I’m john, and I’m new to D&D Beyond and the world of Dungeons & Dragons in general. I’ve always been fascinated by fantasy stories and role-playing games, so I’m really excited to dive into this community and start my own adventures.
I’m still getting the hang of character creation and the rules, so any tips or advice for a newcomer would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are any beginner-friendly campaigns or resources that you’d recommend, I’m all ears!
Looking forward to learning, sharing, and rolling some dice with all of you!
Hello John, welcome to DDB and the game in general. You're joining at an exciting time with the updated 5th Edition rules coming out next week for those with early access or who are picking up copies of the Player's Handbook (PHB) in local game stores. I've played DnD for many years and hope you find it brings you as much entertainment and mental engagement as I have.
A couple of resources I particularly like are the Youtube channels for Dungeon Dudes and Ginny Di. Dungeon Dudes tend to have more focus on classes and to some extent rules. I find them engaging, easy to follow, and generally very positive, which I love. Ginny Di is a cosplayer as well as a DnD lover who tends to produce videos that have more of a focus on the softer side of the game. Just paste those names into YT if you're interested and their channels will have tons of content to check out.
Hello John, welcome to DDB and the game in general. You're joining at an exciting time with the updated 5th Edition rules coming out next week for those with early access or who are picking up copies of the Player's Handbook (PHB) in local game stores. I've played DnD for many years and hope you find it brings you as much entertainment and mental engagement as I have.
A couple of resources I particularly like are the Youtube channels for Dungeon Dudes and Ginny Di. Dungeon Dudes tend to have more focus on game mechanics and rules. I find them engaging, easy to follow, and generally very positive, which I love. Ginny Di is a cosplayer as well as a DnD lover who tends to produce videos that have more of a focus on the softer side of the game. Just paste those names into YT if you're interested and their channels will have tons of content that might interest you.
Just to add on to this, if you need some dungeons and dragons YT channels i can recommend;
Just saying hi, no advice to offer but I’ll second the suggested YouTube channels the others gave. They’re all excellent suggestions and offer a nice range of advice from some being very number crunchy to others focusing more on softer skills
I will also add Matt Colville for youtubers - it's mostly for Dungeon Masters but there are some great videos for players as well.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
Since you are new, my first recommendation is to not spend a single penny on this hobby until you have finished at least one or two short campaigns. D&D can be played for free. You want to give yourself enough time to explore various aspects of D&D, and there are lots and lots of tools out there to help you, and some of those tools are free while others are not. We do not want new players to regret their purchase when another option that they just discovered would have suited their needs better. If you are really itching to spend money for whatever reason right off the bat, spend it on snack and drinks instead to make your experience more pleasant.
When you are ready to spend money, there are FOURofficial digital tool sets to choose from, and there are also lots of physical tools as well. D&D Beyond is one of them, and is the most "official" out of all of them. Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are the two other well established digital tool sets well known for their virtual table top (VVT) software. Foundry is the newest VVT to officially get into D&D, but their support is very minimal so far since they do not have all the books. Please check out all the official digital tools before you spend money on any of them. Beyond is the most accessible and convenient, so it is great for new or casual players, but there are various minor issues here and there that gets really frustrating as you dive deeper into the hobby that Beyond either supports poorly or cannot support. If you want a digital tool set that can better accomodate your growth into the hobby, I would highly consider checking out Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.
On the physical side of things, besides the physical books, the most common tools are paper character sheets, dice, GM screens, play mats, and miniatures. There are bookmarks and booktabs to help you navigate and reference the physical books quicker. Galeforce9 manufactured a range of really useful cards, featuring monsters, magic items, spells, and class/subclass abilities; however the card range is incomplete, and the cards only support the early books. If you play with mats and minis, there are special markers made for mats for you to draw with; dungeon tiles and terrain pieces can really enhance the visual experience; there are a ton of options for minis, ranging from basic tokens and flat paper minis, to gargantuan dragon minis and custom minis (Hero Forge). There are also lots of various props and trinkets tailored to various adventure books, like maps, special decks of cards, cardstock handouts, and so on.
I use a mix of digital and physical tools, with digital being my primary tools with physical as supplements. I use my phone and/or laptop for the digital books and database, digital and physical dice, mats and minis, and mat markers, and sometimes that may also include a physical adventure book, monster cards, a portable table, and/or chairs. My players use their phones for their digital character sheets. I personally do not recommend going full physical as it is extremely clunky, inconvenient, and potentially back breaking; however, many veteran players have no issue going full physical, so that is an option if you want something like a no-screen-distraction-time to bond with your friends and family.
While D&D is a free hobby, you can easily spend over thousands of dollars in this hobby. So be sure you have familiarized with the hobby more before you open your wallet.
Hello John, welcome to DDB and the game in general. You're joining at an exciting time with the updated 5th Edition rules coming out next week for those with early access or who are picking up copies of the Player's Handbook (PHB) in local game stores. I've played DnD for many years and hope you find it brings you as much entertainment and mental engagement as I have.
A couple of resources I particularly like are the Youtube channels for Dungeon Dudes and Ginny Di. Dungeon Dudes tend to have more focus on game mechanics and rules. I find them engaging, easy to follow, and generally very positive, which I love. Ginny Di is a cosplayer as well as a DnD lover who tends to produce videos that have more of a focus on the softer side of the game. Just paste those names into YT if you're interested and their channels will have tons of content that might interest you.
Just to add on to this, if you need some dungeons and dragons YT channels i can recommend;
one shot questers (for entertainment)
Dm lair (for playing advice)
pointy hat (for playing advice)
bob world builder (for playing advice)
Seconding One Shot Questers for good laughs.
XP to Level 3 is another one that'll do entertainment. Though he does come from a more roleplay over rules focus that might be grating to some at times. (I speak from experience.)
My advice to a first time player is simple: In the beginning, all you really need to worry about is two things, and in this order:
Having fun playing D&D,
Getting the hang of how the rules work.
That’s it.
#1, Have Fun
If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing. So have fun. Pick whatever seems cool to you, and don’t worry about what may or may not be considered “better” or “worse” by other people. Some folks are highly into optimization, and they often have very narrow ideas about what’s “good” and usually consider anything not on that list to be a “wrong” choice. Truth is, there really is only 1 idea of what is the “wrong choice” that ever matters, yours. If you think playing a fairy barbarian seems cool, play it. If someone says that you should change it because of whatever reason they would pick something different, thank them for the advice, and listen to it because it likely has some information that might help you play D&D, but ultimately if the fairy barbarian makes you happy stick with it. If you later decide you don’t way to play that fairy barbarian anymore, talk to your DM about switching characters. But as long as you’re having fun playing Tinkerbell Skullcrusher, the fairy barbarian, keep with that character.
#2, Learn the Game
Okay, that covered the fun part, as far as the learning the game part goes, generally just learn the game as you go, and get the hang of how stuff works.
in the beginning you should focus on the rules that cover how to threaten your character, chapters 1-6 of the PHB (or Basic Rules). Don’t worry about reading all of it though. Just leaf through chapters 2, 3, & 4 and pick whatever seems cool to you, chapter 5 is mostly just lists of stuff followed by the descriptions of those things, but when you first create you character it will present you with some stuff automatically and likely a few simple choices. So chapter 5 won’t really matter much until you know the game better anyway. Chapter 6 you can very likely skip and look through later some time before you reach 4th level, which will give you plenty of time. (Iif you’re using just the free basic rules, you can skip it until your next character as there is only 1 feat available, and multiclassing can be confusing even for people who understand the rules better, especially when playing spellcasters.)
Once you’ve built your character and start playing, then focus your attention on chapters 7 & 9 as most of the rules you’ll use all the time about how to actually play are in those two chapters. If you are playing a character that casts spells, add chapter 10 to that short list. Those three chapters are essentially the core gameplay rules. Chapter 8 is also important, but not stuff that you really need to focus on in my opinion since that stuff is generally easy to pick up along the way.
That’s it. Just have fun, and learn the rules as you go along paying specific attention to chapters 7, 9, and maybe 10.
Hi everyone,
I’m john, and I’m new to D&D Beyond and the world of Dungeons & Dragons in general. I’ve always been fascinated by fantasy stories and role-playing games, so I’m really excited to dive into this community and start my own adventures.
I’m still getting the hang of character creation and the rules, so any tips or advice for a newcomer would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are any beginner-friendly campaigns or resources that you’d recommend, I’m all ears!
Looking forward to learning, sharing, and rolling some dice with all of you!
Cheers,
Experience Worker In the Shipping Containers Industry
Hello John, welcome to DDB and the game in general. You're joining at an exciting time with the updated 5th Edition rules coming out next week for those with early access or who are picking up copies of the Player's Handbook (PHB) in local game stores. I've played DnD for many years and hope you find it brings you as much entertainment and mental engagement as I have.
A couple of resources I particularly like are the Youtube channels for Dungeon Dudes and Ginny Di. Dungeon Dudes tend to have more focus on classes and to some extent rules. I find them engaging, easy to follow, and generally very positive, which I love. Ginny Di is a cosplayer as well as a DnD lover who tends to produce videos that have more of a focus on the softer side of the game. Just paste those names into YT if you're interested and their channels will have tons of content to check out.
Just to add on to this, if you need some dungeons and dragons YT channels i can recommend;
one shot questers (for entertainment)
Dm lair (for playing advice)
pointy hat (for playing advice)
bob world builder (for playing advice)
Just saying hi, no advice to offer but I’ll second the suggested YouTube channels the others gave. They’re all excellent suggestions and offer a nice range of advice from some being very number crunchy to others focusing more on softer skills
I will also add Matt Colville for youtubers - it's mostly for Dungeon Masters but there are some great videos for players as well.
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
Welcome to D&D!
Since you are new, my first recommendation is to not spend a single penny on this hobby until you have finished at least one or two short campaigns. D&D can be played for free. You want to give yourself enough time to explore various aspects of D&D, and there are lots and lots of tools out there to help you, and some of those tools are free while others are not. We do not want new players to regret their purchase when another option that they just discovered would have suited their needs better. If you are really itching to spend money for whatever reason right off the bat, spend it on snack and drinks instead to make your experience more pleasant.
When you are ready to spend money, there are FOUR official digital tool sets to choose from, and there are also lots of physical tools as well. D&D Beyond is one of them, and is the most "official" out of all of them. Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are the two other well established digital tool sets well known for their virtual table top (VVT) software. Foundry is the newest VVT to officially get into D&D, but their support is very minimal so far since they do not have all the books. Please check out all the official digital tools before you spend money on any of them. Beyond is the most accessible and convenient, so it is great for new or casual players, but there are various minor issues here and there that gets really frustrating as you dive deeper into the hobby that Beyond either supports poorly or cannot support. If you want a digital tool set that can better accomodate your growth into the hobby, I would highly consider checking out Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.
On the physical side of things, besides the physical books, the most common tools are paper character sheets, dice, GM screens, play mats, and miniatures. There are bookmarks and booktabs to help you navigate and reference the physical books quicker. Galeforce9 manufactured a range of really useful cards, featuring monsters, magic items, spells, and class/subclass abilities; however the card range is incomplete, and the cards only support the early books. If you play with mats and minis, there are special markers made for mats for you to draw with; dungeon tiles and terrain pieces can really enhance the visual experience; there are a ton of options for minis, ranging from basic tokens and flat paper minis, to gargantuan dragon minis and custom minis (Hero Forge). There are also lots of various props and trinkets tailored to various adventure books, like maps, special decks of cards, cardstock handouts, and so on.
I use a mix of digital and physical tools, with digital being my primary tools with physical as supplements. I use my phone and/or laptop for the digital books and database, digital and physical dice, mats and minis, and mat markers, and sometimes that may also include a physical adventure book, monster cards, a portable table, and/or chairs. My players use their phones for their digital character sheets. I personally do not recommend going full physical as it is extremely clunky, inconvenient, and potentially back breaking; however, many veteran players have no issue going full physical, so that is an option if you want something like a no-screen-distraction-time to bond with your friends and family.
While D&D is a free hobby, you can easily spend over thousands of dollars in this hobby. So be sure you have familiarized with the hobby more before you open your wallet.
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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 >
Seconding One Shot Questers for good laughs.
XP to Level 3 is another one that'll do entertainment. Though he does come from a more roleplay over rules focus that might be grating to some at times. (I speak from experience.)
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My advice to a first time player is simple: In the beginning, all you really need to worry about is two things, and in this order:
That’s it.
#1, Have Fun
If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing. So have fun. Pick whatever seems cool to you, and don’t worry about what may or may not be considered “better” or “worse” by other people. Some folks are highly into optimization, and they often have very narrow ideas about what’s “good” and usually consider anything not on that list to be a “wrong” choice. Truth is, there really is only 1 idea of what is the “wrong choice” that ever matters, yours. If you think playing a fairy barbarian seems cool, play it. If someone says that you should change it because of whatever reason they would pick something different, thank them for the advice, and listen to it because it likely has some information that might help you play D&D, but ultimately if the fairy barbarian makes you happy stick with it. If you later decide you don’t way to play that fairy barbarian anymore, talk to your DM about switching characters. But as long as you’re having fun playing Tinkerbell Skullcrusher, the fairy barbarian, keep with that character.
#2, Learn the Game
Okay, that covered the fun part, as far as the learning the game part goes, generally just learn the game as you go, and get the hang of how stuff works.
in the beginning you should focus on the rules that cover how to threaten your character, chapters 1-6 of the PHB (or Basic Rules). Don’t worry about reading all of it though. Just leaf through chapters 2, 3, & 4 and pick whatever seems cool to you, chapter 5 is mostly just lists of stuff followed by the descriptions of those things, but when you first create you character it will present you with some stuff automatically and likely a few simple choices. So chapter 5 won’t really matter much until you know the game better anyway. Chapter 6 you can very likely skip and look through later some time before you reach 4th level, which will give you plenty of time. (Iif you’re using just the free basic rules, you can skip it until your next character as there is only 1 feat available, and multiclassing can be confusing even for people who understand the rules better, especially when playing spellcasters.)
Once you’ve built your character and start playing, then focus your attention on chapters 7 & 9 as most of the rules you’ll use all the time about how to actually play are in those two chapters. If you are playing a character that casts spells, add chapter 10 to that short list. Those three chapters are essentially the core gameplay rules. Chapter 8 is also important, but not stuff that you really need to focus on in my opinion since that stuff is generally easy to pick up along the way.
That’s it. Just have fun, and learn the rules as you go along paying specific attention to chapters 7, 9, and maybe 10.
Welcome to D&D!
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