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Stormcrow
2007-08-20, 10:28 PM
In the not to distant future my group is opening its doors publically and offering a service to people who are interested in D&D and don't know how to play. Basically D&D crash courses.

I'm looking to compile a Player Written Primer on D&D, this isn't homebrew because its not actually game content.

Basically I'm looking for;

A breif description of each base class from a simple standpoint (also no build advice etc, just a desc.)

Preferably all of them with a note to which book they are found in.

Also a run through of the main parts of the game, no need to explain grapple though :P written in a way less convuluded than the core books.

Anyone up for helping?

I'll compile the result into a PDF that everyone can download.

Lord_Kimboat
2007-08-21, 01:42 AM
I wouldn't mind lending a hand.

Solo
2007-08-21, 04:11 AM
I shall help as well.

I'll do a few PHB classes, as you shouldn't go too far outside the PHB (maybe the SRD, but that's it) for newbies.


Wizard: A spellcaster who learns of spells through rigorous study, and does BAD things to people with them. A few spells per day, but can prepare any spell he has in his spellbook. *

Sorcerer: A spellcaster who casts off of inborn powers. A great number of spells per day, but a set amount of spells known. Can be considered the wizard's little brother. *

Rogue: *Sneaky Sneaky* *Backstabbity Backstab* #

Cleric: Heals people with the power of the gods. Also, great defensive spellcaster, buffer, and combatant. Has the special cleric & paladin only ability to Turn Undead. *

Druid: See cleric, except he works off the power of nature (hippy) and can morph into various animals. Also has a nifty animal companion. *

Fighter: He hits things well. Tons of feats and customization options. -

Bard: *Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing the annoyingly repetitive tune! Assist, Assist, Assist, Assist your allies in combat!* #

Monk: Bruce Lee. Nuff said. -

Barbarian:

"This is the Barbarian.
The Barbarian likes to smash things.
Smash, Barbarian, smash!" +

Paladin: *Smite Evil!* -

Ranger: If the Paladin is the warrior version of a Cleric, then the Ranger is the warrior version of the druid. Gets to do nature stuff well and can become archery focused or dual wield weapons.

Creating a Drow Ranger who duel wields scimitars will cause rocks to fall from the sky, killing you. -


* Powerhouse
#Useful
- Useless
+Shamelessly stolen from the person beneath me.

I believe that's it?

kamikasei
2007-08-21, 09:27 AM
"The core idea of the game is to play a character who has to deal with various challenges put forward by the DM. You decide on your character's personality, motivation, actions and so on. To make it easy and fair to determine whether you succeed or fail in your attempt to, for example, climb a wall, attack a monster, or wheedle your way into an audience with the king, your character also has a set of numbers - attributes, skills, and so on - which represent how good she is at various things. In any case where you are attempting something and need to know whether your succeed, you roll a d20 and add the modifier from the appropriate attribute.

"For example, take two characters trying to cross a ravine via a narrow, rickety bridge. This would use the Balance skill, which is tied to the Dexterity ability. An agile character who has trained in balancing will have a large modifier to add to his roll, increasing the chance he'll succeed. Another character may not have trained in balancing specifically but might be more naturally dexterous, so be just as likely to succeed. Conversely, a clumsy character might have so little Dexterity that he takes a penalty, subtracting a number from his roll and stacking the odds against his success.

"This mechanic is used throughout the game. You have six basic ability scores that represent your natural talent - your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution (toughness), Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma (force of personality). Your score in each of these gives you an ability modifier, a bonus or penalty, such as a +4 (you're very naturally gifted - strong, agile, tough, smart, perceptive, or captivating) or a -2 (you're weak, clumsy, frail, slow-witted, oblivious, or boring/off-putting). This is the basic core of your character's capability, representing inborn talent.

"You then have skills, which represent things you have trained to do. Each skill is tied to an ability, so that your Climb skill benefits from a high Strength, your Balance from Dexterity, your Forgery from Intelligence, and so on. At each level you gain skill points which you use to buy ranks; this represents your having trained in or otherwise improved that skill. Your skills are capped based on your level, so usually you pick a number of important skills that depends on your number of skill points per level and keep them at their maximum. You get extra skill points for having a higher Intelligence (and fewer for a low score).

"The next feature of your character is feats. These are more specific abilities than skills, and do not have ranks; you have a feat or not, you can't have 'more' or 'less' of one. Feats are specific tricks you know, combat manoeuvres you have learned, inborn talents not represented by your ability scores, and the like. A wizard has a feat to represent his ability to scribe magical scrolls; a fighter might have a feat to represent his training in tripping enemies with his weapon; a rogue might have a feat granting him bonuses on certain skills. Feats are gained fairly slowly, depending on your class."

Is that the sort of level of detail you want? Should someone be able to read this primer and then sit down to a game (perhaps with a pregen character) straight away?

It might be an idea to note all the concepts/rules you want to cover.

Stormcrow
2007-08-21, 06:38 PM
Wow. Nice.

I think you've just about covered it. Did you want to quickly explain combat at all? with an example?

kamikasei
2007-08-21, 09:02 PM
Wow. Nice.

I think you've just about covered it. Did you want to quickly explain combat at all? with an example?

Thanks. That was pretty as-I-thought-of-things though; a bit of structure is needed. Here, let's just note the things we want to cover.

- the d20 mechanic
- - opposed rolls and set DCs
- ability scores and modifiers
- - the combat numbers, etc which abilities modify
- - saving throws
- skills
- - that skills are tied to abilities
- - taking 10 and 20
- - circumstance bonuses
- feats
- - feat trees and prerequisites
- combat
- - hp
- - bab and ac
- - weapon stats and critical hits
- - movement?
- - special attacks (trip, disarm etc)?
- - readied actions?
- race
- - racial traits
- equipment
- - magic items and bonuses
- - bonus types and stacking
- magic
- - prepared vs. spontaneous
- - arcane vs. divine
- - damage vs. control vs. utility

What else can be added to this? How much of it needs to be gone into in detail? Probably the largest question is how much of the work of introducing a novice to the game is to be done by the primer. At the extreme end we're basically looking at talking someone through the SRD, which is going too far.

jjpickar
2007-08-21, 09:33 PM
The typical adventurer:

There isn't one. In D&D you can do or be pretty much anyone you like. The only limits are what your Dungeon Master (DM for short) sets. Usually, you aren't allowed god-like power (not at the beginning at least). Other than that, you are free to play any character you like.

Character Creation:

First you are given ability scores which serve as a measure of your characters physicaland mental attributes. Then you pick a race like an elf or dwarf (or if your DM allows it, a made up one). Next, you pick a class There are many to choose from and each is flexible and can represent many roles. Rogues, for example, have been played as thieves, ninjas, assasins, or even archeologists. Each class has special abilities such as turning into animals or casting spells (Druids can do both). Last you pick skills and feats. Feats are usually passive abilities or qualities that you pick only once whereas skills are abilites that you can use and improve over time. As a final note, I would suggest you coordinate your character's creation with other players and the DM so that you may pick the most optimal choices for your character and the campaign he is in.

Once you have made a character, you and the rest of the players (called collectively "the party") are thrust into the game world created by the DM, at the place and point in time of the DM's choosing. Once there you arefree to act or react as you please to the enviroment, characters, and events in the world. Keep in mind that this is a group game and that selfish behavior can take the fun away from other players.

I will leave you with one more tip: D&D is played for fun, and usually ends up being an incredible experience for both DMs and players solong as they act maturely, respect one another, and try not to take it too seriously. Now, go have fun storming the castle!





You don't have to use all of this but if any of it helps take it with my blessing.:smallsmile:

Stormcrow
2007-08-21, 11:15 PM
We possibly want to break it up into;

Beginner;
Race
Class
Feats
Equipment
Combat
Skills
Basic Magic
Leveling

Intermediate;
Status Effects
Magic Items
Advanced Magic
Prestige Classes

Tor the Fallen
2007-08-21, 11:20 PM
Depending on play style, you may want to emphasize that the core classes are merely archetypes, and not professions. That way, seemingly bizarre multiclasses aren't really dabbling in a variety of jobs, but honing a specific skill set to fill a niche.

Turcano
2007-08-21, 11:25 PM
I read "primer" in a different context; you know, like those children's "learning reading" books:

"This is the Barbarian.
The Barbarian likes to smash things.
Smash, Barbarian, smash!"

Solo
2007-08-21, 11:52 PM
Err.... did I help any?

Stormcrow
2007-08-22, 01:09 AM
You certainly did :D

Solo
2007-08-23, 03:07 PM
i think i should update it... and I did!

Stormcrow
2007-08-23, 06:48 PM
Well done. :D