CREDIT: CANDIS BROSS
With a huge variety of tabletop games available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are a few to get you started.

Why are there so many rules? Why is there so much darn math? Who came up with this crazy stuff?

With large books full of rules for combat, skills, monsters and more, it’s easy to get bogged down in the many details of tabletop roleplaying games. Luckily, not every game is like that, and there are many options for those who just want to sit down, make a character and start playing.

Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space

Focusing on the David Tennant’s run as The Doctor, this is a simple roleplaying game with a core set that includes everything from premade character sheets, to adventures to dice. There are also other editions and books that include other Doctors, and the Matt Smith set even has beloved characters such as River Song and Craig available for playing, although feel free to turn yourself into the Doctor’s newest companion. The publisher, Cubicle 7 Entertainment, has plans to eventually include all the Doctors, and for Whovians who care more about story than beating up the bad guys, Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space is a great pick.

The New World of Darkness

One of the only systems that incorporates the internal mental and moral anguish that comes with being something other than human, The World of Darkness consists of several distinct but similar games. These games allow you to be a mage, vampire, werewolf or any of a number of other supernatural creatures, struggling to retain a semblance of humanity in a world like our own. The core games, Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening are streamlined new versions based on an older collection of games, and go out of their way to immerse the player in a land of blood and madness.

Crimson Dragon Slayer

If you’re nostalgic for a time slightly before when you were born, Crimson Dragon Slayer offers all the best of ‘80s ridiculousness in wonderfully fun way. Once you’re scanned into your incredibly old computer Tron-style, you get the joy of turning into a pixie fairy princess, robot or any number of other random creatures, or a combination of any two, rolling a six-sided dice to save the busty damsel in distress. The game is far from being politically correct, skirting copyright infringement with all the grace of an episode of The Simpsons and placing a great deal of focus on adult themes. Not for the faint of heart, Crimson Dragon Slayer is a great, silly game for the right group of drinking companions.

Firefly

More Brown Coat than Whovian? The second roleplaying game based on the much-loved show of the same name, Firefly lets you cruise the ‘verse in a shiny ship of your own. With both pre-made characters and rules for creating your own, the game is easy to jump right into, and goes out of its way to prevent the credit counting details that many others seem to focus on. This is another system where fighting is rarely the right answer, although feel free to pull out a gun if that Alliance 青蛙操的流氓 (pronounced: ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng) officer gets in your way.