which tutorial???

Hi,
I’m creating a custom template that I’d like to use in WP. The homepage, about us page, etc will be static. I will also have a blog. I need to add a forum as well. I see there is a plugin. What plugin is used for this forum?
Anyway, I’ve Googled ‘created custom WP themes/ templates’ and get a massive amount of results. Can anyone recommend a good tutorial that will show me how to add my own template and a blog and forum? Not sure if this is ridiculous request or not.