Completely Clueless about D&D - Where to start & character creation question

[oni no won]

1. Just bring yourself. You may want to bring snacks for the group (bag of chips or a liter of soda, etc).
2. Don't argue with the GM. If there was a disagreement, take it up with your GM after the session. Also some GMs don't like it if you brought your laptop or using your smartphone during play.
3. Any basic dice set will be fine. I personally like my metal dice set which I got at a convention (love the heavy feel of it). I also have my original V&V dice set (you had to use crayon to color in the numbers) that I treasure.
4. see #2
5. Maybe look at an actual play of the game on YouTube?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Generally rookies usually don't do anything wrong. Usually they start very creatively until the begin worrying about their character or statistics too much.
My best advice is:
- roll stats
- assign as you like
- chose a race you like
- chose a class you like
- chose a background you like
- don't worry about statistics. Tell the DM what you want to do
- let the DM worry about what attribute roll you should make and if a skill might be used. You might make suggestions if you think your character has a relevant ability.
- after a while you notice if your character is good at the things you want him to do. If it fits, keep your character.
If it does not fit, either you will keep the character and play differently or you make a new one that fits your concept more.

The biggest mistakes:
- Overthinking your character, trying to play something because you read somewhere that this or that is good or not good.
- not trusting the DM to adjucate fairly
- instead of stating what your character wants to do, sayong that he uses skill x to do something.
You don't need to habe a certain skill to do something. It just slightly improves your probability. Everyone can try everything and you should try try try. Worst thing that can happen is that you fail and move the story forward.

 

[Rhenny]

Lots of great advice so far.

I'd like to reiterate:

1) Build on other PC actions, don't negate them. Feel the vibe of your group and work to fit in - compliment over conflict.
2) Don't hog the spotlight. Realize that you are one in the group, not "the one" in the group.
3) Don't argue rules. Trust the DM and tell him/her what your character does.
4) You can watch others play (i.e., Dice Camera Action, Critical Role), but don't feel like you have to play that way. Just do what's comfortable for you and most importantly, have fun.

 

[Neutron Penguin]

An app that I use called Fight Club 5 (if you google it you can find instructions as to how to import a lot of information) and it has all the base spell descriptions, creature stat blocks, a digital dice roller and a lot of magic items. While it more useful as a DM tool it's still really informative and useful for players. I believe if you pay for the full app you can use the character creation tool as well.

 

[OB1]

Lots of good advice here, but one piece I’ve seen missing is to keep the basic three steps of the game in mind while playing.

1. DM describes the scene
2. You describe what your character does in response.
3. The DM narrates the results of your action, and may ask for a dice roll if the result is uncertain.

Everything on your character sheet is there to help resolve uncertainty regarding your action, but you are not limited to taking actions listed on your sheet.

Also good to keep in mind the goal of play. To create an exiting story about bold adventurers facing deadly perils.

When in doubt, take bold action or actions that you think your fellow players would find make an interesting or exciting story.

Oh, and don’t no matter what, ever