I have always loved dungeons and dragons but never had the time to play it in years past. Now, however, my schedule has opened up considerably and i have been watching a ton of online d and d sessions, namely critical role. That got me in the mood to really want to dive in so i purchased the starter set and the three core 5e rulebooks. It's pretty difficult to try and play this alone, especially considering all the stats that go into each and every character, making it a mind-boggling feat that I would be amazed if anyone could pull it off without bursting a blood vessel. Anyway, I have all the materials I need, with zero experience and no idea where to go from here. I found a website that advertises gaming sessions, but I am certainly not paying 25 dollars for a single session of which I have no experience, to begin with. So what are my options and best resources for finding a table? thanks in advance, and any advice will be very appreciated.
First and foremost I'd recommend talking to people at your work and see if anyone ever had interest in it. If nobody you know personally is interested there are plenty of LFG discords you could find with a google search. There's also Adventurer's League
Do it the old school way and find a group of friends who are interested. You'll probably have to DM the first time, so I recommend Matt Colville's Running the Game series.
Awesome, thanks for the feedback y'all, I will look into some local stores and see if I can get something started. I was just hoping there was a massive discord server that had easy tables to join or something like that, but things are rarely ever that easy.
1: Materials. In dnd, there are materials that you get for free, and others that unlock more options to use. The player's handbook should be a no brainer if you plan on being a player, with books like volo's guide to monsters, Xanathar's guide to everything, and tasha's cauldron of everything that offer generic extra races, subclasses, and class features to use. The dungeon master's guide and monster manual] are good to have if you plan on DMing, but aren't as necessary for learning how to play. Finally, there are the books that are reserved for specific worlds. Guildmaster's guide to ravnica, Eberron: rising from the last war, etc. They are expensive, so choose wisely what to buy!
2: Learning to play: Dndbeyond has a walkthrough for learning how to play in the New player's guide. In addition, you can read the books in full to learn the rules that way. I am sure there are many people on this site that would be glad to teach you.
3: Finding a group. People have already given you some resources for that!
As more people become vaccinated and restrictions on public gatherings ease, some areas already have revived in-person gaming sessions. There should be no charge for these. They are run by people who love the game, for the purpose of having fun, meeting others who share our interests and to introduce new players to the game.
Also, even if you are not in a location where in-person games are currently a possibility, game stores often have a bulletin board to help players and GMs alike find groups.
I have always loved dungeons and dragons but never had the time to play it in years past. Now, however, my schedule has opened up considerably and i have been watching a ton of online d and d sessions, namely critical role.
I have nothing against Critical Role, but don't expect your own play sessions to be anything like theirs. Critical Role is a great show, but it is a SHOW, and everyone on it is aware of this and purposely playing to the audience in addition to playing the game. There is nothing wrong with the fact that they do this, but your game group will not have or be playing to an audience, and probably won't do the flamboyant stuff you see on the show.
A much more realistic view of what a D&D session is like can be seen if you watch "D&D with high school students" by Bill Allan. Just so you don't go into it with unreasonably high expectations.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Yeah, you kind of get a mixed bag of styles with online games. Be entertained and take notes. The things you like, try to put in your game. The things you don't like, try to avoid.
Bill Allan does a good job and most of the players have little/no experience so good to watch for beginners.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Bill Allan's games also have a lot of typical newcomer table talk... "Wait, what die to I roll to make my attack?" "What is a spell slot?" "How much damage does a longsword do?" "What's alignment mean?" etc.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
As to your actual question, since things are starting to get back to normal, you can also ring D&D groups and communities on sites like meetups: https://www.meetup.com/topics/dnd/
Perhaps more importantly, I was just about to say what BioWizard beat me to. The Players on CritRole are all professional actors with special focus on voice work, and specialized training in improvisational acting. And every single one of them was already naturally talented at doing voices and improv before they took those workshops. Matt Mercer, their DM, is so effing good that he even impresses the rest of them sometimes. And they are the first to admit that things were a little different in their home game before they turned it into a broadcast show.
For one thing, they gat paid now so they have to put on a little extra for the audience. They literally cannot get up and move more than a few feet from the table because of the audio equipment. That’s why they need an intermission. And they have a production budget so they have a swanky set, and Mercer has all of those awesome minis and terrain. But they also have to treat it like they are on set for a job because they are. So they have committed to X number of dates and it doesn’t matter how much they want to keep playing until midnight the have to stop because everyone else wants to go home. And according to his wife, Marisha Ray (Kelith), critical role has taken over their home and most of his free time.
The reason I mention all of this is because some folks watch CR and then try D&D and end up getting upset because their home game isn’t the same. But that’s like being upset that your comunity theatre doesn’t have the same production quality as Broadway, it isn’t a fair comparison. So don’t think you have to hold yourself to that standard and don’t hold the others to it either. Your game will be different from CR in many ways. Some people might do voices, and some may even do it pretty well, some folks will just use their normal voices for they characters, and some folks will never speak in character at all. You also likely won’t have all of theirs cool minis and terrain.
But honestly, none of that stuff makes the game any more or less fun. My group uses no minis at all, our main DM doesn’t do voices for the NPCs and most of the time we don’t do voices for our PCs either. We’ve been having fun RPing together for 20 years.
I have always loved dungeons and dragons but never had the time to play it in years past. Now, however, my schedule has opened up considerably and i have been watching a ton of online d and d sessions, namely critical role. That got me in the mood to really want to dive in so i purchased the starter set and the three core 5e rulebooks. It's pretty difficult to try and play this alone, especially considering all the stats that go into each and every character, making it a mind-boggling feat that I would be amazed if anyone could pull it off without bursting a blood vessel. Anyway, I have all the materials I need, with zero experience and no idea where to go from here. I found a website that advertises gaming sessions, but I am certainly not paying 25 dollars for a single session of which I have no experience, to begin with. So what are my options and best resources for finding a table? thanks in advance, and any advice will be very appreciated.
First and foremost I'd recommend talking to people at your work and see if anyone ever had interest in it. If nobody you know personally is interested there are plenty of LFG discords you could find with a google search. There's also Adventurer's League
Do it the old school way and find a group of friends who are interested. You'll probably have to DM the first time, so I recommend Matt Colville's Running the Game series.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Looking for a group? https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/looking-for-players-groups or https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/
Possibly interested in playing by post? https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/play-by-post
General advice: https://catsanddice.com/how-to-find-a-dd-group/
Just googling "D&D [insert your location here]" sometimes works too.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Awesome, thanks for the feedback y'all, I will look into some local stores and see if I can get something started. I was just hoping there was a massive discord server that had easy tables to join or something like that, but things are rarely ever that easy.
1: Materials. In dnd, there are materials that you get for free, and others that unlock more options to use. The player's handbook should be a no brainer if you plan on being a player, with books like volo's guide to monsters, Xanathar's guide to everything, and tasha's cauldron of everything that offer generic extra races, subclasses, and class features to use. The dungeon master's guide and monster manual] are good to have if you plan on DMing, but aren't as necessary for learning how to play. Finally, there are the books that are reserved for specific worlds. Guildmaster's guide to ravnica, Eberron: rising from the last war, etc. They are expensive, so choose wisely what to buy!
2: Learning to play: Dndbeyond has a walkthrough for learning how to play in the New player's guide. In addition, you can read the books in full to learn the rules that way. I am sure there are many people on this site that would be glad to teach you.
3: Finding a group. People have already given you some resources for that!
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
I would also add, Check your local game store.
As more people become vaccinated and restrictions on public gatherings ease, some areas already have revived in-person gaming sessions. There should be no charge for these. They are run by people who love the game, for the purpose of having fun, meeting others who share our interests and to introduce new players to the game.
Also, even if you are not in a location where in-person games are currently a possibility, game stores often have a bulletin board to help players and GMs alike find groups.
I have nothing against Critical Role, but don't expect your own play sessions to be anything like theirs. Critical Role is a great show, but it is a SHOW, and everyone on it is aware of this and purposely playing to the audience in addition to playing the game. There is nothing wrong with the fact that they do this, but your game group will not have or be playing to an audience, and probably won't do the flamboyant stuff you see on the show.
A much more realistic view of what a D&D session is like can be seen if you watch "D&D with high school students" by Bill Allan. Just so you don't go into it with unreasonably high expectations.
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.
Yeah, you kind of get a mixed bag of styles with online games. Be entertained and take notes. The things you like, try to put in your game. The things you don't like, try to avoid.
Bill Allan does a good job and most of the players have little/no experience so good to watch for beginners.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Bill Allan's games also have a lot of typical newcomer table talk... "Wait, what die to I roll to make my attack?" "What is a spell slot?" "How much damage does a longsword do?" "What's alignment mean?" etc.
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.
As to your actual question, since things are starting to get back to normal, you can also ring D&D groups and communities on sites like meetups: https://www.meetup.com/topics/dnd/
Perhaps more importantly, I was just about to say what BioWizard beat me to. The Players on CritRole are all professional actors with special focus on voice work, and specialized training in improvisational acting. And every single one of them was already naturally talented at doing voices and improv before they took those workshops. Matt Mercer, their DM, is so effing good that he even impresses the rest of them sometimes. And they are the first to admit that things were a little different in their home game before they turned it into a broadcast show.
For one thing, they gat paid now so they have to put on a little extra for the audience. They literally cannot get up and move more than a few feet from the table because of the audio equipment. That’s why they need an intermission. And they have a production budget so they have a swanky set, and Mercer has all of those awesome minis and terrain. But they also have to treat it like they are on set for a job because they are. So they have committed to X number of dates and it doesn’t matter how much they want to keep playing until midnight the have to stop because everyone else wants to go home. And according to his wife, Marisha Ray (Kelith), critical role has taken over their home and most of his free time.
The reason I mention all of this is because some folks watch CR and then try D&D and end up getting upset because their home game isn’t the same. But that’s like being upset that your comunity theatre doesn’t have the same production quality as Broadway, it isn’t a fair comparison. So don’t think you have to hold yourself to that standard and don’t hold the others to it either. Your game will be different from CR in many ways. Some people might do voices, and some may even do it pretty well, some folks will just use their normal voices for they characters, and some folks will never speak in character at all. You also likely won’t have all of theirs cool minis and terrain.
But honestly, none of that stuff makes the game any more or less fun. My group uses no minis at all, our main DM doesn’t do voices for the NPCs and most of the time we don’t do voices for our PCs either. We’ve been having fun RPing together for 20 years.
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