Dungeons and Dragons Newcomer

[lasherman]

Recently, a couple of friends and I thought about starting up a Dungeons and Dragons game. The problem is, however, that none of us have ever played DnD before and have no idea of how to start. The only experience I have with tabletop games is two games of Shadowrun, but I don't know if any of that would help.

I'm curious as to exactly what is needed to start playing, what we need to buy, etc.., so can any players out there give this newbie some advice?

Edit: Apparently, I do have a Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game which has 3.5 rules and comes with a bunch of dungeon tile grids. Are these tiles necessary to gameplay, or are they more for people who need something to help visualize the game?

 

[MisterShine]

Buy the red box [http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Starter/dp/B0042UCF52].

Costs 20 bucks, walks you through how to play, how to set up your characters, and how to DM, gives you a nice map and some creature cards see how to play yourself.

Of course, this experience is sort of like looking at a bath tub and calling it an ocean in terms of table top gaming, but its a great starting point I think. Oh, and if you're going to be the DM I highly recommend the Escapists "Check for Traps" series, a few are specifically dedicated on how to be a good DM. Read the comments too, as those are usually filled with people who viscerally disagree.

 

[lasherman]

Buy the red box [http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Starter/dp/B0042UCF52].

Costs 20 bucks, walks you through how to play, how to set up your characters, and how to DM, gives you a nice map and some creature cards see how to play yourself.

Of course, this experience is sort of like looking at a bath tub and calling it an ocean in terms of table top gaming, but its a great starting point I think. Oh, and if you're going to be the DM I highly recommend the Escapists "Check for Traps" series, a few are specifically dedicated on how to be a good DM. Read the comments too, as those are usually filled with people who viscerally disagree.

Thanks for the recommendation. When I saw that, I remembered that I did have something like that buried away in my house somewhere that I've just never played. It's a boxed basic game with version 3.5 rules. The thing is that it comes with a bunch of dungeon tile grids, and I was wondering if those were absolutely necessary to gameplay, or if it could be played like Shadowrun, without any boards.

 

[Chibz]

Check out Pathfinder. It's D&D 3.5, but fixed up.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

 

[Lullabye]

Check out Pathfinder. It's D&D 3.5, but fixed up.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

This.
If you even think about touching 4th edition you have given up your right to table top gaming.
(personally I went with 3.5 myself, not pathfinder, more of a homebrew if only because of the fact we set up a working economy in the world. ugh....)

 

[lasherman]

There are a lot of things in Lothering that begin with *G*

I don't know what that means...

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Check out Pathfinder. It's D&D 3.5, but fixed up.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

As always, Pathfinder is the one I'd recommend. Also it's free online (as linked above).

If you played Shadow Run before, you're likely to prefer a 3.5 type game rather than a 4th ed game. Or a White Wolf game (as mentioned above) although that will NOT feel like D&D, so if you're looking for actual D&D then I'd say stick with Pathfinder.

 

[Ciran]

Check out Pathfinder. It's D&D 3.5, but fixed up.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

This.
If you even think about touching 4th edition you have given up your right to table top gaming.

Pretty much my feel on it. Paizo took the original 3.5 rules and streamlined them, as well as taking some of the weaker classes/races and making them a valid choice again. So basically they took the rules system that I love and, imo, made it better. I would highly recommend you go with Pathfinder.