Alright, folks. This mostly applies to the Highlands-people, but if you're interested, feel free to drop a word.

ANYWAY!
I've been looking into DND for a while now, and just last night I dropped by Barnes and Noble to grab the Player Handbook. Turns out all they had was 4th Edition.
Now, 4th Edition isn't exactly the most popular one out there; for beginning players, 3.5 or the 1st Edition Basic is recommended. A few key points of 4th Edition:
-There are quite a few modifiers. Modifiers are values, based upon stats and skills, that effect (positively or negatively) your skill checks, difficulty checks, and attack rolls.
-The gameplay requires a fair bit of time for each turn. This means we could spend up to ten minutes in one turn on an encounter, which only equals out to about six SECONDS of actual combat in game-time.
-There are many, many feats, abilities, and exceptions.

Basic, I do not know. All I know is that the ruleset is good for starting, is a good bit less complex, AND that it is no longer printed. Yep, that means you'll have to eBay this one, if we decide to go this way, folks.

Edit: May 10th.
Okay, after having read the entire Player's Handbook this weekend...Yeah. There are a few good suggestions I've come up with.
Firstly -- We start off with a little pre-made adventure.
Second -- ...As per relates to 4th Edition DnD, it's not as bad as I expected; it's a bit complicated, true, but it is understandable. This one is pending, because it may be simpler for some/most people for us to all get Basic.
Third -- Have a good week!

Anyway, good news:
I've got ideas for a realm already going on, but if we decide to do this, I recommend we try a pre-built adventure first.

That's pretty much it for now; I'll keep this updated as I find more.