Starting D&D. Any advice?

[alrekr]

This thread really makes me want to play D&D. I only got to play a brief stint of Encounters (not quite what I wanted- 100% combat) while I was on vacation for a month. Back here in the UK there isn't much interest at all, it's a little dissapointing.
Warhammer is absolutely everywhere, but NO D&D or other tabletop games.

Ouch, man. That sucks hard. You'd think they'd at least have the Warhammer Roleplaying games as well (Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Deathwatch, or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying).

If you even mention the Warhammer specialist games at my local game-workshop here in the uk you get dumb looks and than quitley told to come back on wednesday after hours... FOR NECROMUNDA

 

[cerebus23]

This thread really makes me want to play D&D. I only got to play a brief stint of Encounters (not quite what I wanted- 100% combat) while I was on vacation for a month. Back here in the UK there isn't much interest at all, it's a little dissapointing.
Warhammer is absolutely everywhere, but NO D&D or other tabletop games.

i feel you i really would like to play shadowrun and some ad&d forgotten realms, ravenloft, dark sun was kinda cool with all the differences. but my age group and etc well not many people my age and especially around here would ever play or are too busy even if you could tempt them.

used to hit up a sr mud on occasion when the itch got too bad to not scratch but the guy that ran it and some of the gms were real asshats. kinda turned me off on playing that mud. proably some good muds out there one i might have to go looking again and get my mud client software setup.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Alrekr my friend, I share your pain...
I'm in the quite small town of Winchester right now so there's no hope in hell. Even back in the relatively large city of Poole there wasn't anything more than a conventional Games Workshop.

If you ever find a real roleplay store, do tell.

 

[Naheal]

Moderator Edit.

Can we get this shit off of here, please? Sarcastic or not, the game catches enough flack as it is.

 

[zomboyd]

Dont..... Use Pathfinder its a new Modification of the 3.5 Rules system and is Brilliant.
Also the Module Paths Created for there world are the Best i have ever Played and the World is one fof the Most Engaging worlds Ever... Golarian has a rich history that is brought forth better tehn any i have seen before hand...

you can purchase the books or PDFs from Pazio.com and the SRD is at this site

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

 

[The Rascal King]

Holy crap, this is a lot to take in. I had no idea the game utilizes the players imagination rather than being more....structured. I think I might have to give this game a go sometime.

Thirdly, carry a D20 with you at all times. You never know when you might find yourself wanting to play a game.

***** magnet! Still, it is a good bit of advice. I shall take it under consideration when I begin playing.

 

[KarumaK]

If you were a player I'd say; DO NOT TRUST CHERUBS!

Since you are apparently the DM I say; TEACH THE PLAYERS NOT TO TRUST CHERUBS!

 

[fanklok]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Just to clarify, i'm one of the players.

 

[Mr.Napier]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

cool

 

[Triangulon]

Have fun! Don't follow the rules to the letter (particularly if its too complicated or not fun). Remember that the PCs can attempt whatever they want. The DMs job is to encourage them to do whats required to progress the story. Eg. don't say 'you can't do that'. Encourage them not too by having them take difficult skill checks etc.

 

[Amnestic]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

Initially no. However they can drop below 3, either via magic/cursed items or from abilities - Mindflayers can drain INT as I recall, though they might have changed that when moving out of AD&D 2nd.

They cannot, however, go into negatives from what I know. d20srd.org [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm] notes:

* Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the ground.
* Dexterity 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He stands motionless, rigid, and helpless.
* Constitution 0 means that the character is dead.
* Intelligence 0 means that the character cannot think and is unconscious in a coma-like stupor, helpless.
* Wisdom 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless.
* Charisma 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a catatonic, coma-like stupor, helpless.

Keeping track of negative ability score points is never necessary. A character?s ability score can?t drop below 0.

Having a score of 0 in an ability is different from having no ability score whatsoever.

Not sure how I feel on only Con drain killing you. Might change that around in my own games to include Int as well.

 

[old_school]

I love D&D infact if you have a decent DM and your playing first or second addation Ill join. My advice use team speak so u can play with hudreds over the internet. Infact I can let you use my team speak if needed. Server:www.uokgames.com Port 9987

I can probly get several people to join you as well. I know alot of D&D peps looking to play with a good DM. let me know thanks

 

[Naheal]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

Initially no. However they can drop below 3, either via magic/cursed items or from abilities - Mindflayers can drain INT as I recall, though they might have changed that when moving out of AD&D 2nd.

They cannot, however, go into negatives from what I know. d20srd.org [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm] notes:

* Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the ground.
* Dexterity 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He stands motionless, rigid, and helpless.
* Constitution 0 means that the character is dead.
* Intelligence 0 means that the character cannot think and is unconscious in a coma-like stupor, helpless.
* Wisdom 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless.
* Charisma 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a catatonic, coma-like stupor, helpless.

Keeping track of negative ability score points is never necessary. A character?s ability score can?t drop below 0.

Having a score of 0 in an ability is different from having no ability score whatsoever.

Not sure how I feel on only Con drain killing you. Might change that around in my own games to include Int as well.

An Int of 3 is required for sentience. If your race gives you penalties to any other stat, it's possible to start below 3. Int is the only exception.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Make sure that your DM uses the point buy system for setting ability scores. Rolling has a habit of screwing you over. It should be described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. And for the love of Heironeous, make sure your party has a decent Cleric (I'm in a group at the moment. The Cleric left the group and the Druid got curious and ended up getting killed and eaten by what we think is a dire wolf).

Oh, and make your DM sign this [http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/images/comics/Dragon353.gif].

 

[old_school]

I think Wisdom of 0 is so dumb you cant even function unless your player version 3 or higher. However the DM in 2nd or higher can adjust the rules slightly to fit party needs. Just has to keep things realistic. An for stats you roll 20 sided die I belive.

 

[Amnestic]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

Initially no. However they can drop below 3, either via magic/cursed items or from abilities - Mindflayers can drain INT as I recall, though they might have changed that when moving out of AD&D 2nd.

They cannot, however, go into negatives from what I know. d20srd.org [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm] notes:

* Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the ground.
* Dexterity 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He stands motionless, rigid, and helpless.
* Constitution 0 means that the character is dead.
* Intelligence 0 means that the character cannot think and is unconscious in a coma-like stupor, helpless.
* Wisdom 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless.
* Charisma 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a catatonic, coma-like stupor, helpless.

Keeping track of negative ability score points is never necessary. A character?s ability score can?t drop below 0.

Having a score of 0 in an ability is different from having no ability score whatsoever.

Not sure how I feel on only Con drain killing you. Might change that around in my own games to include Int as well.

An Int of 3 is required for sentience. If your race gives you penalties to any other stat, it's possible to start below 3. Int is the only exception.

I stand corrected. I assumed since they used the Half-Orc Int example in the 3.5th PHB, it applied to all stats. Just went back and checked and I'll freely admit, I bollocksed that one up. Can't imagine playing a game with any score below 3 though.

An for stats you roll 20 sided die I belive.

I dunno, having a level 1 character with a potential for 22 in their favoured stat seems a bit overpowered to me. Generally, the options are:

Roll 3d6, either assign to stats as desired or roll 6 times and assign in order (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA)
Roll 4d6 and remove the lowest.
or a Points System where you allocate x points to each stat as you desire.

Personally I prefer the first option as desired, though I've seen all used. Gives a nice balance of random chance as well as letting you customise your character as you want.

Edit: While I'm here: Don't feel the need to constrain yourself to a "young" character! I drafted a Human Paladin recently who is 51 years old and only level 1.

 

[Naheal]

be careful you don't accidentally give your half Orc barbarian a charisma of -4. Best advice I can give.

PC stats can't be below 3.

Initially no. However they can drop below 3, either via magic/cursed items or from abilities - Mindflayers can drain INT as I recall, though they might have changed that when moving out of AD&D 2nd.

They cannot, however, go into negatives from what I know. d20srd.org [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm] notes:

* Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the ground.
* Dexterity 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He stands motionless, rigid, and helpless.
* Constitution 0 means that the character is dead.
* Intelligence 0 means that the character cannot think and is unconscious in a coma-like stupor, helpless.
* Wisdom 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless.
* Charisma 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a catatonic, coma-like stupor, helpless.

Keeping track of negative ability score points is never necessary. A character?s ability score can?t drop below 0.

Having a score of 0 in an ability is different from having no ability score whatsoever. /

Not sure how I feel on only Con drain killing you. Might change that around in my own games to include Int as well.

An Int of 3 is required for sentience. If your race gives you penalties to any other stat, it's possible to start below 3. Int is the only exception.

I stand corrected. I assumed since they used the Half-Orc Int example in the 3.5th PHB, it applied to all stats. Just went back and checked and I'll freely admit, I bollocksed that one up. Can't imagine playing a game with any score below 3 though.

An for stats you roll 20 sided die I belive.

I dunno, having a level 1 character with a potential for 22 in their favoured stat seems a bit overpowered to me. Generally, the options are:

Roll 3d6, either assign to stats as desired or roll 6 times and assign in order (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA)
Roll 4d6 and remove the lowest.
or a Points System where you allocate x points to each stat as you desire.

Personally I prefer the first option as desired, though I've seen all used. Gives a nice balance of random chance as well as letting you customise your character as you want.

I'm a 4d6 kind of guy, myself. I've found that 3d6 tends to produce shit for stats and I have a tendency to toss players in some exceedingly... difficult situations at times. High stats aren't key (anymore), but they certainly help.

 

[Amnestic]

*condense snip*
I'm a 4d6 kind of guy, myself. I've found that 3d6 tends to produce shit for stats and I have a tendency to toss players in some exceedingly... difficult situations at times. High stats aren't key (anymore), but they certainly help.

Well there's no real right or wrong answer. I got a bit turned off of the 4d6 plan when one guy rolled a character with nothing below 10, a 17 and an 18, the 17 of which he used his racial bonus on to bump up to a 19 base which lead me to stick to the 3d6.

I've seen another version which had you roll 3d6, but you could then shuffle some of the points from stat to stat as if you were working on a point system to help avoid the shit stat problems, so the initial rolls only ended up deciding how many "points" you had.

I'm not really fussed on the whole, and I'll generally go with whatever the DM suggests for eases sake. Don't really want people using two different methods of stat allocation, just ends up getting confusing.

 

[Rofl-Mayo]

Does your friend live anywhere in Winchester, England~? Because I'm telling you.. it's freaking IMPOSSIBLE to find a player base here.

I can't give you much advice but I will say this, if you're into RPGs and storytelling, you will become an addict.

I enjoy RPGs a lot and I always write stories for fun. Maybe I should play a game with some friends with me as DM.