Here is the beginning tutorial for making RPGs. The following tutorials will assume you are using RPG Maker XP: Postality Knights Edition Enhanced, but any version of RMXP will do fine. Let's begin, now, shall we?
Open up RMXP and you get a lovely blank screen. Click on the page icon in the top-left(or go to File>New project) to start a new project. Leave the folder name as is and call the game Tutorial 1. Click OK. Now, you get a grass map about 23x19. On the left is a box with the tileset in it. You can select tiles from here and place them on the map. Now, let me explain about layers.
There are 3 basic layers. All three layers can have all tiles placed on them such as ground, floors, buildings, trees and shrubs, for example. However, there's a trick. I would use the lower layer for basically the floor or ground. I would use the middle layer for anything that sits on top of the ground, such as trees, flowers or buildings. Here's the trick: Try placing a tree on the lower layer. See the white mark? Press Ctrl+Z or the Undo symbol on the toolbar to erase that. Now try placing the tree on the middle layer. See how it works? The top layer is for extra stuff such as shrubs on tree trunks, or windows and doors on buildings.
The last layer is the event layer. On this layer, you can place what are called events. Events are basically everything in the game that you can interact with, or does something. What we will be doing now is making an event.
Make sure you're on the event layer and double-click somewhere on your map. In the big graphic box on the left, double-click. Scroll down that big list until you find the "Civilian 10" sprites. Select the old man's sprite facing forward, standing in place. Click OK. See the "Trigger" box down there? Select "Action Key". This means that if you walk up to event and push the action key(which by default is Enter, Space, or C), this event's commands will activate. See the big white space? That's where the event commands go. Double-click the first line and a box will appear. The very first selection is "Display Message". Click that. In the field that appears write, "Welcome to my tutorial." Click OK. Click OK again. Save your game and test play it. Select "New Game" from the title menu and you're in your map. Now, walk up to that man and push the Action key. He should say the message we entered. Good job, now on to some slightly more advanced stuff.
Okay, so make a new project so we can get started. On your first map, adda few trees or whatever to spice it up, then make an event, and give him a man graphic. No conditions are to be met for this page, so leave all boxes blank, and make a event trigger "Action Key". Then in the event commands, make a message. We'll be doing a basic quest, so put something like, "Hello, good sir, I have lost my silver ring, would you be so kind and get it for me?" Okay. So now put a message like, "You got the chest key!". Now go to the items tab in the database. Increase the set by 2. For the first one, call it "Chest Key". Use an available icon if you wish, then for the description, put "A chest key." For the targets, select "None". In the "Use In" selection on the right, select none again. In the attribiute fields at the bottom, one says "Consumable". Change it to "Not Consumable", then click Apply. Moving on to the second item.
Call it "Silver Ring". Select an icon if you wish, then type the description "The man's silver ring. Better bring it back to him!". Once again, make sure it can't be used like before in all 3 places, then click Apply.
Now, back to the man event. At the bottom, make a "Change Items" command. Make sure you selected the "Chest Key" we just made, then select "Add". Click OK. Now, make a "Local Switch Operation" command. Select "A" and select "ON". Click OK.
Okay, a local switch does the same thing as a switch does, but these only apply to the event they're in. So if you want Local Switch A on for one event, and want it off for another, it does nothing, as they're different switches. Moving on.
Make another page, select the same graphic, same trigger, but make sure "Local Switch" is selected in the conditions area, and make sure A is selected. Now, Make a "Conditional Branch" command. One of the pages has "Item" on it; select that, then select the "Silver Ring" we made earlier. Make sure the "Create custom handler...etc" box is checked, then click OK. In the Chest Key handler, put the message, "Thank you, good sir, here is your reward. Make the message, "You got \v[1] gold!"
The \v[1] represents what number is held in variable 1. If you wanted the number is variable 2, you would put \v[2], but we only need one so put that.
Right-click on the message we made and click "Insert". This will make a command above it. Make a "Variable Operation" and select "Set", Variable 0001(call it RandomMoney) then choose "Random number between...". In the first field type in 10, and the second type 25. What we will do is we will get whichever number is stored in variable 1, and it's a number between 10 and 25. Click OK.
In the "Else" handler on the branch, type the message, "Have you got my silver ring yet?". That means that if we talk to him a second time without the ring, he'll say that. Now. Make another event. Give it a chest graphic. Put no conditions. Make the trigger action key. Put the message, "You need a key to open the chest!". Now make another page. Same graphic, same trigger, but put variable 1 on as a condition. Make a branch that checks to see if the "Chest Key" item is possessed, but don't make an else handler(uncheck the box). Click OK. Now in the handler put the message, "You found the Silver Ring!". Now turn Local Switch A on. Make a third page. Make the same graphic but make sure it's the fully open graphic. Make two conditions this time, variable 1 is on and local switch A is on. Put the message, "You already opened the chest!". That's it. Click OK.
Now save the game and test it. You shouldn't be able to open the chest without talking to the guy. You should get the message "Did you get my silver ring yet?" from the guy after talking to him once. You should be able to open the chest now. The chest should only give the ring once, and the man should give you random gold between 10 and 25. If all this worked GRATZ. End of tutorial!