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Aidjn
2007-06-20, 09:42 AM
I've never played DnD before, but I was exploring some of the stuff when I saw the death knight profile and went "....That's pretty cool."

I am relatively underfinanced, so what do I NEED to learn the game and what's nice to have if money comes along?

Truwar
2007-06-20, 09:46 AM
http://www.d20srd.org/

These are the rules for the game. That should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect when you start purchasing books. You can also purchase a beginners version of D&D if you are having trouble getting the hang of the rules.

Fixer
2007-06-20, 09:48 AM
Some things you will NOT find in the SRD:

Experience Tables (either to advance in level or at what degree to earn).
Certain Trademarked monsters (like Mr. Beholder and Mrs. Mind Flayer)
...

uhm, someone else help me out here.

Swooper
2007-06-20, 09:48 AM
You NEED the three core books: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster's Manual, a set of dice, a pencil and an eraser and about 4-5 buddies to play with. For extra books, refer to this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48200).

squidthingy
2007-06-20, 09:51 AM
listed in order of importance

1.player's handbook

2. dm's guide(even if your not a dm)

3. monster manual(nessicery for a dm)

4. any of the complete's(adventurer, warrior, mage, think there's one more)

Inyssius Tor
2007-06-20, 10:07 AM
You don't NEED the Monster Manual or the Dungeon Master's Guide.

You do, however, NEED the Player's Handbook (and a set of polyhedral dice). It helps if everyone in your group has them, but that's not necessary.

After you get that, the first two supplements you should buy are 1) the Dungeon Master's Guide, and 2) the Monster Manual. Only one person in a group needs these, and even for that person they aren't NEEDED; they are very nice to have, though.

Citizen Joe
2007-06-20, 10:14 AM
Really, as a player, you just need the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm). System Reference Document. This will leave you with a suitable character for most instances. However, some people feel the need to be super powered and thus need every last book out there in hopes of propping up their egos. I think there's more than enough in the SRD to give you a fun experience.

If you are planning to be a Dungeon Master, I recommend watching one first to see all the mechanics behind it. There is a certain talent behind it and DM'ing isn't for everyone. The DM sort of gets the short end of the stick when it comes to collecting game materials. He needs to not only be familiar with every ability his players have, but also every ability that they MIGHT get. Plus the abilities of all the adversaries he might use, plus reams of other rules for situations that may arise. While the player could get by with a sheet or two of paper with his stats written out, the DM needs to be able to quickly reference all sorts of rules that may not have been planned for.

Yuki Akuma
2007-06-20, 10:29 AM
Really, as a player, you just need the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm). System Reference Document. This will leave you with a suitable character for most instances. However, some people feel the need to be super powered and thus need every last book out there in hopes of propping up their egos. I think there's more than enough in the SRD to give you a fun experience.

If you are planning to be a Dungeon Master, I recommend watching one first to see all the mechanics behind it. There is a certain talent behind it and DM'ing isn't for everyone. The DM sort of gets the short end of the stick when it comes to collecting game materials. He needs to not only be familiar with every ability his players have, but also every ability that they MIGHT get. Plus the abilities of all the adversaries he might use, plus reams of other rules for situations that may arise. While the player could get by with a sheet or two of paper with his stats written out, the DM needs to be able to quickly reference all sorts of rules that may not have been planned for.

You do, in fact, need the Player's Handbook, for the very obvious reason that there are no rules on character creation or advancement in the SRD.

The SRD is only useful if you're familiar with the rules.

squidthingy
2007-06-20, 10:35 AM
If you are planning to be a Dungeon Master, I recommend watching one first to see all the mechanics behind it.

If you know someone who is a DM, than they should already have any books you might need

Kurald Galain
2007-06-20, 10:39 AM
You do, in fact, need the Player's Handbook, for the very obvious reason that there are no rules on character creation or advancement in the SRD.

No you don't, that's only ten lines of text that aren't in the SRD, and you can ask your DM, ask any roleplayer you know irl, or just make up a plausible estimate from the many example characters all over the internet.

For instance, you make a character by dividing 80 points over your 6 attributes in whichever fashion you wish as long as no stat goes over 20, and you advance your character by one level every second gaming session. See? Easy.

Inyssius Tor
2007-06-20, 10:41 AM
You do, in fact, need the Player's Handbook, for the very obvious reason that there are no rules on character creation or advancement in the SRD.

The SRD is only useful if you're familiar with the rules.

Also, it's worth mentioning that the SRD is, in fact, a reference document. Thanks to the fine folks at d20srd.org and elsewhere, it's even an excellent reference document. For learning the rules, though, it's like learning about the English language from a dictionary that isn't organized alphabetically, and also has entries missing.

Citizen Joe
2007-06-20, 10:50 AM
Ah, the point build or dice build... Ok yea, I could see your point. But considering that the DM is the one that dictates the method of generating stats, it would be relatively easy to say "What do you mean?"

As to the experience point requirements. There is a simple formula for it XP_ForNextLevel = CurrentLevel X 1000 XP

I think SRD lacks the starting gold and Wealth by Level tables too. But again its an Ask the DM sort of problem.

Kurald Galain
2007-06-20, 10:55 AM
Also, it's worth mentioning that the SRD is, in fact, a reference document.
However, it has pretty much the same categorization as the actual player's handbook, has better cross linking, has a search function, and as indicated earlier is missing all of ten lines of text. For learning the game, it is in fact better than the paper book. Of course the game is best learnt through doing it.

Inyssius Tor
2007-06-20, 11:01 AM
All good points. I myself learned the game via the PHB (and veteran players), so I am both lacking a reference point and tainted by nostalgia.

Citizen Joe
2007-06-20, 11:08 AM
Actually, go poke around in the Play By Post (PbP) forums down there... In the announcement/recruiting threads the talk about the requirements for builds (point system, dice stats, starting level/wealth). Then people usually post their Character Record sheets there too, so you can see how it comes together.

Then go poke around (do not post) on some of the active games where they detail the dice rolls and things. Some of the better ones do the role playing/story telling part and then hide the rollplaying (dice rolls/mechanics) in a spoiler.

Be very wary of the homebrew forum as it can confuse you as a starting player with no concept of power or balance.

Keep a skeptical eye on this forum too, since many people consider it a mental exercise to push some aspect of the game until it breaks.

SpikeFightwicky
2007-06-20, 11:31 AM
I think the main books a player needs is the PHB, and possibly the Monster Manual (depending on the character). Any player that plans on summoning, polymorphing, wild shaping or animal companioning needs MM stats to be able to play correctly. If the player is going the crafting route, they'll need the DMG.

As for what is/isn't in the SRD:
Greyhawk deities: unless you want to play a deity-less cleric, you'll need the PHB to pick an appropriate deity (assuming you're not in a homebrew setting).
XP Tables: It's been discussed
Starting Wealth/Wealth by Character level: Not in the SRD. They can be found, respectively, in the PHB and DMG.
Any fluff: The SRD is strictly 'rules only', and doesn't have anything in the way of 'fluff' descriptions. Not useful once you know everything, but for beginners, there's some good base class fluff that helps put everyone's role into perspective.
I'm sure I'm missing more stuff, but this is the gist of it.

skywalker
2007-06-20, 03:15 PM
I learned via the SRD, I had no idea how to create a character, I showed up, my DM told me to roll 4 dice 6 times, re-roll one of the dice, drop the lowest of the 4 each time and put them in the ability scores that were important. Now, I'm a rather swift person mentally, so as soon as I showed up and saw what everyone else had made, I settled into a paladin very fast and knew where to put the ability scores from reading the SRD. The DM, of course, controls starting gold etc, so that's not really an issue, I know the most about the rules of any of my group, and I have never even thought of buying any of the core books.

The SRD is fine. I think it's pretty obvious what each class does. The wizard makes magic, the cleric heals, the melee characters deal damage, and the rogue is sneaky. This is all obvious from hit dice, class features, and skill lists. Dunno why you would want him to buy any other book either, though.

Draz74
2007-06-20, 03:21 PM
Someone in your group should actually have the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. More than one copy of the PHB would even be preferable. You can scrape by on just the SRD website without these two books, but it's not really a good idea if you want to do things right.

The Monstrous Manual is actually pretty optional IMHO. As long as you don't care about having a certain 5 or so monsters in your games, or if you are willing to make up your own stats for those monsters, you can get by with just using the SRD instead of the MM.

If I were starting out D&D as a new player and I were going to get three books, they would be the PHB, PHB II, and DMG. Not the MM, sorry.

Person_Man
2007-06-20, 03:35 PM
All you really need is a printout of your class, your Skills, and your Feats. Play something simple, like a Barbarian or a Rogue. Read through the combat section, but don't get hung up on it. Just describe what you want to do to your DM, and let them worry about the rules. You'll pick them up as you go, and once you're comfortable with them, you can move on to more complex classes.

I would studiously AVOID the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual. You only get to be a gaming virgin once. After you've figured out the magic items and enemies you might face, you lose a big part of the surprise and newness factor of the game. Enjoy it, and don't rush into a bunch of supplements just because you want to be cooler or more powerful. You can accomplish that by just asking the boards for help with your build, or by just playing a Druid 20.

If you're still hooked after all that, you can buy books on Ebay for pretty cheap. Be warned though. It can easily become an addiction.

Citizen Joe
2007-06-20, 03:51 PM
note that Wikipedia has alot of DND stuff as well, including the greyhawk deities, or at least enough to build a cleric around them.

Mad Wizard
2007-06-20, 04:06 PM
I'd get the PHB and DMG if I were you. Yes, the SRD has most of what you need on it, but little in the way of descriptions of stuff (fluff). It is also missing a few things, and it is generally useful to have a book to look at, especially if you are going to be playing somewhere were you either can't access the internet or use a computer. Other books outside of core that I'd recommend are the Tome of Battle and the complete series (divine, arcane, adventurer, warrior).