DnD questions

Hey Duders,

Just watched part one of the Pathfinder play through the guys did. Kinda want to give it or DnD a go. Any ideas where a good place to start (learning rules, maybe a beginners game or two)? I did try some youtube stuff but I dont think it was very clear.

Thanks kids

Wizard's just released the basic 5th edition rules for free. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/basicrules

I haven't gone through the material yet, but I'm going to assume it's just like the Pathfinder box set the GB guys used. Very basic rules and just a handful of basic classes and races with just enough to get you through the first few levels and a basic set of scenarios to run through. Premade characters so you don't have to roll ones up.

If you like the idea of table top combat, maybe take a look at games like Descent: Journey's in the Underdark. There are a few board game dungeon crawlers that are just combat with no role playing. It might be a good way to get newcomers to the table.

If you want to play the Pathfinder rule set specifically I'd definitely recommend checking this site out. It has pretty much everything you could possibly want to know about the game from rules, how the classes work, to bestiaries. From there you can house rule a couple of rules to make life easier if your group is completely new and has no idea where to start (only use core classes, no multiclassing or prestige classes, stuff like that).

I started with D&D 4e by listening to the penny arcade podcasts from the start. By the time I was done listening to them all I had a good grasp of the rules and from there I just went online and watched videos of people playing to fill in the rest. Then I skimmed over the books to fill in any gaps I was still missing and learned as I played by DMing back and forth with a friend over skype and roll20.net. Also, listen to the critical hit podcast on the major spoilers site. It's the single best D&D thing going.

Here's my suggested order for learning how to play D&D 4E:

1. Penny Arcade Podcasts- Start from the beginning as they explain a lot of the rules at the start as one of the players goes in completely blind. And avoid clicking on each episodes picture art until after you have listened as it spoils stuff that happens in that episode.
2. Grab some of the books and start reading them. Plenty of locations online to get your hands on them. Assuming you are evil alignment in real life. *cough* pirate *cough*
3. I then suggest grabbing a friend who has done steps one and two and just start playing and dicking around. Make little mini adventures for each other to play and switch on and off being the DM. It seems scary at first, but it's super rewarding and is the best way to learn the game.
4. At this point you should have a pretty solid understanding of the game. Congratulations! Now you can argue why edition X is so much better then edition Y and why people who like edition Y are all terrible people.

I suggest just enveloping yourself in all the D&D goodness that is out there on the internet for you to explore and find. The official D&D youtube channel has hours and hours of videos they recorded of the guys who make the game playing it. Some of the later stuff is for 5E, so to avoid confusing yourself I would just stick to the older stuff until you have a solid grasp on the edition you are trying to learn.

I personally suggest going with D&D 4E over other stuff because it's so popular and has been around so long that there is a wealth of resources and information out there that makes learning it much easier then other things. 3.5 has quite a bit as well, but not nearly as much as 4E. I see some Pathfinder stuff as well, but I'm not into it so I can't comment.

Seriously. Listen to The Critical Hit Podcast. It's the best! It starts on episode 8 because they did some test stuff before hand before they committed to making it an ongoing thing. So do't worry about 1-7. Nothing important is in there. It's on their site somewhere, but I can't remember where. It's in some weird corner if you want to poke around and hunt for it.

@friendlypossum: the D&D next starter set or the pathfinder beginners box might be something to check out. Both offer an easy entry path into the systems and come with everything a new group will need to play. (a short adventure, basic rules, dice.)

If you've played some RPGs, specifically some Japanese games and Kotor/Baldur's Gate like games, then you've probably come into contact with a lot of the math or at least basic understanding of some of the game mechanics or set up.

Personally I just went out and bought the Player's Handbook for the 4th edition and spent time reading through it. They also have some great resources on their website as well. You could also, like someone earlier in this thread suggested, check out the 5th edition rules and wrap your head around them.

Another option are the board games they've released. They're premade adventures where you and a handful of others pick your characters and roam around a dungeon. It's somewhat random which allows for multiple playthroughs and limits your time spent to a few hours. My friends and I will still sometimes play it instead of diving deep into DND again.

Yeah I have played alot of Baldurs Gate 1-2 and Icewind Dale, so I have a basic understanding of terminology and the like. I bought DnD 3.5 a while ago but its pretty difficult to try and grasp by yourself. Thanks for the tips man.

Yeah I am starting to listen now. I think this is exactly what I was after. Thanks man.

@friendlypossum: Happy to help. Hope you have a good time. Lots of fun to be had.

It's not D&D nor even fantasy but I can strongly endorse Edge of the Empire. It's a star wars rpg so if you dont like the setting that rules it out naturally but if that isn't an issue I highly recommend it. The way the game works allows for some of the most natural roleplaying without feeling like a freefrom forumrp nightmare; it is built to facilitate moments like Vinny killing the goblin by dropping a statue arm. I'm 5 sessions into it with 5 of my friends, 3 of dont play videogames or pnp yet its a big hit. The beginner set functions like the pathfinder one with basic rules and a premade adventure.

If you ever make a character in pathfinder remember rule number 1.

#1. Don't make a Dhampir Paladin.

That's all you really need to know.

Oh man. I'm curious as to what led to such a terrible decision. Unless it was a Paladin of Freedom or some such variant

I just wanted to pop in and let the OP and anyone else interested in some hellaciously fun RPGs know that Palladium Books has run a Christmas promotion the last few years called a Christmas grab bag. You supply a list of the books you are interested in, they select about eighty bucks worth of goodies, and mail it to you all told for about forty or fifty bucks. It's a tremendous amount of fun, and since their back catalogue is huge, you can find all sorts of cool and interesting stuff. I love Rifts, which is a post-apocalyptic-meets-magic setting, but Heroes Unlimited (a superhero RPG), Dead Reign (zombie RPG), and Palladium fantasy are all really cool too.

I rolled for class, race, gender, height and stats.

It was supposed to be a backup character to scare our party's healer to do his damn job and to not let my Elf Summoner "pull a Brad."

If you have a game store nearby, they likely have a Pathfinder Society Night. http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety Go there and play! My store always has low level tables running with people ready to help. Each session is a one-shot 4 hour adventure that ties into a larger story. Great place to start.

sounds great...but i live is Australia...it is a cultural wasteland.

@friendlypossum: what city? If you live in Sydney or Melbourne Good Games both do those.

Oh no shit? Sydney, wow thats great man thanks!

@friendlypossum: Pop in to the one near the qvb. There's one near central but that's mostly magic card focused. To be totally honest I don't actually go to the stores for pnp as I play out of my home but whenever I go in to buy stuff on the weekends its bustling.

I think I have actually walked past that....is it on Cleveland street? Next to a Games Workshop?

I read the 4e trinity of books, players handbook/DM guide/monster manual, to learn how to DM for my friends. I also listened to the Critical Hit podcast and that helped out alot when i wanted to know how to run something specific

@friendlypossum: yep that's it.

Seems like it's already been figured out, but Paizo keeps track of events on their website: http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/events#Australia-8 . There's a few coming up in August.

@friendlypossum: Oops, I said yes because that sounds like the right spot but it's on Clarence, not Cleveland street.

The most important thing to remember about D&D, or any of these sorts of games: Don't take it too seriously. I mean, if you watched the Pathfinder videos here, I probably don't need to tell you that. But I can say from experience that playing a little fast and loose with the rules, and being "imaginative" with what you do in the game (whether as a player or the DM) goes a long way to making the experience more fun.

@hayt: that's the one I ment anyways dude