[Cerek the Barbaric]

Lucre,

Glad to see your interest in the Pen & Paper version of AD&D. Baldur's Gate will give a good idea of how things work - but you can be SOOOOO much more creative in PnP. Basically, if you can think up something...your character can try it. The Dungeon Master (DM) will determine your likelihood of success and roll a dice to determine what happens. I had some hilarious gaming moments doing stuff like this.

One extra piece of advice I can add is this: If you find a good hobby or book store that carries lots of RPG material...this will also be a good place to search for a group to game with. Any store like that will have regular customers who are full-time gamers. A lot of them even have bulletin or message boards where you can post a note to try to find a group.

I am a strict First Edition gamer myself (aka Old Timer). I tried 2nd Edition but never really liked it. Now, I'm married with kids and my gaming group has spread to the proverbial four winds (well, OK, most of us are still in NC, but we are literally spread from one end of the state to the other), so I have no reason to buy 3rd Edition, since I have nobody to game with.
Thus, Baldur's Gate makes a perfect substitute to satisfy my gaming desire.

Lots of luck. I hope you find a good group to game with. PnP will ALWAYS be more entertaining and enjoyable than the RPG version.