How do you play D&D style games?

[Advance Strat..]

Alrighty, after reading through all of OOTS up to this point, and some convincing of a friend of mine from another forum, I decided why not I'll try it out.

I have no freaking clue where to begin.

So how exactly DO you play a D&D style game? If it helps I have played through the KOTOR games, and I know they use D&D elements in the background for that game, but other then that and the OOTS comic, i know zilch about D&D style games.

[Morty]

However you like. It's simple- if you're having fun, you're doing it right. If you don't, you're doing something wrong. Just buy the books- you'll read everything you need to know there.

[Jade_Tarem]

Whew... where to begin?

Well, Wizards of the Coast (the company that publishes DnD products) wants you to believe that the answer is to spend money - lots of money.

In reality, you really just need the core rulebooks, or, if you want to be even cheaper, the free online SRD.

You'll need a set of dice or an appropriate online dice roller (the Wizard's website has one) that can roll a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and d100. Of all of those, the d20 is most important. (dX means that it is a die with that many sides. d10, for example, is a 10 sided die.) It helps if everyone has their own set of dice, but this isn't necessary - it just makes the game go faster.

You'll need character sheets, which also can be printed off the wizard's website for no money (other than the paper and ink used in the printing).

You need a Dungeon Master, whose job it is to come up with adventures, an overarching plot, and to control everything in the world that he creates that is not the Players. He also resolves rules disputes. (Really, I recommend that you find an experienced DM when you start playing - one that can help you learn the basics).

You need, in addition to the Dungeon Master, some Players. The exact number varies from group to group, but the ideal size is considered 4-6 players, just so you can fill all the party "roles." (Tank, Skills-guy, Healer, and Arcane Caster). Don't panic if you can't find 4 players, or if you get a group together and 12 people want to play - those can work too, provided your DM can handle it.

More than anything, you need an active imagination. DnD relies on this more than anything else. DnD is a "roleplaying" game - roleplaying is akin to acting in that you have your character act as your character would, rather than how you would. While roleplaying is not required in DnD, I recommend that you try it once you've mastered the basic rules.

Once you buy the Player's Handbook or find the content of it online, read it through. It will tell you all you need to know about being a player, how to make a character, what the different classes/races/skills/feats/spells/etc. do, how combat occurs, the works. The DMG (Dungeon Master's Guide) has all the tips/advice for Dungeon Mastering in it, as well as how to create dungeons, NPCs, loot, magic items, etc.

The last core rulebook, the Monster Manual, is also meant to be used by the DM, and is basically a listing of all the core monsters and their stats. It has everything from dragons to zombies to ogres and more.

If you can't find an experienced DM (with a lot of patience) then you may want to start with a pre-written adventure. I'll let someone else fill you in on those.

Some extra things to keep in mind:

1. DnD has rules, but if they're no fun then change them! It's your game, and the whole point is to have fun.

2. You don't win DnD like you do, say, KOTOR. The game continues as long as the DM and Players are willing to continue it.

3. The DM is God. His/Her word goes. Don't argue with the DM. Feel free to point it out when you think they're wrong, but if the DM says that something works the way he says it does, don't keep arguing.

4. The fact that there are 800,000 elven subraces does not mean that you have to play one of them.

5. DnD is incredibly complex. In fact, since it is based on what the human mind can come up with, it is infinitely complex. DnD isn't limited by programming or memory constraints. It may feel overwhelming at first. Don't worry about it.

Good luck, and welcome to the ranks of gamers! PM me if you have a question about anything that I posted.

[Advance Strat..]

However you like. It's simple- if you're having fun, you're doing it right. If you don't, you're doing something wrong. Just buy the books- you'll read everything you need to know there.

1. what books?

2. However I like huh? So if i roll an 18, i just need to run up and down steps? Don't take that too harshly, I'm just saying your gonna need to start at Chapter 1. Think of that "posting and you" internet clip, replace posting with D&D


EDIT: holy crap, jade just posted right before i did. Hooooo boy. Um... alrighty then, can I get a link or two to stuff i may need?

[Jade_Tarem]

M0rt was posting the golden rule of DnD. Read my post for more of the technical details. The "chapter one" you refer to can be literally found in Chapter 1 of the Player's Handbook.

The books he refers to are the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual 1.

[Advance Strat..]

probably should have said this at the start, but I'm mainly just planning on doing this over the internet. (mostly just here, probably)

[Jade_Tarem]

That's a help, in finding a solid DM, but you're still going to need the Player's Handbook, at least.

[Advance Strat..]

hmmmm.... well I kinda need to save my money right now... anyway of finding some sort of copy online? I mean it's the internet, there's gotta be one somewhere right? :D

[I_Got_This_Name]

You should have at least one copy of each of the first two core books (Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide) for the group, and it really helps to have a Player's Handbook each. You can get those on Amazon. The Monster Manual is nice, but not strictly necessary.

Most of Core is available on the SRD. The SRD, though, was gutted of everything that relates to the standard world and a good bit of the descriptions; they also took out the rules on how to create characters (in the Player's Handbook) and advance them (in the Dungeon Master's Guide), but the rest of the rules are intact. Since the Monster Manual doesn't have any character creation or advancement rules, it was put on the SRD mostly intact.

Note that there are later volumes of these books (volume II of the PHB and DMG; they're up to IV on the MM). These are outside of core, so their stuff isn't in the SRD, but they don't have anything you strictly need.

Once you have the books, and have read them over, you need a group and an adventure. Get a few friends together, create characters, and that's about it for the group; there are quite a number of published adventures floating around the internet, or you can write your own. I'd reccomend starting at level 1 if nobody understands the rules all that well, since they're simplest then.

There are some other books that I'd reccomend, but aren't necessary:
PHB and DMG 2. The stuff in here is really nice.
Monster Manual (all volumes). These are very helpful, and repeat all of their important mechanics, so you can start anywhere in the series. Monster Manual 1 is mostly released into the SRD (except for a few monsters), and 2 has some old rules in it that take some updating (dig around on http://www.wizards.com and they've got the updates for it). Three and Four, though, are full of monsters you aren't getting for free.
Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords. Replaces the combat-oriented classes with something more interesting. It's a good bit more powerful, but the casters are more powerful than melee-types normally (admittedly after a bit of a steep learning curve), and this doesn't do quite enough to even the scales (just to keep melee-types competitive). I'd reccomend waiting on this one until everyone gets a good handle on the rules, actually, then switching your Fighter out for a Warblade (PHB2 has reccomendations on how to do this for people who are attached to their fighter).
Eberron Campaign Setting. This is a very nice world-in-a-book. Get this if you want an interesting world and feel that you can't make one on your own. There are a few other published settings, such as Forgotten Realms; Eberron is my personal preference. Eberron has political tensions, moral grey areas, exploration, and pulp action (Indiana Jones would fit in here. His aircraft would run on magic, but he'd fit); FR is a more generic fantasy world.

The above are in no particular order.

[Morty]

Sorry for he lack of details- Jade_Tarem covered it already anyway.
As for online version- there's SRD(system reference document)- downloadable or online- where you can find most of the rules, but you can't play with SRD only- for example, you can't find anything about gaining experience there. So if you want to play, you'll have to buy three aforementioned books. Though I guess you can skip Monster Manual, as you can find monsters in SRD.
EDIT: Simu-ed.

[FujinAkari]

Getting a copy of the PHB online would be illegal, but thankfully the SRD contains pretty much everything...

[Driderman]

Not that I endorse it or would suggest it, but I've been told that it's possible to download most D&D books in PDF format from the internet, if one was so inclined...

[squishycube]

Forget endorsement, remember legality; it is illegal in most countries to breach someone's copyright by obtaining their products without paying. Also, the D&D books are published in book form, changing it to another medium (digital books, PDF) requires the author's permission. I can pretty much guarantee that the creators of the PDF's you'll find online did not get this permission.

EDIT: I had a hunch this would be covered by the forum rules and it is: (Emphasis mine)

Criminal Activity
Posts containing illegal content - including but not limited to discussion of how to commit illegal activities, discussion of the use or acquisition of illegal substances, or posts that violate a law in and of themselves - will result in an immediate ban for the poster.

Just so you know.


Legal jibba jabba aside, I'd recommend searching for a game on this forum and tell the DM you are a first time player. Some of the DM's might not want to invest their time in you, but most will. This is in my opinion the best and easiest way to learn the game.

Have fun!

[Advance Strat..]

well if I'm just gonna do this online, chances are the DM of whatever game will have the listing of monsters, and a campaign of some kind, so not too worried there.

i found about 50 different versions of character sheets on google image search.

I'll see if i can find that SRD online. Hopefully i can.

EDIT: squishy - sounds like a good idea. I saw where the campaigns were listed, is there any reccomendations on which ones I should look at to start with?

[Morty]

Here's SRD online:
www.d20srd.org

[PlatinumJester]

The best way to play DnD is to do it with about 5 - 8 friends who all play completly different characters and races.

[Advance Strat..]

lol, yeah I just found that site myself actually! looks very useful indeed, already added to favorites.

also i found this site...

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/cs/index.shtml

for character sheets. Any on there you guys think I should use, or should I just use Microsoft Word for the info, or what?

[squishycube]

EDIT: squishy - sounds like a good idea. I saw where the campaigns were listed, is there any reccomendations on which ones I should look at to start with?

Well I wouldn't really know, as I haven't played in any games here for a long time, but just read through the Finding Players and/or Playing threads of some of the campaigns and see if you find one you like.
In my experience most people who run games here are pretty good, the only thing you could look out for is dying games (games that stop soon).

EDIT: Most DM's will want you to use an online character sheet site, like http://www.rpgwebprofiler.net/

[Advance Strat..]

is that something like, you make the character, and it gives you a link so anyone can see it, or something similar? seems like it from what i've seen of the site so far.

[squishycube]

Erm. Yes. In a way probably quite different from what you imagined...
It is like a digital character sheet. You can make a profile and manage a map of character sheets. Then for each sheet you can control who can see it. You can make it public, or just accessible by certain users.

[Advance Strat..]

alrighty then. I'll see if i can figure out how to download this darn thing, so I can make someone up then! (because having a character to play with is a bit of a plus to have.) :D

[Porter]

This site does not make the char for you, it mearly hosts your char online. You have to imput all the data yourself.

[Premier]

lol, yeah I just found that site myself actually! looks very useful indeed, already added to favorites.

also i found this site...

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/cs/index.shtml

for character sheets. Any on there you guys think I should use, or should I just use Microsoft Word for the info, or what?

For your information: Dragonsfoot is strictly an OOP (Out Of Print) website. It only deals with and only hosts material for old editions of Dungeons and Dragons that were not created by Wizards of the Coast. These editions significantly differ from the recentmost one (which is practically the only edition you'll find anything about here in the OOTS forums), so whatever you find at Dragonsfoot will not be usable in a game using the new edition.

[Advance Strat..]

Couldn't get the rpgwebprofiler started for whatever reason, probably for reasons you just mentioned. Digging around a bit, I saw someone using Myth-Weavers, and I just registered there. So all I have to do now is set up a character there whenever I find a game.

Looking around a bit, I noticed 2 ways of setting original skills. Dice, and a point system. Don't know much about the dice one, but it seems straightforward. And the point system I'm quite familiar with thanks to KOTOR (assuming they use the exact same charts for price increases and the like, but even if it doesn't it shouldn't be too hard to pick up the new ones.)

thanks for the warning about dragonfoot btw. Sounds like I would need an online profile anyways, but it's good to know I guess.

One more question. Do you always start your character as a lvl 1 person, or does that vary from game to game?

[Jade_Tarem]

It's easiest to start at level one, but the starting level is entirely up to the DM. So yes, it varies from game to game.

[Viscount Einstrauss]

D&D is an imaginative collaborative story effort with a mechanical game front end. The DM tells a story, the players add to it, and then the dice randomly determine how it happens. There is no specific right or wrong way to do it. Simply try your best, and if you're all having fun then you're doing right.

[One_Wolf]

I would suggest, as your first game, that you start at level one.

No matter what character race/class you choose your abilities are limited at level one and thus you can learn the basics without being too overwhelmed.

As you progress you gain abilities which increase your options and make it more complex, but by the time you get them you'll have an idea how to use them.

-One Wolf

[Advance Strat..]

so try to find a game that starts somewhere around lvl 1-5 when making a brand new character then?

[goat]

Starting at level one, with some more experienced players around would be ideal. They can advise you on how to develop your character into who you want to be, and stop you making silly mistakes (melee combat pure bard, who only uses his fists, HOOYAH). They can also provide a "buffer" between you and the game world. If you're unsure how to proceed in a situation they can advise; if it all goes wrong, they're likely to have an idea of how to save the situation; if you're creating a completely sub-optimal character, it won't impact the party as much, etc etc.

Still, never get bullied into doing things because it's "optimal" or "what I always do in this situation". Optimal does not always equal fun, solutions of the past are not always solutions of the present. Sometimes, it's best to do the stupid things.

[Advance Strat..]

I mean just look at Elan!

WOOOOO! I'M INVISIBLE!!!!

a bad idea all in all, but still pretty darn funny. :D