Okay, so I am a mom of some young ladies who would like to start playing D&D. The problem is I have never played nor have they. They are 11 and 9 and deal with dyslexia. I dont know anyone who plays or who could work with our crazy ever changing life schedule. I am attempting to learn how to learn the game and become a DM. Except that alot of the resources are very wordy.... and guess where my girls get their dyslexia? not only that but I have Dyscalculia (math dyslexia)... worst DM combo ever... I am trying to learn and understand the rules. I have been trying some youtube tutorials. But pretty much all of the ones I have been looking at are for people who have some idea of what a D&D game is like. I am looking for advice maybe a point in the right direction. Anything.... I am looking for anything. Please send help.
Here is a link to a free copy of the Basic Rules & SRD. This is a stripped down version of the Player’s Handbook with limited options to make learning a little easier. It is completely free to use, and completely compatible with the tools offered by this website. (If you focus your efforts on chapters 9 and 10, that will give you the most useful every-game information.) I hope that makes it easier to grasp the basics.
*One of the best parts of this website is it's character creation tool. It makes building a PC (for the players) as simple as multiple choice. Unless you have purchased the PHB (Player's Handbook) from this website you will only have access to what is in the Basic Rules I linked above, so if you do not see every option that is in the book that's why.
Here is a link to some free adventures on this website for you to run for your daughters: https://www.dndbeyond.com/quarantine. The digital tools do not yet exist to fully run them on this website, but the game started in the ‘70s with pencil and paper so that should not be a huge problem.
I hope at least some of this was helpful! If you have any questions, there is a robust community here that is willing to answer questions, all you have to do is ask.
This is beyond helpful. Thank you so much for taking some of your time out for us. This was more than I hoped for. These resources are fantastic and exactly what I needed to navigate our introduction to D&D. Thank you again, so much.
Here is some personal advice from 1 DM to another.
If everyone is having fun, even if you are not strictly following the rules, you did it right.
If you cannot find a rule in under a minute, make a decision, let your players know, and tell them you will look it up before next session.
Run a “Session 0.” That is the session before the game officially starts. That is where you can discuss things like the potential for character death, if it will be a serious/silly game, if it will be a combat/puzzle/mystery/roleplay focused game. Stuff like that. That way the story you all share together is the kind of story everyone wants to share.
There is no “wrong way” to D&D. There is only what is right or wrong for your table. Every table is different.
Good Luck! And if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Also keep in mind that the rules are just there to help you make fair decisions.
The basic flow for almost every RPG (including D&D) is this:
- the DM describes the world / scene and the people in it
- the players say what they want to do
- the DM decides how the player's actions affect the world and repeats from step 1
The rules and all the math is really just there to help you with the last step. If you want to you can read all those hundreds of pages in the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master Guide. But if you feel comfortable telling the story you can mostly rely on the six ability scores.
The check is always the same: roll a die with 20 sides and add the ability modifier. If the result exceeds 5, they succeeded on a very simple and trivial task. If it exceeds 10 they managed an easy task, 15 for an average check, 20 for a difficult task, 25 for something extremely difficult and 30 for something that should be almost impossible.
If they are trained in a special skill (e.g. Stealth if they sneak around a lot, Persuasion if they want to ... well, persuade someone etc.) they get another 2 points bonus to their result (increasing on higher levels)
That covers basically the entire game outside of combat situations. Combat is a bit more complicated since you have extra rules for Initiative (determining the order in which the players get to act) and attack and damage rolls to put a stricter ruleset on how your actions affect the enemies.
If you want to keep the rules simple for the moment, don't play spellcasters. Wizards, Warlocks, Clerics etc. If a class casts spells you have to read a lot of extra rules on saving throws, concentration checks, components etc. If you're just playing "simple" fighters, barbarians, rogues and monks you will have a much easier time.
And instead of watching only tutorials and reading books, consider watching a stream where people actually play the game. At least to me it's far easier to understand a game after I've watched people who know how to play it for some time. The most famous stream for D&D I know is "Critical Role" and all of their episodes are on youtube.
... just don't try to be Matt Mercer. He's been doing this for decades already and has lots of nice assets, maps, minis etc. Drawing a sketch of the surroundings on paper and using some M&Ms / smarties / other sweets to show people's position in the scene is fine. And you get to eat the "bad guys" after you defeated them. :D
You might also want to look up, since you are playing with kids, "D&D with high school students" on YouTube. It's a high school communications teacher who teaches his teenage students how to play D&D, and he uses their school A/V equipment and the students to film the show as a school project. He explains everything very clearly to the kids and they do fairly simple adventures. This shows you what it can be like to play D&D with kids.
And you will see, the kids have a blast. Several of them from the earlier seasons kept coming back till they graduated, like Heather.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Okay, so I am a mom of some young ladies who would like to start playing D&D. The problem is I have never played nor have they. They are 11 and 9 and deal with dyslexia. I dont know anyone who plays or who could work with our crazy ever changing life schedule. I am attempting to learn how to learn the game and become a DM. Except that alot of the resources are very wordy.... and guess where my girls get their dyslexia? not only that but I have Dyscalculia (math dyslexia)... worst DM combo ever... I am trying to learn and understand the rules. I have been trying some youtube tutorials. But pretty much all of the ones I have been looking at are for people who have some idea of what a D&D game is like. I am looking for advice maybe a point in the right direction. Anything.... I am looking for anything. Please send help.
Sincerely,
Z
Hello, and welcome to D&D!
I feel for you with the struggles you and your daughters are facing. Here is some information that might be helpful.
For people new to D&D, here is a despot hat DDB (this webstore) provides for free: https://www.dndbeyond.com/essentials
Here is a link to a free copy of the Basic Rules & SRD. This is a stripped down version of the Player’s Handbook with limited options to make learning a little easier. It is completely free to use, and completely compatible with the tools offered by this website. (If you focus your efforts on chapters 9 and 10, that will give you the most useful every-game information.) I hope that makes it easier to grasp the basics.
*One of the best parts of this website is it's character creation tool. It makes building a PC (for the players) as simple as multiple choice. Unless you have purchased the PHB (Player's Handbook) from this website you will only have access to what is in the Basic Rules I linked above, so if you do not see every option that is in the book that's why.
Here is a link to some free adventures on this website for you to run for your daughters: https://www.dndbeyond.com/quarantine. The digital tools do not yet exist to fully run them on this website, but the game started in the ‘70s with pencil and paper so that should not be a huge problem.
Here is a link to the best advice I can give any new DM: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_. It is 100% family friendly, and a fantastic resource for beginners and experienced DMs alike.
*In case the character sheet on this website proves to be less helpful because of the dyslexia, here is a link to a dyslexic friendly character sheet as well: https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/
I hope at least some of this was helpful! If you have any questions, there is a robust community here that is willing to answer questions, all you have to do is ask.
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This is beyond helpful. Thank you so much for taking some of your time out for us. This was more than I hoped for. These resources are fantastic and exactly what I needed to navigate our introduction to D&D. Thank you again, so much.
Very appreciated,
Z
Happy to help.
Here is some personal advice from 1 DM to another.
Good Luck! And if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Also keep in mind that the rules are just there to help you make fair decisions.
The basic flow for almost every RPG (including D&D) is this:
- the DM describes the world / scene and the people in it
- the players say what they want to do
- the DM decides how the player's actions affect the world and repeats from step 1
The rules and all the math is really just there to help you with the last step. If you want to you can read all those hundreds of pages in the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master Guide. But if you feel comfortable telling the story you can mostly rely on the six ability scores.
The check is always the same: roll a die with 20 sides and add the ability modifier. If the result exceeds 5, they succeeded on a very simple and trivial task. If it exceeds 10 they managed an easy task, 15 for an average check, 20 for a difficult task, 25 for something extremely difficult and 30 for something that should be almost impossible.
If they are trained in a special skill (e.g. Stealth if they sneak around a lot, Persuasion if they want to ... well, persuade someone etc.) they get another 2 points bonus to their result (increasing on higher levels)
That covers basically the entire game outside of combat situations. Combat is a bit more complicated since you have extra rules for Initiative (determining the order in which the players get to act) and attack and damage rolls to put a stricter ruleset on how your actions affect the enemies.
If you want to keep the rules simple for the moment, don't play spellcasters. Wizards, Warlocks, Clerics etc. If a class casts spells you have to read a lot of extra rules on saving throws, concentration checks, components etc. If you're just playing "simple" fighters, barbarians, rogues and monks you will have a much easier time.
And instead of watching only tutorials and reading books, consider watching a stream where people actually play the game. At least to me it's far easier to understand a game after I've watched people who know how to play it for some time. The most famous stream for D&D I know is "Critical Role" and all of their episodes are on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tiwbzkOjQxD0jjAE7PsWoaCrs0EkBH2
... just don't try to be Matt Mercer. He's been doing this for decades already and has lots of nice assets, maps, minis etc. Drawing a sketch of the surroundings on paper and using some M&Ms / smarties / other sweets to show people's position in the scene is fine. And you get to eat the "bad guys" after you defeated them. :D
Good luck with your adventures. :-)
I just want to second the Matt Colville stream.
You might also want to look up, since you are playing with kids, "D&D with high school students" on YouTube. It's a high school communications teacher who teaches his teenage students how to play D&D, and he uses their school A/V equipment and the students to film the show as a school project. He explains everything very clearly to the kids and they do fairly simple adventures. This shows you what it can be like to play D&D with kids.
And you will see, the kids have a blast. Several of them from the earlier seasons kept coming back till they graduated, like Heather.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Oh! I love the idea with the candy. Thank you for the advice!