Help me please I am newb

[valhallanguitar]

Hey guys Im super new to D&D and Im so very confused on what the stats are used for. I mean I understand why they are there I just dont know how when or why you would use them. I would love some examples of simple fights or mechanics with how to use these. I do own all the books necessary but am having trouble finding a simple page of what the hell is going on. Ive watched a ton of videos and it seems like everyone is like "make an attack roll" ok you hit, now make a damage roll. OK you damge. Or Make a perception check, you fail... How are these used and why?

Say you need to roll a strength check and my strength is 15 (+2) what would constitute a successful dice roll?

Sorry about all the blabbering but any help would be greatly appreciated. Pretty sure no one in Olympia WA plays D&D so I really have no one else to ask.

Thanks
-Cameron

[Specter]

It all depends on the Difficulty Class (DC). If you want to pick a lock, for instance, the DM will tell you how difficult it is and assign a DC. Then, for the roll, you add your relevant stat (Dex, in this case) and other modifiers like proficiency if/when they apply. If your roll + your modifiers are equal or higher than the DC, you succeed. If not, you fail.

For attacks, what matters is the Armor Class (AC) of the opponent. A man in full plate (AC18) is much harder to hit than a naked one (AC10).

[KorvinStarmast]

Say you need to roll a strength check and my strength is 15 (+2) what would constitute a successful dice roll?

Sorry about all the blabbering but any help would be greatly appreciated. Pretty sure no one in Olympia WA plays D&D so I really have no one else to ask.

Thanks
-Cameron Ability checks, ability bonuses, proficiency bonuses and rolls.
See the Basic Rules (for free at this link) on pages 7, 10, 57, 58 (http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf)

The dungeon Master assigns a "Difficulty Class" (DC) to a task. Let's say it's 15.

You roll a d20 and add +2.
If it's an ability check that you are proficient in (such as Athletics) then you add your proficiency bonus, which for levels 1-4 is a +2.

If you rolled an 11 your adjusted roll is 15. You passed.
If you rolled a 9 your adjusted roll is 13. You didn't pass.

For combat, if you use a weapon you are proficient in, you add your proficiency bonus and your ability bonus. (Example: a warhammer if you have martial weapon proficiency, gets you both +2 for str and +2 for profiency bonus).
You roll a d20 and see if you hit the AC of your target.
On page 60

Attack Rolls and Damage
You add your Strength modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon such as a mace, a battleaxe, or a javelin. You use
melee weapons to make melee attacks in hand-to-hand combat, and some of them can be thrown to make a ranged attack.
This info is the same as in the PHB. IN Chapter 5 there is the Equipment section, where you have a Weapons table. That will tell you which weapons are simple and which are martial weapons, and if there is anything special about them.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hey guys Im super new to D&D and Im so very confused on what the stats are used for. I mean I understand why they are there I just dont know how when or why you would use them. I would love some examples of simple fights or mechanics with how to use these. I do own all the books necessary but am having trouble finding a simple page of what the hell is going on. Ive watched a ton of videos and it seems like everyone is like "make an attack roll" ok you hit, now make a damage roll. OK you damge. Or Make a perception check, you fail... How are these used and why?

Welcome to D&D!

There is a section in the PHB that deals with this part of your question: Using Ability Scores starting on page 173. That may be a helpful starting point.

So... let me expand a bit. The basic process of D&D is:
DM describes a scene
Player determines what their character will do, given this information
DM determines the outcome of the PC's action, narrates accordingly
Repeat
In step 3, the DM may feel that the PC's actions might work, but might also have a chance of failure. In this case, they will probably ask the player to make some kind of d20 roll to determine the outcome. So let's take an example.

DM: "You ease open the rusted iron gate and step into the graveyard. A heavy mist fills the air; you can't see more than 30 feet in any direction."
Player: "I'm worried about an ambush. My character will stop and listen for a moment, to see if anyone might be hiding in the mist."
DM: "Make a Wisdom (Perception) check."
Player: <rolls> "Ugh, 4."
DM: "The fog seems to muffle all sounds and you hear nothing out of the ordinary."
Player: "Okay, well we'll start looking for the grave then."
DM: "The map you found leads you straight to the crumbling headstone that marks your grandfather's final resting place. Before you can start digging, though, you hear the blood-chilling moan of zombies... roll initiative!"

In this case, if the player had rolled better on their perception check, they might have heard the zombies milling around in the graveyard and been able to surprise them, rather than getting ambushed themselves.

[valhallanguitar]

Ok I gotchya, so the numbers/stats are arbitrary besides the fact they give you bonus's or negatives. So lets say a Strength check is required for 2 players, 1st player has 15 str and the other player has 14 str they both get (+2) bonus so it really does not matter the number its all about the modifier?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Ok I gotchya, so the numbers/stats are arbitrary besides the fact they give you bonus's or negatives. So lets say a Strength check is required for 2 players, 1st player has 15 str and the other player has 14 str they both get (+2) bonus so it really does not matter the number its all about the modifier?

Basically. There are a (very) few cases where the raw number matters, but generally the ability modifier is what governs most things. The amount of weight you can carry and the types of armour you can comfortably wear, for example, are cases where having 15 strength is better than 14.

[Hrugner]

Ok I gotchya, so the numbers/stats are arbitrary besides the fact they give you bonus's or negatives. So lets say a Strength check is required for 2 players, 1st player has 15 str and the other player has 14 str they both get (+2) bonus so it really does not matter the number its all about the modifier?

Correct, the stat value itself is just there to space out the benefit from increases to the stats. so, if you gain a +1 to the stat it's about the same as getting a +.5 to the modifier. It just saves some rounding and could probably be done away with.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Ok I gotchya, so the numbers/stats are arbitrary besides the fact they give you bonus's or negatives. So lets say a Strength check is required for 2 players, 1st player has 15 str and the other player has 14 str they both get (+2) bonus so it really does not matter the number its all about the modifier?There are very few things in the game that use your raw ability scores; most things (and all dice rolls) will instead add whatever modifier is relevant. For the most part, your abilities scores are only used to determine what your modifiers are. (Off the top of my head, the distance a character can cover with a long jump (with a running start) is equal to their strength score in feet but that's the only use of an ability score rather than the modifier I can recall in the core rule books.)

I heard once that at some early stage in the design of the current edition of the game, there was talk about removing the ability scores entirely and just using modifiers, but that they decided not to because the ability scores and the basic range they fall into has been such a big part of the game for so long. I'm not sure how true this is though, so don't hold me to it too strongly.

Edit:

Basically. There are a (very) few cases where the raw number matters, but generally the ability modifier is what governs most things. The amount of weight you can carry and the types of armour you can comfortably wear, for example, are cases where having 15 strength is better than 14.
Oh yeah. Those too. It's funny how these all apply to Strength rather than any of the other stats. I guess there's also the stat requirements for multiclassing too, which involve having a 13 in some relevant stat (like 13 intelligence if you want to take a level in Wizard) rather than just requiring a +1 modifier (which would be a 12 and would be slightly easier to qualify for).

[valhallanguitar]

So great, I really really appreciate the help. My main questions have been answered. I understand enough to get a campaign going. I have never DM'd before but I love painting miniatures and drawing so naturally I was drawn to the DM part of the game. All my players want to play mages though which kind of sucks because I dont understand how magic works. I will be digging deeper into the PHB to learn as much as I can before things kick off this Friday.

Much love and thanks!
-Cameron

[Ninja_Prawn]

So great, I really really appreciate the help. My main questions have been answered. I understand enough to get a campaign going. I have never DM'd before but I love painting miniatures and drawing so naturally I was drawn to the DM part of the game. All my players want to play mages though which kind of sucks because I dont understand how magic works. I will be digging deeper into the PHB to learn as much as I can before things kick off this Friday.

Much love and thanks!
-Cameron

The hundred-or-so pages of spells at the back of the PHB must be pretty scary for a newbie. Probably best to focus on the ones your players want to use, first of all. I guess the whole 'spell slots' thing is a bit weird too, at first glance... :smallfrown:

[Lord Il Palazzo]

The hundred-or-so pages of spells at the back of the PHB must be pretty scary for a newbie. Probably best to focus on the ones your players want to use, first of all. I guess the whole 'spell slots' thing is a bit weird too, at first glance... :smallfrown:This would be my advice too. Ask your players to let you know in advance what spells they're selecting so you can pre-read and brush up. My players who are newer to the game often have problems understanding the difference between how many spells they know, how many they can prepare and spell slots.

In case it's helpful to you or your players, here's the explanation I've used that's worked pretty well for getting my players out of their initial confusion:

The explanation I've come up with that seems to work is that spell slots you prepare are like money you use to buy spells when you cast them. Each day, you have a certain number of slots/amount of money to cast your spells for the day. The spells you have prepared (for classes like clerics and wizards) or know (for classes like bards and rangers) are the spells you have available to spend your spell slots on. Spending a slot on a spell doesn't remove that spell from the list that are prepared. (If you have two level one spell slots, you can cast the same spell twice in the day or cast two different spells, either way works.) The classes that prepare spells have one extra level of complication, the spells they have to choose from when they prepare; these classes have a list (all class spells for clerics, druids and paladins or all spells in your spellbook for wizards) from which they pick a smaller list to have available each day.

What I told my players that for classes that prepare spells, imagine you have a restaurant and are going to set up a stand at a fair or festival. You can't have all your food available in this smaller location so from your whole menu (all the spells available) you can pick a certain number of dishes to have available at the event (the spells you've prepared). Once you've set up, the people at the fair can spend money (spell slots) on any of those dishes that you chose to have at your stand (spending spell slots to cast that spell). Because you were prepared for a lot of business, you don't run out of a dish just because one or two customers bought it (you can spend multiple slots to cast the same spell over and over).

For classes that know a certain number of spells, it's like running the restaurant itself; you have all the ingredients for all your dishes ready on site rather than having to pick which ones you prepare but you still have enough that one person ordering a dish doesn't take it off the menu.