Here are some things I recommend for a first time player
Make sure you read about your race/class in the player's handbook. It is important to know the capabilities and limitations of your character so you can make better/informed choices on how to play with what you've chosen
Also do your best to read up on how combat works! It took actually playing before combat made sense to me, but getting a head start by reading about it helped.
If your dm is clearly setting up a quest hook (the villagers need rescuing from this mass of zombies/ there are gators in the sewers!) don't be afraid to go for those
Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you have experienced players at the table, they should be able to help you if something is not quite making sense.
On the flip side of that, be sure to do some of your own research on how things work!
There are a lot of rules and mechanics to D&D. Do not get discouraged. The more you play, the more everything makes sense. The first time I played D&D I had no idea what was going on or what I should be doing.
This was helpful, does anyone have any other advice on what class/race I should use?
Personally, I think you should start your first character with the race that you think looks the coolest or has some feature that you think is excellent first time out. The game is very forgiving for races that are not perfect for a class, so it isn't worth worrying about the first go around. Pick the one you vibe with most.
For class, you should pick the one that does what you want to do in the game. So my question to you is: what do you want to do? What role are you hoping to fill?
This was helpful, does anyone have any other advice on what class/race I should use?
The best advice I can give a new player—play what you want to play (with one caveat I will discuss a bit later). While there is plenty of information out there about optimising, D&D is not a game that is fully optimisable. There are so many different facets to it that pure numbers are often not as important to enjoyment as just having a character you enjoy being and who you find yourself comfortably playing.
Related to that, do not be intimidated when making your character. Some folks might tell you to “you should play an easy class to start”—but that is generally bad advice when stated as an absolute. You can play an easy class if you want, but you can also play a more complicated class, like Wizard, and be A-okay, even as a new player. The game does a good job with slowly building your powers, so even more complex classes give you plenty of time to master your skills before you receive new ones.
The only real important thing is to make a character that does not step on another member of your party’s toes. If someone else is making a sneaky character, maybe talk with them before you do the same basic thing. This both helps your party be able to solve more problems, and helps you, as a new player, find your own voice and role, rather than finding yourself eclipsed my a more experienced player’s shadow.
As a player, read through your race and class, and try to clear up misconceptions with your DM or other players. If you're a DM, do your best not to let any outside problems into the game, and one tip that all DMs should know is that you generally shouldn't mess with a players class. Have fun, and best of luck.
I'm new to DND, is there anything I should know before playing with my friends?
My major piece of advice is to not buy anything just yet. Everything you need to try it out (apart from friends) is available for free.
There are the Basic Rules that give a reasonable idea of what the game is like. They are available and linked to in my signature (if you can't see it, you're probably on mobile, rotate the screen to landscape and you should see it).
All but one of the official classes are available for free with one subclass each and several races are free too. You can use the DDB character creator to create up to six characters for free with the available free resources (you can add more for a cost later).
The character sheets you build here on DDB come with a dice roller that automatically incorporates your bonuses.
There are free short adventures available, some of which are again linked to in my signature.
Everything you need is available for free. Try it out for a few sessions (I've assumed your friends are new too and so included adventures etc, but you may well not need them) and then decide if you like them. I had someone join our group, spent a hundred bucks after one session for books etc, played half of the next session, then never came back. That's an expensive six hours or so. You will probably really enjoy it, but I'm always keen that people try it before buying anything.
After you're confident that you are happy in the hobby, I'd recommend the Player's Handbook. Note that it's being replaced next year, so do some research before buying it. You may decide you'd prefer to just wait and get the new one instead (it was said to be due in May, but the date was scrubbed, so who knows at this point). Once you start getting the feeling that you want more, you'll probably have an idea of what else to get. If not, you can always come back. People love spouting their opinions here :)
By no means do you have to stick to digital. You can buy physical if you wish. Do what's best for you. Digital has its advantages, so does physical. Just use digital at the beginning if you can so it keeps it free. There are starter sets out there...I can't say they're of the quality they used to be, but if you can't go digital for any reason, then they can be useful to taste the hobby.
In terms of gameplay, just understand the process. The DM will lay out the scene, then you'll describe your actions, and the DM will ask you to roll a skill. You roll a d20 and then add your bonus for that skill to that roll. Higher is better. If you get high enough, you succeed. If you don't, well, you don't. It gets more complicated than that, but that's the fundamental basis of the game, everything else revolves around and builds upon that process. They'll help you along with it.
This was helpful, does anyone have any other advice on what class/race I should use?
None, really. There are some more complicated ones, mostly the ones that use magic, but they're not impossible either - my first character was a Wizard, I handled it fine. Most do. Races don't really matter either. Just go with what appeals to you - being excited about something will make it much easier to learn than picking the simplest combination ever would.
Just go with what makes you feel excited. You can always ask questions here, newbie questions generally get responses within a day or so - usually within an hour or two.
Just go with what appeals to you and everything else will hopefully slot into place.
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I'm new to DND, is there anything I should know before playing with my friends?
I'm a little wizard... hee hee hee... I will hit you with my silly club...
Titles: Silliest of them all, Master of the silly spirit
You spoiled it. I was gonna follow you... BUT NOW I WON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PM me "Silly Club" pls
HI Caleb,
Here are some things I recommend for a first time player
Thanks!
This was helpful, does anyone have any other advice on what class/race I should use?
I'm a little wizard... hee hee hee... I will hit you with my silly club...
Titles: Silliest of them all, Master of the silly spirit
You spoiled it. I was gonna follow you... BUT NOW I WON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PM me "Silly Club" pls
Personally, I think you should start your first character with the race that you think looks the coolest or has some feature that you think is excellent first time out. The game is very forgiving for races that are not perfect for a class, so it isn't worth worrying about the first go around. Pick the one you vibe with most.
For class, you should pick the one that does what you want to do in the game. So my question to you is: what do you want to do? What role are you hoping to fill?
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The best advice I can give a new player—play what you want to play (with one caveat I will discuss a bit later). While there is plenty of information out there about optimising, D&D is not a game that is fully optimisable. There are so many different facets to it that pure numbers are often not as important to enjoyment as just having a character you enjoy being and who you find yourself comfortably playing.
Related to that, do not be intimidated when making your character. Some folks might tell you to “you should play an easy class to start”—but that is generally bad advice when stated as an absolute. You can play an easy class if you want, but you can also play a more complicated class, like Wizard, and be A-okay, even as a new player. The game does a good job with slowly building your powers, so even more complex classes give you plenty of time to master your skills before you receive new ones.
The only real important thing is to make a character that does not step on another member of your party’s toes. If someone else is making a sneaky character, maybe talk with them before you do the same basic thing. This both helps your party be able to solve more problems, and helps you, as a new player, find your own voice and role, rather than finding yourself eclipsed my a more experienced player’s shadow.
Don't worry about 'getting it right'! It's a huge amount of rules to digest. Just iterate and absorb.
As mentioned: have fun! But not at other players' expense. ;-)
Generally play whatever and however you want as long as it doesn't bother any of the other players
I wonder how plummeting hundreds of feet feels
As a player, read through your race and class, and try to clear up misconceptions with your DM or other players. If you're a DM, do your best not to let any outside problems into the game, and one tip that all DMs should know is that you generally shouldn't mess with a players class. Have fun, and best of luck.
My major piece of advice is to not buy anything just yet. Everything you need to try it out (apart from friends) is available for free.
Everything you need is available for free. Try it out for a few sessions (I've assumed your friends are new too and so included adventures etc, but you may well not need them) and then decide if you like them. I had someone join our group, spent a hundred bucks after one session for books etc, played half of the next session, then never came back. That's an expensive six hours or so. You will probably really enjoy it, but I'm always keen that people try it before buying anything.
After you're confident that you are happy in the hobby, I'd recommend the Player's Handbook. Note that it's being replaced next year, so do some research before buying it. You may decide you'd prefer to just wait and get the new one instead (it was said to be due in May, but the date was scrubbed, so who knows at this point). Once you start getting the feeling that you want more, you'll probably have an idea of what else to get. If not, you can always come back. People love spouting their opinions here :)
By no means do you have to stick to digital. You can buy physical if you wish. Do what's best for you. Digital has its advantages, so does physical. Just use digital at the beginning if you can so it keeps it free. There are starter sets out there...I can't say they're of the quality they used to be, but if you can't go digital for any reason, then they can be useful to taste the hobby.
In terms of gameplay, just understand the process. The DM will lay out the scene, then you'll describe your actions, and the DM will ask you to roll a skill. You roll a d20 and then add your bonus for that skill to that roll. Higher is better. If you get high enough, you succeed. If you don't, well, you don't. It gets more complicated than that, but that's the fundamental basis of the game, everything else revolves around and builds upon that process. They'll help you along with it.
None, really. There are some more complicated ones, mostly the ones that use magic, but they're not impossible either - my first character was a Wizard, I handled it fine. Most do. Races don't really matter either. Just go with what appeals to you - being excited about something will make it much easier to learn than picking the simplest combination ever would.
Just go with what makes you feel excited. You can always ask questions here, newbie questions generally get responses within a day or so - usually within an hour or two.
Just go with what appeals to you and everything else will hopefully slot into place.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.