D&D 5E A running list of questions from a new player/new DM. Other n00bs please feel free to add in.

[painted_klown]

Hello everyone,

If you have seen my posts in other threads, you have probably realized that I am loaded up with a lot of questions. If you're not familiar with any of my posts, I will do a quick introduction.

I am new to tabletop RPGs, but have played some older video game RPGs in the past. Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy 1 & 2, Lunar, the silver story saga, etc. I am also a former Magic:the Gathering player, so the ideas and concepts (fantasy elements) found in D&D aren't totally foreign to me, and have a strong appeal.

My friends have been talking about wanting to put together a D&D game, and I kind of jumped on the idea and got serious about it. I started reading this forum, and learning a bit about the history of the game, and since my friends felt that I suddenly knew more about D&D than anyone else in the group, I was asked to be the DM. To be 100% honest, I actually wanted to be the DM, so I am more than happy to accept the role.

My plan is to start the group off with the starter box. Although I have yet to purchase it, I plan to get it soon, and go over everything before our first gaming session. In the meantime, I have been reading this forum, and (kind of) going over the free PDF files that WOTC provides on their web site.

All of this, of course, raises a lot of questions for me. I felt rather than start a new thread for every little question I have, or hijack other threads for my questions, I would start a thread dedicated to "n00b" questions that pop up, or things I feel I would like clarification with.

Looking at the forum, I see that I am not the only person starting up, and I guess that others will also have a lot of "little questions" (so-to-speak) as well, so I wanted to create a running thread that we n00bs can utilize to ask our questions without clogging up the forum with multiple threads that only have (or require) a response or two.

Other forum members, I encourage you to ask your questions here as well, as I think it will serve very well as a good "quick reference" thread for the little things, or how a game flows, what powers the DM has to control the flow of the game, how to deal with random things that pop up, etc.

In an attempt to keep this somewhat organized, I will begin my actual questions in the next post.

I hoping that this thread will become a useful tool and resource for all of us, and thank you to the experienced players and DMs out there who take the time to share their knowledge with us.

 

[painted_klown]

Question number one is an easy one.

My friends asked me "What do we need to buy to start playing?"

My answer was "I think we just need the starter box to get started".

How accurate that answer is, I am not sure. I think the answer will be.

1. We all need a set of RPG dice.

2. We all need the Players Handbook.

3. The DM will need the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and any modules, adventures they plan to run in addition to #s 1 and 2.

In short, the PC players will only need dice and the Player's Handbook, the DM needs to buy everything else.

I am guessing that these extra materials will not be needed until after we complete the starter box?

Is that correct?

 

[guachi]

You can get by with even less than the Starter Box. You can download the pdfs for FREE from the WotC website and get the Basic Rules. I encourage all your players to do so. The player's rules have the basic four classes (fighter, wizard, rogue, cleric) that have been around almost forever with the basic archetype for each of them and the basic four races (human, dwarf, elf, halfling).

I mentioned the Starter Set in another thread of yours. And the major benefit of that over the pdfs is that you have something in your hands to look at instead of possibly staring at a small phone screen. The Basic Rules, however, are actually a lot better and longer. But the Starter Set has the sweet module and one set of dice.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

Heck, you don't even need DICE. You can rip up pieces of paper, write numbers on them, put them in a hat, and draw them out to simulate dice rolls. My personal preference for dice are to go old school and get a Basic or Expert set from 1983 with its original dice or surf ebay for old school dice like GameScience dice. Real roleplayers color in their dice with a crayon. Just sayin'...

You need paper, pencil, dice (optional) and an imagination. Eventually your players will probably want a Player's Handbook and you can get the DMG tomorrow if you can find a local game shop. If you use the published module in the Starter Set you don't even need a Monster Manual for at least a month (unless you go nuts and knock the whole module out in a weekend).

Your final summary, though, is basically correct. The players won't need to access anything but a Player's Handbook. Whether it's one they own, someone else's, or the free pdf they will want to look at one. Most DMs will eventually want to buy the PHB, DMG, MM and a module. Although given that people have been playing for months without a DMG that should tell you how uncritical it really is. If you are a new, DM, however, it's not something I'd really want to try long term. One module or two is fine but you might find yourself with lots of questions.

 

[pkt77242]

Question number one is an easy one.

My friends asked me "What do we need to buy to start playing?"

My answer was "I think we just need the starter box to get started".

How accurate that answer is, I am not sure. I think the answer will be.

1. We all need a set of RPG dice.

2. We all need the Players Handbook.

3. The DM will need the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and any modules, adventures they plan to run in addition to #s 1 and 2.

In short, the PC players will only need dice and the Player's Handbook, the DM needs to buy everything else.

I am guessing that these extra materials will not be needed until after we complete the starter box?

Is that correct?

Technically you don't need the MM or the DMG (and you don't "need" the PHB if you are using the pregens) if you are running the starter set adventure (though it might be nice to have them). Not everyone needs a PHB either, 1-2 per table is usually fine though if everyone wants to have one that is fine.

A set of dice would for each person would be nice but you can share if you have too.

Overall the key is to have fun. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.

 

[guachi]

I have 23 sets of dice (I have a problem...) but what having lots of dice means is that my combat turn goes so much faster!!

It drives me nuts as a DM to move to someone's turn and find they haven't done anything mechanical yet. What do you do? I attack. Roll a d20 (roll). You have advantage, roll again. (roll). You hit. Roll damage. (Let's say it's a rogue with 5d6 sneak attack). (Roll once, roll twice, roll again, and again, and again).

GAH!!! No!!! If you can, roll all the attack dice and all the damage dice including possible critical hits at once and do it before I get to your turn. If you don't actually get to attack, who cares! Rolling dice is fun. In my example, that means 2 d20 and 10d6 making sure that the 5 for the regular damage are distinguishable from the other 5. If you don't have that many, just roll the first five.

This way, the DM gets to your turn and you say, "I hit AC XX and if that hits I do YY damage" Move right on to the next player...

 

[Xenu]

Question number one is an easy one.

My friends asked me "What do we need to buy to start playing?"

My answer was "I think we just need the starter box to get started".

Pros on getting the starter set:
- Contains all the rules you need to get going along with some tips along the way
- Includes a very nice module that will give them a lot of things to explore
- Is fairly cheap.
- A set of dice is included.
- Contains pre-gens, so the players can get going really quickly. They more or less just need to name their characters. The pre-gens also include extra rules / abilities that your players will accrue as they increase in power. Helps acclimate them to the game instead of wondering what to do next or spending a lot of time trying to puzzle out "what's good".

How accurate that answer is, I am not sure. I think the answer will be.

1. We all need a set of RPG dice.

Pretty easy to share a single set. A set of polyhedral dice will set you back around US$8 or so..

2. We all need the Players Handbook.

Honestly, you don't really need this up front. I'd recommend hitting the free Basic Rules PDF that is on the WotC site. I've been DMing my group since the starter set came out and so far have been the only one that has picked up the PHB.

3. The DM will need the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and any modules, adventures they plan to run in addition to #s 1 and 2.

Having the DMG will help you out, but I don't see it as a must. The DM Basic Rules PDF on the WotC includes a bunch of monster stats that will get you by. It just lacks some of the "fluff" or background info / inspiration for running monsters in your world / encounters. Ok, I guess artwork is missing as well which can also act as inspiration if you are not sure about monster appearance.

In short, the PC players will only need dice and the Player's Handbook, the DM needs to buy everything else.

I am guessing that these extra materials will not be needed until after we complete the starter box?

Is that correct?

Yep, that's the basic gist. The starter set will probably last you and your players for several sessions before you really need to look at buying anything more. It depends on how long your sessions are, how quickly your players tear through things, and how eager they are to try and press the bounds of the games -- especially in terms of exercising the various classes and races that are not included in the basic rules / starter set.

 

[aramis erak]

Question number one is an easy one.

My friends asked me "What do we need to buy to start playing?"

My answer was "I think we just need the starter box to get started".

How accurate that answer is, I am not sure. I think the answer will be.

1. We all need a set of RPG dice.

2. We all need the Players Handbook.

3. The DM will need the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and any modules, adventures they plan to run in addition to #s 1 and 2.

In short, the PC players will only need dice and the Player's Handbook, the DM needs to buy everything else.

I am guessing that these extra materials will not be needed until after we complete the starter box?

Is that correct?

You're not correct. It's quite possible to DM with just dice, and the two basic PDFs. As to whether that's a good way to learn DMing, it's not a bad way, but there are better.

The starter box with the intro module is a bit better an option, and once you've run that, you can add the DM's Basic Rules to get you going further.

But, to be blunt, until one starts DMing, one won't know whether the DMG (is/was/will be) a good investment. Me, I want it. I don't need it, but then, I'm also not a newb, and I learned to DM the old fashioned way - but botching the first few attempts badly, and listening to the players about what I messed up.

 

[PnPgamer]

You also need paper and a pencil. Also preferred to have an eraser. Remember to roleplay your characters, become and actor in the role of your characters.

 

[JWO]

I have 23 sets of dice (I have a problem...) but what having lots of dice means is that my combat turn goes so much faster!!

It drives me nuts as a DM to move to someone's turn and find they haven't done anything mechanical yet. What do you do? I attack. Roll a d20 (roll). You have advantage, roll again. (roll). You hit. Roll damage. (Let's say it's a rogue with 5d6 sneak attack). (Roll once, roll twice, roll again, and again, and again).

GAH!!! No!!! If you can, roll all the attack dice and all the damage dice including possible critical hits at once and do it before I get to your turn. If you don't actually get to attack, who cares! Rolling dice is fun. In my example, that means 2 d20 and 10d6 making sure that the 5 for the regular damage are distinguishable from the other 5. If you don't have that many, just roll the first five.

This way, the DM gets to your turn and you say, "I hit AC XX and if that hits I do YY damage" Move right on to the next player...

But then you don't all get the excitement of watching the dice fall! For me that's part of the fun, especially if you happen to roll a 1 or a 20

 

[PnPgamer]

But then you don't all get the excitement of watching the dice fall! For me that's part of the fun, especially if you happen to roll a 1 or a 20

I prefer rolling same dice at the same time. Advantage goes with 2d20 and fireball goes full 8d6 at the same time... Back in pathfinder, i rolled all the dice of disintegrate, at the same time. The table had a nice carpet of d6's after that.