I've heard of D&D for years now, but never thought to get into it until recently (watched a few Critical Roll YouTube videos lol).
I created my character using the character creation tool through D&D Beyond. Now what? How do I use the character? Do I have to find games locally or can they be done through my phone?
Any tips for what to do next that would be valuable for a newbie like myself to know regarding where to go from here?
It's difficult to tell you exactly how to find a group. Personally I'd gauge the interest of any friends who may be into this sorta stuff. Otherwise I'm sure there are social media groups dedicated to the hobby in your area, assuming you don't live anywhere too remote.
I too had heard of DnD for years without giving it much thought, and now that I've been playing it for some years I regret not taking the dive sooner :)
I think starting out as a group of newbies can be a good bonding experience, my only advice would be to perhaps have the most experienced person take up the role of DM, as it's easily the one that requires the deepest understanding of the rules.
Mamas toast gives some good advice. First choice would be to try and see if some of your friends are also interested. You’ll get together and make lots of mistakes, but probably still have fun. Worst case, you hung out with your friends for an evening. One big advantage is if you go into a group you don’t know and don’t enjoy it, it can be hard to tell if the problem is with the game or the people.
I prefer in person games to online, but both exist. For in person, if you have a local gaming shop, often comic shops can fill the role, they will sometimes have looking for group areas. And then there’s online. I’m in seattle, where meetup has a really good presence, and I’m sure there’s other websites.
If you want to play online, roll20, foundry and discord all have pretty robust options.
In either case, I’d also consider trying a couple different games. Different DMs will have different styles, and you should shop around to see what kind of game you like best.
Finally, don’t get too attached to your character. Some DMs will have restrictions on what you can do, or rules about ability score generation. You may need to re-make the character, or change it a bit.
Using videogame analogy, your character sheet is basically your stat screen. You also use your character sheet to keep track of things.
— — — — — — —
While you can certainly play over a computer, I personally prefer playing in person.
As for finding a group though, I recommend starting with your friends first and see if anyone is interested. In my group of eleven friends, me and 10 others, only 5 out of 10 are interested in trying the game, and only 3 remained to actually play with me. D&D is a pretty niche hobby, and based on my experience, it is not something that the average joe would enjoy. If your friends are not interested though, then your next best bet would be to visit your local game stores.
If you are playing with friends, since you are the one asking people to play, you are also likely the most enthusiastic, and usually that means you will most likely be the GM. If you do decide to be a GM, I recommend checking out the YouTube videos in my signature (Running the Game and D&D with High School Students), and they greatly helped me when I first started.
If you haven't checked out the Looking for Players and Groups section of the forum, that might be a place to start. It seems like there are frequently some people who are offering games geared toward new players. You'll generally need Discord and a mic for audio chat and the ability to use some form of virtual tabletop (Foundry, Fantasy Grounds, etc.). I don't think you'll be able to play just on your phone--the latter take up a lot of screen real estate and processing power.
Oh yea. Something I didn't get into in my orignal post was online vs in person. I'd like to second all the previous posts recommending in-person sessions vs online. Online can be enjoyable, but I find that the game flows much better in person... Online often has people accidently talking over eachother or waiting for someone else to take the initiative because it's very difficult to read social cues in voice chat.
I think being able to communite clearly is even more important for groups of new players because it's a pretty big deal to have everyone onboard with what's going on, and sadly voice chat can be unreliable for that sorta thing in my experience.
My group used to be in-person because we've been doing it online since COVID really took off, and it's certainly taken it's toll on people's enthusiasm.
I've heard of D&D for years now, but never thought to get into it until recently (watched a few Critical Roll YouTube videos lol).
I created my character using the character creation tool through D&D Beyond. Now what? How do I use the character? Do I have to find games locally or can they be done through my phone?
Any tips for what to do next that would be valuable for a newbie like myself to know regarding where to go from here?
It's difficult to tell you exactly how to find a group. Personally I'd gauge the interest of any friends who may be into this sorta stuff. Otherwise I'm sure there are social media groups dedicated to the hobby in your area, assuming you don't live anywhere too remote.
I too had heard of DnD for years without giving it much thought, and now that I've been playing it for some years I regret not taking the dive sooner :)
I think starting out as a group of newbies can be a good bonding experience, my only advice would be to perhaps have the most experienced person take up the role of DM, as it's easily the one that requires the deepest understanding of the rules.
Mamas toast gives some good advice. First choice would be to try and see if some of your friends are also interested. You’ll get together and make lots of mistakes, but probably still have fun. Worst case, you hung out with your friends for an evening. One big advantage is if you go into a group you don’t know and don’t enjoy it, it can be hard to tell if the problem is with the game or the people.
I prefer in person games to online, but both exist. For in person, if you have a local gaming shop, often comic shops can fill the role, they will sometimes have looking for group areas. And then there’s online. I’m in seattle, where meetup has a really good presence, and I’m sure there’s other websites.
If you want to play online, roll20, foundry and discord all have pretty robust options.
In either case, I’d also consider trying a couple different games. Different DMs will have different styles, and you should shop around to see what kind of game you like best.
Finally, don’t get too attached to your character. Some DMs will have restrictions on what you can do, or rules about ability score generation. You may need to re-make the character, or change it a bit.
Using videogame analogy, your character sheet is basically your stat screen. You also use your character sheet to keep track of things.
— — — — — — —
While you can certainly play over a computer, I personally prefer playing in person.
As for finding a group though, I recommend starting with your friends first and see if anyone is interested. In my group of eleven friends, me and 10 others, only 5 out of 10 are interested in trying the game, and only 3 remained to actually play with me. D&D is a pretty niche hobby, and based on my experience, it is not something that the average joe would enjoy. If your friends are not interested though, then your next best bet would be to visit your local game stores.
If you are playing with friends, since you are the one asking people to play, you are also likely the most enthusiastic, and usually that means you will most likely be the GM. If you do decide to be a GM, I recommend checking out the YouTube videos in my signature (Running the Game and D&D with High School Students), and they greatly helped me when I first started.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
If you haven't checked out the Looking for Players and Groups section of the forum, that might be a place to start. It seems like there are frequently some people who are offering games geared toward new players. You'll generally need Discord and a mic for audio chat and the ability to use some form of virtual tabletop (Foundry, Fantasy Grounds, etc.). I don't think you'll be able to play just on your phone--the latter take up a lot of screen real estate and processing power.
Good luck! This is an excellent hobby. :D
Oh yea. Something I didn't get into in my orignal post was online vs in person. I'd like to second all the previous posts recommending in-person sessions vs online. Online can be enjoyable, but I find that the game flows much better in person... Online often has people accidently talking over eachother or waiting for someone else to take the initiative because it's very difficult to read social cues in voice chat.
I think being able to communite clearly is even more important for groups of new players because it's a pretty big deal to have everyone onboard with what's going on, and sadly voice chat can be unreliable for that sorta thing in my experience.
My group used to be in-person because we've been doing it online since COVID really took off, and it's certainly taken it's toll on people's enthusiasm.