Looking for some Dungeons and Dragons advice!
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Don't do it.Altorin said:
You will be betrayed.
Also go to Barns and Nobles, and read the books there, cause the books are pretty expensive.
4th edition...Yeah. I don't like it, but I do recommend it for beginners, and I definitely recommend it over the bloated power-creep-monstrosity that is 3.5.
To the 2nd Ed haters out there: THAC0 is just a very poorly explained Armor Class system.
It works identically to the Base Attack Bonus vs Armor Class in 3.5. The scale is 1:1 with special actions adding penalties to hit, etc.
And yes, it took a kick in the jewels for me to learn it too.
To the 2nd Ed haters out there: THAC0 is just a very poorly explained Armor Class system.
It works identically to the Base Attack Bonus vs Armor Class in 3.5. The scale is 1:1 with special actions adding penalties to hit, etc.
And yes, it took a kick in the jewels for me to learn it too.
As much as I don't like advocating it, 4th ed is probably a good place to start. Pathfinder (basically 3.75, and worked on with help from Monte Cook of the 3.5 design team) is actually pretty friendly too. It streamlines a lot of stuff, but still has the same basic feel of 3.5. Of course, I actually jumped straight into 3.5, so...
4e is best for new players, though a lot of people still swear by 3.5 as well as the some people occasionally claiming that this version or that version is better. I've seen the Red Box and wasn't terribly impressed although character creation is very fast.
The thing about the Red Box is that at least from my experience with it all you do to make a character is answer a questionare(sp?) and it churns one out for you. I'd rather make my own. I just recently made a guy for D&D Game Day that at level 2 attacked the final boss for 3d8+4d6 in a single attack. No character from Essentials at level 2 could hope to match that from what I've seen.
The thing about the Red Box is that at least from my experience with it all you do to make a character is answer a questionare(sp?) and it churns one out for you. I'd rather make my own. I just recently made a guy for D&D Game Day that at level 2 attacked the final boss for 3d8+4d6 in a single attack. No character from Essentials at level 2 could hope to match that from what I've seen.
I'm going to be getting the DM kit when it comes out next month too. Hoping to get a group of friends to play with regularly and make make my own campaigns etc.migo said:
What do you recommend for a guy just getting into DND to do next? Like a good module or what I should look at doing etc.?
This no longer applies in 4th. Due to powers, only a ranger (unless PH 3 has new classes) or a Barbarian using Martial Power, Powers, will be able to use two weapons at once.Daystar Clarion said:
In 3.5, yes, 2 bastard swords is silly. However if you have two and a sheild, wait untill you have Weapon Proficiency and Greater Weapon Proficiency as well as two weapon fighting, you should be sweet using a sword and board, then switching to 2 weapon madness. Also, get the feat which allows you to use them one handed with no penalties, Exotic Weapon Proficiencey (Bastard Sword).
OT: I would suggest the game night at game stores, it's free and it's a very fun, supportive atmosphere. Most people who're there are more than happy to help newbies learn the ropes and you can use a pre-made character.
Another piece of advice, play some of the D&D pc games like Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Ruins of Myth Drannor, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, The Temple of Elemental Evil. And to a lesser extent, Baulders Gate 1 & 2.
Others will say that it gives a warped view of d&d but I found that learning D&D was easy with the basic knowledge I gained from those games.
As others have said, play 4th ed. It's by far the most accessable and if you actually read the descriptions in the classes and races section you won't make a "bad" character, unlike some of the other editions.
Admittedly most first timers won't make a great character but you won't die and you will actually be able to do stuff even if you pick weird action powers because they're all useful in varying degrees.
I wouldn't suggest getting friends together for your first game because the first game is usually crap unless you've got at least a veteran DM. If you have some friends you really want to play, rather than being convinced to play; that's not so bad, they will probably understand that normally it's alot more structured etc.
But yeah, play 4th at a game day. Have fun.
StBishop said:
Tempest Technique
When you wield two melee weapons, you gain a +1
bonus to attack rolls with weapons that have the offhand
property.
You gain Two-Weapon Defense as a bonus feat,
even if you don?t meet the prerequisites.
When wearing light armor or chainmail, you gain
a +1 bonus to damage rolls with melee and close
weapon attacks when you are wielding two weapons.
This bonus increases to +2 with weapons that have
the off-hand property.
With of course a healthy dose of skills that feature the "You must be wielding two melee weapons." Requirement.
Now this is very hard as there are diffrent player types. The DMG1 and DMG2 especially have excellent advice, and it remains to be seen if the DM's Kit has the same great advice as the two of them. Barring that, there's a great PDF put out by Steve Jackson Games called Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering - it's a short read but really important in terms of identifying player types and what they want to do. Also, AD&D 2nd Edition has a great book called Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide, unfortunately it isn't the DMG Resource that WotC put online for free, but I bought it for $5 second hand, and it was chock full of excellent advice.Trogdor1138 said:
Basically what it comes down to though is player styles and what the players want. To put it in video game terms, some people will play Metal Gear Solid as a fully stealth game, where they never get seen, never use more than one bullet to take someone down, preferably use the bullets and guns they pick off enemies to kill other enemies, not kill them at all if possible, and do stuff like blowing up a bridge they're on. Basically getting the maximum result for minimum effort. Other people would much rather play Unreal Tournament and just keep shooting.
In one of the games I ran (based on Star Wars), the plan was for the party to have a firefight in a narrow hallway with 20 Gamorean guards after defeating the ones on the outside. Instead the party killed all but one guard, the Sith used mind control, the techie set up a remote surveilance system and the bounty hunter put a thermal detonator on the guard with remote activation. The guard walked in towards all the other guards, the PCs then detonated the bomb taking all of them out. Their idea of fun and how they wanted to solve it was quite different from the adventure I had loosely planned.
So what I'd suggest is if possible, never say no. Of course never is impossible, but say yes to the players whenever possible, unless it just totally clashes with what you have planned and will make everything fall down. You'll see how they like to play, and you'll start being able to cater to their likes, as well as choosing what to use and what not to use. D&D Insider is a pretty good first source, all you need to do is pay a 1 month subscription fee, and you'll get Adventure Tools for making and customising new monsters, Character Tools for building any character with all the necessary information, and all the back issues of Dungeon & Dragon Magazines, and Dungeon is chock full of adventures. I'd wait until October to do that, with all the D&D Essentials included with the character builder, so you don't have a separate set of rules on the computer and in book form. That'll give you the best bang for your buck along with a good chunk of materials to quickly figure out what everyone in the group likes.