games to illustrate how things work in practice. Follow through the character creation system a few times. This is also helpful if you want to run a game, since you can store spare characters you made and pull them out as NPCs later for your players. You can't have too many spare NPCs on hand for that.

Back in the old red book Basic D&D they had a solo adventure tutorial, which was done like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. It took you through a basic one character adventure. It was pretty cool, and I'd recommend checking out a PDF of the old Basic D&D. The game is a lot simpler than the AD&D or the modern ones.

[Bohandas]

Because I really want to learn to play, but I dont know anyone that does play, so I'm kind of stuck in limbo...

You could but one of those computer games that uses the exact game rules. Like Temple of Elemental evil or Dark Queen of Krynn

[My Name is Immaterial]

You never even got off the ground with that!

I wanted to see somebody get their arm cut off and then die from hit point loss!

I finish what I start.

It didn't start. Not my fault. After hours of working with them, the players still struggled to finish their sheets.

[Tack]

There's groups in your city.
Strangely, pen-and-paper types are alarmingly accommodating to strangers.

[scrdest]

It's also built around ridiculously convoluted mechanics to the point that it's almost impossible to actually play, let alone play fluidly (no that is not an entendre)

And even if it was, it would still apply. Quadratic equations for peeing, anyone?

[Tawa]

It's also built around ridiculously convoluted mechanics to the point that it's almost impossible to actually play, let alone play fluidly (no that is not an entendre)

And even if it was, it would still apply. Quadratic equations for peeing, anyone?

Nonono, it was quadratic equations for sex. Peeing was a skill check.

[Jimmy]

I'm worried the rest of my table isn't as interested in optimizing as me.

We've got a Pathfinder game with myself (Elf Conjuration Specialist Wizard) and three others (Tengu Rogue, Dwarf Cleric and Oread Monk).

Starting at level 2, we have our first encounter with some monstrous centipedes (CR 1). The monk turns out to be a glass cannon and the rogue makes no attempt to get flanking. I have to play traffic cop directing the cleric where to stand while I pop out an Enlarge Person on him so the monk and rogue can both get flanking, whilst simultaneously taking on both monsters using my familiar.

We'll see if it gets any better this week.

[GiglameshDespair]

If you're the only one optimising, don't.

[Jimmy]

I also happened to get the most bonus RP exp too, so it's not like I'm just there to munchkin. Perhaps it's just because I'm more familiar with the Pathfinder rules than the others.

[King Kravoka]

I have been slowly working on a fantasy tabletop setting in space. It's got magical warp drives, werewolves of variable civility, and exoskeletal dogmatic elfs.

[Kassire]

I have been slowly working on a fantasy tabletop setting in space. It's got magical warp drives, werewolves of variable civility, and exoskeletal dogmatic elfs.

Sounds mildly interesting, though details are the words of the gods

[Flying Dice]

If you're the only one optimising, don't.

Alternatively, don't abuse it. The real problem with being the sole min-maxer in a group of people who don't is when your character continually overshadows the rest of the party. Natch it's partly on the DM to create encounters which cater to different skillsets, even if there's only so much that they can do for a party like his, but when it comes right down to it "I have the ability to resolve every problem we face in a trivial manner," doesn't mean "I should," and if they do end up being the same, it's a pointer at your lack of self-control.

Same basic principle as applies to an omnipotent being, really; just because you can fix every problem people have doesn't make it healthy for you or for them.

Though as such things go a Specialist Conjurer is about as good as you can get for optimized characters which don't overshadow everyone else, given that a whole lot of what you're doing is setting things up for your buddies. To use another metaphor, a basketball player who consistently outperforms the rest of his team won't be resented as long as he excels by being a team player, making good rebounds, drawing fouls, setting up assists, playing strong defense, &c.