Good beginner games need easy setup, easy to use interfaces, simplistic rulesets, and should also be enjoyable. So while I would advise you to play games such as Arcanum, Exile trilogy, Geneforge series, Morrowind, Planescape, Deus Ex, System Shock 1/2, Wasteland, Baldur's Gate, and the Gold Box SSI games further down the road, here are my suggestions for here and now:
Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 were good suggestions for beginners, though I would caveat that with advising you to stick to a certain character type and not spread your skill points too thin. In fact, if you find character builds to be too complicated of a thing as a beginner, you might want to stick with class-based systems instead of games where you advance through the distribution of skill points.
I also agree with Scrooge on some of the classic Might and Magics, and I would say both Might and Magic 3 and Might and Magic 4/5: World of Xeen are best for beginners that want to experience blobbers due to their very easy to understand user interface and mapping systems.
Final Fantasy Tactics is also pretty enjoyable on the jRPG side of the house, and you can grind if you run into problems advancing. It's a pretty forgiving game in that way, but the tactics are complex and may take a few reloads at the start before you really get into it. There are so many layers to that game that it can be fun to replay.
King's Bounty: The Legend falls under the easy to get into category of tactical RPG, and can be set-up to play itself with the auto-battle function. I can't say it's a great game, but it has its moments.
For action RPGs, Nox, Divine Divinity, Torchlight, and Diablo 2 are all fine choices. I found Nox, Torchlight, and Diablo 2 to be a bit mindless, but Nox and Torchlight had some light-hearted personality. I really like Divine Divinity the most out of all the action RPG recommends.
When you are ready for an action RPG that might require a bit more note-taking and puzzle solving while lighter on the RPG elements, then go for Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters. It's pretty tongue and cheek at times.