D&D 5e Basics tutorial. Part 2

I have decided to put together a series of posts on how to play Dungeons and Dragons designed to teach players who have ZERO experience learn to play. So if you're here to learn please sit back and take your time. I also want people to know i have a permanent "open door" policy in regards to messages with questions about D&D.

Today we are going to discuss the finer points of hitting shit!! This one is a long & complex one but take it slow and you'll be ready to hit shit in no time. Plus i promise I will take it slow AND respond to all questions public & private within 24 hours.

Okay, before we get started I encourage you to go read part 1 because we will be building upon that.
Previous post: https://imgur.com/gallery/hLZjLJs

Art by Mike Burns

Before we get into the guts of D&D combat (guts....combat....get it?) I want to cover a concept in D&D that you should know about. It's the concept of Advantage & Disadvantage. In D&D there will be many situations that can be advantageous or disadvantageous to you. To keep things simple there is a simple rule used in D&D.
*DM's dictate when you have advantage/disadvantage*

If you have advantage you roll 2d20 instead of 1d20 and take the higher of the two dice.
If you have disadvantage you roll 2d20 instead of 1d20 and take the lower of the two dice.
**Typo corrected thanks to soepie7**

Disclaimer 1: two instances of advantage/disadvantage do not stack on a single roll
Disclaimer 2: Advantage & Disadvantage cancel each other out

I KNOW i'm going to get a few "what-if" questions on this, ((always do)) but these are the basic rules and i'll answer questions as they come up.

*Image by Penny Arcade (great comic)*

Here is the player character sheet we will be using for today: https://imgur.com/a/DUCi5qL

So to start off lets talk about how combat starts. When you are playing D&D and your character enters a combat situation the DM will call for an "initiative roll." This is a representation of who reacts the fastest to the situation.
For many DM's this order will last the entire combat situation and a new one will be rolled for each combat encounter. Your characters initiative bonus is simply equal to your Dexterity modifier. Player A is a fighter with a Dex modifier of -1 so his initiative is -1. The DM will roll for all NPC (non-player characters) & monsters.

DM: "You have offended the goblin guard and he draws his sword to attack you. Roll initiative!!"
Player A: Rolls 1d20 and gets a 14 on the dice. 14 - 1 = 13 (Player A's initiative)
DM: Rolls 1d20 for the goblin guard and gets a 10. Goblins have a +2 Dex modifier. 10 + 2 = 12.

Initiative order: Player A / Goblin

As combat starts Player A goes first. On his turn he gets to do two basic things on his turn.

1) Move
2) Take an action (includes multiple options)

1) Move is pretty simple, each creature can move UP TO it's max speed during it's turn. Each creature has it's own speed. Player A has a movement speed of 30 feet. On you turn you CAN break up your movement. For example you can move 15 feet......then take your action....move 15 feet.
*Typically on a grid map each square will represent 5 feet.

2) Action is actual a category of options you have on your turn. They include:

A: Attack - You make a melee or ranged attack against another creature ((Details below))
B: Cast a Spell - You cast a magic ((will be covered in a future post))
C: Dash - Move your full speed AGAIN
D: Disengage - Tactical retreat away from an enemy without getting hit ((Details below))
E: Dodge - Focus your turn on avoiding attacks *all attacks against you get Disadvantage til next turn*
F: Help - Assist another player in accomplishing a task *give another player Advantage on their skill roll*
G: Hide - Take your action to disappear from sight ((Details below))
H: Ready - Prepare to do something when "insert triggering event" happens ((Details below))
I: Search - Use the "investigation/perception" skill to locate something ((See post 1 for skills checks))
J: Use an Item - such as drink a healing potion, activate a magic item, such as a magic scroll

During your action the most common choice made is to attack the enemy. This involves a few steps BUT before I go into that I want to let you know where these numbers come from. These are GENERAL rules, not intended to include all the options available in the entire game.

a) Melee Attacks: Your Attack bonus is your Str modifier + Proficiency bonus (if you're prof in weapon)
b) Ranged Attacks: Your bonus is your Dex modifier + Proficiency bonus (if you're prof in weapon)
*Thrown weapons use whatever bonus you would use for a melee attack
c) Armor Class: Your AC is 10 + Armor bonus + Shield Bonus + Dex modifier + Miscellaneous
d) Hit Points: Come from your class and Constitution score ((more on that in a character building post))

Now that we have that taken care of let's talk attacking. In our example Player A goes first & he decides to attack the goblin with his Greataxe. He uses his move to get close enough to hit the goblin ((5 feet away with this weapon)) and makes an attack roll. (1d20)

Player A rolls 1d20 and gets an 11 on the dice. 11 + 5 = 16. We compare this number to the Goblins AC (15). --- If it MEETS or BEATS the goblins AC then you HIT him and you get to roll damage.
*Many DM's keep AC secret & just tell players hit or miss*

Player A hit the goblin so he rolls damage. For this weapon it's a 1d12 and he rolls a 2 on the dice. 2 + 3 = 5. ---- S = Slashing damage

*The DM deducts 5 damage from the goblin's life and will often tell the players his status*

DM: "The goblin takes a cut from your greataxe and stumbes, he is looking bloodied but he is still standing"

A quick bit of details on some of the above Attack options

Disengage: When you move AWAY from a hostile creature they can use your hasty retreat to take their their reaction to make an "Attack of Opportunity" to get a free attack against you. If you use your action to disengage before moving away then you avoid such "Attacks of Opportunity"

Hide: When your character uses their action to hide they roll a Dexterity (Stealth) skill check and that is compared versus all other creatures Wisdom (perception) skill check (or passive perception). If you win, you're hidden. **This is a controversial topic for some people in D&D. I will only say....talk to your DM about how they do it before trying it out.**

Ready: When you use your action to "ready" you must specific two things:

1) Triggering event
2) Action (CANNOT include movement)

This will readied action will last until the START of your next turn. IF the triggering event occurs before that point then you IMMEDIATELY take your readied action. ((this uses your reaction...covered next)).

Example:

Player A: "When the door opens, i'm shooting the first goblin I see"
*Goblin 2 throws open the door and charges into the room*
Player A: "I take my readied action to shoot his ugly goblin ass*
*See attack action above for dice roll details*

We discussed in varying detail about the main two parts of a turn in combat. Movement & Action....now I want to go over the "special" options. These are options that don't occur every turn but they are often used for special features in combat.

*You only get 1 of these per round.....meaning between the end of your turn & the start of your next turn*

Bonus Action: These are things done faster than a normal action and are only allowed to be used if a special ability says you can. The image above details one such ability of the Fighter Class. Due to the often limited nature of these abilities they are used tactically rather than regularly.

Reaction: These are things done in response to a triggering event. For example if you used your action to ready an action, and the triggering event occurs, you use your reaction to do so ((See Ready above)).

Interaction: These are things that are so small they do not require any time worth measuring, such as; drawing a sword, opening a door, pulling a lever, scooping up a dropped weapon, etc. As long as you keep this limited to using one per turn then you will be good as gold.

That's all for today. I plan to make one of these per week at a minimum.....I'll hang around and answer questions in the comments for as long as I can ((5am EST)) and i'll get back on after sleeping and answer every question i see. If you have any questions you aren't comfortable asking in the comments please don't hesitate to send me a message directly.

Happy Gaming!!!

**Part 1: https://imgur.com/gallery/hLZjLJs
**Part 2: https://imgur.com/gallery/Elfe4Te
**Part 3: https://imgur.com/gallery/zhNy0Kb
**Part 4: https://imgur.com/gallery/bFtFFjT

**Part 5: https://imgur.com/gallery/ET6VJe0
**Part 6:https://imgur.com/gallery/0sISPSZ