1- Listen to your DM. The rules are there to guide, they are not a deciding factor in storyline and gameplay. When it comes to a rule debate the DM should have the final say, if you disagree with their ruling you can talk to them after the session, but it's almost always better to just let it go.
2- Get and read the Players Handbook. This helps you more fully understand the game, so that you aren't slowing down gameplay and asking which dice to role every 5 seconds. As a new player you will ask questions a lot and that's ok, however, you should also put in the time to learn the rules so that you aren't 6 sessions in and still have no idea what you doing. If you aren't willing to buy it, there's a PDF version you can have printed for fairly cheap, or you can just use it as a PDF.
3- Know your character. This not only makes gameplay for yourself and others easier, but it will help you have more fun as well. If you know your character's abilities and how they react to people and situations, it makes it much easier to role-play them and it makes combat go much smoother. You might try creating scenarios in you head and think about what you character would do. Try taking personality tests as your character, I've never done this, but It has been recommended.
4- Make a well thought out backstory. As a new player, I completely overlooked this part and said my character fell from the sky with amnesia. This left a lot of room for my DM to create a fantastic story plot. However, it sucked to roleplay. My character had no motivation to do anything and there wasn't a way for him to find out where he was from. It will make the game so much more fun and interesting if you have a well thought out backstory with motivations, a history and goals.
5- Don't buy a bunch of extra stuff until you're sure this is a hobby your willing to put time into. This is pretty self-explanatory. There are many ways to achieve a similar gaming experience for little or no financial investment.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
I do NOT recommend new players to buy the Player's Handbook. In fact, I do not recommend spending any money at all on D&D until you have at least one or two campaigns (preferably more) under your belt. There is no reason to spend any money on D&D for a new player when the rules are free and most people generally would not mind letting new players borrow their books. Additionally, the PHB is not beginner friendly and can easily overwhelm new players with a ton of unneccesary information and options. In terms of reading, the Basic Rules and maybe the Standard Reference Document are all that you need. Beyond has combined the two that you can read here. Do not worry about memorizing everything and just focus on familiarizing yourself with the options you choose. In my opinion, nothing beats learning the rules as effectively and quickly as actually playing it.
I also would not worry about the backstory either until you have met your GM and the rest of the table. There are a lot of different play styles and not every GM and table is going to care about backstory, so I do not recommend putting too much effort into something that you are not going to use. If you do like creative writing and find backstories fun, then by all means do them; if you do though, make sure you keep things vague and flexible and do not go overboard.
If you need to find a group, I recommend starting with family, friends, and/or coworkers. It can be a little nerve wracking playing D&D in public the first time and there is also a pandemic going on, so I am hesitant on recommending trying D&D with complete strangers. On the other hand, unless you actually know a GM, it is probably easier to find an experienced GM among strangers than among someone you know, and having an experienced GM will make learning things a lot easier and smoother.
If you are not sure what class to pick, I would start with something simple like barbarian and fighter. If you want something more complex, paladins, monks, rangers, and rogues would be next. Spellcasters are fun, but are the most complicated due to the sheer amount of spells that they have, with wizards requiring the most reading due to their massive spell list.
If you want to have an idea of what a typical D&D game is like, you can click on the link in my signature and watch a short D&D campaign with high school students.
If you are lucky enough to find yourself to be in a position to be a GM too, then I recommend watching Running the Game by Matt Coville, link in my signature. I started D&D as a GM rather than as a player, so there was a lot more that I had to read and learn compared to the average new player, and those videos are super helpful. And if you do decide to start D&D as a GM rather than as a player, and the rest of the group are also first time players, then I can tell you from experience that you definitely do not want to spend any money on any book, and I strongly advise you to only use the Basic Rules and maybe SRD. For me, I find being a GM to be very rewarding as it gives me absolute creative freedom, whereas I feel shackled and powerless as a player.
2- Get and read the Players Handbook. This helps you more fully understand the game, so that you aren't slowing down gameplay and asking which dice to role every 5 seconds. As a new player you will ask questions a lot and that's ok, however, you should also put in the time to learn the rules so that you aren't 6 sessions in and still have no idea what you doing. If you aren't willing to buy it, there's a PDF version you can have printed for fairly cheap, or you can just use it as a PDF.
Bold added for emphasis. Don't just skim it but actually read for comprehension, at least any parts relevant to your character. This will make your DM very happy to have a player that actually knows the rules, because it might be surprising how many veteran players don't know how grappling works (it was absurdly complex in previous editions but it quite in 5e) or what a cube means for a spell's area of effect.If something appears on your character sheet you should know how it works: racial abilities, class features, your equipment, how ability scores and proficiencies work, the entire chapter for combat and also spellcasting if you cast spells. Most D&D groups play for 2-4 hours per session and it shouldn't take much longer than that, if not less, to give the PHB a good read. You don't prepare for getting a driver's license by watching somebody play MarioKart for twenty minutes so you should put a little bit of actual effort into learning what your character can do.
Depending on how your group plays, any specific rules can be of varying importance to the actual game, but knowing what your character is actually capable of doing in the game world will mean that you can roleplay more easily without the DM having to say "Hold up, you can't do that," or "That spell/ability doesn't work like that" every time you decide to do something cool. Basic things like how far your character can jump, the limitations of minor illusion(it's a cantrip, it's not fancy), how charisma based skill are not magical mind control, or how far your character with darkvision can see in color by the effects of a light spell. The game goes a lot faster and smoother, and you will become aware of options you didn't know you even had otherwise if you just take a little bit of time to learn the rules. I don't know how many times I've heard, either in my own games or in a podcast or stream, a player say something like "Oh, wow! I just looked up this ability/spell/class feature/etc my character has had for a while now and it's really cool! I'm going to ___!" Or to quote a Youtube sketch comedy series, a DM saying "It's an ability he's had since level one but hasn't actually used until just now."
Once you know what your character is actually capable of (and can become capable of) you can better fit them into the world they live in and that will help you with any roleplay situations when deciding how they react to any given stimulus. It will also make you more comfortable at the table in general, so you can focus more on what the DM and other players are saying rather than wondering what the heck a saving throw is. You should of course ask your DM what, if any, homebrew modifications or house rules they use, because very few DMs don't change or tweak something, but knowing what the basic rules are to begin with will make it easy to understand what the DM is talking about when they say they allow something as a bonus action rather than an action, or such.
It would be helpful if you could tell us your circumstances.
Have you ever aged before?
If so, how much?
Do you own anything?
If so, what?
Do you understand the game at all?
If so, how much?
Are you planning on being a player or DM?
Do you intend to play online or in person?
Do you intend to play with people you know or are you looking for a group?
What I'd advise depends on where you're at. There's a lot of good advice on the thread...for different stages your.journey as a player. If you let me.kbow where you're at, we can give advice that's good for you and not just shooting in the dark.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I wrote a free single-player adventure to help out newbies like yourself: The Saint's Tomb. You'll need a character sheet, probably from DnD Beyond, in a second tab on your browser, then you can play the game in another tab. It should take about 15-30 minutes.
Hey, I'm new to D&D and was wondering if any of y'all can help me out with advice and such.
1- Listen to your DM. The rules are there to guide, they are not a deciding factor in storyline and gameplay. When it comes to a rule debate the DM should have the final say, if you disagree with their ruling you can talk to them after the session, but it's almost always better to just let it go.
2- Get and read the Players Handbook. This helps you more fully understand the game, so that you aren't slowing down gameplay and asking which dice to role every 5 seconds. As a new player you will ask questions a lot and that's ok, however, you should also put in the time to learn the rules so that you aren't 6 sessions in and still have no idea what you doing. If you aren't willing to buy it, there's a PDF version you can have printed for fairly cheap, or you can just use it as a PDF.
3- Know your character. This not only makes gameplay for yourself and others easier, but it will help you have more fun as well. If you know your character's abilities and how they react to people and situations, it makes it much easier to role-play them and it makes combat go much smoother. You might try creating scenarios in you head and think about what you character would do. Try taking personality tests as your character, I've never done this, but It has been recommended.
4- Make a well thought out backstory. As a new player, I completely overlooked this part and said my character fell from the sky with amnesia. This left a lot of room for my DM to create a fantastic story plot. However, it sucked to roleplay. My character had no motivation to do anything and there wasn't a way for him to find out where he was from. It will make the game so much more fun and interesting if you have a well thought out backstory with motivations, a history and goals.
5- Don't buy a bunch of extra stuff until you're sure this is a hobby your willing to put time into. This is pretty self-explanatory. There are many ways to achieve a similar gaming experience for little or no financial investment.
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
Thank you for the advice, Roguish_Archer
I do NOT recommend new players to buy the Player's Handbook. In fact, I do not recommend spending any money at all on D&D until you have at least one or two campaigns (preferably more) under your belt. There is no reason to spend any money on D&D for a new player when the rules are free and most people generally would not mind letting new players borrow their books. Additionally, the PHB is not beginner friendly and can easily overwhelm new players with a ton of unneccesary information and options. In terms of reading, the Basic Rules and maybe the Standard Reference Document are all that you need. Beyond has combined the two that you can read here. Do not worry about memorizing everything and just focus on familiarizing yourself with the options you choose. In my opinion, nothing beats learning the rules as effectively and quickly as actually playing it.
I also would not worry about the backstory either until you have met your GM and the rest of the table. There are a lot of different play styles and not every GM and table is going to care about backstory, so I do not recommend putting too much effort into something that you are not going to use. If you do like creative writing and find backstories fun, then by all means do them; if you do though, make sure you keep things vague and flexible and do not go overboard.
If you need to find a group, I recommend starting with family, friends, and/or coworkers. It can be a little nerve wracking playing D&D in public the first time and there is also a pandemic going on, so I am hesitant on recommending trying D&D with complete strangers. On the other hand, unless you actually know a GM, it is probably easier to find an experienced GM among strangers than among someone you know, and having an experienced GM will make learning things a lot easier and smoother.
If you are not sure what class to pick, I would start with something simple like barbarian and fighter. If you want something more complex, paladins, monks, rangers, and rogues would be next. Spellcasters are fun, but are the most complicated due to the sheer amount of spells that they have, with wizards requiring the most reading due to their massive spell list.
If you want to have an idea of what a typical D&D game is like, you can click on the link in my signature and watch a short D&D campaign with high school students.
If you are lucky enough to find yourself to be in a position to be a GM too, then I recommend watching Running the Game by Matt Coville, link in my signature. I started D&D as a GM rather than as a player, so there was a lot more that I had to read and learn compared to the average new player, and those videos are super helpful. And if you do decide to start D&D as a GM rather than as a player, and the rest of the group are also first time players, then I can tell you from experience that you definitely do not want to spend any money on any book, and I strongly advise you to only use the Basic Rules and maybe SRD. For me, I find being a GM to be very rewarding as it gives me absolute creative freedom, whereas I feel shackled and powerless as a player.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
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 >
Bold added for emphasis. Don't just skim it but actually read for comprehension, at least any parts relevant to your character. This will make your DM very happy to have a player that actually knows the rules, because it might be surprising how many veteran players don't know how grappling works (it was absurdly complex in previous editions but it quite in 5e) or what a cube means for a spell's area of effect.If something appears on your character sheet you should know how it works: racial abilities, class features, your equipment, how ability scores and proficiencies work, the entire chapter for combat and also spellcasting if you cast spells. Most D&D groups play for 2-4 hours per session and it shouldn't take much longer than that, if not less, to give the PHB a good read. You don't prepare for getting a driver's license by watching somebody play MarioKart for twenty minutes so you should put a little bit of actual effort into learning what your character can do.
Depending on how your group plays, any specific rules can be of varying importance to the actual game, but knowing what your character is actually capable of doing in the game world will mean that you can roleplay more easily without the DM having to say "Hold up, you can't do that," or "That spell/ability doesn't work like that" every time you decide to do something cool. Basic things like how far your character can jump, the limitations of minor illusion(it's a cantrip, it's not fancy), how charisma based skill are not magical mind control, or how far your character with darkvision can see in color by the effects of a light spell. The game goes a lot faster and smoother, and you will become aware of options you didn't know you even had otherwise if you just take a little bit of time to learn the rules. I don't know how many times I've heard, either in my own games or in a podcast or stream, a player say something like "Oh, wow! I just looked up this ability/spell/class feature/etc my character has had for a while now and it's really cool! I'm going to ___!" Or to quote a Youtube sketch comedy series, a DM saying "It's an ability he's had since level one but hasn't actually used until just now."
Once you know what your character is actually capable of (and can become capable of) you can better fit them into the world they live in and that will help you with any roleplay situations when deciding how they react to any given stimulus. It will also make you more comfortable at the table in general, so you can focus more on what the DM and other players are saying rather than wondering what the heck a saving throw is. You should of course ask your DM what, if any, homebrew modifications or house rules they use, because very few DMs don't change or tweak something, but knowing what the basic rules are to begin with will make it easy to understand what the DM is talking about when they say they allow something as a bonus action rather than an action, or such.
It would be helpful if you could tell us your circumstances.
What I'd advise depends on where you're at. There's a lot of good advice on the thread...for different stages your.journey as a player. If you let me.kbow where you're at, we can give advice that's good for you and not just shooting in the dark.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I wrote a free single-player adventure to help out newbies like yourself: The Saint's Tomb. You'll need a character sheet, probably from DnD Beyond, in a second tab on your browser, then you can play the game in another tab. It should take about 15-30 minutes.
https://sayeth.itch.io/