Welcome to the greatest game in the world! I've been playing for a long time and I love it. First, take a look at the resources on this site about how to build a character and how to play the game. Getting used to that is probably is probably the most important first step. Next, figure out what type of character you'd like to start out as. Just a general sense at this point. Then, i would find a group that is looking for new players and states they accept new players. Groups like that will help you navigate building your character and walk you through the first few encounters and how to role play and roll play. You can find groups looking for players in the forums. Last, bring your imagination and get ready to fall in love with a game.
I would agree with the above except to say -- find a group first, and come up with a character you want to play second. It may be that the character concept you come up with before finding a group, will not fit into the game the group you join will be playing. You don't want to corner yourself into only being able to play a game in the Forgotten Realms, say, because your character is from Waterdeep, when there is an awesome Saltmarsh campaign going on set in the World of Greyhawk that is still looking for players. You don't want to corner yourself into playing, say, a half-orc and then get upset when the DM says there are no half-orcs in her homebrew world. You're much better off if you join a group first, and then upon joining them and hearing what the world/campaign is like, designing a character that is custom-made to fit into that campaign. Playing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist? Make up a character who comes from Waterdeep and has ties to the city, so it fits right in. Playing Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus? Play a character from Baldur's Gate to fit right in. Playing Ghosts of Saltmarsh? Play a character who used to be a fisherman or a sailor to fit into the theme of that game, and so on.
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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.
Chances are that when you find a group, you're not going to start playing five minutes later. ;-) Go look for a group, send out some requests, post a looking-for-group message here and there, and while you wait for hopefully a speedy and positive response you'll have some time to learn how the game works. If you have the Player's Handbook (PHB), start reading. If not, the Sources menu at the top of the page has the Basic Rules- those will cover the same ground in terms of how to play, they just show fewer options than the PHB does.
You don't have to memorize all of that! The Dungeon Master° (DM) should be able to tell you how your actions and decisions as a Player Character (PC) translate to mechanics (usually, what kind of dice to roll and what kind of modifiers to apply) and you'll have a character sheet to look up your character's abilities and stats quickly when you need them. The main thing is to try and understand the How To Play section so you're familiar with the terminology (what is a check, what is a save, what is initiative, etc) and how things work in general (when do I roll dice, how do combat turns work and what can I do with one, etc) so the DM doesn't have to explain all of that during the game. Helping you along won't be a problem as long as it doesn't interrupt the game constantly because you have no idea what everyone is talking about.
BioWizard is not wrong about it being better to create your character once you have an idea of what campaign you'll be playing in, but Ildrahil is equally correct that it's good to have a general sense of what your options are already - that'll save you some time later. It's not a bad idea to use the character builder (https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder#/) a couple of times just to get familiar with the steps involved, and to be able to look at a character sheet for one of your own characters to learn which info can be found where.
Good luck and have fun! There's no wrong way of playing as long as everyone's having fun.
° the DM is essentially the game leader: they run the adventure (sometimes using a published module, sometimes creating a campaign from scratch, possibly set in a world they made up as well), play the Non-Player Characters (NPCs), decide how the rules apply to the things the players want to do, and so on. This is not an adversarial role, but a co-operative one: both DM and players create a roleplaying experience together. They DM sets the framework for the players to play in - this makes the difference between make-believe without rules and a structured game where outcomes can be adjudicated fairly.
I’ve never played this game before and would like some tips on how to start
Welcome to the greatest game in the world! I've been playing for a long time and I love it. First, take a look at the resources on this site about how to build a character and how to play the game. Getting used to that is probably is probably the most important first step. Next, figure out what type of character you'd like to start out as. Just a general sense at this point. Then, i would find a group that is looking for new players and states they accept new players. Groups like that will help you navigate building your character and walk you through the first few encounters and how to role play and roll play. You can find groups looking for players in the forums. Last, bring your imagination and get ready to fall in love with a game.
I would agree with the above except to say -- find a group first, and come up with a character you want to play second. It may be that the character concept you come up with before finding a group, will not fit into the game the group you join will be playing. You don't want to corner yourself into only being able to play a game in the Forgotten Realms, say, because your character is from Waterdeep, when there is an awesome Saltmarsh campaign going on set in the World of Greyhawk that is still looking for players. You don't want to corner yourself into playing, say, a half-orc and then get upset when the DM says there are no half-orcs in her homebrew world. You're much better off if you join a group first, and then upon joining them and hearing what the world/campaign is like, designing a character that is custom-made to fit into that campaign. Playing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist? Make up a character who comes from Waterdeep and has ties to the city, so it fits right in. Playing Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus? Play a character from Baldur's Gate to fit right in. Playing Ghosts of Saltmarsh? Play a character who used to be a fisherman or a sailor to fit into the theme of that game, and so on.
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.
Here's a good resource on this site:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/essentials
Chances are that when you find a group, you're not going to start playing five minutes later. ;-) Go look for a group, send out some requests, post a looking-for-group message here and there, and while you wait for hopefully a speedy and positive response you'll have some time to learn how the game works. If you have the Player's Handbook (PHB), start reading. If not, the Sources menu at the top of the page has the Basic Rules - those will cover the same ground in terms of how to play, they just show fewer options than the PHB does.
You don't have to memorize all of that! The Dungeon Master° (DM) should be able to tell you how your actions and decisions as a Player Character (PC) translate to mechanics (usually, what kind of dice to roll and what kind of modifiers to apply) and you'll have a character sheet to look up your character's abilities and stats quickly when you need them. The main thing is to try and understand the How To Play section so you're familiar with the terminology (what is a check, what is a save, what is initiative, etc) and how things work in general (when do I roll dice, how do combat turns work and what can I do with one, etc) so the DM doesn't have to explain all of that during the game. Helping you along won't be a problem as long as it doesn't interrupt the game constantly because you have no idea what everyone is talking about.
BioWizard is not wrong about it being better to create your character once you have an idea of what campaign you'll be playing in, but Ildrahil is equally correct that it's good to have a general sense of what your options are already - that'll save you some time later. It's not a bad idea to use the character builder (https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder#/) a couple of times just to get familiar with the steps involved, and to be able to look at a character sheet for one of your own characters to learn which info can be found where.
Good luck and have fun! There's no wrong way of playing as long as everyone's having fun.
° the DM is essentially the game leader: they run the adventure (sometimes using a published module, sometimes creating a campaign from scratch, possibly set in a world they made up as well), play the Non-Player Characters (NPCs), decide how the rules apply to the things the players want to do, and so on. This is not an adversarial role, but a co-operative one: both DM and players create a roleplaying experience together. They DM sets the framework for the players to play in - this makes the difference between make-believe without rules and a structured game where outcomes can be adjudicated fairly.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].