Anyone got the Dummies book?
- Thread starter JoeGKushner
- Start date
howandwhy99
Adventurer
I scored a freebie as I still have a problem learning the rules. The problem is all the other players are far more knowledgeable than I, so it's hard to get motivated. 
I paged through the book. It has some good advice for those who don't read the boards and need to know what to pick/choose for a quality character build. Nothing on backgrounds and personality of course, but those aren't important to the game. It is very simple and starts at a low level of understanding.
The page count is deceiving. The words/page is very low and the total words in the whole book is far less than the PHB. It's an introductory and enough to play the game at a basic level. The basic game probably had something very similar, but stripped down. That said, the "10 best" lists in the back are rather week. They run across many pages, not because they list the contents, but because they give a short blurb on each.
I paged through the book. It has some good advice for those who don't read the boards and need to know what to pick/choose for a quality character build. Nothing on backgrounds and personality of course, but those aren't important to the game. It is very simple and starts at a low level of understanding.
The page count is deceiving. The words/page is very low and the total words in the whole book is far less than the PHB. It's an introductory and enough to play the game at a basic level. The basic game probably had something very similar, but stripped down. That said, the "10 best" lists in the back are rather week. They run across many pages, not because they list the contents, but because they give a short blurb on each.
francisca
I got dice older than you.
JoeGKushner said:
For those who have never seen it, let me offer a better list:
http://www.geocities.com/rgfdfaq/sources.html
HellHound
ENnies winner and NOT Scrappy Doo
I gave it two thumbs... mmm.... meh.
But then again, I'm an old-timer, and it has nothing for me. Beyond that, I have zero patience for starter products... One of the best-reviewed CyberPunk products was the GM advice book... a book I couldn't stand because it was a bunch of advice to do what I already do.
So there we go.
But then again, I'm an old-timer, and it has nothing for me. Beyond that, I have zero patience for starter products... One of the best-reviewed CyberPunk products was the GM advice book... a book I couldn't stand because it was a bunch of advice to do what I already do.
So there we go.
The_Gunslinger658
First Post
Hi-
Wow, that is a much better list and very informative. Thanks!
Scott
Wow, that is a much better list and very informative. Thanks!
Scott
shaylon
First Post
JoeGKushner said:
I am having a little trouble with this. City of Towers is a top ten D&D novel? It came out a few months ago and while I enjoyed it I would hardly put it in a top ten list. Anyone know what they are basing this on? If they were trying to include novels from all settings I guess I could see that since there are only a couple of Eberron novels currently but come on, City of Towers doesn't beat anything Elaine Cunningham wrote about the realms, IMO. Same thing with the year of Rogue Dragons. It's entertaining, and I suppose it deals with current Realms topics, but is it better than say, Spellfire? Or any of the earlier Harpers series novels?
I am disappointed to see this. I know this book isn't marketed towards me but I don't think you should mislead new players by encouraging the novels that you still make money on. WOTC should care enough about their old material to mention it even if it means that they don't get first purchase rights when the player has to find it at a used book store.
Disappointing.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
diaglo said:
Heh. diaglo, smart-ass that he is, passed out D&DFD at our last session. I very nearly made the group playing the session using only the rules in that book -- which would have eliminated every single character in the group, as the book only focuses on four races (human, elf, dwarf, halfling) and four classes (fighter, cleric, rogue, sorcerer).
It's a good introduction for a new player, though it is designed to be used in conjunction with the PHB as well. It's very reminiscent of the D&D Basic Game, which it matches with as well.
I'm not all the way through it yet. I find it a little disorganized. It has detailed descriptions of the four classes and their stats and abilities, but only later on explains what the six Ability scores mean, for example. I'm getting into the more "advanced" portions of it now. The hints on choices of weapons, armor, and spells are useful for new characters -- it has suggested feat paths and spell selections for the primary classes up to 10th level, which is kind of a neat feature. It offers suggestions for different takes on each of the classes -- nothing too dramatic, but "blaster sorcerer", "buffing sorcerer", and "sneaky sorcerer" are examples.
The "Top Ten" lists do read like an advertisement -- particularly since there are items on it that haven't been released yet (Weapons of Legacy, anyone?).
Again, not a bad intro, but not much you'll learn much from if you've spent much time playing 3/3.5 D&D already.
Gotta thank diaglo for the nice gesture, though!
Breakdaddy
First Post
I picked up a copy and from a preliminary look it does what it came to do- teaches a total n00bhammer how to play D&D from a zero knowledge base. It does, however, have Pimp Factor: 10 (engage) on WOTC's premiere product list, couldnt have been more blatant.
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