Hey everyone - I've never played an RPG before but after hearing about AofR and EofE, I'd like to try one out! I do not have any friends who are into RPGs, Card Games, Miniatures besides the people I recently met at my local game store so getting play time in would be difficult. Are there online groups that I can join to play online via Skype, Gmail etc? Thanks for your help!

People post here occasionally. A little Google time and you can probably find some hangouts. Obsidian Portal has bunches of game groups you might be able to scroll through and find some openings.

Great thanks very much!

NP, enjoy.

If you ran the EotE Beginner game for those non-gaming friends, I'll bet you'll find a few who were into it. Most people don't know what to expect, and are pleasantly surprised.

One cool website I recommend that lets you meet people online to play RPGs is roll 20.net.

You can always find a group there for the rpgs. Furthermore, people on this thread have posted ways to incorporate the narrative dice online!

Awesome, thanks guys! There are a few game stores around me that I can go to but due to my job and traveling, its tough to make it out. My X-Wing and SW LCG are hurting because of it haha! So I thought I'd try to see if it would be worth getting into online. I always heard about RPGs as being pretty entertaining and I think I'm probably going to try one finally. Can missions or scenarios be shortened or customized? What is the average time frame of a game? Could a game be used as a "party game" Sorry, this is how new I am to RPGs haha

You can play any length of time you like, there is no set time constraint. When we sit down we typically play a few hours. I don't personally think it works as a party game, that's best left to cards and board games imo.

Can missions or scenarios be shortened or customized?

That's exactly what an RPG isn't... if I said "Yes, and yes" that wouldn't really convey the reality. The entire purpose of playing an RPG is to tell open-ended stories. As the GM it's your responsibility to present a mission or a conflict or some reason for the players to take action, and then it's up to the players to decide how to achieve it. And in the course of achieving it (which may take far more or less time than you imagined), they may create other complications or reveal missions of their own they want to take on...it's like a movie or novel that just keeps going for as long as you want.

It's not like X-Wing where if you go off the board, your ship is dead The entire galaxy is theoretically open.

And it's not like X-Wing where once the opposition is blown up the game is over. Some RPGs have been known to be pan-generational.

It's not really a party game, you need people to pay attention and be invested in what is happening to their characters and the rest of the party. The people in the game should really be the only people present, otherwise it's too distracting.

You can buy adventures, but nobody has a script to stick to. I never run bought adventures as written, some parts just don't fit with where the players are coming from. For that matter, I never run my own adventures as written but that's because players will always do something unexpected and you have to roll with it and sometimes invent on the fly. I consider myself lucky if I'm 2 steps ahead of them.

I'll repeat my suggestion to get the Beginner box. It's inexpensive, has a free PDF followup, and gives you an extra set of dice. It's designed to hand-hold people who've never played RPGs before, including the GM. That way it's not a huge risk if you decide you don't like it, but it gives a really good foundation if you decide you do.

Thanks for taking the time to explain and answer a few of my questions! Very much appreciated. I'm looking for the Beginners Guide but it looks like its only available online so I'm definitely going to order that!

If you poke around online at sites like D20 radio and begging for xp you can actually find podcasts about the game, and even some recorded play sessions (maps,tokens and other visual aid help the game, but are not required, so if you want to get a feel for what its all about this might work.)