A beginners question :P

[Konyaha]

I was just wondering, if I wanted to play a game on these message boards (which all looks awesome, btw), would I be able to learn them after playing Dungeons & Dragons? Or would I need other knowledge?

P.S. I want to buy myself a D&D ruleset. Seeing as I have absolutely no knowledge of pen n paper rpg's, will I be able to learn directly from that, or will I need something else? In other words, will the ruleset be enough to teach me how to play the game? Thanks alot

 

[Konyaha]

Sorry, that was my fault for not actually getting of my back side and looking myself. I understand that I need knowledge of the d20 system?

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Yes. Look at the D&D rules forum, the thread at the top called System Reference Documents has a link to the "core" rules.

 

[Crothian]

D&D is the d20 system. The core books are the Players Handbook, the Dungion Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. THe Players Handbook is most important out of those books. and you should be able to learn the game from that.

 

[Henry]

My strongest suggestion is to buy either the 3.5 edition Player's handbook, or buy the new D&D Basic Rules game. Either will have the basics you need, though the basic rules game has advice for both players and Dungeon Masters (the referees).

 

[Konyaha]

Alright, thanks alot people, i'm gonna order a players handbook .

Appreciated

 

[der_kluge]

All valid answers. The d20 rules are the rules that comprise the D&D game. In other words, it's like saying cooking is a hobby, and recipes are the rules by which it is governed. Well, something like that. D20 is name of the recipes, or the rules by which the game is played.

D20 is also freely available to 3rd party publishers so that they can provide products that work with the D&D game, which ends up expanding the amount products that are available. Wizards of the Coast produces D&D products, but there are literally hundreds of 3rd party (mostly small, many of them individuals) that produce add-on products that are compatible with the D&D game.

To start, all you really need are some dice, and a Player's Handbook. If you're exclusively playing online, probably all you really need is a Player's Handbook. Even that is debatable, since all you *really* need is the System's Reference Document, which is available at http://www.opengamingfoundation.org

But, that's *just* the rules, and has no descriptive text. So, it's like saying "1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour" without any real description of what it is you're making. So, I wouldn't recommend that. It's there because 3rd party publishers need to be able to know what they can and can't reference from the rules when making their products. Some things like proper names, and copyrights are not available.

You can buy a Player's Handbook at any game/hobby store (check the yellow pages under Games to find a local FLGS - Friendly Local Game Store) or just find one at Amazon.com.

Hope that didn't over-complicate things.