DnD

[Zaverexus]

Just played my first session of Dungeons and Dragons earlier today, had a lot of fun and captured a goblin king. I wanted to know if there are any other DnD players on escapist who can give my friends and I some tips.

We are currently playing 4th edition; our party is comprised of a Human Paladin, an Eladrin Rogue, a Dwarf Cleric, and a Human Wizard; all first time players. We are all level 1 right now, but close to leveling up for the first time; and we are running a campaign our DM made himself, the present mission involving warring factions of goblins and humans supplying weapons to them.

 

[DMonkey]

Oh sweet!
Congrats man.
Only advice I have is to have your own set of dice, and it won't hurt to have a few extras.

 

[Baralak]

Woot, Glad ya liked it! Also glad you're playing 4e! It's great for beginners and is all around just a really fun roleplaying system. Vastly underrated and hated by elitists who claim it's "not D&D" because it doesn't require dice rolls to RP. Still, any edition of D&D is fun depending on who you are, and I hoep you have many more adventures!

Best tip I can give is to be imaginative!

 

[Kialee]

I've played quite a bit of D&D, as well as a few other tabletops.
(hurray rogue trader and shadowrun)

Tips? Hrm. Remember that it's a roleplaying game, so as long as your DM isn't totally lame, half the fun is from actually playing as whatever character you've rolled.
Try not to be one of those people who do "LOL TOTULLY RANDUM XDXDXDXD" things, though. Nobody likes those kinds of people.

 

[Haunted Serenity]

No i'm really jealous I haven't played DnD for 4 years.

Best tip is really get into it. Think like your character.

 

[Chal]

I wish I had the chance to play a fun session of DnD. Not many people play it 'round here, and when I did join a game the DM endlessly thew minions at us and not much else. When he gave me the rule book to read up on before the game, I was drooling at the idea of some of the possibilities. I have to admit it was a good time in that nobody really took it very seriously and there was a lot of joking around (+Snacks!), but I'm still waiting for that session in which I feel like we've accomplished something with our time.

Advice? Too much of a newbie for that. I think I read an article here on the Escapist a while back about creative DMing, though it might have been something linked to rather than published here. I just remember it involved the story of players desperately trying to escape the first floor of the dungeon, in which the humble kobold race made use of a variety of deadly traps. The players would be relieved when they were finally fighting the fell demons of the deep rather than those blasted kobolds. THAT sounded like a good time.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Just played my first session of Dungeons and Dragons earlier today, had a lot of fun and captured a goblin king. I wanted to know if there are any other DnD players on escapist who can give my friends and I some tips.

We are currently playing 4th edition; our party is comprised of a Human Paladin, an Eladrin Rogue, a Dwarf Cleric, and a Human Wizard; all first time players. We are all level 1 right now, but close to leveling up for the first time; and we are running a campaign our DM made himself, the present mission involving warring factions of goblins and humans supplying weapons to them.

Probably the only real advice I could give you would be to have fun. Tabletop gaming is the greatest kind of gaming.

Might I also suggest you guys call yourselves "Ogres"? [http://www.quiltcityogres.com/quilt%20city%20ogres_003.htm]

 

[MikeTheElf]

Tips?
As a player:
-I suggest making an effort to play the game while you're convened for your sessions; there's nothing more aggravating (especially to a DM) than players who are nonsensing about instead of playing.
-Don't specifically attempt to break the game; It ruins the experience for other players, and can upset a DM who doesn't have much experience in counteracting broken characters.

As a DM:
-Prepare loosely, and adapt to the players' actions; don't try to prepare for every single possible event, because, odds are, you'll leave something out, or spend lots of time fleshing out things that don't happen, which results in frustration, or railroading.
-Avoid railroading. A quick anecdote regarding railroading: I was playing D&D in my friend's campaign (3.5), when a party member and I came across a man bound to a chair in the middle of a dungeon in the sewers. Being chaotic neutral with an affinity for pocket change, I start looting the man. My DM tells me he wakes up, so my comrade and I punch the man out, and resume looting him. At this point, our DM got upset, and handed us negative experience and crappy gear, because we derailed his train (the man was apparently a guard who was there to help us take out a troll). Even if you think your story's amazing, remember that the players are in charge of their own destinies, and will usually try to do things their own way, if not just quit the campaign because their choices have no effect on the story.

 

[Zeromaeus]

I have no experience with 4th Edition, so I don't know what to say. I don't even know what changed, honestly. We just have so many 3.5 books, converting just isn't feasible at the moment...

 

[Altorin]

level 1s captured a goblin king in their first game? That's a pretty pitiful king

Advice isn't really what you need.. Just keep playing and having fun. If you want any technical advice, try and get another player, it'll actually be a bit easier on a newer DM as 4th edition is balanced around 5 players, not 4.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Personally, I prefer 3.5 or Pathfinder (which is a system that feels like the best parts of 3.5 and 4.0 mixed), or BESM, but yay another D&D player!

Just remember to think like your character. And never never never forget to loot the corpses or the rooms.

 

[Altorin]

Personally, I prefer 3.5 or Pathfinder (which is a system that feels like the best parts of 3.5 and 4.0 mixed), or BESM, but yay another D&D player!

Just remember to think like your character. And never never never forget to loot the corpses or the rooms.

Unless of course, his character would forget such a thing.

lol, in the same breath even.

-Avoid railroading. A quick anecdote regarding railroading: I was playing D&D in my friend's campaign (3.5), when a party member and I came across a man bound to a chair in the middle of a dungeon in the sewers. Being chaotic neutral with an affinity for pocket change, I start looting the man. My DM tells me he wakes up, so my comrade and I punch the man out, and resume looting him. At this point, our DM got upset, and handed us negative experience and crappy gear, because we derailed his train (the man was apparently a guard who was there to help us take out a troll). Even if you think your story's amazing, remember that the players are in charge of their own destinies, and will usually try to do things their own way, if not just quit the campaign because their choices have no effect on the story.

lol, your DM would have hated me. When a group of refugee villages refused to fight for themselves, me and my party teamed up with the lizardfolk they had escaped from and executed every one of them. It was not what the DM had expected, but he rolled with it. Stupid Podunk Villagers.

 

[drzoidbergmd]

PLAY 3.5 OR PATHFINDER (3.5 and 4 mixed)! Other than that, just remember to have fun, think as your character; the minute you're acting based on what the DM is thinking it ruins it.

 

[the_anderspawn]

I'm not exactly a veteran, I've played one 3.5e character up to 6th level and one 4e character up to 4th, but I think I can say that D&D doesn't exactly need technical skills to be fun, though they can be useful. For example, making awesome battle plans that play to your characters' strengths is great fun, but so is kicking a door down and smashing everyone and everything in sight (which is a great plan if your party isn't sneaky). Above all, keep the game going. D&D loses its charm when it slows down, so stay focused on the adventure and it should be fine. My party ranges from five to eight characters, which can mean very slow battles. A four-player party should not have as much trouble, of course.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

ALWAYS CHECK FOR TRAPS!

Of course, this depends wholly on the level of Evil the DMG has in his blackend heart. As for me, I ALWAYS love to trap stuff... and then leave godly items sitting there innocently and, I might add, "obviously trapped."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Personally, I prefer 3.5 or Pathfinder (which is a system that feels like the best parts of 3.5 and 4.0 mixed), or BESM, but yay another D&D player!

Just remember to think like your character. And never never never forget to loot the corpses or the rooms.

Unless of course, his character would forget such a thing.

lol, in the same breath even.

No true adventurer ever forgets the looting!

ALWAYS CHECK FOR TRAPS!

Of course, this depends wholly on the level of Evil the DMG has in his blackend heart. As for me, I ALWAYS love to trap stuff... and then leave godly items sitting there innocently and, I might add, "obviously trapped."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahh, we had such fun with traps. In fact, a trapped chest led to the in-joke "It's trapped. Don't worry guys, I got this. *BOOF*"

 

[Acaroid]

Just played my first session of Dungeons and Dragons earlier today, had a lot of fun and captured a goblin king. I wanted to know if there are any other DnD players on escapist who can give my friends and I some tips.

We are currently playing 4th edition; our party is comprised of a Human Paladin, an Eladrin Rogue, a Dwarf Cleric, and a Human Wizard; all first time players. We are all level 1 right now, but close to leveling up for the first time; and we are running a campaign our DM made himself, the present mission involving warring factions of goblins and humans supplying weapons to them.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Escapist-Online-RPG-Group

This is a group that the escapist have that have organised people from all accross the world to play DnD online together! We have 3 groups (i think) running at the moment. Just using Maptools and Ventrillo you can have a game that is surprising just as good as playing in person!

But tips:
I would say as a player, try and be as active as possible, state you opinion and make yourself heard! Role play, dont roll play

Try and think what your character will do in a situation, not yourself! It is sometimes hard to think outside your own mind, but it can add to a good level of escapism.

Oh IGNORE EVERYONE who even starts to mention xxx edition is better than xxx edition... because these guys are idiots! Just play whatever edition you wish and ignore what other people say! Each edition has its own strengths and it is all personal opinion in the end

 

[migo]

Woot, Glad ya liked it! Also glad you're playing 4e! It's great for beginners and is all around just a really fun roleplaying system. Vastly underrated and hated by elitists who claim it's "not D&D" because it doesn't require dice rolls to RP. Still, any edition of D&D is fun depending on who you are, and I hoep you have many more adventures!

Best tip I can give is to be imaginative!

The irony of course being that OD&D didn't require any dice rolls at all for it, BX and BECMI introduced some slight dice rolling for RP, and it really came in halfway through 2nd Edition that it became standard practice, and 3rd Edition that it became required. 4th Edition is really just going back to the way D&D was supposed to be but with different mechanics.

 

[migo]

ALWAYS CHECK FOR TRAPS!

Of course, this depends wholly on the level of Evil the DMG has in his blackend heart. As for me, I ALWAYS love to trap stuff... and then leave godly items sitting there innocently and, I might add, "obviously trapped."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

4th Ed has passive perception so you have a chance to notice a trap even if you're not actively checking.

 

[Altorin]

Personally, I prefer 3.5 or Pathfinder (which is a system that feels like the best parts of 3.5 and 4.0 mixed), or BESM, but yay another D&D player!

Just remember to think like your character. And never never never forget to loot the corpses or the rooms.

Unless of course, his character would forget such a thing.

lol, in the same breath even.

No true adventurer ever forgets the looting!

Say that to the guy in my game that played an Intelligence 2 (yes, I'm aware that technically you need intelligence 3 to be considered sapient enough to be a player character, but it was a compromise) Ogre.

I didn't let that guy search for anything.