DnD? How do you start?

[brianatlarge]

So me and some friends wanted to try out DnD, but I'm not sure how to start. I was looking on Amazon for DnD sets but only found rulebooks and stuff.

I've only played once and that was a long time ago so I don't really remember much. Is there a set that you buy or do you just use the rulebook or what?

Also, I know that there are better alternatives to tabletop RPG's than Dungeons and Dragons, but I'd like to go with DnD just for the sake that it IS DnD.

Also, I heard that a new version is coming out next month. What's up with that?

[dolson]

I don't know how it works these days with the new-fangled 2nd, 3rd, 4th editions and whatnot, but I started playing in first edition and it was plenty fine so I stayed with it... So maybe what I say isn't true anymore.

Back then, you had D&D where you could buy pre-made adventure modules.. And you had AD&D, where you had the rulebooks..

I played AD&D and have like 25-30 books still, though I haven't played since high school.

In AD&D you basically could get by with the DM Guide, the Player's Handbook, and a Monster Manual. One person was the DM (which was usually me) and the DM had control over the entire game, basically.. I made my own maps and storylines and puzzles and things, and my buddies were the players and we had a blast.

We tried a basic D&D module once and it was kinda lame. I can't recall for sure, but I might have had an AD&D module as well, but like I said, we usually just went with whatever the DM came up with.

Maybe it's all different now, because the way I hear the TRS guys talking about it, doesn't sound like the good ol' first edition AD&D at all.

[damnedeyez]

Maybe it's all different now, because the way I hear the TRS guys talking about it, doesn't sound like the good ol' first edition AD&D at all.

They got rid of Advanced D&D after 2nd Edition. They basically combined the two together so that the rules were simplified from AD&D, but more complex than the regular D&D. There on out it was 3rd Edition D&D (and then, a reissue as 3.5 D&D).


Is there a set that you buy or do you just use the rulebook or what?

They had sold a Core Rulebooks for those last two as a set that included the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual...I've no idea what they'll be doing with 4th edition though, since I lost interest in D&D when it was announced. I still miss the 1st Edition days...and still have all my old rulebooks.

Other than the Core Rulebooks, they sell Modules you can use as canned adventures.

[dolson]

I still miss the 1st Edition days...and still have all my old rulebooks.

Wow, thought I was the only one... :) Why fix what isn't broken?

[damnedeyez]

Wow, thought I was the only one... :) Why fix what isn't broken?

I remember just sitting on my bed as a kid and flipping through the DMG and Unearthed Arcana...those things actually felt like arcane books to me. 2nd felt more like comic books without so many pictures, and they changed so much. 3rd...they fixed some things at least (like going back to calling them Demons and Devils...and I do like that you can use most any weapon you want so long as you spend a proficiency slot, etc. But, 1st edition AD&D was where I started and will be what I think of when someone mentions D&D.

[poltah]

The best thing to do is to find a guy who knows how to play, and then get him to explain it. If you can't do that, here's what you do:

You wait for 4.0 to come out.

Then you buy: The Players Handbooks.
The guy who's going to be the GameMaster gets The Dungeon Master's Guide and The Monster Manual.
You all read those books, and learn the rules.

THEN, you talk about what kind of game you want. You want it to be a game, game? Do you want to get into more into the story and the roleplaying of it? You want puzzles? Social interaction? Only combat?
Stuff like that, make sure you're all on the same page.

Then you go play. What's going to happen is that you soon realize that the rules are more guidelines than rules, and you should always feel free to make changes to the game to fit what kind of game you want to play.

Just to use an example, as a small thing we don't really use time on counting arrows and crossing off components for our spells, because we don't want all that kind of micro management. It's not fun to us, gets in the way of roleplaying.

My 2 cents.

[scoobydiesel]

My friends and I are looking to start, i own stuff from 2 or 3rd but i think we just said that we will wait till 4 comes out to sart fresh and what not

[absolutemayhem]

For me it started with the D&D artwork. Their used to be a large popular coin arcade in our downtown area and at the front of the arcade there was a pencil and paper area for various games. The walls of the arcade were littered with various Sci-fi and fantasy posters, the majority of the posters were either D&D type artwork or heavy metal album posters like Iron maiden. Very rad place in its day. Unfortnately now its a coffee/sub shop. A large portion of my odd job and lawn mowing earnings as a kid went to that place. I meet a lot of D&D people in the pencil and paper area.

I think I was around 13 when I first played D&D.

LOL by grade 11 I was closet dice tosser. Our highschool was not nerd friendly :) I don't think any school was back in those days.

-MayheM

[diane]

Okay, this is probably going to sound funny, but my first time was at Gen Con, several years ago. They had demos and I sat down asked how to play. I like it, it was fun.

What is sad, is that Gen Con is really the only time I get to play. There are not many people into it here aside from the kid and well, I would rather just play Munchkin, Killer Bunnies or Puerto Rico with him. They have much more realistic time frames and endings.

[suiken]

I've played 3/3.5 for a while, and I like it (though I haven't played 1st or 2nd ed, so I'm not going to comment on those). Even though they said good things about 4th, I'm a bit skeptical.

As for starting out, your group of friends should start with the Core Set, as stated (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide & Monster Manual, though the latter 2 are mostly for DM only, with some exceptions). There are pre-written adventure modules, but I've found those to be not as much fun as one written up by your DM (though I suppose it's a good way to start practicing DMing).

There are SO many other sets of books that you can find something that will tailor to what you want (and I mean stuff like the Eberron books, or the Complete Adventurer, Eastern Kingdoms, The Book of Exalted Deeds, and countless others). There's lots of tweaks you can make, but since you're just starting (or restarting), the core set should be enough for you. Character Sheets can be found on the Wizards of the Coast page.

There are not many people into it here aside from the kid and well, I would rather just play Munchkin, Killer Bunnies or Puerto Rico with him.
Yay for Munchkin! My friend recently got the expansion that adds dungeon cards, and some of them are just hilarious (and mean). :)

[poltah]

Munchkin isn't a roleplaying game though, it's a card game.

If you're looking for a setting to play in, a world, I'd recommend Eberron. It's extremely cool with tons of flavor. Very cinematic.

[wayoutwest]

I am not sure how big your city is OP but I am in a city of around 250,000-300,000 people and I used meetup.com. Its free. We had over 30 people at our last meet playing everything from RPGA to Spycraft. Pretty fun stuff. Also found a weekly game at the meet. Try it out (btw, not an advertiser nor do I work for meetup.com, it just worked for me)