I am looking to help some new players I have by teaching them better and to do that I want to understand what people had a hard time learning when they were new players.  What kind of concepts were hard for you to learn or what tips would you give to players.  I have already read a lot of the online tip guides but would love to hear some personal feedback from people. For example I talked to a player I helped a while back get into D&D and they said the hardest and most intimidating part was learning the dice and knowing when to roll them.  She said that it was scary for her to look at all her dice, which she didn't know the names of, and then just be told to roll.  It wasn't until it was later that she understood that rolling a D20 was standard and used for almost everything.  She said after that it helped. 

Other people who have stories or advice I would love to hear.  

The hardest part to me was learning I don't get all the loot others in my group gets some as well lol, But honestly 5th edition is massively easier to learn then older editions.

Back when I learned to play, the hardest thing was calculating THAC0. 😂😂

For 5e, probably the hardest thing to learn was the somewhat convoluted Action/Nonus Action/Reaction + Move (which isn’t a type of Action at all) + Free Item Interaction which can sometimes be used for some specific things but not others.... 🙄 My advice to a newer player: reread Chapter 9.

I come from before THACO.

To me the hardest thing to deal with was weapon type vs. armor class tables.

In 5e, awkward things for me to learn include ...

• The whole − "melee-weapon attack" isnt the same thing as "melee weapon attack" − thing.
• Why do people get so confused about Stealth?
• I refuse to pay attention to the radius of a lightsource. For me, either everything is bright, or everything is dim, or everything is dark. (At least where the player characters are.)
• Why does grappling seem gratuitously complicated? It isnt so bad, its just that it could be so simple. (Grabbing someone larger would mean youre riding the dinosaur.)

Quote from BioWizard >>

I come from before THACO.

To me the hardest thing to deal with was weapon type vs. armor class tables.

 I ignored the table because it didn't mesh with dex modifiers. 

I had a hard time understanding dual classing for humans. Why in the world did they make it so complicated? All the other races could multi-class no problem but not humans.

I can only speak for 5e, since that is my first and only experience with playing D&D.

5e is pretty easy overall. For me, the most difficult thing to learn and get used to is the magic system. It is pretty non-intuitive to determine how many spell slots you have. Using Beyond sort of made that a non-issue since the system tells me automatically, but if you were to ask me how many spell slots a level 15 spellcaster has, I would not be able to tell you unless I looked it up. It also takes a bit of getting used to in regards to having a highly segmented mana bar during play, since most games and mediums I have consumed prior uses a regular mana bar.

As for introducing 5e to my friends, the most difficult thing I have noticed for them is just information overload, especially if they are not familiar with playing strategy games and viewing a unit's stat screen. For first time players, it might be a good idea to have multiple session zeroes to introduce all the relevant game mechanics over a slightly longer period of time. I think it is a good idea to have a few short one shots as tutorials to give players a quick overview of some or all classes.

That your "skills" aren't buttons you push. The main thing the player should communicate is the action they're trying to take and the goal they're trying to achieve, and then the DM can tell them whether to make a roll. Player shouldn't say things like "Can I use Animal Handling on the wolf?" or "Can I use Arcana on the device?"  - they should say things like "I'm gonna try and feed the wolf some meat to show it I mean it no harm so that it doesn't attack me as I pass by" or "I'm gonna try and inspect the magical device to see if I can figure out what it does".

Heh, one of the things that always made no sense to me,

If the monsters had such great magical loot, why didnt they use this loot against the player characters that were attacking them?

Quote from Gvarayi >>

Heh, one of the things that always made no sense to me,

If the monsters had such great magical loot, why didnt they use this loot against the player characters that were attacking them?

 Because if the guardian of Blackrazor used it, the party would die.

Oh and yeah, non weapon proficiencies. They were super aweful. Why were they super junk? Yay! I have leatherworking! What do you mean I need a 16+ to make anything?

Quote from BioWizard >>

I come from before THACO.

To me the hardest thing to deal with was weapon type vs. armor class tables.

 Fibber. You told me that when you started playing, the most challenging part of D&D was learning to carve a balanced d20 out of a mastodon’s knuckle bone when all you had to use for tools were sharpened rocks. 😜

Spell slots and prepared spells.

It makes my brain hurt trying to plan out those things. I staunchly avoid such classes, but I think they'd be fun to play if I could only wrap my head around how to properly strategize those two things.

Fibber. You told me that when you started playing, the most challenging part of D&D was learning to carve a balanced d20 out of a mastodon’s knuckle bone when all you had to use for tools were sharpened rocks

As hard as hand-carving dice out of mastodon tusks (not knuckle bones, tusks!) was, the weapon-vs-AC table was harder.

Quote from EricHVela >>

Spell slots and prepared spells.

It makes my brain hurt trying to plan out those things. I staunchly avoid such classes, but I think they'd be fun to play if I could only wrap my head around how to properly strategize those two things.

 Imagine how much worse it was back when each spell slot had to be prepared with a specific spell each day. 🙄

Imagine how much worse it was back when each spell slot had to be prepared with a specific spell each day. 

Actually, I think it might have been less confusing. Once you picked your # and type of spells for the day that was what you had. There was no thinking involved with stuff like, 'can I use this spell with a higher level slot because the low level ones are out now? And what happens if I do?' You had memorized 1 magic missile and 2 burning hands, and that's what you had. No need to think about it.

Nothing mechanical. That stuff can be learned and the DM and/or more experienced players can help keep things going smoothly. It's really everything else that's difficult: creating an interesting, engaging character and roleplaying it well, finding a place in the group and getting a dynamic going - that was the daunting part for me early on (and depending on the group, the latter can still be something of a challenge - I'm just more comfortable bowing out, no hard feelings, if things don't seem to gel after a few sessions now). Also, obviously, there's the other side of the screen: becoming a good DM is no easy task, and not every group has the luxury of someone experienced to assume that mantle.

Remembering to use ALL of the creatures abilities when DMing combat, lmao 🤦‍♂️ 

Quote from BioWizard >>

Imagine how much worse it was back when each spell slot had to be prepared with a specific spell each day. 

Actually, I think it might have been less confusing. Once you picked your # and type of spells for the day that was what you had. There was no thinking involved with stuff like, 'can I use this spell with a higher level slot because the low level ones are out now? And what happens if I do?' You had memorized 1 magic missile and 2 burning hands, and that's what you had. No need to think about it.

 It probably was easier after everything was prepared since there were no more decisions to be made at that point. But making those decisions in the first place could be paralyzing, especially at lower levels when a Wiz only had a few slots. Do you prep for combat, exploration, utility...? Will I need Knock to open the door, or Magic Missile after the door is open? Gorram it!! At least now you prep your toolbox for whatever you think might come up, and then you can pull out the right tool when you need it.

Just to clarify -- we did not call them "slots" in AD&D or Basic/Expert.  It was just called "memorizing three first-level spells"

Quote from BioWizard >>

Just to clarify -- we did not call them "slots" in AD&D or Basic/Expert.  It was just called "memorizing three first-level spells"

 I’ma hafta go check my AD&D 1e PHB when I get a chance, but I very much remember “prepared spell slots” being a thing. I may be misremembering things, but I don’t think so.