New to D&D

[Walk Hard]

Hello Playgrounders,

After the conclusion of my last campaign I am looking to get into a new system - D&D 5E.

I have a had a bit of a look in the past but have never actually played it before.
I do have extensive experience with Rolemaster, HARP, FAGE and Fantasy Craft.

Of those I know that Fantasy Craft has the most in common with D&D (although I do assume that there are some critical differences)

What would be the best approach to learning the system - what books are required and what other books come highly recommended??

Currently time is not an issue as I will not be DMing again likely for a year or so as others in my group have some campaigns lined up so I have plenty of time to wrap my head around this.

Any guidance that can be given would be great :)

[SilverStud]

Personally I recommend the three core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual). Of the three, only the player's handbook is NECESSARY to learn 5e, IMO.

When I got into 5e, I started with the PHB. I just straight up read that thing. Front to back. It helped me a lot. If that's not your thing, read up on classes and sections as you become interested in them. Once you feel comfortable or restless with the PHB, get the DMG. It has a very large section on worldbuilding/management taking up the largest part (which I love). But for learning the system, you'll want the second half of it. It goes into detail about running an effective 5e campaign. The reason I don't suggest starting here is because it assumes that you know at least somewhat well the stuff in the PHB.

I wouldn't bother with the MM until you are ready to make a campaign. It's basically just a collection of monster statblocks and lore tidbits, so it is more of a toolbox than an instruction manual.

So yeah, basically I recommend reading through the PHB and DMG, in that order. Also, the 5e forum that we're in right now is a very good place to be. You get tons of people asking questions about optimal builds, encounter difficulty, RP implications, and rules issues or questions. The discussions have taught me a lot about the effects of various rules and customs on the other parts of the system.

Now, I can't say that I know the other systems you mentioned (at all), but there is an important thing. If you are coming from a system with lots of minutiae and specific rules to cover fringe cases etc etc then 5e will feel very rules-lite and loosey-goosey. This is because DMs are actively encouraged to rule and adjudicate in the event of confusion or questions. Does completing this obstacle course require Athletics or Acrobatics proficiency? What exactly is the line between Investigation and Perception?

Yup. Hope that helps! You're in for a good time though. I love this system.

[Kane0]

The bare minimum is just the player's handbook, for running a game or more complete understanding you'd need the dungeon master's guide. The monster manual is the last part of the core 3 books and provides all the monsters for your characters to fight.

This forum is also a wealth of information and quite ready to assist, but being the internet grain of salt and all that.

[ruy343]

All you need is love

da da da da daaaa...

On a more serious note, When Wizard's published 5e, they didn't publish the big three (the Player's Handbook (PHB), the Monster Manual (MM), and the Dungeon Master's Guide(DMG)) all at once: they printed them in that order. Players were already playing 5th edition without the DMG and MM because they didn't really matter. pick up the player's handbook. That's technically all you need. The later chapters (7-9 I believe) of the PHB give a good summary of how the game is played.

If you're DMing, then you can purchase the Monster Manual to make your preparation time much easier. The DMG was a bit underwhelming, but it does have the rules about building encounters (which you can look up elsewhere or wing it: it's not hard to get it roughly correct), and it provides ideas for coming up with adventures and traps, as well as explaining D&D Cosmology (that's not to be confused with D&D Cosmetology - a very different field).

The published adventures are also a good idea for if you're wanting to DM: just buy one of them in addition to the Monster Manual (many adventures do rely on the MM to present monsters that aren't printed in that adventure). Personal recommendation: Curse of Strahd is a great 5e campaign that will help players to understand what makes 5e different from previous editions (i.e. no magic items everywhere).

[Demonslayer666]

I agree with Silverstud, PHB is the big one.

5th is a lot easier than Rolemaster, a lot fewer charts anyway. :smallsmile:

Read over the races and classes, and the combat section. That should give you a good start. Spells are probably going to take a while, there's a lot of them.

There are tons of resources on line that I find invaluable when creating my adventures, especially random encounters and treasure.

See this thread here:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?377491-Guides-Tables-and-other-useful-tools-for-5E-D-amp-D

[Walk Hard]

Awesome, thanks for the pointers guys :)

I am sure that I will be back in time to ask more questions.

I will give the PHB a thorough reading - I loving giving RPG books a read from cover to cover.

I guess at this stage is there any pre-published campaigns/modules that are specific to 5E?

I have a good 5 years of DM experience so I have a fairly decent idea of how to DM but something that is system specific would be a great help for me to work out how to balance encounters for this system

[JAL_1138]

There are several published adventure modules out.

The Starter Set has a really good low-level adventure in it called "Lost Mine of Phandelver." LMoP and the set of dice are easily worth the price of the starter set.

Then there's a two-parter that consists of "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" and "Rise of Tiamat." This pair is not generally considered all that great.

"Princes of the Apocalypse" is a bit combat-heavy but reasonably decent.

"Out of the Abyss" is generally well-regarded, though there's a lot to keep track of for someone new to the system.

"Curse of Strahd" is highly popular, and for the most part deservedly so (but keep in mind it's got a much more gothic-horror theme and has a lot more opportunities for characters to become corrupted and/or insane and/or maimed than other adventures.)

"Storm King's Thunder" might be the best one they've done. Giants can thrash a lower-level party pretty thoroughly, though, so it might be on the lethal side.

There are also shorter one-shot or episodic adventures intended for organized play, available for purchase individually for a few bucks apiece on dmsguild.

[Ronnocius]

I believe you can download free PDFs from the Wizards of the Coast website that contain the essentials for playing 5e. However, they are missing lots of stuff that can be found in the "core rulebooks", which are the three main books in D&D. All three can cost quite a bit, so I would start with the starter set. The starter set contains a pre-made adventure, dice, charcater sheets, and enough monster statistics to create your own short adventures.

But overall I would suggest the core rulebooks and the starter set for beginning, then buy more modules or create your own campaigns after you complete the starter set adventure.

[Walk Hard]

Ok so after work today I have obtained a copy of the PHB from one of friends - only a PDF copy though.
I have printed it out and chucked it into a clearfile for reading, so I will start the process of digesting this from cover to cover, is there any chapter(s) that I should really study up on in particular??

[Ninja_Prawn]

Ok so after work today I have obtained a copy of the PHB from one of friends - only a PDF copy though.
I have printed it out and chucked it into a clearfile for reading, so I will start the process of digesting this from cover to cover, is there any chapter(s) that I should really study up on in particular??

As has been mentioned, the rules for running the game are chapters 7 to 9. Starting from the beginning isn't bad either though; it starts by teaching you how to create a character, which introduces most of the core concepts in an organic kind of way.

You'll probably end up flicking back and forth; all the rules are interrelated after all. The equipment lists are what I seem to need most often... but that may be because I do a lot of homebrewing.

[Digimike]

As stated, ch 7-9 in the PHB will cover most of it.

Don't get to picky about the rules at first. Just have fun. The biggest and most important rule in 5e is the rules are a guide and the DMs word is law.

[Socratov]

As has been mentioned, the rules for running the game are chapters 7 to 9. Starting from the beginning isn't bad either though; it starts by teaching you how to create a character, which introduces most of the core concepts in an organic kind of way.

You'll probably end up flicking back and forth; all the rules are interrelated after all. The equipment lists are what I seem to need most often... but that may be because I do a lot of homebrewing.

I wholeheartedly support this. Personally when building a character I reference the races and calsses first and then spend quite some time pondering the many options of equipment (especially if you start at lvl 3 and get a 100 starting gp from teh DM).

As for pointers that are not in the books (do not read until Christmas reading the PHB):


the first couple of levels are your character's training wheels and are quite lethal: 1 hit could be the end for a character. Some DM's like starting at lvl 3 for the slightly increased number of hitpoints and hitdice so the players can survive a stabbing jsut that much better.
The first couple of levels (1-4) are pretty bland: everyone p[retty much has the same options and most classes get their subclasses (class specific variants) at lvl 3 instead of lvl 1. This could mean at first glance the game would seem and feel a bit bland (this is also why some DM's like starting at lvl 3: eveyone has gotten their subclass and a more specific feel for what they can do and what role they'll be able to perform in the party)
Een though classic RPG-ing and WoW indicate otherwise: healing is not required for a successful party. As a DM it's up to you to pace the enounters and as a PC it;s up to you to signal that you need a rest. In combat it is considered widely on this forum that HP don't matter as long as they are 1 or above (that is, except for stuff like Disintegrate and Finger of Death, but that stuff comes a lot later). Sure some combat healing might help (healing word especially is grand at that), but not at all required. I am not familliar with the systems you cited, but if your players feel that they need to fill a required role tell them that it doesn't matter that much.
Even if I think that this pointer should be obvious I still tend to include ot for people trying it out: everyone should play dnd for fun. If anyone is not having fun (yes, that includes the DM and all the players), it should be adressed out of the game and discussed in an adult manner.


Good luck and welcome to the GitP message board Walk Hard.

[ruy343]

In addition to the above, it's a good idea to be sure that you understand the new resting system in 5th edition, and pay attention to what players gain access to after short vs. long rests. As a DM, if you want to build tension during a session, you need to keep them from being able to long rest after every encounter (but also don't throw multiple deadly encounters the players' way without a rest). The new resting mechanics are one of the biggest additions to 5e, which also addressed the HP problem mentioned above (while short resting, you can regain hit points from your stored hit dice, and you regain half of those each time you take a long rest).

[Walk Hard]

Ok, so I have chewed through the PHB and am part way through my second read through.

Can anyone recommend a good excel sheet for generating characters??

[Socratov]

Ok, so I have chewed through the PHB and am part way through my second read through.

Can anyone recommend a good excel sheet for generating characters??

This edition has a lot less accountaincy then previous editions, everything is done easily by simple addition of up to 3 numbers. Some great resources for helpful tools and IMO a nice sheet is using Myth-weavers: they have a nice PB calculator where you can include beforehand some stat bonuses from your race and their sheet is very simple to understand.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Ok, so I have chewed through the PHB and am part way through my second read through.

Can anyone recommend a good excel sheet for generating characters??

I'm with Socratov, you don't need an excel sheet to run a character. I have dabbled with an applet to generate random characters, but it turned into a bit of a monster so I've pretty much given up on it.

[MrStabby]

A few random pointers. Some people may disagree buthey, you can see which advice seems appropriate.

1) Run a 1 shot first. A few hours to let you calibrate your idea of what is easy and what is hard. Run some things you think are easy, difficult, and deadly and see how they come out. Pick a theme for encounters to get a sense of how important different factors are - say mobility with flyers, cover, difficult terrain, walls and so on. Visability - emphasise the role of darkvision of different radii, advantage from not being seen etc.. Trickery - lots of illusions, traps, teleportation and things that generally mess with players. This will give you a sense of how a lot of abilities work in practice. You are familiar with RPGs, so you don't need to learn that - but this gives you a hands-on experience of the system. I suggest a level 6 adventure for a few hours.

2) Action economy is king. Once you instinctively understand the tradeoffs between effective actions, bonus actions and reactions you understand most of 5th edition.

3) Difficulty of encounter isn't a number. Difficulty changes for different party compositions. Yes you can look at/compute CR for a bunch of creatures but it only has a lose relationship to encounter difficulty. Instead imagine how the encounter might play out. Some really tough creatures can be vulnerable to save of suck spells/effects.

4) A personal view - fights are good with party members +2 number of opponents. Low numbers of opponents invalidate a lot of control effects for keeping people out of fights but also become too easy with a lot of spells/effects that negate a single creature. Too many creatures and area of effect spells become encounter ending. Not to say all encounters should be exactly this, giving these spells and abilities times when they will be very useful is still good.

5) The PCs do more than just scale up what they can do as they level up - they become broader as well. Obviously casters gain new abilities but for example the monk at level 5 can stun people, then run up walls, get great saves and so on. As DM you need to stay with the curve - "the same but harder" as challenges doesn't really cut it as the PCs level up - you need to be more evil, deploy more cunning and more special abilities. 5th ed from about level 4 upwards is pretty forgiving. Healing on rest is effective and a long rest pretty much resets the party resources so anything short of destroying the whole party can be recovered from.

Welcome to 5th edition.

[Demonslayer666]

Ok, so I have chewed through the PHB and am part way through my second read through.

Can anyone recommend a good excel sheet for generating characters??

I don't know of a good Excel one, but OrcPub has a pretty good character generator.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwid4raV_OTQAhUnjFQKHUOdBiEQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orcpub.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNHwBnhPFBsOuTq8LpUfWVSjV_ZuRg&sig2=AFVBwCcBrybZrxPbOBecEw

The link I listed above in my previous post has premade characters of every class and archetype and level, I have found those pretty useful.

[Sariel Vailo]

This edition has a lot less accountaincy then previous editions, everything is done easily by simple addition of up to 3 numbers. Some great resources for helpful tools and IMO a nice sheet is using Myth-weavers: they have a nice PB calculator where you can include beforehand some stat bonuses from your race and their sheet is very simple to understand.

plus applications on your phones or tablets

[Kurt Kurageous]

How I learned 5e at my kitchen table over the weekend and was able to DM the next week:

I created a party of four using http://www.pathguy.com/ddnext.htm

I created a dungeon using http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/dungeon/

I sat down and played out the crawl and all the combats, looking up each rule and figuring out how it all worked as I went.

After 8-10 hours of play, I knew I could run a table for others without having to look up rules each and every time, knew what I liked about the rules, and knew what resources I wanted near at hand when DMing. I also discovered shuffling sheets to find character mods/AC/HP sucked. I wanted something to summarize the party's core abilities. So I made this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzHVsiBMMb98VDZfd3hnR2Q3M2s/view?usp=sharing

Making characters is a never ending learning process. Making legal characters is as easy as a website.

Good luck.

[Kurt Kurageous]

plus applications on your phones or tablets

This is HUGE. So much stuff on phone/tablet, most at least good, spellcards, references, saving the need to have everything on paper...that's the best part about DMing in the 2010's versus the 1980s when I started. And its free!!!

Well, at least if you're android...

[Sariel Vailo]

This is HUGE. So much stuff on phone/tablet, most at least good, spellcards, references, saving the need to have everything on paper...that's the best part about DMing in the 2010's versus the 1980s when I started. And its free!!!

Well, at least if you're android...

actually i keep a copy of both. i use paper when i play but keep a back up and if idont have my paper sheet that week i just use m phone.my dm really doesnt like me using my phone but because i have shown i am trustworthy hes fine with it.
thats an issue trust worthy ness my power player tried to give his character a level 6 barbarian goliath wth strength 20 his was 18 think i didnt know. mofo

[Millface]

The first thing I tell people when they're making a new character is that everything on the 5E character sheet (well, almost) revolves around one thing now: Proficiency

Pick a race, right down what proficiencies that gives you (if any) and the stat bonus
Pick a class, right down proficiencies (including saving throws)
Roll Stats, add racial bonus
Pick your background, right down proficiencies that gives you
NOW you fill out your proficiency bubbles on the character sheet, once you have all of them written down from all three sources

I've gotten it down to about ten minutes in total now, not too bad.

As far as books, PHB obviously. I don't really like my players having a monster manual, but I can't stop you from being curious! A DMG, at least one, in the party is actually great because you guys can look up your own magic items so I don't have to give printouts or wait an exuberant amount of time for you to write it down from my book. If I had my way everyone would have a DMG.

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, one per table at least (or just a PDF for that would be fine)

No matter what you're playing, type up your spells as you pick them or your class and race abilities, or even feats, as you get them, the whole description. Be organized, it's SO important. If you have your specific spells and abilities handy in printouts and don't have to sift through the handbook for everything it saves SO much time.

Index cards are also great for that.

Make sure you know, or have written in big freaking bold font, your total attack and damage bonuses for EACH weapon you use. It's amazing to me how many people have to stare at their sheet for 20 seconds to figure out how much to add to a roll. Learn your sheet and how to reference it before you ever sit down at the table, your DM will love you forever.

Lastly, and as a roleplayer with some experience I'm sure you know this, but know your character's motivations and personality as much as you possibly can before you start. I know that people change when they're in social groups, and so it makes sense for some of your personality to be adaptive to the other players, but the more you know it before you start, the easier it will be to roleplay effectively. Make decisions as the character, chime in on issues because you know which ones matter to you most, etc... additionally, plot out the kinds of things that you would do during down time so that your character is always living life, even if you spend a couple days in town, you should feel like you know what you're doing and why, and it adds a ton to the experience to do more than just "Wait in your inn room until the wizard does his research and we can hit things again".

[Oramac]

plus applications on your phones or tablets

I'll jump in to agree here. Personally, I prefer paper for my character sheets, but for spells and monsters the apps are a lifesaver!

Off the top of my head, the best apps are (for Android):

- Fifth Edition Character Sheet

- D&D 5 Spellbook

- Complete Reference for 5e

I'm at work, so I can't actually link them, but searching for them is really simple.

[Socratov]

I'll jump in to agree here. Personally, I prefer paper for my character sheets, but for spells and monsters the apps are a lifesaver!

Off the top of my head, the best apps are (for Android):

- Fifth Edition Character Sheet

- D&D 5 Spellbook

- Complete Reference for 5e

I'm at work, so I can't actually link them, but searching for them is really simple.

I work in 2 ways: I keep the master of my sheet on-line on myth-weavers (since it enables me to edit from just about anywhere as well as share it with the DM/other players when I see fit), but before play I jot all the important details down (mostly the mechanical stuff) and fit it all onto 1 sheet of a4 paper. And yes, that is for casters too (though without spell descriptions, for that I keep my laptop handy if some details are needed to be dredged up).