Help me and my Group of Noobs play DnD

[Maged]

O.K Hi me and my friends want to start a game of DnD and between us all
we will have about 6 people. I have never played the game but have spent so much time on these forms just reading and learning I kinda feel like I have. I do not own any of the books and to my knowledge neither do my friends. I want to know a few things.

1. Should I get 3.5 if 4.0 is coming out in a few months?
2. Is there an easier way to access books online?
3. What do I need for this to happen?

Any tips are welcome!!!

Thank you for any responds in advance

[Shas aia Toriia]

Uhhh. . . could you elaborate more? You're not giving us much at all. . .

[TheThan]

4th edition is right around the corner so you might as well wait until it comes out before buying any books, the core set (player’s handbook, dungeon master’s guide and monster manual) will probably cost you about 90 bucks. Even the core 3.5 set costs about that much, unless you can find it discounted or used.

If you’re not interested in waiting for 4th edition you might as well buy 3.5. Some people will tell you to not buy anything and use the official SRD, which I can understand where they are coming from, but the books has a lot of information that is very useful for new DMs and players that is not in the srd. So I advocate purchasing the books.

[Tokiko Mima]

The way D&D is organized, Players only really need one book, the Players Handbook. If the player is all ready very familiar with D&D rules, then they might be able to get away with just the SRD.

The DM needs three different books, which include the Players Handbook (PHB), the Monster Manual (MM), and the Dungeon Master's Guide(DMG.)

As far as finding books available online, there is a wealth of information on D&D at the Official Site and through various D&D wiki's. There is no legal way to obtain full copies of D&D books via the internet, and WotC doesn't produce official PDF's of them typically. That's not to say they don't exist though! If you do find them, please do not post the location or links to them on this board. Nothing gets you a warning faster.

As far as waiting for 4.0, that's up to you. Just because 4.0 comes out doesn't mean 3.5 will be any less fun, but it certainly might be cheaper to buy the 3.5 books while a lot of people trade up to 4.0. Or you might just want to roll out with 4.0 and never bother learning 3.5!

[Icewalker]

I'm thinking these are the best and cheap methods:

A player who doesn't know how to play the game needs to learn from someone who does.

A player who does know how to play can use the SRD for information.

A DM who doesn't know how to play should buy at least the PHB. The DMG has useful information, but if really necessary it can be done without it.

A DM who does know how to play should get the PHB anyways, you never know everything that is in it. Other than that, you can get away with a core game using what is online. The MM seems to me to be not really necessary. The SRD provides all the information out of it that you need.

[RTGoodman]

As others have said 4th Edition is coming in a few months (June, I think), so you may want to wait for that. Maybe not, though.

If you decide to go ahead and get into 3.5, you might want to check out the D&D Basic Game starter set. It comes in a big box with a guy fighting a dragon or something like that on the front. It comes with a paperback copy of the Player's Handbook, pre-made character, a pre-built adventure, some dice (I think), and some miniatures. Basically, everything you need to start learning D&D. If you want to keep going, you can pick up the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual, along with other supplements, as you go along.

[Maged]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I found out my friend has a Players Handbook after I printed out the Players
Handbook Pfd. So i am knida learning it all just reading and me and my friends are going to have our first real session next week!

again thanks for the help
-Maged