How do you play D&D

[blackguard89]

Exaclty how it sounds.
I'm interested in this board game, but I can't find someone to give me the basic details at least.
How do you play it, What can you do while playing, Wich of those books do I need?
I mean the Monster Compendium, and all others, what I do understand is that I need character sheets also?
Someone needs to pull me out from under the rock I've been living , I feel like a total NOOb as MMORPG-ists would say.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Exaclty how it sounds.
I'm interested in this board game, but I can't find someone to give me the basic details at least.
How do you play it, What can you do while playing, Wich of those books do I need?
I mean the Monster Compendium, and all others, what I do understand is that I need character sheets also?
Someone needs to pull me out from under the rock I've been living , I feel like a total NOOb as MMORPG-ists would say.

It's alot more complicated than a few words on a discussion board can give. Find an FAQ online, read the Player's Hand Book, but to simply post a few thigns here wouldn't begin to explain it all

 

[PurpleSky]

I'm interested as well,although I'll probably never going to round up enough people to actually play it here.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Exaclty how it sounds.
I'm interested in this board game, but I can't find someone to give me the basic details at least.
How do you play it, What can you do while playing, Wich of those books do I need?
I mean the Monster Compendium, and all others, what I do understand is that I need character sheets also?
Someone needs to pull me out from under the rock I've been living , I feel like a total NOOb as MMORPG-ists would say.
Also, D&D isn't online, it's just a table top RPG

EDIT: I really have no idea wjhat this is doing here. I am confused

 

[Ken Sapp]

Read the Player's Handbook. It is the one book which is indispensable in D&D and will teach you how to play. It also gives you examples of how the game is played throughout the course of the book.

 

[blackguard89]

I know it's not online i'm not an idiot, but is it not a game? and an RPG?
There is no board for table top games here.
Where was I supose to post it ?

 

[Rakkana]

I'm one book away from finding out.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Ehow to the rescue

Things You'll Need:

* Dungeons & Dragons Players' Handbook
* Dungeon Master's Guide
* Monster Manual
* Campaign map (Pre-made or drawn on vinyl battle mat or hex paper)
* Miniature figures
* Polyhedral dice: four-sided, six-sided, eight-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided and 20-sided
* Pencils and scratch paper
* Graph paper


Step 1

Gather a group of people. Designate someone to act as Dungeon Master. This person should be thoroughly familiar with the system and the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Step 2

Provide each of the remaining players with a character to play. Players may create their own characters in one of several classes (fighter, thief, wizard, cleric) and submit them to the DM for approval. They also can play characters already created by the DM. Collectively, these characters form an adventuring "party."

Step 3

Establish the parameters of the adventure. The simplest adventure is a dungeon crawl, where the characters wander through a dungeon or similar structure, battling monsters and finding treasure. More complex adventures involve quests to find a particular object or objects necessary to destroy a major menace.

Step 4

Start the adventure. Typically, this is done by issuing the party members a challenge, which usually means someone or something giving the party a task to complete, such as finding a dragon's egg or taking a magic ring to the heart of a volcano to destroy it.

Step 5

Role-play various actions through verbal description, dialogue and rolling dice to determine whether those actions succeed or fail.

Step 6

Combat monsters, animals and evil forces. To destroy an opponent, the damage player characters inflict on an opponent must exceed the number of hit points the opponent possesses.

Step 7

Reward the players with treasure and additional equipment after they succeed at a task or combat. At the end of the adventure, award experience points that players can use to enhance their characters' abilities.

If that's not helpful enough, join http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Tabletop-Gaming

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

I know it's not online i'm not an idiot, but is it not a game? and an RPG?
There is no board for table top games here.
Where was I supose to post it ?

Oh no, I just meant your reference to MMORPG-ists... Most D&D players are actually understanding of the rules. You don't have a computer doing the dice roles or creating a story-line or quests for you, so they can be nicer, so don't worry about MMORPG slang. Since it's not online, and there's a much higher difficulty curve, you can call THEM noobs once you've mastered it.

 

[blackguard89]

Thank You Celtic_Kerr(for raising my moralle I was afraid I might get flamed and trolled for this topic) and The_root_of_all_evil for the basic understanding of the game.

 

[Chester41585]

Swing by wizards.com and visit their D&D forums. The 4.0 system is made for people just picking up D&D.
Make sure you check in on their FAQ and new players section. A lot of the veteran posters have come up with ways to simplify some game rules for new players.

As for books you need, definitely pick up the Player's Handbook. This will be your primary reference for anything you need to understand. It's got basic rules, character creation guidelines, races, spells, feats, and some backstory on the game.
You really don't need any other books until you get used to the system and want to expand on your characters. Some Monster Manuals have playable races in them, but these races usually have a level adjustment. Something that most new players just don't want to mess with.
The next book you might want to look into picking up is the Campaign Setting for whatever realm you are playing in. This will give you a generally full history of the realm, maps, points of interest, demographics, extra classes, feats and spells, and can be used to massively flesh out your character's background.

As for how to play it, it depends on your (or you DM's) style. I like story-oriented games, where most encounters are role-play encounters where the players gain XP for PC-NPC interaction and story.
Combat is a better way to start, though, since XP is usually faster, there's lots of action, and there's almost always decent loot at the end.

 

[Digital_Jedi]

DnD is seriously a great game! I was in your shoes about 6 months ago, I was poking about at a car boot sale, and some guy was selling 1st edition DnD books for a £1 each! Bonus, I thought. Took them home and sat down to read them, pages of charts and gobbledygook! So I looked into a bit further, and discovered that the 4th edition had just been released, then came the big challenge, getting people to play. Being a devious git, I waited until my group of friends all arranged a big night out, we got s**tfaced, and I went round the group one by one, asking them if they would like to play, and got an overall positive response, now 6 months later we rotate our Dungeon Masters and write all our own quests!

It can be expensive to start from scratch, you'll need a Player's Handbook, a Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual, which are called the 'core books', because they're what you need to play the game.

Character creation can be a ball ache, but the Wizards of the Coast website has a useful program for making characters which is regularly updated to include all the new material they keep releasing (Monk ftw!), and makes things a lot easier for beginning players.

Then there are tonnes of supplements and add-ons for you to use, such as fully prepared quests (which are fun, but try writing your own, it feels more personal and you can really tailor it to your gaming group), dungeon tiles (which let your create your own custom dungeons), and full blown expansion packs like Eberron, Forgotten Realms and the newly released Dark Sun (which sounds awesome!)

Like I say though, all this is expensive, but it's worth it when your group all comes together and you end up rolling about laughing at the camaraderie.

That's about the tip of the iceberg though, but I heartily recommend it!

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I think The_root_of_all_evil has covered all the bases very well an given quite a complete overview of the system. About the only thing I can add to this is that if you're starting a new group from scratch and none of you have played before, look online for a pre-made mini campaign to run as your first adventure so that your GM won't be thrown in at the deep end whilst everyone is still learning the rules.

 

[Diablo27]

With my friend over MSN and an online dice roller...I don't know any of the rules so basically I make it up from what I do know, add my own style to it and go along with it.

 

[Cogwheel]

If you're playing 3.5 ed, you may find this helpful too: http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm

Why yes, the site IS entirely legal, though it lacks some stuff (levelling XP, mind flayers, starting wealth etc.)

 

[Booze Zombie]

Might be better if you found a manual to tell you all the details, really, instead of hoping one of us is articulate enough to tell you.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Firstly, IT'S NOT A FUCKING BOARD GAME. Sorry, I just hate it when people do that. Go find some of the old manuals by Gary Gygax to get an idea, read some articles, see if their are any videos of sessions on the internet. Your safest bet though is asking someone you know in real life who plays D&D to take you to one of their sessions. Failing that, try a Con, they usually run D&D games.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Root's got it; just read his guide and you'll be well on your way to the dragonslaying fun.

 

[the Dept of Science]

Yea, you need to get a group of about 5 willing guys together I believe, carefully choose the dungeon master. He gets the Dungeon Masters guide, everyone else gets a players handbook. That has pretty much everything you need to know. You also need a lot of time on your hands, so I recommend calling up every girl you know and telling them that you are just not interested.

Take this as a warning from a guy that played it when he was younger. If go on to hang around with a crowd that doesn't consist largely of nerds, it will hang over your head. I'm happy I declined my friends invitation to go LARPing, even though it looked like fun, or else I would never have heard the end of it.