How to Play Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition)

[hboyce1]

Hey, guys. I have humbly published a guide to help ease prospective players into Dungeons and Dragons. I hope you all enjoy and I wish each of you a pleasant day.
https://www.gametruth.com/guides/how-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-5th-edition/

[Keravath]

Nice effort :) ... It took a lot of work to type it up :)

Just a few comments.

0) The cheapest place for D&D books is usually (sadly) Amazon. They appear to be able to offer deeper discounts than most. Local game stores are typically more expensive but if you find a local store you like, gaming is a very thin margin business and the stores would likely be happy to have another customer. Stores are also a reasonable place to look for local games that might be running when you are interested in playing.

1) The Adventurer's League players guide applies to rules of play for players in Adventurer's League only. The one you linked to is also very old. (season 5).

2) The Adventurers League DMG has very little to do with the actual DMG. The one you linked contains DM guidance for running season 5 Storm King's Thunder content which is likely to be far more confusing than useful.

3) The current AL materials are a free download from DMSguild.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/208178/DD-Adventurers-League-Player--DM-Pack

You should have a separate paragraph talking about what AL is and link these documents there specifically since it doesn't have that much to do with playing D&D unless you plan to participate in organized play at a local game store or home game run using the AL rules.

4) Dice - an app for your phone (and there are several free ones for either iphone or android) would be an another option.

5) Minis are a maybe nice to have feature but if you are playing with other folks many will have something that can be used until you buy something. A typical unpainted mini is only a few dollars if you decide to get one.

6) I've never run into a store that would try to upsell someone just starting out in the hobby. They would like them to come back and buy again.

7) DM screens are optional. Some DMs like to keep rolls hidden from players and others roll everything where it can be seen. There are advantages to each approach.

8) I'd suggest having a player section and a DM section since the resources needed, preparation and how to play are completely different depending on whether you are a player or a DM.

9) If a DM is really just starting off with D&D and a group of new players, I would strongly recommend the Starter Set with the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure. It is a good intro and will advance characters to around level 5. As a beginner DM, I would NOT recommend jumping into any of the published campaigns and as a beginning player, I think you would need an experience DM in any of these campaigns to make them work well. On the other hand, some of the other shorter content is more appropriate for new players and DMs.

DMSGuild is also a good source of modules and other adventure content.

10) AL at stores is often not free. Some stores charge a sitting fee and some do not. Usually the fee is pretty modest if they charge one. Most stores or gaming cafes will have a flat fee for the day to come and play games. They will often have a selection of games that can be played and D&D may be organized at various times during the week.

11) D&D can be a bit complicated but it isn't that bad :) ... you've described the rules as vast and intricate which is funny since 5e is far simpler than 3.5.

12) The ettiquete rules are mostly just being polite. Try not to get mad at your dice, other players or the DM when something doesn't work out. Staying in the game and not using your device too much are also good suggestions.

13) Playing D&D is a shared experience between the players and the DM. There is the belief that the players and DM are operating under a shared rule system. The DM has the final say. However, everyone, DMs included can make mistakes and mis-remember rules. Arguing with a DM is not fun but there is generally nothing wrong with politely mentioning if there is a rule you don't understand and would like clarification from the DM. This can be a method of politely bringing errors to the DMs attention .. and if it isn't an error then you learn something.

14) Personally, I've never heard of the "Yes, and" rule :) ... sounds like it might work for some folks but I have found that new players often need a bit more guidance in their decisions until they get used to how the game works. There are also times when a character may choose to take a very inadvisable action. This can be due to role playing but is more often due to the player not understanding the complete situation or not understanding some aspect of the rules that would prevent their intended action from working. So Yes is not always the right answer.

15) The "rule of cool" has limits. It takes some experience to realize where to set those but if you are running a game and a player suggests something cool but impossible then it can often be wiser to say No or the player will expect to get away with the impossible all the time. At which point it is no longer cool at all.

16) On the topic of the first game and role playing, the best approach is to describe what you want your character to do to the DM. They can then offer advice on how your character can achieve that goal. The first step to role playing is trying to put yourself in the position of your character and figure out what they would be likely to do. Voices, gestures and anything else that might go along with "roleplaying" can come later as you feel comfortable with it. Just start off with talking and go from there.

---------------

Finally, if you want to expand a bit.

D&D involves a DM/GM who's main role is to adjudicate the character's choices of actions and how they interact with the world that surrounds them. This is broken down into three types of die rolls.

Attack rolls - used to resolve combat
Ability Checks - used to resolve the application of skills to a wide variety of situations and in response to in game events
Saving throws - used to defend against spells and a wide range of other events

The DM decides which type of roll is needed in each situation.
(This could be followed by the section on stats and skills)

There are three "pillars" to D&D adventures.

Combat - fighting
Exploration - traveling and exploring - finding places
Social - interacting with both other player characters and non-player characters

A D&D adventure may involve encounters or events from each of the three pillars. There are skills and abilities related to each.

Combat is broken down into rounds of 6 seconds each. During each round every character and creature in the combat will take a turn. On their turn they can do the following:
Move
Take one action
Take a bonus action (if you have an ability that gives them a bonus action)

Some examples of an action include:
- Attack action (attack another creature)
- Cast a spell action (cast a spell)
- Hide action (Hide but only if there is something that the DM thinks would let you)
- Disengage action (able to move without other creatures near you being able to attack you)
- Dodge (makes you more difficult to hit)
- Dash (gain additional movement equal to your base move)
- Help (assist another creature in combat so that they have an easier time hitting)


P.S. I started to look at some of the build suggestions linked from your article and I wouldn't classify them as "top class builds".

(Sorry, I just realized you wrote the builds so as your experience with the game increases you might want to revisit them ... I also realize that you started with the standard array which is fine but many of the builds end up with odd stats after the racial modifiers ... like the tiefling charisma casters where the charisma starts at 15, which becomes 17 which is only useful if you have two odd stats or plan to take a half-feat (or the half-orc barbarian with the 13 assigned to strength, which becomes a 15 after the racial mod). In addition, the builds list 5 feats. However, taking 5 feats typically means having no ASIs for stat increases and most of the builds should benefit immensely from at least one if not two stat boosts to get their primary stat to 20.)

[hboyce1]

Nice effort :) ... It took a lot of work to type it up :)

Just a few comments.

0) The cheapest place for D&D books is usually (sadly) Amazon. They appear to be able to offer deeper discounts than most. Local game stores are typically more expensive but if you find a local store you like, gaming is a very thin margin business and the stores would likely be happy to have another customer. Stores are also a reasonable place to look for local games that might be running when you are interested in playing.

1) The Adventurer's League players guide applies to rules of play for players in Adventurer's League only. The one you linked to is also very old. (season 5).

2) The Adventurers League DMG has very little to do with the actual DMG. The one you linked contains DM guidance for running season 5 Storm King's Thunder content which is likely to be far more confusing than useful.

3) The current AL materials are a free download from DMSguild.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/208178/DD-Adventurers-League-Player--DM-Pack

You should have a separate paragraph talking about what AL is and link these documents there specifically since it doesn't have that much to do with playing D&D unless you plan to participate in organized play at a local game store or home game run using the AL rules.

4) Dice - an app for your phone (and there are several free ones for either iphone or android) would be an another option.

5) Minis are a maybe nice to have feature but if you are playing with other folks many will have something that can be used until you buy something. A typical unpainted mini is only a few dollars if you decide to get one.

6) I've never run into a store that would try to upsell someone just starting out in the hobby. They would like them to come back and buy again.

7) DM screens are optional. Some DMs like to keep rolls hidden from players and others roll everything where it can be seen. There are advantages to each approach.

8) I'd suggest having a player section and a DM section since the resources needed, preparation and how to play are completely different depending on whether you are a player or a DM.

9) If a DM is really just starting off with D&D and a group of new players, I would strongly recommend the Starter Set with the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure. It is a good intro and will advance characters to around level 5. As a beginner DM, I would NOT recommend jumping into any of the published campaigns and as a beginning player, I think you would need an experience DM in any of these campaigns to make them work well. On the other hand, some of the other shorter content is more appropriate for new players and DMs.

DMSGuild is also a good source of modules and other adventure content.

10) AL at stores is often not free. Some stores charge a sitting fee and some do not. Usually the fee is pretty modest if they charge one. Most stores or gaming cafes will have a flat fee for the day to come and play games. They will often have a selection of games that can be played and D&D may be organized at various times during the week.

11) D&D can be a bit complicated but it isn't that bad :) ... you've described the rules as vast and intricate which is funny since 5e is far simpler than 3.5.

12) The ettiquete rules are mostly just being polite. Try not to get mad at your dice, other players or the DM when something doesn't work out. Staying in the game and not using your device too much are also good suggestions.

13) Playing D&D is a shared experience between the players and the DM. There is the belief that the players and DM are operating under a shared rule system. The DM has the final say. However, everyone, DMs included can make mistakes and mis-remember rules. Arguing with a DM is not fun but there is generally nothing wrong with politely mentioning if there is a rule you don't understand and would like clarification from the DM. This can be a method of politely bringing errors to the DMs attention .. and if it isn't an error then you learn something.

14) Personally, I've never heard of the "Yes, and" rule :) ... sounds like it might work for some folks but I have found that new players often need a bit more guidance in their decisions until they get used to how the game works. There are also times when a character may choose to take a very inadvisable action. This can be due to role playing but is more often due to the player not understanding the complete situation or not understanding some aspect of the rules that would prevent their intended action from working. So Yes is not always the right answer.

15) The "rule of cool" has limits. It takes some experience to realize where to set those but if you are running a game and a player suggests something cool but impossible then it can often be wiser to say No or the player will expect to get away with the impossible all the time. At which point it is no longer cool at all.

16) On the topic of the first game and role playing, the best approach is to describe what you want your character to do to the DM. They can then offer advice on how your character can achieve that goal. The first step to role playing is trying to put yourself in the position of your character and figure out what they would be likely to do. Voices, gestures and anything else that might go along with "roleplaying" can come later as you feel comfortable with it. Just start off with talking and go from there.

---------------

Finally, if you want to expand a bit.

D&D involves a DM/GM who's main role is to adjudicate the character's choices of actions and how they interact with the world that surrounds them. This is broken down into three types of die rolls.

Attack rolls - used to resolve combat
Ability Checks - used to resolve the application of skills to a wide variety of situations and in response to in game events
Saving throws - used to defend against spells and a wide range of other events

The DM decides which type of roll is needed in each situation.
(This could be followed by the section on stats and skills)

There are three "pillars" to D&D adventures.

Combat - fighting
Exploration - traveling and exploring - finding places
Social - interacting with both other player characters and non-player characters

A D&D adventure may involve encounters or events from each of the three pillars. There are skills and abilities related to each.

Combat is broken down into rounds of 6 seconds each. During each round every character and creature in the combat will take a turn. On their turn they can do the following:
Move
Take one action
Take a bonus action (if you have an ability that gives them a bonus action)

Some examples of an action include:
- Attack action (attack another creature)
- Cast a spell action (cast a spell)
- Hide action (Hide but only if there is something that the DM thinks would let you)
- Disengage action (able to move without other creatures near you being able to attack you)
- Dodge (makes you more difficult to hit)
- Dash (gain additional movement equal to your base move)
- Help (assist another creature in combat so that they have an easier time hitting)


P.S. I started to look at some of the build suggestions linked from your article and I wouldn't classify them as "top class builds".

(Sorry, I just realized you wrote the builds so as your experience with the game increases you might want to revisit them ... I also realize that you started with the standard array which is fine but many of the builds end up with odd stats after the racial modifiers ... like the tiefling charisma casters where the charisma starts at 15, which becomes 17 which is only useful if you have two odd stats or plan to take a half-feat (or the half-orc barbarian with the 13 assigned to strength, which becomes a 15 after the racial mod). In addition, the builds list 5 feats. However, taking 5 feats typically means having no ASIs for stat increases and most of the builds should benefit immensely from at least one if not two stat boosts to get their primary stat to 20.)

Hey, Keravath! Thank you for your support and for your thoughtful feedback. You took a chunk of your day to take the time and offer me this constructive criticism and that means a lot to me. It is readers like you that help writers like myself improve.

You have certainly done your homework and make some stellar points here. I'm going to keep this feedback close to my chest as I continue to make D&D guides. I also plan on giving some more TLC to my previous class build guides, as they could definitely use some work.

Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback. I hope you have a great day.

[Bjarkmundur]

Hey, Keravath! Thank you for your support and for your thoughtful feedback. You took a chunk of your day to take the time and offer me this constructive criticism and that means a lot to me. It is readers like you that help writers like myself improve.

You have certainly done your homework and make some stellar points here. I'm going to keep this feedback close to my chest as I continue to make D&D guides. I also plan on giving some more TLC to my previous class build guides, as they could definitely use some work.

Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback. I hope you have a great day.

This is how you take criticism, people. Take notes :)

[hboyce1]

This is how you take criticism, people. Take notes :)

Hey, Bjarkmundur! Awh, thank you for the kind words. Writing and D&D are both really tough somtimes; I'll just be honest. It's a lot to learn. That being said, it's all about community. The group here at Giant in the Playground has been one of the most respectful and helpful D&D communities I have come across yet. Be proud to be a member here. It is certainly something special.