Hi, I'm brand new to D&D, like "only has played a one-shot campaign at a convention" new. And I've been trying to figure out things and learn different parts of the game and what I need to buy and such but everything is just kind of jumbled and I can't even find people irl that can help because of where I live. I was just hoping that posting here would be able to help in ANY way. So my main thing is just:
Does anyone have any advice that I can use? Anything helps.
Read the stuff linked in the New Player Guide section of the menu up top. And definitely start with the free stuff in the Basic Rules -- don't pay for anything just yet, especially if you're still looking for folks to play with. You can go a long way on free and borrowing from libraries.
Welcome to the hobby! This is a topic ("How to get started in D&D") that comes up often enough I actually have a standard intro saved as a document. Here goes:
The appeal to D&D is that you can play out whatever sort of adventure that you and your play group want to. It can take some time and effort to find a group of other people who want to play the same kind of game as you do (and are all consistently available to play at the same time), but there is almost definitely a group out there for you and however you want to play. Somewhere.
For an in person game your options are mainly either putting together a group from people you already know or looking for a group somewhere like a local game store or comic shop. Many such establishments have artifacts of a bygone era called "bulletin boards" where people can write down information about a game they want to organize along with how to contact them on a piece of paper and affix it to a large, thin piece of wood or similar material that hangs on the wall. Such "boards" are the ancient, pre-technological precursors of modern online forums such as this one.
For online games there are a lot more options, but that also means a lot more games that you won't necessary enjoy so you'll likely have to sift through the ads and postings and even after that it might take multiple attempts actually joining a game before finding one you're comfortable with and enjoy being part of. Various forums have LFG (Looking For Group) sections, including the D&D Beyond and Roll 20 ones. There's also reddit's r/lfg, numerous facebook groups and a whole bunch of Discord servers that are focused around providing a community space built around D&D and/or general TTRPGs.
Online games are typically played either as "theater of the mind" where all the action and events are happening entirely in the player's imaginations, or on a Virtual Tabletop (VTT) that displays a map and objects with tokens representing player characters, monsters, etc that can be moved around plus built in dice rolling apps and even digital character sheets that let you just click something on said sheet to automatically make the necessary roll and add the correct modifiers, etc. Often theater of the mind is used for roleplaying out general scenes then a VTT for specific exploration and combat sequences. VTTs are mostly browser based and often require no downloads except, in some cases, for the DM who uses the tools of said VTT to load in maps, tokens, and assign PC and monster to said tokens, etc; players generally need only to make a free user account and then click a link the DM provides and then move their token around.
For actually learning the rules:
Learning the rules really helps. A lot. Seriously, learn the rules. Many of those places I mentioned above to look for games will have at least some people who are willing to and even enjoy teaching the hobby to new players (not all, but you might be surprised how many there are). That being said it still helps if you've at least read over the basic rules. Wizards of the Coast (the company that published D&D, commonly abbreviated WotC) has a freely available PDF called "D&D Basic Rules" which is a streamlined version of the Player's Handbook and a few bits of extra information and recommendations for Dungeon Masters (aka DMs) such as magic item stats and guides to building encounters plus fifty pages of monster and NPC stat blocks to build those encounters with. Going through the parts that actually cover rules for character creation, ability scores, combat, and magic rules might take anywhere from one to several hours depending on your reading speed but is absolutely time well spent.
Most D&D games are played in sessions ranging from 2-4 hours, often on a weekly recurring basis. Spending the amount of time you put into every single one of those sessions just once to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of character creation, combat, and magic will make all of those sessions go smoother. Even if you need to refer to the rules on occasion because you don't remember exactly what a particular spell does, or if your character's class based abilities refresh on a short rest or a long one, you will already know things like what AC means, what a saving throw is, what proficiency in the Investigation skill means, and what numbers you add to what sort of dice rolls to make attacks with your character's main weapon. Knowing those basic functions of the game will mean you can stay focused on telling the story and describing the action that those things determine and represent, and that means you get more immersed and have more fun.
Welcome! You mentioned that your location is remote, but I'd still encourage you to find your closest comic book shop. I can't speak highly enough of the kind of interactions you'll get out of meeting strangers with whom you share an interest. My own history with the game was learning it from books and never getting a chance to play until college. I hope you find an easier path.
Welcome! You mentioned that your location is remote, but I'd still encourage you to find your closest comic book shop. I can't speak highly enough of the kind of interactions you'll get out of meeting strangers with whom you share an interest.
I strongly second this. As an addition, gamers and nerds often feel like outsiders compared to everyone else and are often a bit shy about their hobby in general. When in a safe space associated directly to said hobby and surrounded by people who it can safely be assumed have similar interests (otherwise they're either very lost or confused and that's usually easy to spot) this attitude reverses. Tabletop roleplaying games are a social activity by definition and if other gamers get a "one of us" vibe from you they will generally be at least casually polite if not openly friendly. Since you mentioned your first D&D experience was at a convention you've probably experienced this as such gatherings tend to increase the effect to the extreme; we're not the weirdos there, anybody that didn't come to pretend to be a wizard or warrior and doesn't have an opinion on elves vs dwarves is the weirdo. While less pronounced, most local game stores (LGS) foster a similar environment. If you say something nerdy that someone doesn't understand they're not going to look at you like you're crazy, they'll ask you what game/book/movie that's from.
YouTube was critical in me learning the game. There are creators with varying levels of intensity and depth they go into. I’d recommend looking up some videos by the Dungeon Dudes and seeing how they sound to you. Next I don’t know if everyone will agree with me but what I did was select one class and subclass that I liked the sound of generally and just go all in learning about it. As you learn all there is to learn about the subclass you've glean a ton of info about the basic rules. I’d search “how to build a Moon Druid?” And watch all the videos you can find. I also recommend this site for researching game info and classes in particular.
Hi, I'm brand new to D&D, like "only has played a one-shot campaign at a convention" new. And I've been trying to figure out things and learn different parts of the game and what I need to buy and such but everything is just kind of jumbled and I can't even find people irl that can help because of where I live. I was just hoping that posting here would be able to help in ANY way. So my main thing is just:
Does anyone have any advice that I can use? Anything helps.
Read the stuff linked in the New Player Guide section of the menu up top. And definitely start with the free stuff in the Basic Rules -- don't pay for anything just yet, especially if you're still looking for folks to play with. You can go a long way on free and borrowing from libraries.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Welcome to the hobby! This is a topic ("How to get started in D&D") that comes up often enough I actually have a standard intro saved as a document. Here goes:
The appeal to D&D is that you can play out whatever sort of adventure that you and your play group want to. It can take some time and effort to find a group of other people who want to play the same kind of game as you do (and are all consistently available to play at the same time), but there is almost definitely a group out there for you and however you want to play. Somewhere.
For an in person game your options are mainly either putting together a group from people you already know or looking for a group somewhere like a local game store or comic shop. Many such establishments have artifacts of a bygone era called "bulletin boards" where people can write down information about a game they want to organize along with how to contact them on a piece of paper and affix it to a large, thin piece of wood or similar material that hangs on the wall. Such "boards" are the ancient, pre-technological precursors of modern online forums such as this one.
For online games there are a lot more options, but that also means a lot more games that you won't necessary enjoy so you'll likely have to sift through the ads and postings and even after that it might take multiple attempts actually joining a game before finding one you're comfortable with and enjoy being part of. Various forums have LFG (Looking For Group) sections, including the D&D Beyond and Roll 20 ones. There's also reddit's r/lfg, numerous facebook groups and a whole bunch of Discord servers that are focused around providing a community space built around D&D and/or general TTRPGs.
Online games are typically played either as "theater of the mind" where all the action and events are happening entirely in the player's imaginations, or on a Virtual Tabletop (VTT) that displays a map and objects with tokens representing player characters, monsters, etc that can be moved around plus built in dice rolling apps and even digital character sheets that let you just click something on said sheet to automatically make the necessary roll and add the correct modifiers, etc. Often theater of the mind is used for roleplaying out general scenes then a VTT for specific exploration and combat sequences. VTTs are mostly browser based and often require no downloads except, in some cases, for the DM who uses the tools of said VTT to load in maps, tokens, and assign PC and monster to said tokens, etc; players generally need only to make a free user account and then click a link the DM provides and then move their token around.
For actually learning the rules:
Learning the rules really helps. A lot. Seriously, learn the rules. Many of those places I mentioned above to look for games will have at least some people who are willing to and even enjoy teaching the hobby to new players (not all, but you might be surprised how many there are). That being said it still helps if you've at least read over the basic rules. Wizards of the Coast (the company that published D&D, commonly abbreviated WotC) has a freely available PDF called "D&D Basic Rules" which is a streamlined version of the Player's Handbook and a few bits of extra information and recommendations for Dungeon Masters (aka DMs) such as magic item stats and guides to building encounters plus fifty pages of monster and NPC stat blocks to build those encounters with. Going through the parts that actually cover rules for character creation, ability scores, combat, and magic rules might take anywhere from one to several hours depending on your reading speed but is absolutely time well spent.
Most D&D games are played in sessions ranging from 2-4 hours, often on a weekly recurring basis. Spending the amount of time you put into every single one of those sessions just once to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of character creation, combat, and magic will make all of those sessions go smoother. Even if you need to refer to the rules on occasion because you don't remember exactly what a particular spell does, or if your character's class based abilities refresh on a short rest or a long one, you will already know things like what AC means, what a saving throw is, what proficiency in the Investigation skill means, and what numbers you add to what sort of dice rolls to make attacks with your character's main weapon. Knowing those basic functions of the game will mean you can stay focused on telling the story and describing the action that those things determine and represent, and that means you get more immersed and have more fun.
Welcome! You mentioned that your location is remote, but I'd still encourage you to find your closest comic book shop. I can't speak highly enough of the kind of interactions you'll get out of meeting strangers with whom you share an interest. My own history with the game was learning it from books and never getting a chance to play until college. I hope you find an easier path.
Hi PastelMaxxie
Thank you for posting this, I was just about to post the exact same message!
I’m also new to D&D and have no friends or colleagues who want to play and location makes it difficult to find or make connections.
Big thanks for the beginners tips Flushmaster - downloading D&D Basic Rules is next on my to do list.
I strongly second this. As an addition, gamers and nerds often feel like outsiders compared to everyone else and are often a bit shy about their hobby in general. When in a safe space associated directly to said hobby and surrounded by people who it can safely be assumed have similar interests (otherwise they're either very lost or confused and that's usually easy to spot) this attitude reverses. Tabletop roleplaying games are a social activity by definition and if other gamers get a "one of us" vibe from you they will generally be at least casually polite if not openly friendly. Since you mentioned your first D&D experience was at a convention you've probably experienced this as such gatherings tend to increase the effect to the extreme; we're not the weirdos there, anybody that didn't come to pretend to be a wizard or warrior and doesn't have an opinion on elves vs dwarves is the weirdo. While less pronounced, most local game stores (LGS) foster a similar environment. If you say something nerdy that someone doesn't understand they're not going to look at you like you're crazy, they'll ask you what game/book/movie that's from.
YouTube was critical in me learning the game. There are creators with varying levels of intensity and depth they go into. I’d recommend looking up some videos by the Dungeon Dudes and seeing how they sound to you. Next I don’t know if everyone will agree with me but what I did was select one class and subclass that I liked the sound of generally and just go all in learning about it. As you learn all there is to learn about the subclass you've glean a ton of info about the basic rules. I’d search “how to build a Moon Druid?” And watch all the videos you can find. I also recommend this site for researching game info and classes in particular.
http://dnd5e.*******.com