I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’m sorry. I played a bit of The Lost Mines of Phandelver with my parents, but we had to restart because we were doing everything wrong...
Can I have some help with how things work in D&D and how things work here?
Don't worry about getting all the rules right on the first try. The most important thing is to have fun. If you or your parents get stuck, just improvise and look up the rule you didn't remember between games.
More detail would help us help you better. When you say you had to restart because "you were doing everything wrong" what things do you think you were doing wrong?
Who was serving as DM?
Had you all read through the player's guide that is part of LMOP?
Were you using the pre-generated characters?
What parts of playing characters and/or being a DM do you find the hardest or the most puzzling?
Well, I was the DM, and it turns out we were doing the fights completely wrong. We read through the whole thing and went through it multiple times to make sure we were correct. We did use the pre-generated characters, and I found describing the scenes to be rather difficult because there was either not enough detail for me to describe it, or I was lazy.
Bengal, you can watch members of the Wizards of the Coast team play through the first chapter of Lost Mines of Phandelver on YouTube. It's a good way to get to know the basic rules and see how that adventure can be run.
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"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I'm an old man (mid-40s) getting back into D&D after a couple of decades without playing. I'm immersing myself in podcasts and YouTube D&D content. I want to regain the feel for the game. I recently found my old AD&D 1st & 2nd edition books and I'm so excited. I bought a 5th edition Starter Set but I'm worried my interpretations of the rules is off. I found a local shop that does a couple of D&D nights I think that's my next step. My plan is to be good at play a character or characters before trying my hand a being a Dungeon Master. I hope these ideas help.
I'm an old man (mid-40s) getting back into D&D after a couple of decades without playing. I'm immersing myself in podcasts and YouTube D&D content. I want to regain the feel for the game. I recently found my old AD&D 1st & 2nd edition books and I'm so excited. I bought a 5th edition Starter Set but I'm worried my interpretations of the rules is off. I found a local shop that does a couple of D&D nights I think that's my next step. My plan is to be good at play a character or characters before trying my hand a being a Dungeon Master. I hope these ideas help.
Hey, now... I'm 44, and I'm not an old man! ;-) You can also find groups on Roll20 that are open to new players. It can be a great way to learn the game without leaving your house. You should check out the Nerdarchy channel on YouTube.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Being the DM is a lot of work. You really need to understand how all of it fits together and why. Once you have a good grasp, you can break it down into segments and have key notes that you will use to interpret scenes and bring all of the varied characters to life.
The mechanical bit is mostly the easiest part. Especially to start with. The core concept is roll a d20 and add modifiers. Look up ways to use Advantage and Disadvantage. Now you also know how to do skill checks in addition to combat. The rest is storytelling... and preparation...
I'm an old man (mid-40s) getting back into D&D after a couple of decades without playing. I'm immersing myself in podcasts and YouTube D&D content. I want to regain the feel for the game. I recently found my old AD&D 1st & 2nd edition books and I'm so excited. I bought a 5th edition Starter Set but I'm worried my interpretations of the rules is off. I found a local shop that does a couple of D&D nights I think that's my next step. My plan is to be good at play a character or characters before trying my hand a being a Dungeon Master. I hope these ideas help.
Hey, now... I'm 44, and I'm not an old man! ;-) You can also find groups on Roll20 that are open to new players. It can be a great way to learn the game without leaving your house. You should check out the Nerdarchy channel on YouTube.
As an almost 48-year-old, I'd invite you all to get the heck off of my lawn.
The storytelling aspect of being DM is something that can be hard to pick up on, as it requires a lot of creativity and quick thinking. Mechanically, one of the great things about 5e is it really is a lot simpler in terms of just playing, but, if you've never DM'd before or really even played, figuring out how to built a narrative in such a way that it makes things feel "real" can be hard to pick up on. I'd suggest watching YouTube videos of people actually playing campaigns; it's going to be an obviously longer process, as most of the videos will go on for several hours, but you can watch an experienced DM describe the world and how people are moving around, and that's a great thing to pick up on.
I'll give the standard "watch Critical Role" advice to the OP; they just started campaign 2 not so long ago, and DM Matt Mercer is really good at being descriptive and painting the proverbial picture. If you don't have the time to sit and watch the video, it's out there in podcast form, so you can still hear how he handles things.
I'm an old man (mid-40s) getting back into D&D after a couple of decades without playing. I'm immersing myself in podcasts and YouTube D&D content. I want to regain the feel for the game. I recently found my old AD&D 1st & 2nd edition books and I'm so excited. I bought a 5th edition Starter Set but I'm worried my interpretations of the rules is off. I found a local shop that does a couple of D&D nights I think that's my next step. My plan is to be good at play a character or characters before trying my hand a being a Dungeon Master. I hope these ideas help.
I think you've been told by other 40-somethings, but when I was mid-40's a couple of years back I was told by a doctor I was young, so I'm going with medical opinion for as long as I can.
I'm in the same boat. I've played a couple of games but mainly been DMing since I got back into it. Listened to a few actual plays and really enjoy the DM advice type podcasts. My players seem to enjoy my games but I do a lot of storytelling IRL and public speaking irl, so that probably helps.
I'm in this weird situation where at my age I'm in the best shape of my life (after losing about 30-40 pounds) so I kind of say I'm old with pride. I've been told I'm in better shape than many men half my age. I don't say that to gloat but just as a reason I'm not afraid to say I'm "old". I have some hobbies that keep me young. I also think our generation (now in it's 40s) was one that was allowed to be young and not out work full time as kids for the family. We generally weren't out in the field or factory. Running around the neighborhood, D&D, comic books etc etc. We have fond memories of that stuff where maybe a previous generation had more memories (less pleasant) of working in their off time as kids. It's just an idea.
My daughter is the reason I'm getting back in. She came home from high school and mentioned she was interested in a D&D club. She remembered I had mentioned I had my old AD&D books somewhere in the basement. So we go down into the basement but I never thought we would find them so easily. Maybe someone cast a Good Luck spell when we were in the basement. A half hour later I come up with my first edition Player's Handbook, DM's Guid, Monter Manual 1, MM2 and Fiend Folio (love that name).
I bought a 5e Starter Set and found a great store in my area that has weekly games. I'm sorry if I hijacked the thread but I hope all who are playing D&D are enjoying the adventure. You aren't alone.
I learned by mentorship. I had the benefit of a good, rules light DM who told told great stories, and was forgiving of terrible character builds (which bad character builds aren't as much of a thing in 4 and 5E as it was in previous editions).
Start off as a player. Pick something that doesn't cast spells, and just get into character and enjoy the RP. LFG boards and local comic/games shops are a good place to find a DM who is newbie friendly. Look into method acting and remember to be really descriptive as often as you can. Act it out if you have to. It may feel silly at first, but you will figure out what feels right in time.
After your character gains a few levels, start looking into other race/class combos. Build a few and see how they work in simple single session scenarios. When you feel comfortable with the game mechanics, try running a few simple dungeon divers: no plot, keep it on the railroad tracks, kill monsters, gain XP and loot, repeat. Then, try running a small setting campaign. Maybe set it in a forest, or small city.
The more experience you gain, the more expansive your worlds can get. Pretty soon, you'll be running multi-planar universes, with all expanded splats and homebrew variants, citing RAW from memory, and tweaking RAI through your own standardized houserules, while sounding like a wizened old grognard the whole time. Furthermore, by that time, this last paragraph will make perfect sense.
I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’m sorry. I played a bit of The Lost Mines of Phandelver with my parents, but we had to restart because we were doing everything wrong...
Can I have some help with how things work in D&D and how things work here?
Hey there! I've played for a bit. I wouldn't say I'm extremely good, but I'm sure I could help you out :D
Don't worry about getting all the rules right on the first try. The most important thing is to have fun. If you or your parents get stuck, just improvise and look up the rule you didn't remember between games.
This video has some good advice for you.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
What are you unsure about?
Okay, thank you. I’m mostly looking for tips on playing characters and being a Dungeon Master. I’ll watch the video later.
More detail would help us help you better. When you say you had to restart because "you were doing everything wrong" what things do you think you were doing wrong?
Who was serving as DM?
Had you all read through the player's guide that is part of LMOP?
Were you using the pre-generated characters?
What parts of playing characters and/or being a DM do you find the hardest or the most puzzling?
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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@ArwensDaughter
Well, I was the DM, and it turns out we were doing the fights completely wrong. We read through the whole thing and went through it multiple times to make sure we were correct. We did use the pre-generated characters, and I found describing the scenes to be rather difficult because there was either not enough detail for me to describe it, or I was lazy.
What do you mean by "doing the fights completely wrong"?
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Bengal, you can watch members of the Wizards of the Coast team play through the first chapter of Lost Mines of Phandelver on YouTube. It's a good way to get to know the basic rules and see how that adventure can be run.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I'm an old man (mid-40s) getting back into D&D after a couple of decades without playing. I'm immersing myself in podcasts and YouTube D&D content. I want to regain the feel for the game. I recently found my old AD&D 1st & 2nd edition books and I'm so excited. I bought a 5th edition Starter Set but I'm worried my interpretations of the rules is off. I found a local shop that does a couple of D&D nights I think that's my next step. My plan is to be good at play a character or characters before trying my hand a being a Dungeon Master. I hope these ideas help.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Being the DM is a lot of work. You really need to understand how all of it fits together and why. Once you have a good grasp, you can break it down into segments and have key notes that you will use to interpret scenes and bring all of the varied characters to life.
The mechanical bit is mostly the easiest part. Especially to start with. The core concept is roll a d20 and add modifiers. Look up ways to use Advantage and Disadvantage. Now you also know how to do skill checks in addition to combat. The rest is storytelling... and preparation...
I can’t quite remember, but we somehow misread the combat guide. We figured it out, though.
I'm in this weird situation where at my age I'm in the best shape of my life (after losing about 30-40 pounds) so I kind of say I'm old with pride. I've been told I'm in better shape than many men half my age. I don't say that to gloat but just as a reason I'm not afraid to say I'm "old". I have some hobbies that keep me young. I also think our generation (now in it's 40s) was one that was allowed to be young and not out work full time as kids for the family. We generally weren't out in the field or factory. Running around the neighborhood, D&D, comic books etc etc. We have fond memories of that stuff where maybe a previous generation had more memories (less pleasant) of working in their off time as kids. It's just an idea.
My daughter is the reason I'm getting back in. She came home from high school and mentioned she was interested in a D&D club. She remembered I had mentioned I had my old AD&D books somewhere in the basement. So we go down into the basement but I never thought we would find them so easily. Maybe someone cast a Good Luck spell when we were in the basement. A half hour later I come up with my first edition Player's Handbook, DM's Guid, Monter Manual 1, MM2 and Fiend Folio (love that name).
I bought a 5e Starter Set and found a great store in my area that has weekly games. I'm sorry if I hijacked the thread but I hope all who are playing D&D are enjoying the adventure. You aren't alone.
I learned by mentorship. I had the benefit of a good, rules light DM who told told great stories, and was forgiving of terrible character builds (which bad character builds aren't as much of a thing in 4 and 5E as it was in previous editions).
Start off as a player. Pick something that doesn't cast spells, and just get into character and enjoy the RP. LFG boards and local comic/games shops are a good place to find a DM who is newbie friendly. Look into method acting and remember to be really descriptive as often as you can. Act it out if you have to. It may feel silly at first, but you will figure out what feels right in time.
After your character gains a few levels, start looking into other race/class combos. Build a few and see how they work in simple single session scenarios. When you feel comfortable with the game mechanics, try running a few simple dungeon divers: no plot, keep it on the railroad tracks, kill monsters, gain XP and loot, repeat. Then, try running a small setting campaign. Maybe set it in a forest, or small city.
The more experience you gain, the more expansive your worlds can get. Pretty soon, you'll be running multi-planar universes, with all expanded splats and homebrew variants, citing RAW from memory, and tweaking RAI through your own standardized houserules, while sounding like a wizened old grognard the whole time. Furthermore, by that time, this last paragraph will make perfect sense.
My DM Registry
My Campaigns:
Ibahalii Vriwhulth, the Reaper of Glory v2: IC Thread (PbP); Secrets of the Island (On Discord); Lost Mine of Phendelver (tabletop)
My Characters:
Krik-tul, Thri-kreen monk; Mme Cragmaw, Goblin Artificer; River Kuthraeann, Wood Elf Paladin