What basic skills should every Dungeons and Dragons player "no"?

[DonTadow]

That strikes me as incredibly rude.

Maybe that's just because my mental processes seem to operate at about half the speed of most people. I generally avoid games that require quick thinking.

It doesn't have to be rude. I do that in my game. I don't expect my players to think quickly, only react quickly. Players have at least a minute or two to plan their next action. The problem is some players try to reanalyze the battlefield and come up with a tactic that utilizes meta-game knowledge. By limiting the time and speeding up the game play, you can create the chaos of a battlefield and not a board game of chess.

P.s. meant to put quotes around the "no"

 

[WayneLigon]

Being well-read. Regular reading for pleasure is almost a requirement; it certainly enhances virtually every other requirement to a great degree. Well-read people have a greater store of experiences, details, imagery and exposure to a variety of ideas. In my experience, it's what seperates a mediocre player (who will soon drop out of the hobby due to boredom) from a long-term player. Every time you find yourself stuck for a character concept, a settting, a bit of dialog, what your character wears, or any of a number of different things... it's the Library Fairy telling you that you haven't read enough lately.

'Well-watched' can also apply here, especially when we're talking movies. Exposure to a variety of movies or even well-done TV shows can be a great boon to the roleplayer when they pay close attention to how scenes are handled and how characters interact with each other. They are especially good for imagery. Watch several hours of Discovery or Animal Planet, for example. It doesn't matter if you've never been to New Zealand or Scotland; now you can describe rough winter terrain the party finds itself, or better imagine the fight in the ruined temple. You can watch how a tiger hunts for prey and apply that to, say, a displacer beast or howler.

Nothing really beats 'well-read' though.

Except for the ability to not be a dick, but that pretty much applies to every situation you'll ever encounter.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Basic social skills--be respectful, friendly, obey the rules of the host, good hygiene--and a desire to play table-top RPGs will get you a spot at my table. I can teach you the rest. And what I can't teach, I'm willing to work with that player to find a work-around.

 

[kenobi65]

Indeed. In fact, I've occasionally seen them say to each other, "Why are we doing this? It's not going to work. Let's just kick in the door and go get 'em!"...

...and then continue planning for another hour. Then they go in, the plan blows up, and it's back to "kick in the door."

Yup, that sounds about right.

 

[kenobi65]

My handwriting is horrible. I write with my right hand but I hold the pen/pencil/bloody finger like a left handed person (my hand is at the 90 degree angle I tend to see with left handers). I've heard the term Hen Scratching applied to this but I don't know if there is a real "term" to how I write.

Hey, that's exactly how *I* write! Maybe there's a correlation between odd handwriting styles and selecting a SW-themed screen name.

 

[RFisher]

It doesn't have to be rude. I do that in my game. I don't expect my players to think quickly, only react quickly. Players have at least a minute or two to plan their next action. The problem is some players try to reanalyze the battlefield and come up with a tactic that utilizes meta-game knowledge. By limiting the time and speeding up the game play, you can create the chaos of a battlefield and not a board game of chess.

Well, real chess players play with a clock. (^_^)

I dunno. I think I'd probably bow out of the group after the third time you did it to me, no matter how politely you tried to do it. But maybe that'd be for the best anyway. As much as I find it hard to believe, I suppose there are play style differences that are too big to bridge.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

1/ Ability to separate fantasy from reality, and ability to separate a fantasy conflict from a reality conflict. Ability to see his character's losses as part of the game rather than spite from the GM or other players.

2/ Ability to immerse in fantasy. Ability to make sub-optimal decisions when his character would do so. (Ability to think in-character.)

3/ Ability to think critically about options. Ability to see optimal choices when creating his character.

4/ Attention span.

5/ Basic math, reading, and spelling.

6/ If you bring drugs, bring enough for everyone.

I agree with all of these except #3 (well, I disagree more with the second half of #3.)
And #6 is a non-issue for my group.

I think that "Optimization", while now a "Buzz-Word" for 3E, is NOT necessary to play D+D. Not everyone WANTS to have a twinked out "PowerAttack/WeaponSpecialization/WeaponFocus/Cleave (et. al)" combat monster fighter (or whatever other class you choose.)

Indeed, I'd say that this current obession with "Optimization" under the new edition has done more to HINDER imagination than to ENHANCE it. (But I'll leave the rest of that rant for an "Edition Wars" thread.)


More to the point?

What they NEED: The ability to play a game of supposition.

What would be NICE to HAVE: The ability to read and write, basic math knowledge (of the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division kind) and a modicum of interpersonal relationship skills.

Well said, Henry.
Q.F.T.

Best DM I every played with had a learning disability with mathematics. Used a calculator. I'd never boot someone because they needed a calculator to add some stuff up. I'd be more inclined to expect that the other players brought the skill of patience or learned it real fast.

Another "Well-said" to billd91.
As someone who's mathematically challenged myself, it makes me appreciate my current group that much more!

 

[nute]

What are the basic human skills needed to play the game?

1: The ability to separate reality from fantasy. D&D is a game. Beyond that, it's a hobby. It is not a "way of life", it is not a defining facet of your self-image. If it is, then you've become the stereotype Jack Chick made all those little pamphlets about.

2: The ability to separate fantasy from reality. Accept that certain things in the game will not behave or function exactly as they do in the real world.

2a: Be willing to play a character that is different from yourself. Make decisions in-character as they would.

3: Basic mechanics familiarity. When I say "Make a Spot check, -2 penalty", you should not ask "Which dice do I use?" For starters, the singular is die. I expect my players, after their first session and an individualized "Intro to D&D" session, to know what's what with how the game works.

4: Basic math skills. Ties into the above - mechanics tells you that 1d20 + BAB + STR bonus + enhancement bonuses, etc = your to-hit roll. Basic math skills tell you that 12 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 23. Here, however, I take my own control-freak issues into account because I always have notes on my players' stats and bonuses. If I see Tim roll a 12 and he says "Total of 35", and I don't see a total of +23 to his modifiers, we're going to have words.

 

[Monstrosity]

I only ask for basic acrobatics and knowledge of how to be a decent human being.