Just starting DnD with some friends. What should I know?
- Thread starter crepesack
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Read them.
Though I can understand not really giving a crap enough. It's much more fun if you pick up the game and lore and such by playing it with others.
When you have to read up for yourself it kind of feels like schoolwork or something. Which is a surefire way to make sure you will never actually enjoy the fucking game.
This is why I cannot even look at a World of Darkness game without aging sixteen years and sobbing.
Though I can understand not really giving a crap enough. It's much more fun if you pick up the game and lore and such by playing it with others.
When you have to read up for yourself it kind of feels like schoolwork or something. Which is a surefire way to make sure you will never actually enjoy the fucking game.
This is why I cannot even look at a World of Darkness game without aging sixteen years and sobbing.
Don't try to do any of the really complex character tweaking that a lot of the advanced players do, taking 1 level of this class 3 of another 2 of some obscure PRC and 8 of some odd base class. Find a single class, get into it and then maybe look into a PRC. Reading is important also the Neverwinter Nights games can be a great intro into the system. I know the Original NWN used 3.0 and I think some of the NWN2 used 3.5 but I'm not certain.
Don't worry so much about the rules. Help your friends create characters and use your adventures or whatever you can think of. If you need to think of the stats for an enemy it isn't necessary to stat them out them out, just use the npc tables in the DM guide. It's usually easier to run humans as the opposition instead of monsters.
When in doubt rely on the dice, particularly your d20 and percentile dice. Percentile dice can help you determine random encounters and treasure. D20 is for everything else, you can run an encounter without looking at one stat just consider the dice roll and the difficulty of the situation. For example; if a hero faces a difficult situation for someone of his level and skill then just watch their roll, if they make a 15 or better they make it. You can use the same for running enemies, if an enemy gets a high roll while attacking a hero assume that they hit. Run things loose, tracking ammo, food, and every copper coin really isn't necessary unless you want to ruin a particularly gritty campaign.
Published adventures are a great way to start out as a DM, but creating your own setting can be a blast. Establishing a and a constant setting for you characters to do something other than fight is perhaps the most difficult part of running a game.
The game can seem complex and daunting at first, but the key is to make it yours, if you don't want to use a rule, scrap it, if you want to create a rule go ahead. The books are just there as guidelines and inspiration. No matter what, keep the game moving, if you have to make up the effect of something go ahead, you can always look it up later and correct, but don't stop the game to check a rule unless you absolutely have to.
If your running the game, your the boss, have fun with it, and work to create a fun experience for your players, the rest is fluff and numbers.
Hope I've helped, feel free to message me if you've got any specific questions.
When in doubt rely on the dice, particularly your d20 and percentile dice. Percentile dice can help you determine random encounters and treasure. D20 is for everything else, you can run an encounter without looking at one stat just consider the dice roll and the difficulty of the situation. For example; if a hero faces a difficult situation for someone of his level and skill then just watch their roll, if they make a 15 or better they make it. You can use the same for running enemies, if an enemy gets a high roll while attacking a hero assume that they hit. Run things loose, tracking ammo, food, and every copper coin really isn't necessary unless you want to ruin a particularly gritty campaign.
Published adventures are a great way to start out as a DM, but creating your own setting can be a blast. Establishing a and a constant setting for you characters to do something other than fight is perhaps the most difficult part of running a game.
The game can seem complex and daunting at first, but the key is to make it yours, if you don't want to use a rule, scrap it, if you want to create a rule go ahead. The books are just there as guidelines and inspiration. No matter what, keep the game moving, if you have to make up the effect of something go ahead, you can always look it up later and correct, but don't stop the game to check a rule unless you absolutely have to.
If your running the game, your the boss, have fun with it, and work to create a fun experience for your players, the rest is fluff and numbers.
Hope I've helped, feel free to message me if you've got any specific questions.
If you are going to be the DM, just be the DM. I see rookies try to be the DM and a character in the game, so they can also participate in the game. This never ends well. As it is now you have player in the party that knows everything that is going to happen. Even if your character "plays dumb", it still distracts you from putting your full attention into DMing.
Know the basic workings of combat, the players will have to learn about their classes. All you need to know is the narrative for the setting and how to run combat. Using a battle grid can help allot with tracking positions in combat. You can also get a dual use out of the grid; use dice to represent players and enemies on the battle map, the type of die can represent the class of hit dice used by the creature, i.e. a wizard would be a d4 on the grid, a fighter would be a d10. You can also use the dice to track damage for individual monsters, this speeds up your own bookkeeping and gives your players a great reference for planning their attacks without having to constantly ask you which foe is most damaged
Just get the combat basics down and draw up a character (if you have not already)the rest should be fairly easy after that and just look up the things that you are going to use if you play a mage look up the spells and whats not
And one last thing unless you want to role play a gruff fighty person avoid melee classes from the players hand book they don't scale to well after about level 5
edit: Right your dm-ing missed that bit well if your going to be a dm my suggestion would be to just wing it but stick to the god dam dm book i say this as a player who has been on the bad end of a dm who would take all the gold prices from the books but ignore the wealth by level table in the dm book which lead to level 6-8 characters walking around with starting gear and about 300 gold pieces where the mobs where balanced for well equiped characters
two last things if you don't have the monster manual that's fine as i prefer to just wing it ajusting on the fly but there are pdfs on the internet I won't say where as that may be against rules but its a good refrence and lastly if the players are not having fun your doing it wrong but that depends on the group as you may have a roleplay group or a combat group or a mix i dont know so I would say test the waters a bit do both work your group out first and then if you want plan a grand epic do that but don't waste your time at first do a gathering and work your group out first and as i said above a little improv go's a long way to everybody having fun
And one last thing unless you want to role play a gruff fighty person avoid melee classes from the players hand book they don't scale to well after about level 5
edit: Right your dm-ing missed that bit well if your going to be a dm my suggestion would be to just wing it but stick to the god dam dm book i say this as a player who has been on the bad end of a dm who would take all the gold prices from the books but ignore the wealth by level table in the dm book which lead to level 6-8 characters walking around with starting gear and about 300 gold pieces where the mobs where balanced for well equiped characters
two last things if you don't have the monster manual that's fine as i prefer to just wing it ajusting on the fly but there are pdfs on the internet I won't say where as that may be against rules but its a good refrence and lastly if the players are not having fun your doing it wrong but that depends on the group as you may have a roleplay group or a combat group or a mix i dont know so I would say test the waters a bit do both work your group out first and then if you want plan a grand epic do that but don't waste your time at first do a gathering and work your group out first and as i said above a little improv go's a long way to everybody having fun
What you basically want to know is the rules for combat and char creation. You can play fast and loose with everything else. There should be a getting started section in the handbook.
The only advice I can give that probably hasn't already been give is try to have fun.It is a game first and foremost.
Also if the people you're playing with tend to make alot of references,don't let them watch Unforgotten Realms......I learned that the hard way....(no qualms with the show by itself)
As a person who within the last four months or so has gotten into DnD myself(4e though)and as a DM....I wish you Good Luck and have fun
Also if the people you're playing with tend to make alot of references,don't let them watch Unforgotten Realms......I learned that the hard way....(no qualms with the show by itself)
As a person who within the last four months or so has gotten into DnD myself(4e though)and as a DM....I wish you Good Luck and have fun
Have fun and make up your own rules...
and i say that because most players will make up the weirdest conditions which are not covered by the rules written... so either you say 'you can't do that' or you make up your own rule to make that happen.
One adventure, my friend decided to cast a Fire ball at 'the furniture' because 'it is ominous looking...'
so we allowed him to do it... which then started a fire and burns down the building in 10 turns... after 10 turns any one still inside takes damage for each turn...
and That wasn't in any rule book.
and i say that because most players will make up the weirdest conditions which are not covered by the rules written... so either you say 'you can't do that' or you make up your own rule to make that happen.
One adventure, my friend decided to cast a Fire ball at 'the furniture' because 'it is ominous looking...'
so we allowed him to do it... which then started a fire and burns down the building in 10 turns... after 10 turns any one still inside takes damage for each turn...
and That wasn't in any rule book.
If you know anyone who has experience with D&D, ask them for help. Damn near EVERY RPG book that I've ever read, including my oh-so-beloved Pathfinder books, are horrible at aiding newcomers to the game. There are a few key notes to remember...
Character creation is paramount in D&D. I assume that you'll act as the DM during the game, so it's upon you to read and understand the character classes and the roles they play. It's not expected of you to understand everything, but the more you know, the better.
The adventure books will help a lot with the DM aspect of the game. You'll follow them for story info, NPC info and combat info. If you want to throw in extra enemies to fight, the adventure books usually have appropriate monsters and NPC's to use.
Getting a Monster Manual should be your next priority. If you have no monsters, you have no combat.
As a DM, you have a very different role from the players. You must portray the NPC's and monsters, as well as deliver the world itself to them. Don't let the PC's get away with half-assing interactions. When someone wants to sell a bag of jewels, make them encounter the shopkeep and haggle. Encourage them to use the skills and abilities that they have available and find solutions outside of "I stab enemy with sharp thing".
Another thing to remember as a DM, your word is final. As new players, rule disputes are inevitable. Take suggestions and looks things up, but when push comes to shove, what you say is the final word. Don't be afraid to tweak your dice rolls or difficulty checks against the players. The players are the biggest influence on your world, so don't hesitate to turn things in your favor if something goes horribly wrong in your plans.
That being said, don't be a jerk about it. Don't make characters fail simply because you don't want them to. The undeniably best moments in playing D&D come from you and the players role-playing and accomplishing amazing or downright hilarious feats. Cheat when you need things to go a certain way, but don't hinder the players or you might miss out on something hilariously amazing.
EDIT: Can't believe I didn't write about this... Knowing how to go about combat is essential, but there's a lot to it. Learn the bare essentials, attacks and AC, the actions that can be taken in a turn and spells in combat. More complicated combat maneuvers can be looked up as you encounter them. D&D 3 and 3.5 tend to have complicated rules for combat maneuvers, so don't worry about learning them until you need to.
Character creation is paramount in D&D. I assume that you'll act as the DM during the game, so it's upon you to read and understand the character classes and the roles they play. It's not expected of you to understand everything, but the more you know, the better.
The adventure books will help a lot with the DM aspect of the game. You'll follow them for story info, NPC info and combat info. If you want to throw in extra enemies to fight, the adventure books usually have appropriate monsters and NPC's to use.
Getting a Monster Manual should be your next priority. If you have no monsters, you have no combat.
As a DM, you have a very different role from the players. You must portray the NPC's and monsters, as well as deliver the world itself to them. Don't let the PC's get away with half-assing interactions. When someone wants to sell a bag of jewels, make them encounter the shopkeep and haggle. Encourage them to use the skills and abilities that they have available and find solutions outside of "I stab enemy with sharp thing".
Another thing to remember as a DM, your word is final. As new players, rule disputes are inevitable. Take suggestions and looks things up, but when push comes to shove, what you say is the final word. Don't be afraid to tweak your dice rolls or difficulty checks against the players. The players are the biggest influence on your world, so don't hesitate to turn things in your favor if something goes horribly wrong in your plans.
That being said, don't be a jerk about it. Don't make characters fail simply because you don't want them to. The undeniably best moments in playing D&D come from you and the players role-playing and accomplishing amazing or downright hilarious feats. Cheat when you need things to go a certain way, but don't hinder the players or you might miss out on something hilariously amazing.
EDIT: Can't believe I didn't write about this... Knowing how to go about combat is essential, but there's a lot to it. Learn the bare essentials, attacks and AC, the actions that can be taken in a turn and spells in combat. More complicated combat maneuvers can be looked up as you encounter them. D&D 3 and 3.5 tend to have complicated rules for combat maneuvers, so don't worry about learning them until you need to.
Best piece of advice? Always protect your healing battery, I mean.... cleric.
Also, don't be one of those people that simply says, "I attack it, I guess." every round. Give it some flavor, dammit. "I push the sharp part of my axe through the bugbears head as hard as my 19 strength will let me."
Also, don't be one of those people that simply says, "I attack it, I guess." every round. Give it some flavor, dammit. "I push the sharp part of my axe through the bugbears head as hard as my 19 strength will let me."
I found 3.5 VERY hard to understand. I remember Leveling up was confusing for everyone, battle was slow, and the mage characters were useless.
I prefer 4e. The books are cheaper and the game is a lot easier to understand and play without reading more than 300 pages of stuff.
I prefer 4e. The books are cheaper and the game is a lot easier to understand and play without reading more than 300 pages of stuff.
D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20. Coins make for D2's when you need them.crepesack said:
Most stores that sell D&D books have sets of dice as well. Get two or three and you're set for the whole gaming group.
Don't randomly attack harmless looking old men. If your DM is anything like ours was, that old man will actaully be level 20 ninja.
Also, the rules are more like guidelines. Some people like to go all out and follow them to a 'T', but to me, that takes away from the fun of playing a fantasy RPG. It's ok to ignore some of the less important stuff, like if you have enough rope. What the fuck do we need rope for?
Also, the rules are more like guidelines. Some people like to go all out and follow them to a 'T', but to me, that takes away from the fun of playing a fantasy RPG. It's ok to ignore some of the less important stuff, like if you have enough rope. What the fuck do we need rope for?
d20s and lots of them and d8s realy each player needs a d20 as well as you and d8s are used for the most common weapons such as longswords and bowscrepesack said:
d12 only get used with battle axes and greatswords
I would say a couple d4s as they get used a few times out side of combat and and for the smaller weapons
d6s don,t get used that much outside of combat mostly shortswords and shortbows
but if everybody brings a dice set it should be ok but if they don,t as long as you have a few of each it should be ok but passing the dice gets annoying after a bit