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TFT
2008-06-28, 02:37 PM
I have a quick question: How do I get started in DnD? I don't really have any friends that play, so a RL DnD game is out. Once I find a group to play with, I have another problem: Learning the game. If anyone could help me out with either of those things, it would be appreciated.

RebelRogue
2008-06-28, 02:47 PM
Playing online is very possible: take a look at the Play-By-Post section of this site. Find a thread in the "recruiting players" section you think sound interesting to you (preferably a low-level game), and ask if it's ok that you're a beginner. According to your tastes, it may be a good idea to let somebody create your character for you, and then go for it. Hopefully, people will be helpful in the Out-of-character thread (and here). With a little luck, you'll learn to play soon enough :smallsmile:

Also, if it's a 3.5 game (most still are, AFAIK) all the rules can be found online here: d20srd.org There's no fluff text, so some things may be potentially difficult to understand in context, but if you're familiar with standard fantasy (have seen/read The Lord of the Rings would be a great starting point), things should be ok.

RTGoodman
2008-06-28, 03:50 PM
It doesn't really matter if you don't have any friends that play - you don't and you're interested, so maybe they will be too. Just find 4 or 5 other people (give or take a couple) and either pick up (splitting the cost) the D&D Basic Set (which is basically a starter kit for the 3.5 Edition of D&D) or the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure (which is an adventure for the new 4th Edition, comes with pre-built characters, and is good for beginners since it was the introduction to the new rules). If you guys decide you like it, stick with it and buy a couple of more Player's Handbooks (PHBs) and maybe a couple other books.

If you want to try online as RebelRogue mentioned, this is probably a good place since we've got a good community 'round these parts. If you go to the Play-by-Post area of the forums, you may be able to find someone trying to start a game for beginners to learn the rules. I know there were a couple of them a while back. You might need to pick up the PHB if you decide on 4th Edition, but with 3.5 you can probably get away without it (though getting it and reading through it a few times is a good introduction to the game).

TFT
2008-06-28, 04:42 PM
Thanks for the help. I'm going to try a couple PbP games on here, and see how that goes...

Pinnacle
2008-06-28, 05:00 PM
Not to discredit the PbP section of this forum, which is perfectly good, here are some others you might want to try if you're interested:

Role-Play Online (http://www.rpol.net)
Myth Weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com) (also has online character sheets that a lot of people use here too)
PlotHook (http://www.plothook.net) (also has character sheets)

Invisible Castle (http://www.invisiblecastle.com) is a useful site for dice rolling, although GiantitP and all the sites I linked have built in rollers.