Hey everyone, I am new, like have never played a game of D&D in my life and to be honest I am completely overwhelmed by all of the information, lingo, and the fact that I don't actually have any friends that currently play. I live with 4 other roommates and we all want to play but none of us have ever played or even understand where to start. I am sure some of the questions are answered elsewhere, probably on this very website, but I am just having difficulty wading through the info to even know where to start.
I wanted to ask some questions here and see if there is any way we can play without needing other experienced players?
I have a billion questions but instead of shotgunning them all out at once I think I'll just start with, Can someone point me towards a good set of videos or tutorials that are good for players like me to start with, I find that even the beginner guides are either general rules for "how to have fun" or assume that you have a DM that knows what they are doing, which we don't have.
Are there pre setup adventures or campaigns that one of us can DM, training wheels?
What books do we all need to get, to start out vs nerd out?
Is there a way to find a DM that would be willing to guide us through a campaign to show us the ropes?
Again I have a thousand questions, like I don't even understand how long a typical adventure, or campaign are supposed to last, all the way to how to pick a class, but any help with pointing me in the direction of sensible, information for brand new players and ideas on how to get us started would be very welcome.
I'll let other folks answer the videos question, but I do have a recommendation for you: The Starter Set that includes the Lost Mines of Phandalin. In your case, and with this set in particular, I would suggest you buy the physical Starter set, rather than buying it here on DDB. The starter set includes basic rules, a set of pre-generated characters, a set of dice, and a very good adventure. With this set, any one of you could be the DM: the adventure is designed for brand new DMs, and "holds your hand" at first, then gradually letting up so you an ease into the DM role. The other thing I'd suggest buying is a set of dice for each player. If you need more specifics in this regard, let me know.
For brand spanking new players, I do suggest starting with the pre-generated characters that come with that adventure. One tip for the DM, however: they should carefully read the backstories of each of the pre-generated characters. With one character in particular, the DM (and that player) need to do some strategizing ahead of time, something the adventure does NOT mention to the DM. Once you have settled on a DM, they can post here if they want more info, and I can private message them.
If your crew really wants to create their own characters, then I recommend the essentials kit. (Again, buy in person, but in part because this one--unlike the Starter kit--includes a code/certificate for a free copy of the adventure--and follow up adventures--on here). That provides more info about creating characters. I'm not familiar with the adventure, so I can't tell you how much DM handholding it does.
I dabbled in D&D in the late 70s and early 80s (back when it was 1e), then didn't for years, until our kids got us into 5e with the Starter Set, and I was the DM. I found it to be a great introduction. I think with it you and your friends will do just fine.
If you really want to look for a more experienced DM, look and see if there are game stores in your area. If there are, find out if they are doing D&D nights. Many (all?) stopped during COVID, but some have started up again.
Get the Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's like $10 on D&D Beyond.
The basic rules for D&D are free and they are all you need to play.
Lost Mines is a great intro module because it also talks the new DM through how to walk the players through. Just pick that up and try your best. Remember, it's okay to make mistakes or to make the game your own. As long as you and your friends are having fun, there isn't a wrong way to play.
When you have decided you want to keep playing, pick up Xanathar's Guide and probably Tasha's. That will give you a lot of player content to make cool characters. As to how long a campaign should last-- the answer is as long as it does. It depends on how fast the players go through the content. If the players want to hang out in tavern and pursue personal goals, then the campaign could last for a long time. If your characters don't really talk and just chop their way through, then you could finish a book in a couple of months.
As for classes and races? Just choose what sounds like fun. A lot of people think you need a balanced party with a tank, a healer, a dps, etc. but that's not really true. My longest game as a player had a party of a monk/ranger, a monk/barbarian and a fighter and we got through just fine. It's much more important that you like your characters and want to spend time with them-- because you'll be spending a lot of time with them. So, if you have your heart set on being a barbarian, but the group could really "need" a wizard, just play a barbarian. Because the group needs players having fun, not classes.
My advice to your DM is to really level up the players quickly until they reach level 3. Level 1 characters die really easily and while those levels tutorialise you how to play D&D, they're also objectively the most dangerous.
The Basic Rules are located here on this site, also in the 'Sources' tab up top. That's got all the stuff Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of the game, provide for free (technically from a couple different sources, but combined here under the name Basic Rules, which is one of said sources). It's got one subclass for each of the classes from the Player's Handbook (the PHB for short), and starting steps for the DM, abridged from the Dungeon Master's Guide (aka the DMG). Those will be useful to have eventually, but start with the free stuff. Also see what your local library has or can get on interlibrary loan.
Is there a way to find a DM that would be willing to guide us through a campaign to show us the ropes?
I will answer this question first. While you do need a game master (D&D calls it dungeon master or DM; I prefer GM for its system agnostic flavor) to run the game, an experienced GM is not necessary. In my opinion, it is better to just watch a few tutorials and dive right into GMing; all the time and effort spent on finding and waiting for a stranger to show you the ropes in real life could have been spent on playing D&D.
I have a billion questions but instead of shotgunning them all out at once I think I'll just start with, Can someone point me towards a good set of videos or tutorials that are good for players like me to start with, I find that even the beginner guides are either general rules for "how to have fun" or assume that you have a DM that knows what they are doing, which we don't have.
Are there pre setup adventures or campaigns that one of us can DM, training wheels?
Out of everyone in your group, since you are the one who bothered to do the research and ask here, I assume you are probably the most enthusiastic and motivated person who wants to try out D&D, and usually that person is also the most likely one to be the GM. If you are going to take up the mantle of the GM, you will have a little bit more homework to do compared to everyone else, but it will be entertaining and fun.
I recommend watching at least the first few videos in a series called "Running the Game" by Matt Colville on YouTube. You will find the introductory video in my signature. His first few videos also includes a short advanture/campaign that you can use, and I ABSOLUTELY AND HIGHLY recommend running his adventure as your first over any official adventures/campaigns that Wizards publishes. While the official adventures from Wizards are not bad, some of them are really good in my opinion, I just think Matt Colville's adventure/campaign is way more manageable and easier to run for new groups.
I also recommend watching "D&D with High School Students" by Bill Allen, which you will also find in my signature. I recommed watching the entire first season, but feel free to watch it in fast foward or even skip some sections, as the main purpose is to just give you an idea what a D&D game will realistically look like in real life, so you are not unrealistically comparing yourself to streams and shows online where the GMs and players are professional entertainers.
What books do we all need to get, to start out vs nerd out?
I strongly discourage spending any amount of money on D&D until you are absolutely sure this is a hobby that you will actually enjoy. You have access to the Basic Rules for free, and that is all you need to play the game with. D&D can be played completely for free. There is absolutely no reason to spend a single penny on D&D, so do not let any of us or Wizards pressure you into spending money. Spending money is a nice way to support the hobby, wider community, and global economy, but beyond that, all you are paying for is just convenience, maybe quality control, and maybe brand premium/recognition. In terms of convenience, if improv is easy for you, I would say running homebrew adventures/campaigns is easier than following a script written by someone else.
Out of my group of me and ten other friends, only five others are willing to try it out, and only three stayed continued to play. D&D is definitely not for everyone. Not every person wants to sit around and play-pretend or make-believe, as that is essentially what D&D is.
If you really want to spend money, then I recommend spending it on snack and drinks, or support your local small businesses and get take outs from restaurants.
Again I have a thousand questions, like I don't even understand how long a typical adventure, or campaign are supposed to last, all the way to how to pick a class, but any help with pointing me in the direction of sensible, information for brand new players and ideas on how to get us started would be very welcome.
For some more practical tips:
- No D&D is better than bad D&D. If you do not enjoy the game at any time for any reason, stop playing it. This is to avoid burn out and to protect yourself. Feel free to stay until the end of the session out of courtesy if you want to, but if it the game is bad (you will know it when it is bad) and it is making you upset, it is best to leave the table immediately. Sometimes, you are tired of the game. Sometimes, it is not the game you are tired of, but you just find the group of people you play with to be unpleasant. Sometimes, you just have more important or interesting stuff on your mind, and you simply cannot focus on D&D.
- Have a session zero. Session zeroes are basically orientations. Off the top of my head, I recommend going over the following stuff and see what their preferences are: 1. Is there anything in the campaign that might make people feel uncomfortable? This can range from the classic politics, sex, and religion, to the more dark and disturbing stuff like ****, torture, and gore. Do people want explore disturbing topics and real world issues like **** and genocide, or do they want something that is more sunshine and rainbows à la Pokémon? Are people okay with killing children but not okay with animal abuse? 2. What kind of game do your players want to play? Do your players want to do dungeon crawls? Or are they more interested in just the boss fight? Do your players want to just kill anything that moves, or do they not care about combat at all? Do your players want a more story driven game? 3. How strictly do you follow the official rules. Which optional rules to use, if any. What homebrew rules to use, if any.
- To avoid information overload and analysis paralysis, I recommend using pregenerated characters (Wizard's official website has quite a few pregenerated characters.) and avoiding character creation for the first campaign. Creating characters takes a long time for first time players, since they are absorbing all the rules at once and they need to make decision on top of all that newly acquired information. It is best to delay character creation to the second campaign when your players are more familiar with the rules. If you do wish to include character creation in your first campaign be sure to set aside extra time for that during session zero.
- Since you have not played before, be prepared to have multiple session zeroes to get everyone on the same page, especially if you include character creation.
- I would not worry about party composition too much. I think people should play what they want to play. It is totally fine to have a party without any kind of healer for example.
- Combat at low level is very swingy due to the low amount of HP. This basically means that the a group of players can either demolish a similar sized group of goblins with ease, or they can be completely massacred. To avoid the massacre scenario, I recommend using no more goblins (or bandits, zombies, or whatever) than there are characters in the party. If the party is a group of four level one adventurers, then I would send no more than four goblins at them at once.
- GMs are basically gods of their campaign, so they need to wield their powers carefully for the enjoyment for everyone at the table. Basically, great power comes with great responsibility.
- For my group, we spend about anywhere from one to three hours per session. A campaign can last as many sessions as you like. I recommend having some snacks and drinks on hand.
When you sit down to play, do not worry too much about getting rules right, or forgetting what certain things mean, etc. Just focus on the spirit of the game and have fun, the rest will come as you play more. Good luck, and have fun!
.I wanted to ask some questions here and see if there is any way we can play without needing other experienced players?
Yes, there is. Following is the link to a forum here on DDB that has groups looking for players. I've never used them, but they might be good for you. Make sure you tell the DM that you're before you join, though, they may not want to be handholding you and that's not going to be a good game for either side. Others are happy to do so, so just make sure they know.
Are there pre setup adventures or campaigns that one of us can DM, training wheels?
Yes. There are two main ones, The Lost Mines of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak. Now, I know others have given their opinion on this, but don't let their assertions push you into following their preferences. You have your own preferences and ways of enjoying things. Your finances that may be burdened by DND or that might buy everything without you even noticing. We don't know.
You can get digital content for free, but personally I enjoy the physical things more. Working out of books, rolling the dice myself, being able to sit down and just read a physical book. Inwouks have enjoyed my first adventure less had I gone with digital only. Would I have not gotten into DND had I gone digital? I don't know, but it would have been a shame had I not. That's not to say you should go physical - but that you should do what suits you best.
Personally, I recommend getting the either the Starters Set Essentials Kit (both physical). The Starters Set handholds you and is better if you really can't get your head around things. It gives you characters that are premade, which is its draw. It includes the Lost Mines of Phandelver (which runs levels 1-6), a set of 6 dice, and a set of the basic rules (minus character creation rules). Honestly, though? Once you're done with it, all you can really do is replay it.
Personally, though? Creating characters is one of the most fun things of DND. I'd go for the Essentials Kit. It includes character creation, character sheets, the option to add sidekicks, a dungeon master's screen, a set of 11 dice (unusually large, but is very useful for a DM and for character creation, I still use them despite having nicer dice for this reason) and Dragon of Icepire Peak (levels 1-6). It has everything you need to play DND properly, so if you wanted, you could never pay money again and just use free adventures from online. You also get a code for a free copy of Dragon of Icespirepeak here on DND and, which for some reason is never mentioned in your pack, three other adventures that (very loosely) follow on, taking your characters up to level 13 (only on DDB, no physical copies). You c also see which you prefer - physical or digital. I don't know much the extras adventures are, but overall, the Essentials Kit is much better value for money in my opinion. You also get a code for a half price Player's Handbook for DDB. Don't buy it until you've run at least one adventure, but it's worth holding onto if it takes your fancy.
If you do get the Essentials Kit but you want to play the Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd get the Lost Mines on DDB instead of buying it. It's a fair amount cheaper and while you don't get the physical stuff, you'd only be interested in the dice (as a second set) at that point anyway, and the difference in price would cover you getting a nicer set at any rate. Up to you, though.
What books do we all need to get, to start out vs nerd out?
I've pretty much covered the ones you need. DO NOT BUY ANY MORE BOOKS UNTIL YOU'VE DONE AN ADVENTURE. As much as it's up to you, you really don't need more than either the Essentials Kit or the Starter Kit, and the other books are expensive - especially if you end up hating the game.
That said, Once you've played and decided that it is for you, here are my recommendations (these are just the rulebooks, not the adventures):
The Player's Handbook - Contains more races, classes and subclasses as well as quite a few extra rules for gameplay. Definitely the first rulebook I'd buy.
Monster Manual - Most adventures (other than the Starter Set and the Essentials Kit) will not include the stats for monsters included in this book. If you go digital on DDB that's not a problem because it unlocks all the relevant stats for you, but if you want physical copies, then this book is essential.
The Dungeon Master's Guide - This has a lot of useful information on how to play, but also guides you on how to create your own adventures. It's not as important as the other two, but if you want to create your own adventures, it can be really useful.
There are other sources as well. By the time you've done your first couple of adventures, you've gotten those three books (or 2 or 1, whichever works for you), you could probably form your own opinion as to which ones to get, if any.
As for adventures, I'd personally go for the Essentials Kit, which gets you four and takes your player up to level 13. After that, if you still want advice, come back. You can tell us what exactly it was that you enjoyed, and we can direct you to another adventure that emphasises those aspects.
Again I have a thousand questions, like I don't even understand how long a typical adventure, or campaign are supposed to last, all the way to how to pick a class, but any help with pointing me in the direction of sensible, information for brand new players and ideas on how to get us started would be very welcome.
Honestly, the time really depends. 1-6 adventures are much shorter than 1-13. Campaigns depend on how long they are, what they consist of, your players...etc.
Personal example, so YMMV. I tend to find that it takes us about 2 hours to do a quest. That's not just the quest but the necessary parts too like shopping, travelling, deciding what quest, levelling up, etc as well as setting up and clearing away the game itself. So far, we've been basing a session around that. So each time we sit down, it'll be for about 2 hours. We'll do that about 3 times a week (I think it's more common to do 4 hours once a week or 2 weeks, but this suits us better). We've had it for about 5 weeks now, and we're coming to the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak and will probably finish it this week, so we did levels 1-6 in about 30 hours or so. Later levels usually take longer. So if that gives you an idea? It obviously depends on who is playing. If you have a lot of banter and whatnot, it'll take a lot longer. If everyone is all about the dice rolls and don't want to do anything else, it might be quite a bit shorter.
Number one rule is have fun and keep the story going. Don't let the rules bog you down - if you can't find a rule within, say, 20 seconds, make it up, write down what you wasn't sure about, and move on. It really degrades the experience to be sat there watching the DM with his nose in a book. The rules are to help your enjoyment, not the other way around. So if you can't remember if you can pick a lock, just say yes, pick a DC and have them roll. Later, check to see what the real rules are and learn them.
If you feel like the rules are too much, cut a few out. In our first game, we didn't bother bother with rations and focused on the core of the game. In our second game that we've just started, we've brought them back in because we're more confident with the mechanics. Don't be afraid to look at the rules, see which aren't necessary and to ignore those until you're comfortable with the essential ones. You can always bring them back in later when you're more grounded in the mechanics and they're less of a burden.
Remember, if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. While rules are important, they're not as important as having fun. If they're too much, then trim the fat for now and centre your adventure around the basics. Then you can learn and have fun, and add the extras back in.
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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.
Hey everyone, I am new, like have never played a game of D&D in my life and to be honest I am completely overwhelmed by all of the information, lingo, and the fact that I don't actually have any friends that currently play. I live with 4 other roommates and we all want to play but none of us have ever played or even understand where to start. I am sure some of the questions are answered elsewhere, probably on this very website, but I am just having difficulty wading through the info to even know where to start.
It wasn't until a month ago I was in your exact same position, so don't worry about this. It's perfectly normal to look at even the basic rules and do the Home Improvement grunt. The key to remember is not to read too much into the How to Play section of the Basic Rules:
The DM (Dungeon Master) describes the environment.
Players describe desired actions.
The DM narrates the results.
That can be as straight-forward or rolling math rocks as you'd like if you're DM'ing. This is why the "Session 0" is paramount, so it sets expectations of how much roleplay, combat, and so on is going to happen before players commit to this adventure/campaign.
I wanted to ask some questions here and see if there is any way we can play without needing other experienced players?
There absolutely is. There's the Starter Set and Essentials Kit, the former containing the Basic Rules, premade Character Sheets, an official adventure that's written in such a way it aids new Dungeon Masters in telling the story, and a set of dice, while the latter contains all that and more, which I currently fail to recall. These are designed to help new players get into the game without having to look at over 200 pages of rules in a Player's Handbook, however many there are in the Dungeon Master's Guide, and pouring over the stat blocks of monsters found in the Monster Manual.
Is there a way to find a DM that would be willing to guide us through a campaign to show us the ropes?
I'm part of a Discord server by the name of AltRole, which teaches people how to play and DM D&D, whilst trying to keep the experience as cheap as possible (as in, no paid DMs), so as to make the hobby more accessible to new players. I might recommend that. Alternatively, there's LFG forums here, Roll20, and other virtual tabletops. If you have a friendly local gaming store (FLGS), you might be able to see if there's anyone who would be willing to DM for you (see local coronavirus restrictions also). Other than that, why not become one with one of the sets mentioned above? ^^
Again I have a thousand questions, like I don't even understand how long a typical adventure, or campaign are supposed to last, all the way to how to pick a class, but any help with pointing me in the direction of sensible, information for brand new players and ideas on how to get us started would be very welcome.
Thanks
Dungeons & Dragons is intimidating until you play it. You can read every book, watch every tutorial, peruse every forum, and prowl every wiki, but it doesn't compare with sitting down with a group of players - physically or virtually - and beginning that first adventure. I'd been following D&D for 3 years before I eventually started playing, creating (and deleting) characters over and over again on this site for 2, and very little of that had begun to prepare me for my first session, because I didn't know how my roleplay would align with other characters, how my abilities would synergise with the party's, what my class would bring to the specific adventure, and so on.
As Mike Tyson once famously put it, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," or in my case, takes a giant centipede's mandibles to the chest.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Guess what. If you're here, you're the DM. If your friends are willing to play, that is all you need.
I don't recommend looking for a DM to show you the ropes. A lot of DMs, especially random ones, are bad, and might give you a bad impression of the game. If you happen to find an in-person DM who is enthusiastic about teaching new players, it might be good to play a one-shot with them to learn the ropes, but it's unlikely you'll find a quality DM who wants to start a full campaign with a bunch of new players they don't know.
Instead, learn the flow of the game by watching a few episodes of a stream.
I recommend picking up the Starter Set, which comes with the adventure "Lost Mine of Phandelver", which is a pretty easy adventure for a new DM to run. The whole set in physical form is actually cheaper online than just The Lost Mine of Phandelver digital book here, and it comes with dice, a basic rulebook, pre-made character sheets, and the adventure. But you don't really need all that. If you prefer digital, maybe just buy the adventure here. Everything else you need can be found for free here.
The free Basic Rules are all you need to be a player or a DM. You might think you need the Player's Handbook to be a player. You don't. All the rules you need as a player are in the Basic Rules, and there are free classes and subclasses in Chapter 3. The Player's Handbook, if you choose to buy it, gives you additional subclasses, but the base subclasses are probably enough for a new player. If you do choose to buy it, I recommend buying the Player's Handbook on D&D Beyond, since it will allow you to use the subclasses with the very nice character builder here.
You might think a Dungeon Master needs the Dungeon Master's Guide, but you only really need that to create your own homebrew adventure (and it's not completely necessary for that either). It has a few extra guidelines for rarer adventure scenarios, but most of the rules you need are in the Basic Rules, or can be made up on the spot. You might think you need the Monster Manual, but if you are running a published adventure like The Lost Mine of Phandelver, it will come with all the monster stats you need.
You might think you need the Monster Manual, but if you are running a published adventure like The Lost Mine of Phandelver, it will come with all the monster stats you need.
In my experience, barring Dragon of Icespire Peak (and presumably Lost Mines of Phandelver), published adventures only come with monster stats for those not in the Monster Manual. RotFM doesn't have the stats for orcs or goblins for example, but does for chwingas and gnoll vampires.
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.
You might think you need the Monster Manual, but if you are running a published adventure like The Lost Mine of Phandelver, it will come with all the monster stats you need.
In my experience, barring Dragon of Icespire Peak (and presumably Lost Mines of Phandelver), published adventures only come with monster stats for those not in the Monster Manual. RotFM doesn't have the stats for orcs or goblins for example, but does for chwingas and gnoll vampires.
You might be right. But most of the monsters in the Monster Manual are available for free on D&D Beyond without purchasing the digital MM.
They probably generally include monsters in the adventures that aren't in the free SRD.
Bit of unorthodox advice: Check out this book, if you have the means. Angry takes some getting used to, but he wrote this book specifically for people who're overwhelmed with making an RPG work and are looking for a way to get their head above water. There's an accompanying module (i.e. a short, prewritten adventure) called The Fall of Silverpine Watch you can use in tandem with the book to get your group's feet underneath you.
If you're not vibing on a third-party guidebook, though? A lot of people recommend Matt Colville's YouTube channel, as Gamma mentioned. That's free advice, and if you like your content in video form rather than written form it's a solid bet for getting your bearings.
You might think you need the Monster Manual, but if you are running a published adventure like The Lost Mine of Phandelver, it will come with all the monster stats you need.
In my experience, barring Dragon of Icespire Peak (and presumably Lost Mines of Phandelver), published adventures only come with monster stats for those not in the Monster Manual. RotFM doesn't have the stats for orcs or goblins for example, but does for chwingas and gnoll vampires.
Just found my hard copy of Lost Mine of Phandelver, and it does indeed include stat blocks for basic enemies like Goblins, Orcs, Wolves, and Zombies.
The best advice I can offer (which admittedly isn’t going to be that great) is using the “sidekick” rules in Tasha’s cauldron of everything, it’s basically watered down classes that are much easier to use. You should definitely see if you like the hobby for free before you go and buy a book (I also recommend a physical book, not dnd beyond stuff) I’m currently running a game for new players and I went through character creation by not holding their hands, but giving them a piggyback ride. I’d say that the order of adventures should probably be (in my experience, you do you) use a starting adventure with pre-generated characters, then using a bigger adventure, if you like the hobby, probably using basic character creation like the sidekick rules, and finally when you all feel like you have basic experience using a kinda homebrew kinda module adventure, let the DM experiment, at this point you should probably use real classes and character creation. A few other general tips: don’t level up players vigorously, they need time to figure out what all the numbers on the paper do and what they mean. I personally thought this was handy for being the dm, walk them through the game and point stuff out to them as it comes up, this obviously assumes that You have a semi experienced DM which I get it if you don’t. Lastly! On the issue of not knowing where to find a group, local gaming store, or hobby store, my just opened up so it’s great, they will usually DM you can just play with other people at the store (although it’s always more fun with friends) they will hopefully help you through making a character. (Also, once I wanted to get into playing a older version of dnd called 3.5 and they offered to let me listen to a session over discord, I don’t know how well that might help as I never did it)
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Hey everyone, I am new, like have never played a game of D&D in my life and to be honest I am completely overwhelmed by all of the information, lingo, and the fact that I don't actually have any friends that currently play. I live with 4 other roommates and we all want to play but none of us have ever played or even understand where to start. I am sure some of the questions are answered elsewhere, probably on this very website, but I am just having difficulty wading through the info to even know where to start.
I wanted to ask some questions here and see if there is any way we can play without needing other experienced players?
I have a billion questions but instead of shotgunning them all out at once I think I'll just start with, Can someone point me towards a good set of videos or tutorials that are good for players like me to start with, I find that even the beginner guides are either general rules for "how to have fun" or assume that you have a DM that knows what they are doing, which we don't have.
Are there pre setup adventures or campaigns that one of us can DM, training wheels?
What books do we all need to get, to start out vs nerd out?
Is there a way to find a DM that would be willing to guide us through a campaign to show us the ropes?
Again I have a thousand questions, like I don't even understand how long a typical adventure, or campaign are supposed to last, all the way to how to pick a class, but any help with pointing me in the direction of sensible, information for brand new players and ideas on how to get us started would be very welcome.
Thanks
I'll let other folks answer the videos question, but I do have a recommendation for you: The Starter Set that includes the Lost Mines of Phandalin. In your case, and with this set in particular, I would suggest you buy the physical Starter set, rather than buying it here on DDB. The starter set includes basic rules, a set of pre-generated characters, a set of dice, and a very good adventure. With this set, any one of you could be the DM: the adventure is designed for brand new DMs, and "holds your hand" at first, then gradually letting up so you an ease into the DM role. The other thing I'd suggest buying is a set of dice for each player. If you need more specifics in this regard, let me know.
For brand spanking new players, I do suggest starting with the pre-generated characters that come with that adventure. One tip for the DM, however: they should carefully read the backstories of each of the pre-generated characters. With one character in particular, the DM (and that player) need to do some strategizing ahead of time, something the adventure does NOT mention to the DM. Once you have settled on a DM, they can post here if they want more info, and I can private message them.
If your crew really wants to create their own characters, then I recommend the essentials kit. (Again, buy in person, but in part because this one--unlike the Starter kit--includes a code/certificate for a free copy of the adventure--and follow up adventures--on here). That provides more info about creating characters. I'm not familiar with the adventure, so I can't tell you how much DM handholding it does.
I dabbled in D&D in the late 70s and early 80s (back when it was 1e), then didn't for years, until our kids got us into 5e with the Starter Set, and I was the DM. I found it to be a great introduction. I think with it you and your friends will do just fine.
If you really want to look for a more experienced DM, look and see if there are game stores in your area. If there are, find out if they are doing D&D nights. Many (all?) stopped during COVID, but some have started up again.
Good luck!
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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Get the Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's like $10 on D&D Beyond.
The basic rules for D&D are free and they are all you need to play.
Lost Mines is a great intro module because it also talks the new DM through how to walk the players through. Just pick that up and try your best. Remember, it's okay to make mistakes or to make the game your own. As long as you and your friends are having fun, there isn't a wrong way to play.
When you have decided you want to keep playing, pick up Xanathar's Guide and probably Tasha's. That will give you a lot of player content to make cool characters. As to how long a campaign should last-- the answer is as long as it does. It depends on how fast the players go through the content. If the players want to hang out in tavern and pursue personal goals, then the campaign could last for a long time. If your characters don't really talk and just chop their way through, then you could finish a book in a couple of months.
As for classes and races? Just choose what sounds like fun. A lot of people think you need a balanced party with a tank, a healer, a dps, etc. but that's not really true. My longest game as a player had a party of a monk/ranger, a monk/barbarian and a fighter and we got through just fine. It's much more important that you like your characters and want to spend time with them-- because you'll be spending a lot of time with them. So, if you have your heart set on being a barbarian, but the group could really "need" a wizard, just play a barbarian. Because the group needs players having fun, not classes.
My advice to your DM is to really level up the players quickly until they reach level 3. Level 1 characters die really easily and while those levels tutorialise you how to play D&D, they're also objectively the most dangerous.
The Basic Rules are located here on this site, also in the 'Sources' tab up top. That's got all the stuff Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of the game, provide for free (technically from a couple different sources, but combined here under the name Basic Rules, which is one of said sources). It's got one subclass for each of the classes from the Player's Handbook (the PHB for short), and starting steps for the DM, abridged from the Dungeon Master's Guide (aka the DMG). Those will be useful to have eventually, but start with the free stuff. Also see what your local library has or can get on interlibrary loan.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
This is exactly what I was hoping for, thank you for this I really appreciate it. I'll keep you guys posted on our adventures.
I will answer this question first. While you do need a game master (D&D calls it dungeon master or DM; I prefer GM for its system agnostic flavor) to run the game, an experienced GM is not necessary. In my opinion, it is better to just watch a few tutorials and dive right into GMing; all the time and effort spent on finding and waiting for a stranger to show you the ropes in real life could have been spent on playing D&D.
Similar to above the answer, while having an experienced player helps, it is totally unnecessary.
Out of everyone in your group, since you are the one who bothered to do the research and ask here, I assume you are probably the most enthusiastic and motivated person who wants to try out D&D, and usually that person is also the most likely one to be the GM. If you are going to take up the mantle of the GM, you will have a little bit more homework to do compared to everyone else, but it will be entertaining and fun.
I recommend watching at least the first few videos in a series called "Running the Game" by Matt Colville on YouTube. You will find the introductory video in my signature. His first few videos also includes a short advanture/campaign that you can use, and I ABSOLUTELY AND HIGHLY recommend running his adventure as your first over any official adventures/campaigns that Wizards publishes. While the official adventures from Wizards are not bad, some of them are really good in my opinion, I just think Matt Colville's adventure/campaign is way more manageable and easier to run for new groups.
I also recommend watching "D&D with High School Students" by Bill Allen, which you will also find in my signature. I recommed watching the entire first season, but feel free to watch it in fast foward or even skip some sections, as the main purpose is to just give you an idea what a D&D game will realistically look like in real life, so you are not unrealistically comparing yourself to streams and shows online where the GMs and players are professional entertainers.
I strongly discourage spending any amount of money on D&D until you are absolutely sure this is a hobby that you will actually enjoy. You have access to the Basic Rules for free, and that is all you need to play the game with. D&D can be played completely for free. There is absolutely no reason to spend a single penny on D&D, so do not let any of us or Wizards pressure you into spending money. Spending money is a nice way to support the hobby, wider community, and global economy, but beyond that, all you are paying for is just convenience, maybe quality control, and maybe brand premium/recognition. In terms of convenience, if improv is easy for you, I would say running homebrew adventures/campaigns is easier than following a script written by someone else.
Out of my group of me and ten other friends, only five others are willing to try it out, and only three stayed continued to play. D&D is definitely not for everyone. Not every person wants to sit around and play-pretend or make-believe, as that is essentially what D&D is.
If you really want to spend money, then I recommend spending it on snack and drinks, or support your local small businesses and get take outs from restaurants.
For some more practical tips:
- No D&D is better than bad D&D. If you do not enjoy the game at any time for any reason, stop playing it. This is to avoid burn out and to protect yourself. Feel free to stay until the end of the session out of courtesy if you want to, but if it the game is bad (you will know it when it is bad) and it is making you upset, it is best to leave the table immediately. Sometimes, you are tired of the game. Sometimes, it is not the game you are tired of, but you just find the group of people you play with to be unpleasant. Sometimes, you just have more important or interesting stuff on your mind, and you simply cannot focus on D&D.
- Have a session zero. Session zeroes are basically orientations. Off the top of my head, I recommend going over the following stuff and see what their preferences are:
1. Is there anything in the campaign that might make people feel uncomfortable? This can range from the classic politics, sex, and religion, to the more dark and disturbing stuff like ****, torture, and gore. Do people want explore disturbing topics and real world issues like **** and genocide, or do they want something that is more sunshine and rainbows à la Pokémon? Are people okay with killing children but not okay with animal abuse?
2. What kind of game do your players want to play? Do your players want to do dungeon crawls? Or are they more interested in just the boss fight? Do your players want to just kill anything that moves, or do they not care about combat at all? Do your players want a more story driven game?
3. How strictly do you follow the official rules. Which optional rules to use, if any. What homebrew rules to use, if any.
- To avoid information overload and analysis paralysis, I recommend using pregenerated characters (Wizard's official website has quite a few pregenerated characters.) and avoiding character creation for the first campaign. Creating characters takes a long time for first time players, since they are absorbing all the rules at once and they need to make decision on top of all that newly acquired information. It is best to delay character creation to the second campaign when your players are more familiar with the rules. If you do wish to include character creation in your first campaign be sure to set aside extra time for that during session zero.
- Since you have not played before, be prepared to have multiple session zeroes to get everyone on the same page, especially if you include character creation.
- I would not worry about party composition too much. I think people should play what they want to play. It is totally fine to have a party without any kind of healer for example.
- Combat at low level is very swingy due to the low amount of HP. This basically means that the a group of players can either demolish a similar sized group of goblins with ease, or they can be completely massacred. To avoid the massacre scenario, I recommend using no more goblins (or bandits, zombies, or whatever) than there are characters in the party. If the party is a group of four level one adventurers, then I would send no more than four goblins at them at once.
- GMs are basically gods of their campaign, so they need to wield their powers carefully for the enjoyment for everyone at the table. Basically, great power comes with great responsibility.
- For my group, we spend about anywhere from one to three hours per session. A campaign can last as many sessions as you like. I recommend having some snacks and drinks on hand.
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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 >
When you sit down to play, do not worry too much about getting rules right, or forgetting what certain things mean, etc. Just focus on the spirit of the game and have fun, the rest will come as you play more. Good luck, and have fun!
Yes, there is. Following is the link to a forum here on DDB that has groups looking for players. I've never used them, but they might be good for you. Make sure you tell the DM that you're before you join, though, they may not want to be handholding you and that's not going to be a good game for either side. Others are happy to do so, so just make sure they know.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/looking-for-players-groups
Yes. There are two main ones, The Lost Mines of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak. Now, I know others have given their opinion on this, but don't let their assertions push you into following their preferences. You have your own preferences and ways of enjoying things. Your finances that may be burdened by DND or that might buy everything without you even noticing. We don't know.
You can get digital content for free, but personally I enjoy the physical things more. Working out of books, rolling the dice myself, being able to sit down and just read a physical book. Inwouks have enjoyed my first adventure less had I gone with digital only. Would I have not gotten into DND had I gone digital? I don't know, but it would have been a shame had I not. That's not to say you should go physical - but that you should do what suits you best.
Personally, I recommend getting the either the Starters Set Essentials Kit (both physical). The Starters Set handholds you and is better if you really can't get your head around things. It gives you characters that are premade, which is its draw. It includes the Lost Mines of Phandelver (which runs levels 1-6), a set of 6 dice, and a set of the basic rules (minus character creation rules). Honestly, though? Once you're done with it, all you can really do is replay it.
Personally, though? Creating characters is one of the most fun things of DND. I'd go for the Essentials Kit. It includes character creation, character sheets, the option to add sidekicks, a dungeon master's screen, a set of 11 dice (unusually large, but is very useful for a DM and for character creation, I still use them despite having nicer dice for this reason) and Dragon of Icepire Peak (levels 1-6). It has everything you need to play DND properly, so if you wanted, you could never pay money again and just use free adventures from online. You also get a code for a free copy of Dragon of Icespirepeak here on DND and, which for some reason is never mentioned in your pack, three other adventures that (very loosely) follow on, taking your characters up to level 13 (only on DDB, no physical copies). You c also see which you prefer - physical or digital. I don't know much the extras adventures are, but overall, the Essentials Kit is much better value for money in my opinion. You also get a code for a half price Player's Handbook for DDB. Don't buy it until you've run at least one adventure, but it's worth holding onto if it takes your fancy.
If you do get the Essentials Kit but you want to play the Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd get the Lost Mines on DDB instead of buying it. It's a fair amount cheaper and while you don't get the physical stuff, you'd only be interested in the dice (as a second set) at that point anyway, and the difference in price would cover you getting a nicer set at any rate. Up to you, though.
I've pretty much covered the ones you need. DO NOT BUY ANY MORE BOOKS UNTIL YOU'VE DONE AN ADVENTURE. As much as it's up to you, you really don't need more than either the Essentials Kit or the Starter Kit, and the other books are expensive - especially if you end up hating the game.
That said, Once you've played and decided that it is for you, here are my recommendations (these are just the rulebooks, not the adventures):
The Player's Handbook - Contains more races, classes and subclasses as well as quite a few extra rules for gameplay. Definitely the first rulebook I'd buy.
Monster Manual - Most adventures (other than the Starter Set and the Essentials Kit) will not include the stats for monsters included in this book. If you go digital on DDB that's not a problem because it unlocks all the relevant stats for you, but if you want physical copies, then this book is essential.
The Dungeon Master's Guide - This has a lot of useful information on how to play, but also guides you on how to create your own adventures. It's not as important as the other two, but if you want to create your own adventures, it can be really useful.
There are other sources as well. By the time you've done your first couple of adventures, you've gotten those three books (or 2 or 1, whichever works for you), you could probably form your own opinion as to which ones to get, if any.
As for adventures, I'd personally go for the Essentials Kit, which gets you four and takes your player up to level 13. After that, if you still want advice, come back. You can tell us what exactly it was that you enjoyed, and we can direct you to another adventure that emphasises those aspects.
Honestly, the time really depends. 1-6 adventures are much shorter than 1-13. Campaigns depend on how long they are, what they consist of, your players...etc.
Personal example, so YMMV. I tend to find that it takes us about 2 hours to do a quest. That's not just the quest but the necessary parts too like shopping, travelling, deciding what quest, levelling up, etc as well as setting up and clearing away the game itself. So far, we've been basing a session around that. So each time we sit down, it'll be for about 2 hours. We'll do that about 3 times a week (I think it's more common to do 4 hours once a week or 2 weeks, but this suits us better). We've had it for about 5 weeks now, and we're coming to the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak and will probably finish it this week, so we did levels 1-6 in about 30 hours or so. Later levels usually take longer. So if that gives you an idea? It obviously depends on who is playing. If you have a lot of banter and whatnot, it'll take a lot longer. If everyone is all about the dice rolls and don't want to do anything else, it might be quite a bit shorter.
Number one rule is have fun and keep the story going. Don't let the rules bog you down - if you can't find a rule within, say, 20 seconds, make it up, write down what you wasn't sure about, and move on. It really degrades the experience to be sat there watching the DM with his nose in a book. The rules are to help your enjoyment, not the other way around. So if you can't remember if you can pick a lock, just say yes, pick a DC and have them roll. Later, check to see what the real rules are and learn them.
If you feel like the rules are too much, cut a few out. In our first game, we didn't bother bother with rations and focused on the core of the game. In our second game that we've just started, we've brought them back in because we're more confident with the mechanics. Don't be afraid to look at the rules, see which aren't necessary and to ignore those until you're comfortable with the essential ones. You can always bring them back in later when you're more grounded in the mechanics and they're less of a burden.
Remember, if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. While rules are important, they're not as important as having fun. If they're too much, then trim the fat for now and centre your adventure around the basics. Then you can learn and have fun, and add the extras back in.
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.
It wasn't until a month ago I was in your exact same position, so don't worry about this. It's perfectly normal to look at even the basic rules and do the Home Improvement grunt. The key to remember is not to read too much into the How to Play section of the Basic Rules:
That can be as straight-forward or rolling math rocks as you'd like if you're DM'ing. This is why the "Session 0" is paramount, so it sets expectations of how much roleplay, combat, and so on is going to happen before players commit to this adventure/campaign.
There absolutely is. There's the Starter Set and Essentials Kit, the former containing the Basic Rules, premade Character Sheets, an official adventure that's written in such a way it aids new Dungeon Masters in telling the story, and a set of dice, while the latter contains all that and more, which I currently fail to recall. These are designed to help new players get into the game without having to look at over 200 pages of rules in a Player's Handbook, however many there are in the Dungeon Master's Guide, and pouring over the stat blocks of monsters found in the Monster Manual.
I'm part of a Discord server by the name of AltRole, which teaches people how to play and DM D&D, whilst trying to keep the experience as cheap as possible (as in, no paid DMs), so as to make the hobby more accessible to new players. I might recommend that. Alternatively, there's LFG forums here, Roll20, and other virtual tabletops. If you have a friendly local gaming store (FLGS), you might be able to see if there's anyone who would be willing to DM for you (see local coronavirus restrictions also). Other than that, why not become one with one of the sets mentioned above? ^^
Dungeons & Dragons is intimidating until you play it. You can read every book, watch every tutorial, peruse every forum, and prowl every wiki, but it doesn't compare with sitting down with a group of players - physically or virtually - and beginning that first adventure. I'd been following D&D for 3 years before I eventually started playing, creating (and deleting) characters over and over again on this site for 2, and very little of that had begun to prepare me for my first session, because I didn't know how my roleplay would align with other characters, how my abilities would synergise with the party's, what my class would bring to the specific adventure, and so on.
As Mike Tyson once famously put it, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," or in my case, takes a giant centipede's mandibles to the chest.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Guess what. If you're here, you're the DM. If your friends are willing to play, that is all you need.
I don't recommend looking for a DM to show you the ropes. A lot of DMs, especially random ones, are bad, and might give you a bad impression of the game. If you happen to find an in-person DM who is enthusiastic about teaching new players, it might be good to play a one-shot with them to learn the ropes, but it's unlikely you'll find a quality DM who wants to start a full campaign with a bunch of new players they don't know.
Instead, learn the flow of the game by watching a few episodes of a stream.
I recommend picking up the Starter Set, which comes with the adventure "Lost Mine of Phandelver", which is a pretty easy adventure for a new DM to run. The whole set in physical form is actually cheaper online than just The Lost Mine of Phandelver digital book here, and it comes with dice, a basic rulebook, pre-made character sheets, and the adventure. But you don't really need all that. If you prefer digital, maybe just buy the adventure here. Everything else you need can be found for free here.
The free Basic Rules are all you need to be a player or a DM. You might think you need the Player's Handbook to be a player. You don't. All the rules you need as a player are in the Basic Rules, and there are free classes and subclasses in Chapter 3. The Player's Handbook, if you choose to buy it, gives you additional subclasses, but the base subclasses are probably enough for a new player. If you do choose to buy it, I recommend buying the Player's Handbook on D&D Beyond, since it will allow you to use the subclasses with the very nice character builder here.
You might think a Dungeon Master needs the Dungeon Master's Guide, but you only really need that to create your own homebrew adventure (and it's not completely necessary for that either). It has a few extra guidelines for rarer adventure scenarios, but most of the rules you need are in the Basic Rules, or can be made up on the spot. You might think you need the Monster Manual, but if you are running a published adventure like The Lost Mine of Phandelver, it will come with all the monster stats you need.
In my experience, barring Dragon of Icespire Peak (and presumably Lost Mines of Phandelver), published adventures only come with monster stats for those not in the Monster Manual. RotFM doesn't have the stats for orcs or goblins for example, but does for chwingas and gnoll vampires.
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.
You might be right. But most of the monsters in the Monster Manual are available for free on D&D Beyond without purchasing the digital MM.
They probably generally include monsters in the adventures that aren't in the free SRD.
Bit of unorthodox advice: Check out this book, if you have the means.
Angry takes some getting used to, but he wrote this book specifically for people who're overwhelmed with making an RPG work and are looking for a way to get their head above water. There's an accompanying module (i.e. a short, prewritten adventure) called The Fall of Silverpine Watch you can use in tandem with the book to get your group's feet underneath you.
If you're not vibing on a third-party guidebook, though? A lot of people recommend Matt Colville's YouTube channel, as Gamma mentioned. That's free advice, and if you like your content in video form rather than written form it's a solid bet for getting your bearings.
Please do not contact or message me.
Just found my hard copy of Lost Mine of Phandelver, and it does indeed include stat blocks for basic enemies like Goblins, Orcs, Wolves, and Zombies.
The best advice I can offer (which admittedly isn’t going to be that great) is using the “sidekick” rules in Tasha’s cauldron of everything, it’s basically watered down classes that are much easier to use. You should definitely see if you like the hobby for free before you go and buy a book (I also recommend a physical book, not dnd beyond stuff) I’m currently running a game for new players and I went through character creation by not holding their hands, but giving them a piggyback ride. I’d say that the order of adventures should probably be (in my experience, you do you) use a starting adventure with pre-generated characters, then using a bigger adventure, if you like the hobby, probably using basic character creation like the sidekick rules, and finally when you all feel like you have basic experience using a kinda homebrew kinda module adventure, let the DM experiment, at this point you should probably use real classes and character creation. A few other general tips: don’t level up players vigorously, they need time to figure out what all the numbers on the paper do and what they mean. I personally thought this was handy for being the dm, walk them through the game and point stuff out to them as it comes up, this obviously assumes that You have a semi experienced DM which I get it if you don’t. Lastly! On the issue of not knowing where to find a group, local gaming store, or hobby store, my just opened up so it’s great, they will usually DM you can just play with other people at the store (although it’s always more fun with friends) they will hopefully help you through making a character. (Also, once I wanted to get into playing a older version of dnd called 3.5 and they offered to let me listen to a session over discord, I don’t know how well that might help as I never did it)