Dungeons & Dragons is the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game. It is a cooperative, storytelling game where you and other players take on the roles of different characters within a story. As you play, your character will make friends and enemies, fight monsters, discover loot, and complete quests.

But while the goal of many games is to score the most points or win, the ultimate goal of D&D is to tell a story. There are dice and Basic Rules involved, and often maps and miniatures or tokens, but the tools that come into play most often are the imaginations of the players.

Whether you’re discovering the game after watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves or your friends have invited you to take a seat at their gaming table, understanding how D&D works can be daunting.

To help you on your journey, here’s a deep dive into the game.

• How Does D&D Work?
• Try Out D&D for Yourself
• The Worlds of D&D
• How to Start Playing D&D
• FAQ

How Does D&D Work?

A typical D&D game consists of a handful of players and a Dungeon Master (DM). The players each take on the role of an adventurer character they create, while the DM manages the narrative of the story.

The DM presents information about the adventure to players, which includes things like:

• Describing where the adventurers are
• Narrating actions that occur around them
• Describing obstacles or puzzles that may be in their path
• Roleplaying as the supporting characters in the story, usually referred to as non-player characters (NPCs)

Players use character sheets, which are a compilation of stats that represent all the things that their adventurers can do to interact with their environment. This can include things such as:

• Basic attributes like how intelligent or strong the character is
• Things they’re skilled at, such as Investigation or Persuasion
• Actions such as attacking with weapons or casting spells
• Languages the character speaks or tools they know how to use

When the DM has described a setting and any given challenges, the players will describe the things their characters do. The DM will then determine what the implications of the player's actions are. They may be asked to roll dice to see if they succeed, or allow them to narrate the action and allow the story to continue. The player’s roll is usually modified based on the skills in their character sheet. DMs also roll dice if the narrative calls for it, such as for NPCs, monsters, or traps. 

This process in general is how all stories in D&D unfold, whether adventurers are snooping around in the dimly lit rooms of a dungeon, locked in heated combat with monsters, or even eavesdropping in on secret conversations while gatecrashing a gala.

Try Out D&D for Yourself

To help you jump into the game, we created this interactive video to show you how a D&D session may go. You'll hear a Dungeon Master narrate a scene, see how players respond, and even get to make decisions that drive the story forward. Click below to get started!

The Worlds of D&D

So we’ve talked about the DM’s role in describing the environment around the players’ adventurers. But where are these environments located? The short answer: anywhere and everywhere. 

Like the stories you create as a group and the actions your adventurers take, the only true limit of the setting is your imagination. Many DMs will draw elaborate maps and set up miniatures to visualize a fantasy world. Others operate under what’s known as theater of the mind, preferring to describe things in detail and let the players’ imaginations take over to fill in the blanks. 

Homebrewed Worlds

Many DMs choose to create fantasy worlds of their own. This process is often referred to as “homebrewing,” or creating material of your own imagination to use in stories. There are a few approaches to homebrewing a world. You might start small, maybe with a single village for your first adventures, and then add on new towns or larger lands as the story expands into them. Or you might be the kind of DM who likes to draw out full maps prior to the campaign and concoct elaborate worlds just ready for your players to explore. The beauty of D&D is that there’s no right way!  

Published Settings

For DMs who would rather focus on the narrative instead of the worldbuilding, there are several published, ready-to-play fantasy worlds that are considered the focus of the game’s current fifth edition. Sourcebooks for these realms give extensive details on the locations and cultures within different regions of the settings. Some prime examples of those worlds are:

The Forgotten Realms

The core setting of most official D&D adventure books. The majority of the adventures take place on a continent known as Faerûn and features locations like the Sword Coast, the frigid north of Frozenfar, and cities such as Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and Baldur’s Gate. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves takes place in the Forgotten Realms. 

Greyhawk

One of the earliest campaign settings developed for Dungeons & Dragons, the world of Greyhawk is the setting for some of D&D’s most classic adventures. It contains iconic locations like Saltmarsh and the Temple of Elemental Evil. While stories set in the Forgotten Realms are often epic fantasy battles between good and evil, the world of Greyhawk has a much more distinctly medieval hard fantasy vibe. 

Magic: The Gathering settings 

D&D has adapted settings from the popular trading card game, also published by Wizards of the Coast, into sourcebooks. They include:

• Ravnica: The city of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a city that spans the entire globe. Urban stories told in Ravnica are largely focused on the machinations and competitions of the city’s 10 powerful ruling guilds, ranging from criminal enterprises to subterranean swarms to magical science gone wild.
• Theros: Inspired by tales of ancient Greece and Rome, Theros presents a world directly influenced by the whims of deities. Stories set in Theros take on a much more mythic vibe, with the adventurers serving as champions of the gods themselves.
• Strixhaven: Strixhaven University offers the secrets of magic to the students lucky enough to enter its halls. Players take on the role of pupils studying the arcane arts in Strixhaven’s five colleges.

Other settings

There are plenty of other published worlds to explore as well, including adventures to be had in other planes of existence. In addition to the material realms, there are the elemental planes of fire, water, earth, and air. The Feywild serves as a fantastical reflection of the material world, while the Shadowfell stands as its dark echo. As you dive into your D&D journey, you may find yourself in these lands and more.  

How to Start Playing D&D

So you’ve read through all of this, and now you want to know how to actually get started. Well, you’re in luck because playdnd.com was built with brand new players in mind. Here you can find premade characters to jump right into the action, beginner adventures for new DMs to dive into, as well as some helpful links for moving into more advanced gaming when you’re feeling ready.

On D&D Beyond, you'll also find the Basic Rules and new player guides, including one on how to build your first character using our digital tools. If you’re not quite ready to start playing yet but just want to know how it works, you can still use the tutorial and the character builder to practice. Just pick your favorite character from the movie, such as Elgin, Holga, or Simon, and try to imagine what abilities, skills, and more you would give them if you were building them.

Go Beyond!

While D&D is traditionally played around a table with pencils, paper, and physical dice, in recent years, digital and online games have become more and more popular. The power of video chat software has allowed gaming groups to connect from all over the globe.

Regardless of how you like to play, D&D Beyond has got you covered. We’ve got character management tools, encounter builders, even digital dice and sourcebooks to help you manage your entire game. Our digital tools are perfectly positioned to be a benefit to the classic tabletop style of play or on screens with fellow players across the globe.

FAQ

Is D&D a video game?

Nope! While there are video games that use D&D settings and adventures, the game itself is purely a cooperative roleplaying game, played with dice and group storytelling. While D&D was traditionally played with pen and paper, digital tools such as D&D Beyond have been created to help players manage their games.

Does D&D cost money to play?

You don’t have to spend any money to play D&D! The Basic Rules of the game are available at no cost with a D&D Beyond account right here on the site. There are also adventures you can claim with your account, including Lost Mine of Phandelver, Frozen Sick, and Prisoner 13.

Using these and homebrew options is all you need to get started, but books and digital tools are available for purchase when you’re ready to explore other character options or worlds like the ones we mentioned in this article.

What books should I start with for D&D?

Once you’re ready to move on from the Basic Rules, there are a few books that we recommend starting with.

New players should check out the Player’s Handbook for a wealth of information about playable character species as well as subclasses, weapons, and more spells.

Dungeon Masters should also check out the Player’s Handbook for a general understanding of what the players will be doing, but they should also consider the Dungeon Master’s Guide, a tome of valuable help for the variety and nuances that occur while running games. DMs may also want to dive into the Monster Manual for access to a wide bestiary of monsters to use during combat encounters.

For DMs not quite ready to dive into that many books, kits like the D&D Starter Set or D&D Essentials Kit can help you dip your toes further into the pool with some prewritten adventures and tools to aid in gameplay.

How often do I need to play D&D?

You can schedule D&D games with your group as often as you like. Some people enjoy having a standard weekly game, others prefer to play only a few times per month. Part of the beauty of the game is in the way you and your group can shape it to fit what works best for you! 

Go Forth, Adventurers!

We’re thrilled that you’re interested in starting your own adventure with the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game. We hope this guide has helped clear up some of the questions you may have about the game and has led you toward some resources for when you’re ready to join or start a game of your own.

Riley Silverman (@rileyjsilverman) is a contributing writer to D&D Beyond, Nerdist, and SYFY Wire. She DMs the Theros-set Dice Ex Machina for the Saving Throw Show, and has been a player on the Wizards of the Coast-sponsored The Broken Pact. Riley also played as Braga in the official tabletop adaptation of the Rat Queens comic for HyperRPG, and currently plays as The Doctor on the Doctor Who RPG podcast The Game of Rassilon. She currently lives in Los Angeles.