New D&D players

[Havzad]

as a dungeon master i know you need the latest versions of:
the core rulebook
the monster manual
and the dungeon masters guide
thats what you NEED. the rest is almost optional,
optional things are miniatures, sets, boards, all that stuff,yadda,yadda,yadda...
there actually is a really good dice roller program on the DND website so you can use that instead of dice but its severely takes away from the experience, heres the link

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm

i would suggest buying dice though they tend to be pricey, depends where you go.

there are many ways to play DND,you can play with a board, or without one, you could even LARP if your into that sorta of thing, and i believe there an online DND board but i never used it. for instance, since half my group lives in Toronto and i'm in Montreal, we play using Skype, we don't use a board because its too much hassle over video chat, so most of the game is both me and my players imagining the settings around us.
there are extra modules like handbook 2 but thats all for people who want to go to the complete other step, stick with #1 of each book for now.
the books are expensive. it took me a good 8 months to get all the ones i needed but in the end when you find a good crew its well worth it,
hope this helps

 

[Altio]

-snip-

Awesome, in my budget and great to test. I have also bookmarked every other link in this thread, so I'm well prepared for the future

 

[Twggie]

FIrst you need to decide what edition you want to play 3.5 or 4th edition. Personally I prefer 3.5, as you only need the books and dice and paper. However Ive only played 4th edition once and it was pretty fun. Also theres the DnD board games which are pretty fun and can be played with 2-6 people, they come with pre set stories but theres no reason why you couldnt make up your own. You can also get all 3.5 edition stuff in pdf not sure if you can for 4th I havnt actually looked. Also you could see if there are any local clubs to see if the pair of you enjoy it before spending any money on it.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

He's opposed to anything but D&D, and I'm wanting to play D&D more than anything, though I'm a little less stubborn than he is.

OK, you're going to need three or four core books.

GM's Guide, Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and the Arcana book. I can't recall the exact title. It's the only one with Arcana in the title though.

I also recommend an older edition is you can. 3.0 or 3.5 are probably realistically the best ones to start with. 4.0 or 4.5, whichever one is the most recent, is a little rough to get the hang of if you're new to the whole pen and paper thing. I started on good ol' 1st edition.

Also, a tip for the GM, whoever will be playing that role. Have a plan, but be flexible. You shouldn't dictate your players' every move. Give them motivation and the occasional kick in the pants to get them going, but don't try to kill them just for grins, and let the dice fall as they will.

You'll also need to buy some dice if you're going to play D&D. I recommend a few sets because you'll need several of the different sided dice to make rolls. You'll also find that you have a lucky set, so you'll use some more than others. And don't let anyone touch your dice without permission. It's a gaming superstition, but from my experience, it's true.

 

[Mordax227]

If you are new to D&D, the best to do is get the Starter Set. You'll get dice, tokens, maps, character sheets and the basic rules. It's also pretty cheap (amazon.com is selling it for 13.59$) I don't recommend investing in the core rule books until after you play a couple of games as that can get rather expensive if you don't end up liking it. I think it's a good introduction to pen and paper RPG and a good starting point if you want to continue playing D&D or move on to other Role Playing games!


(This is the latest edition of the starter set, BTW...)
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying-Starter-Introductory/dp/B003BVK32U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298934298&sr=8-1

Remember, ultimetely you don't need rules to play a role playing game and some could create a thousand adventures with just the starter set rules...

Have fun!