can someone teach me

[Cboy]

i want to get into DnD and lots of people online tell me 2nd edition is best. can someone be the teacher to this padawan?

[Mutazoia]

i want to get into DnD and lots of people online tell me 2nd edition is best. can someone be the teacher to this padawan?

Which system is the best is rather subjective. A lot of people thought that 3.0 was the best, and there are a lot of people that think that 3.0 threw the baby out with the bath water when it came to class balance.

3.0 did have some basic mechanical improvements, such as how hits and missed in combat were calculated, but also "fixed" some things that were not broken, such as the above mentioned class balance, which made casters more than a tad over powered, while at the same time, making the fighter class pretty much useless.

Still, despite it's mechanical clunkiness, 2nd Ed. is still a good, solid system to play, if a bit bare-bones (no "feats" and a very basic skill list) compared to 3.X

The first thing you need to do, is track down a set of the old rule books. The Players Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, and Monster Manual will be necessary to play. Fortunately, you should be able to find them at any used book store fairly cheaply.

Do that....read the PHB and DMG. After that, you'll have to ask specific questions, since it is rather difficult to teach some one to play D&D on an internet forum. It's easier to learn while you play.

[neonchameleon]

i want to get into DnD and lots of people online tell me 2nd edition is best. can someone be the teacher to this padawan?

2nd Edition has the best worldbooks and settings. It is, however, mechanically awkward, and the rules don't lead to the game style intended.

The big question is what you mean by "get into DnD" and why? Because the best edition is whatever the folks near you are playing.

[Cboy]

Which system is the best is rather subjective. A lot of people thought that 3.0 was the best, and there are a lot of people that think that 3.0 threw the baby out with the bath water when it came to class balance.

3.0 did have some basic mechanical improvements, such as how hits and missed in combat were calculated, but also "fixed" some things that were not broken, such as the above mentioned class balance, which made casters more than a tad over powered, while at the same time, making the fighter class pretty much useless.

Still, despite it's mechanical clunkiness, 2nd Ed. is still a good, solid system to play, if a bit bare-bones (no "feats" and a very basic skill list) compared to 3.X

The first thing you need to do, is track down a set of the old rule books. The Players Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, and Monster Manual will be necessary to play. Fortunately, you should be able to find them at any used book store fairly cheaply.

Do that....read the PHB and DMG. After that, you'll have to ask specific questions, since it is rather difficult to teach some one to play D&D on an internet forum. It's easier to learn while you play.

only one used bookstore i know in town and it's a christian bookstore that still thinks DnD is satanic. there is a Comic book store that does have some table top games but they dont have what im looking for

[Cboy]

2nd Edition has the best worldbooks and settings. It is, however, mechanically awkward, and the rules don't lead to the game style intended.

The big question is what you mean by "get into DnD" and why? Because the best edition is whatever the folks near you are playing.

what i mean is that i want to start playing. any people that i know are currently in their own major campaign and can't accept a new player for a while. I do know some people who are old DnD players but dont have the time to teach me at the moment, but i think i can get them to start playing with me sometime in the future and i wanna learn how to play so when the opportunity comes up we wont have to waste time bring me up to speed

[hamlet]

only one used bookstore i know in town and it's a christian bookstore that still thinks DnD is satanic. there is a Comic book store that does have some table top games but they dont have what im looking for

The internet is your friend. Both Amazon.com and Ebay have LOTS of stuff for sale, and cheap. Nobleknight.com also has heaps of stuff.

[veti]

what i mean is that i want to start playing. any people that i know are currently in their own major campaign and can't accept a new player for a while. I do know some people who are old DnD players but dont have the time to teach me at the moment, but i think i can get them to start playing with me sometime in the future and i wanna learn how to play so when the opportunity comes up we wont have to waste time bring me up to speed

In that case, you don't need the Monster Manual and should probably actively avoid the Dungeon Master's Guide - all you need is the Player's Handbook, you are precisely its target market. You can get it here (http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Dungeons-Dragons-Players-Handbook/dp/0880387165/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450898882).

[ScrivenerofDoom]

what i mean is that i want to start playing. any people that i know are currently in their own major campaign and can't accept a new player for a while. I do know some people who are old DnD players but dont have the time to teach me at the moment, but i think i can get them to start playing with me sometime in the future and i wanna learn how to play so when the opportunity comes up we wont have to waste time bring me up to speed

Do you have any RPG experience? It might be easier to teach you by showing you how 2E differs to another set of rules with which you are familiar.

But I would echo @neonchameleon and point out that it's a pretty crappy rules system. While the designers tried to improve on 1E - and did in many ways - it still has too many Gygaxian legacies which make it a pain to run and play especially compared to the editions that followed it.

Anyway, much of what you need to know will also be a product of what your DM says as 2E was the first edition to really get bloated. But the basics are in the PHB as has been pointed out already. A good rule of thumb: don't play the thief. They truly suck in AD&D, either edition.

(Personally, I would just get 5E. I find it a lot like 2E in the good ways, without any of the Gygaxian hangovers that really turned me off AD&D.)

[LibraryOgre]

Also, if you don't want to spend money on it, there are free retroclones of 2e AD&D available... For Gold and Glory is the one I know, and it's pretty solid.

EDIT:
Gold and Glory Drivethru (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/156530/For-Gold--Glory?site=dtrpg) and Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=1214148)