Beginner's Guide to D&D 5E

[Mad Bishop]

Hey all,
I am hosting a charity D&D game for Extra-Life this year and we opened it up to a lot of people outside our normal D&D group and the response to this was a bit overwhelming. We have quite a lot of people going to play this year and a lot of them are brand new, having never before played D&D nor TTRPGs of any kind. Normally, when we get a player unfamiliar to the game, we would help them through the learning process as the game is played but we have people coming and going to and from the game too much this year to make that feasible. So instead, I set out to write a primer or beginner's guide to D&D 5E in the hopes that the players would read it before hand and be somewhat familiar with the general concepts before we start playing.

I would love any feedback on this guide and have included a link to it below. Cheers!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G3K7cGFH8JcgWms0dQM4LC6t460R7g_WUIHP1nPdTH0/edit?usp=sharing

[Darc_Vader]

It looks pretty good in my opinion. I like that you specify that ‘encounter’ means more than just ‘combat’. The only thing I might suggest adding is an explanation of Actions/Bonus Actions/Reactions, along with the Bonus Action Spellcasting rule.

[Willie the Duck]

Might want to add, in the dice section, explanation of 'roll xDy+z' nomenclature, and maybe one more sentence on how to roll percentile dice (or at least why it means that d10s are 0-9 instead of 1-10). Other than that, it's hard to say upon what people will get hung. Maybe a very intro-level spellcasting description that explains spells known, spells available, and spell slots (cursory overview since it is so class dependent).

[JNAProductions]

Not sure how much feedback I can give that'd be helpful-I've got a knack for rules even when I don't know the system real well.

But, I just wanted to say, you're doing some good work here for charity, and you've got my best wishes on success!

[bid]

There's the good olde "ability checks are not skill checks".
I would be better to start with the basics, such as "Intelligence check to communicate with sign language". Only then can you name skills and add "Intelligence check with a bonus because you know which mushrooms are edible (Nature)." This is important because jack of all trades also works with sign language. You want new players to think about 6 abilities, not be blinded by 18 skills.

And not a word about background, which will come later I guess.
Here it's important to call them "samples to help you define your past", if you are an expert at dice games or speak the language of the elves.

[Mad Bishop]

Thank you all for the feedback.

I have added to the section on Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions.
I have added an explanation of the multiple dice format.
I have added a section about Short vs Long rests
I have added a section about Ability Checks.

[Keravath]

Overall, I think it is really quite good in terms of flavor and giving folks a basic idea of the game.

I am assuming the document is for 5e? You need to check for bits from other editions ..

1) "asks for 2d6+(your Strength Modifier * 1.5)"

In 5e, as far as I know, you just add the strength modifier for all melee weapon attacks based on strength. They added the fighting styles to compensate.

2) A cloak of invisibility doesn't give advantage on stealth checks

"He has his Cloak of Invisibility on which gives him advantage on his rolls to be sneaky. He rolls two d20’s and gets a 5 and a 17."

"INVISIBLE
• An invisible creature is impossible to see without the
aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of
hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature's
location can be detected by any noise it makes
or any tracks it leaves.
• Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage,
and the creature's attack rolls have advantage."

Being invisible gives the character the ability to take the hide action while in line of sight since they are heavily obscured but doesn't give advantage on stealth checks.

3) You left out variant humans but this may be because you don't want to get into feats?

4) I would leave out the reference to "Male Witches" under Warlock since there is no gender requirement for the class and D&D doesn't get into that.

P.S.

There are only 3 kinds of d20 rolls in the game.
-Attack rolls
-Saving throws
-Ability checks

Ability Checks/Saving Throws and Attack Rolls are modified by whether the character is proficient with the specific task/saving throw or weapon/spell.

Your character will start off with proficiency in two saving throws depending on your class. Weapon and armor proficiency also depends on your class. Specific weapons, simple weapons, martial weapons - light, medium, heavy armor and shields. Skill proficiencies can come from your background, race and class choices.

If you are proficient you add your proficiency modifier to your attack/save/ability check. Proficiency modifier is in a table and depends on your total level.

[Bjarkmundur]

I think you should include the core mechanic, but simplified. This would fit nicely as a single sentence before explaining how the dice work. "Whenever you want your character to do something, simply describe the action to your DM, and what your desired outcome is. He will then guide you through what happens next, often with the help of his trusty DICE *queue explanation on dice*


Player Intent Credit: TheAngryDM (https://theangrygm.com/tweaking-the-core-of-dd-5e/)
The only rule a player needs to learn before playing is how to declare intent:
Preceding any action the player describes his Intent (the desired outcome of his actions), and his method (his approach to achieving the outcome). Once described in full, the DM decides whether the action can be attempted, whether it succeeds automatically, or warrants a dice roll, and which ability score would be used to make said roll. If the action would fail automatically, the DM is likely to give a warning before the action is attempted. If the action is a success the player either accomplishes his desired outcome or makes progress towards it. If the action fails, the player suffers costs or risks associated with the roll. Even then, the DM can apply consequences based on the player’s specific method.

I also feel like having separate ability and skill checks is adding text without adding information. Could be simplified to "if a use of an ability falls under the domain of a skill, you can add a special proficiency bonus if your character is trained with that skill".
I love the "alternate" class names XD
d12 isn't described as "the barbarian dice", this is a huge problem.
I love this document btw ^^
Good call adding the bit about rounding down.
I love the fact that you included and emphasized:"Often times there are multiple ways an encounter can be overcome and there might even be better rewards for a clever or non-violent solution to an encounter."

[Ninja_Prawn]

You've got the initialism DC down as both 'difficult class' and 'difficulty check'. As far as I'm concerned it should be 'difficulty class'.

And what's with the 'aka' bit in each of the classes? Several of them are openly derogatory, some of them appear to be in-jokes (though I don't get them) and I don't see what it adds to the player's understanding. Except the pop culture examples, obviously. My recommendation is to change it to 'e.g.' and then list three pop culture examples for each.

Just in general, when will people be reading this? Will they be sent them before the game, or given out on request, or available as pamphlets or... Because it's a good, concise primer, but you'll still be adding in a chunk of homework that will probably turn some people off right from the outset...

[NecessaryWeevil]

Intelligence doesn't give you more skills in 5E. You might want to mention the existence of subraces.