Hi, I'm planning a new campaign and I want to use D&D 5e rules. I've been a long time PF player and GM but I stopped playing a couple years ago: reasons include a rules-heavy game. Now I have some spare time and I'm planning a new campaign, and I have a couple questions for you:
What's the hardest changing for a player coming from Pathfinder?
D&D offering hardcover and digital options sold separately baffles me because I think having a physical copy of the game would be useful in the beginning, while later stages of the game and supplements benefit from digital reference. Is D&D Beyond usable without purchasing the digital DM guide?
Does anybody play D&D on Golarion?
I kinda like D&D settings, but how do I explore a single topic? In PF there are two publications, Campaign Settings and Player's Handbooks, that explore thematic options for GMs and players. So if, for example, I'm interested in Hell in PF I know I have to buy Hell Unleashed or Book of the Damned to find A LOT about the subject. Character options and magic items are often skippable but the lore on the subject is an invaluable source of inspiration. Is there anything similar for D&D?
Thanks to anybody who will stop and help me with my doubts!
What's the hardest changing for a player coming from Pathfinder?
Unlearning all the rules you've internalized from years of playing other editions. While in some sense 5e's rules are a streamlined version of 3.5/Pathfinder's rules, the details do vary substantially even where they overlap and you'll often find yourself remembering the Pathfinder rules when you start out.
I recommend you bookmark this page which contains several useful links. In particular, Sage Advice Compendium addresses many common rules questions and Conversions to 5th Edition D&D has broad guidelines for converting content from previous editions, which could be useful to you for converting Pathfinder content.
D&D offering hardcover and digital options sold separately baffles me because I think having a physical copy of the game would be useful in the beginning, while later stages of the game and supplements benefit from digital reference. Is D&D Beyond usable without purchasing the digital DM guide?
There's a lot of ways to approach buying and using content on D&D Beyond so I'll refer you to A Buyer's Guide to D&D Beyond for this one. The short answer is yes: you can use D&D Beyond without paying a cent, but you might not have access to all the content you want.
Does anybody play D&D on Golarion?
I don't, so I'll pass on this one. Surely someone else does.
I kinda like D&D settings, but how do I explore a single topic? In PF there are two publications, Campaign Settings and Player's Handbooks, that explore thematic options for GMs and players. So if, for example, I'm interested in Hell in PF I know I have to buy Hell Unleashed or Book of the Damned to find A LOT about the subject. Character options and magic items are often skippable but the lore on the subject is an invaluable source of inspiration. Is there anything similar for D&D?
The DMG is a great general resource. While it doesn't dive deep into the specifics of a particular world or plane, it's nevertheless a fantastic starting point for whatever you have in mind. I could try to summarize all it offers but I think the table of content speaks for itself:
The Monster Manual also lays down the basic lore for many important D&D creatures. Other than that, depending on what you're interested in, you could check out:
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron, or the upcoming Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica if you're interested those settings specifically.
Volo's Guide to Monsters if you're interested in a deeper dive into iconic D&D monsters like beholders, giants, gnolls, hags, goblinoids, kobolds, orcs, or yuan-ti. It also contains many additional monster stat blocks, mostly for CRs 1-10.
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes focuses more on large conflicts of the D&D multiverse, such as the conflicts between demons and evils, gith and mindflayers, elves and drow, or dwarves and duergar. It also has additional monster stat blocks, with more focus on higher CRs than Volo's.
Finally, specific adventure books can sometimes have additional rules, systems or advice that can be reused for your own campaigns. For example, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist could be a useful resource if you plan on running an urban campaign if you don't play through that story.
Everything outside of the 3 core books (Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide) is strictly optional, but you might find them useful resources anyways.
I made a huge homebrew campaign to take place on Golarion, primarily in the inner sea region. When I ran my game in 5e instead, I scavenged it for stuff I could move over. Ustalav stuff works in Barovia. Mwangi Expanse works in Chult. Ain't nothing quite like Geb though.
Hi, I'm planning a new campaign and I want to use D&D 5e rules. I've been a long time PF player and GM but I stopped playing a couple years ago: reasons include a rules-heavy game. Now I have some spare time and I'm planning a new campaign, and I have a couple questions for you:
What's the hardest changing for a player coming from Pathfinder?
Its a different mind set. 5th edition is big on "rulings, not rules" so you, as the DM, are expected to do a lot of house calls and personal finesse, rather than knowing the rules inside and out. The book is written using natural language meant for casual reading instead of technical.
The game is also not balanced with multiclassing in mind, and if you allow it, you can easily end up with something grossly underpowered. Definitely not recommended for someone trying out the game for the first time.
D&D offering hardcover and digital options sold separately baffles me because I think having a physical copy of the game would be useful in the beginning, while later stages of the game and supplements benefit from digital reference. Is D&D Beyond usable without purchasing the digital DM guide?
You can use whatever you want off here. The basic rules are free, so you can have everyone read them. After that, you can use one account at the table (I share my tablet around the table for more advanced stuff). No specific book necessary.
Does anybody play D&D on Golarion?
I don't, but I'm sure others do.
I kinda like D&D settings, but how do I explore a single topic? In PF there are two publications, Campaign Settings and Player's Handbooks, that explore thematic options for GMs and players. So if, for example, I'm interested in Hell in PF I know I have to buy Hell Unleashed or Book of the Damned to find A LOT about the subject. Character options and magic items are often skippable but the lore on the subject is an invaluable source of inspiration. Is there anything similar for D&D?
Right now, there's still not a lot of books out for 5th edition, but in brief...
PHB, MM and DMG are obvious, I would hope. After that, we have Volo's Guide, Mordenkeinen's Tome and Xanathar's Guide. The first is basically the big book on orcs, goblins, mind flayers, beholders, and other iconic monsters of D&D, along with some more monsters; its basically the MM2, with the first part going in depth on monsters, and the latter part resembling the monster manual. Mordenkeine's Tome is a lot like Volo's, except the first half is filled with deeper info on PHB races, and a generous dosage of Hell/Abyss info for the Tieflings. Xanathar's Guide is basically PHB2, or that's what I think of it as. Then, we have one setting book (two more coming out soonish), and the rest are all adventure books.
There's a lot of lore books from previous editions that's still pretty valid. And there's a lot of online podcasts and videos they like talking about setting details. But in terms of easy access 5th edition library material? Not much.
Hi, I'm planning a new campaign and I want to use D&D 5e rules. I've been a long time PF player and GM but I stopped playing a couple years ago: reasons include a rules-heavy game. Now I have some spare time and I'm planning a new campaign, and I have a couple questions for you:
Thanks to anybody who will stop and help me with my doubts!
Unlearning all the rules you've internalized from years of playing other editions. While in some sense 5e's rules are a streamlined version of 3.5/Pathfinder's rules, the details do vary substantially even where they overlap and you'll often find yourself remembering the Pathfinder rules when you start out.
I recommend you bookmark this page which contains several useful links. In particular, Sage Advice Compendium addresses many common rules questions and Conversions to 5th Edition D&D has broad guidelines for converting content from previous editions, which could be useful to you for converting Pathfinder content.
There's a lot of ways to approach buying and using content on D&D Beyond so I'll refer you to A Buyer's Guide to D&D Beyond for this one. The short answer is yes: you can use D&D Beyond without paying a cent, but you might not have access to all the content you want.
I don't, so I'll pass on this one. Surely someone else does.
The DMG is a great general resource. While it doesn't dive deep into the specifics of a particular world or plane, it's nevertheless a fantastic starting point for whatever you have in mind. I could try to summarize all it offers but I think the table of content speaks for itself:
The Monster Manual also lays down the basic lore for many important D&D creatures. Other than that, depending on what you're interested in, you could check out:
Finally, specific adventure books can sometimes have additional rules, systems or advice that can be reused for your own campaigns. For example, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist could be a useful resource if you plan on running an urban campaign if you don't play through that story.
Everything outside of the 3 core books (Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide) is strictly optional, but you might find them useful resources anyways.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
The hardest thing for me was no Inquisitors :(
I made a huge homebrew campaign to take place on Golarion, primarily in the inner sea region. When I ran my game in 5e instead, I scavenged it for stuff I could move over. Ustalav stuff works in Barovia. Mwangi Expanse works in Chult. Ain't nothing quite like Geb though.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Its a different mind set. 5th edition is big on "rulings, not rules" so you, as the DM, are expected to do a lot of house calls and personal finesse, rather than knowing the rules inside and out. The book is written using natural language meant for casual reading instead of technical.
The game is also not balanced with multiclassing in mind, and if you allow it, you can easily end up with something grossly underpowered. Definitely not recommended for someone trying out the game for the first time.
You can use whatever you want off here. The basic rules are free, so you can have everyone read them. After that, you can use one account at the table (I share my tablet around the table for more advanced stuff). No specific book necessary.
I don't, but I'm sure others do.
Right now, there's still not a lot of books out for 5th edition, but in brief...
PHB, MM and DMG are obvious, I would hope. After that, we have Volo's Guide, Mordenkeinen's Tome and Xanathar's Guide. The first is basically the big book on orcs, goblins, mind flayers, beholders, and other iconic monsters of D&D, along with some more monsters; its basically the MM2, with the first part going in depth on monsters, and the latter part resembling the monster manual. Mordenkeine's Tome is a lot like Volo's, except the first half is filled with deeper info on PHB races, and a generous dosage of Hell/Abyss info for the Tieflings. Xanathar's Guide is basically PHB2, or that's what I think of it as. Then, we have one setting book (two more coming out soonish), and the rest are all adventure books.
There's a lot of lore books from previous editions that's still pretty valid. And there's a lot of online podcasts and videos they like talking about setting details. But in terms of easy access 5th edition library material? Not much.