D&D for dummies?
- Thread starter Wounded Melody
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The best way to do this is to probably buy a beginners game. They are not expensive and will come with the data and die you need to play a simple game. Unfortunately, D&D comes down to having lots, and lots of stats, so you are going to have to end up with a book or two down the road anyways.
Other than that, google is your friend:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19572242/The_Absolute_Beginners_Guide_to_Starting_D38;D
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Dungeons-and-Dragons
Other than that, google is your friend:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19572242/The_Absolute_Beginners_Guide_to_Starting_D38;D
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Dungeons-and-Dragons
Just keep in mind that the rules are merely suggestions. The books are all there to provide you with guidelines, you can really play however you like. When I get together with friends in order to play we play a very loose, free-form version of D&D following very few of the rules, using the books only as a core reference.
I learned how to play by the books, however, just by playing with other people who play that way. Personally I feel it's too restricting, but some people like it that way and you can learn it pretty quick. Just get ready to flip through your books a LOT until you start to build up some knowledge on certain facets of the game.
I suggest a free-form style if nobody in your group knows how to play, however, so you can get a feel for the basics. The best way to learn is by playing it, after all!
I learned how to play by the books, however, just by playing with other people who play that way. Personally I feel it's too restricting, but some people like it that way and you can learn it pretty quick. Just get ready to flip through your books a LOT until you start to build up some knowledge on certain facets of the game.
I suggest a free-form style if nobody in your group knows how to play, however, so you can get a feel for the basics. The best way to learn is by playing it, after all!
What edition are you playing? 4th is quite accessable, 3 and 3.5 less so. The best way to -actually- learn the mechanics of the game is bluntly, to RTFM. Get the players handbook and read over it. But I can give you a quick bulletpoint guide on 'what you do in D&D right here'
Make a character concept - a human rogue, or a eladrin warlord. Flesh them out a bit, give them a reason for being the person they are.
Stats! Give them their statistics, reflecting the kind of person they are.
High Adventure! The Storyteller (I know it's called gamemaster or something in D&D, but I'm more world of darkness oriented) will give you plot hooks. Follow them for hijinks and other anachronistic phrases! Indubitably!
Explore Dungeons! Do not explore Dragons. Dragons are notoriously small on the inside, and the rewards are similarly tiny. Unless you really need a partially digested dwarf skeleton, go elsewhere.
Kill your foes! If they're orcs, if they look at you funny, if you look at them funny, GET FIGHTING. Then take their stuff.
Level up! Hooray!
and that's D&D.
Make a character concept - a human rogue, or a eladrin warlord. Flesh them out a bit, give them a reason for being the person they are.
Stats! Give them their statistics, reflecting the kind of person they are.
High Adventure! The Storyteller (I know it's called gamemaster or something in D&D, but I'm more world of darkness oriented) will give you plot hooks. Follow them for hijinks and other anachronistic phrases! Indubitably!
Explore Dungeons! Do not explore Dragons. Dragons are notoriously small on the inside, and the rewards are similarly tiny. Unless you really need a partially digested dwarf skeleton, go elsewhere.
Kill your foes! If they're orcs, if they look at you funny, if you look at them funny, GET FIGHTING. Then take their stuff.
Level up! Hooray!
and that's D&D.