Choosing a TTRPG system
When I was in elementary school, I found some Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books at a yardsale. I read through them, brought them to school, and played through a basic campaign with some friends. Since then, I haven't met anyone interested in pen-and-paper RPGs. I still hope that I can one day convince someone to play with me, but I don't even know which system I should try to learn. There are now so many different editions of D&D, in addition to countless alternatives and endless arguments over the merits of each.
Whatever system I decide to learn, I will need to invest time and energy into learning and teaching the game to others, and I'll most likely be the DM, so I'd like to choose one that won't be too difficult for beginners to get into. While I enjoy exploring interesting game mechanics, I think the idea of creating an interactive adventure story or a world to explore with friends is what attracts me the most. The Fate system sounded interesting, but I had a hard time understanding the core rulebook. I've recently read short summaries of several other systems that seem like they could be fun and not too hard to get into, such as Index Card RPG, Shadowdark, Tiny Dungeon, Five Torches Deep, Fantasy AGE, and Creative Card Chaos; but I can't afford to read through each of them and seven editions of D&D to determine which one is most suitable for me.
Does anyone have any advice on how to evaluate my options or a suggestion for a good one to start out with?
My advice is that getting too bogged down in this decision too early will mean you're less likely to actually play. For someone new to (or returning after a long time away from) TTRPG and especially to get friends into it, I think the best choice is just to pick up D&D 5th edition and some pre-made modules. They just released a new core rulebook and it is compatible with previous 5e content.
If you find/build a crew that loves playing then there will be plenty of time to try new systems or build your own content in the future. For now just getting started asap will be the most beneficial because there are so many other things that make it challenging to start (scheduling, finding a compatible social group, etc.)
D&D is flexible enough to support whatever balance you want of storytelling/mechanics, premade content, homebrew content, etc., and it has far and away the most resources available online for new players who want to look things up and get help.
I completely agree, with one massive caveat. I'd strongly suggest Pathfinder 2 instead. WOTC is dead, mostly thanks to Hasbro mismanagement and WOTC being run by people who hate tabletop gamers.
PF2 is D&D, except that Pathfinder books give you vastly more bang for the buck. In fact you don't even have to buy the books because unlike WOTC, Paizo maintains a very friendly open-source relationship with their community. One Pathfinder book has more than any 3-4 modern WOTC releases in it. They don't even publish one until it's several hundred pages, built like a brick with excellent toughness. I consider WOTC products to be weak fluff by comparison.
Your biggest problem will be finding a place that has PF2 books in stock, since they can't keep them on shelves due to the demand (for over a year now).
I’ve found discord to be the most hopping place for TTRPG talk / finding games, etc. I’ve run games for people I know who aren’t gamers and it’s been fun, but never really stuck.
There’s a world of story-first, less complicated games out there. Two very common systems in this space are Powered by the Apocalypse (PtbA), originating from Apocalypse World, or Forged in the Dark (FitD), originating from Blades in the Dark. There’s … many dozen games out there using each system and once you know one, you know about 60-80% of them all.
Another good resource is actual play podcasts. Find a system you’re interested in and there’s a good chance there’s an AP of it somewhere. So not only do you get to learn the system, but you also get to hear somebody’s campaign/story. I’ve been binging Oathsworn lately which runs Band of Blades, a FitD offshoot
You're in a difficult position, I understand.
Honestly, my advise is also to pick up DnD 5th ed. Its not perfect, I simply don't play it over other systems any more, but its a gateway game. People who are interested in trying TTRPGs and the vast majority of people looking for a game are looking for 5th ed.
You can have a lot of fun with 5th ed too! Especially if you homebrew a bit as you go.
Then, one day, when you have a group or at least some friends you can call up to play something, you can venture into other systems you want to run.
+1 from me
A lot of people know how to play 5e, and even if you don't it takes about a combat session and a small role play arc to learn, and you'll be basically good to go. Once you get a good group going, you can use that momentum to learn other systems on off days or days where you don't quite feel like getting the "main campaign" going.
This is what I did basically with my main DnD group, on any off days we'd just do a "one shot" day in different systems to feel them out, so I've learned how to play the Avatar Legends and Call of Cthulu systems as well!
Also, if OP has the financial means, I'd highly suggest any of the Starter Kits created for many of the systems they're interested in. Off the top of my head I know Call of Cthulu has one, Cyberpunk Red just put one out, and DnD definitely has one!
I'm going to push back against the people recommending D&D 5e. While it is the most accessible due to its popularity, it's not really designed for running every type of game, so it may actually not be the best choice depending on the type of campaign you want to run. Sure, you can ignore 90% of the rules and just do improv the whole time, but you can do that with literally any system; D&D 5e is not unique in that respect. If you had people around you already familiar with 5e who would only want to play a campaign in that system, that would be one thing. But if you're going to choose a system and teach it yourself anyway, you might as well choose one that's more suited to the type of game you want to run and that's easier to learn -- D&D 5e's combat is still pretty crunchy, after all, and it's far from rules-light.
I think other systems in the space probably fit your goals better than 5e if you want a rules-light story-focused adventure. Unfortunately I can't give more recs than you've already been given by @arghdos with PbtA and FitD, since my preferences in ttrpg genres err more on the side of modern settings and mysteries and I'm thus not very familiar with any niche titles in the adventure story side of things.
I definitely echo the earlier response to look for ttrpg spaces online if you can't find anyone already interested in the hobby irl. Even if you don't want to run or play in a campaign remotely through something like Discord, having a social network of people into ttrpgs (especially indie ttrpgs) is going to help you get exposure to more systems and ideas. Especially if you need to be a ttrpg evangelist for your friends irl, it can be useful to have others experienced with ttrpgs to bounce ideas off of or ask for advice.
Basic Fantasy
The system is easy to learn and all the rule books and modules are free to download.
D&D is good because everyone knows about it, but it isn’t the most accessible.
https://www.mythmeregames.com/collections/swords-wizardry?srsltid=AfmBOopPUKhH76UYbaVJx-geJAMxH56lf3JKP3Tf28o2x7W0v3RfkQO3 is a great alternative most like advanced d&d
If you want to get people in asap and don’t mind stepping away from high fantasy, Mothership is amazing.
You can also get any game setting started in 30 minutes with the quickstart rules for GURPS and I find GURPS to have a lot of the same “Wooo!” Joy get from rolling 20’s in DnD. GURPS also plays really fast. Just remember GURPS is a toolbox, so use what you want and ignore what you dont like.
As for getting people interested Deborah Ann Woll had the most genius way to explain how D&D works. I played this to someone today who had no idea what dnd was and she replied “i want to play that!”
https://youtu.be/JpVJZrabMQE?si=POq5zaUgSY9IITvI
She just plays with him right there. It’s genius.
But for better recs, are you looking just at fantasy? There are a lot of amazing, rules lite systems out there for just about every genre.
I'm going to dodge the question and advise you to look into ttrpg conventions ( online and irl ). Typically held over a weekend, you can sign up for a wide variety of games and see what is out there.
Thing is what might be a great game/ system for me to run might really suck for you. Running Bitd requires a different headspace to DND as an example. You need to figure out what kind of stories and systems work for you and the way to get that is trying them out.