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

[Gilladian]

If you don't want/can't find a battle mat, you can get flip charts with 1" grids on them at the office supply. I have one of these, and I keep locations drawn on it that I want to reuse - for example, the tavern the PCs like best to hang out at, the market square where they commonly buy and sell stuff, the manor house they've built. The reason is that they may have 3-5 bar fights in that tavern over the course of the campaign, or get attacked by goblins in the market this week, pick pocketed a few weeks later, and finally confront the evil wizard who has tried to conquer the town on the steps of the temple overlooking the market.

Otherwise, you can just tear off sheets and throw them away if you're not going to need them again. Especially if you don't have minis, you can draw movement lines and such right on the grid. A set of colored pencils or markers will help keep things organized.

Also, rather than buying plastic or metal minis, you can either purchase printed/print your own "cardboard heroes", or you can just use triangles of card stock with numbers/names jotted on them for the bad guys or even the PCs. Although game pawns (meeples?) can work even better for PCs.

 

[painted_klown]

If you don't want/can't find a battle mat, you can get flip charts with 1" grids on them at the office supply.

I actually bought the Pathfinder beginner box (sadly, I haven't been able to get the D&D box yet though), so I have the flip map and paper pawns that came with it. I thought it was a really nice kit, to be honest, and it made me wish WOTC would have included some cool extras like that as well. I especially liked the paper pawns, and the fact that they have boxes you can buy that simply has all the pawns you will need vs. buying booster packs (of plastic minis) and trying to collect the whole set. Way too expensive for my blood...LOL!

A guy at work is the GM for a Pathfinder game, and tomorrow, I am supposed to join his group. He is starting the Rise of the Runelords adventure and all of us PCs will be starting at level 2. It will actually be the first time I have ever played any RPG, so I am looking forward to it.

I am thinking it will give me a good idea of how a game flows, and some ideas of what a GM/DM actually does during the game. Should be a rocking good time.

 

[guachi]

When I was a kid and battlemats didn't exist (that I know of) I took a ruler to 8 1/2 x 11 paper and marked it off in pencil in 1" squares. Drew the dungeon rooms on the paper in pen/sharpie and cut the rooms out with scissors, paperclipped them together, and put them in an envelope.

When they entered the room I put the paper on the table. When they left I picked it up. If they wanted a record of what the room looked like they could map it themselves. It worked very well as it didn't take up a lot of space as there was only one room on the table at a time.

 

[Xenu]

To expand on Guachi's comment, use Google to look up "Dungeon Geomorphs". You can print a few basic shapes out and then use those individually or in combinations to get a variety of rooms for players to fight in or explore.

 

[aramis erak]

Meeples can be a good choice if you don't want/can't afford minis. Buying them in colored groups, you can get them for under $1 each (makes me think back to my high school years and minis being $0.50 to $1.50)... Draw a face, add a number, and voila - instant hominids.

Me, I use 1cm cubes with letters drawn on, and use a 1cm gridded map. Makes for a smaller map. colored cubes allow clear sides and types.

 

[fjw70]

When I was a kid back in the 80s (no not 1880s) we used minis buy without a grid. We would just use them to mark approximate locations on the table top.

If you don't want to use a grid but want to use minis then a great way to get a large dry erase surface is to buy a section of bathroom wall tile from Home Depot. A section of (I think) 8" x 4" tile was $13 and they will cut it down for you it you wish.

I was going to recommend the Pathfinder Pawns but it seems you are aware of those already. I have a ton of minis but am thinking of picking up some pawns anyway. They would be much easier to store and transport.

 

[Anth]

Just buy graph paper (1/2 cm or 1/5 inch squares) of the same sort most maps in published maps are drawn on.
Then draw the maps on the graph paper (if you as a DM or the players draw the map is a matter of taste).
If there is a fight the players just mark on the map where they are standing.
This is a nice middle ground between the full blown tactical 1" map with minis and the Theatre of the mindwith no maps at all.

 

[PnPgamer]

I got a question, Does bard and rogue expertise's add up? I'd assume not on same skill, but can you choose different skills by multiclassing?

 

[aramis erak]

I got a question, Does bard and rogue expertise's add up? I'd assume not on same skill, but can you choose different skills by multiclassing?

Why would they not?

But note: Characters stop gaining levels at 20th... so multiclassing really does nerf you for high level.

 

[PnPgamer]

How about a multiclassed druid/any class that gets extra attack? Meaning how would extra attack function in wild shape, especially considering multiattacks in forms?