D&D (5e) Basics! The General Stuff!

I made two posts for y’all, the general stuff and the technical stuff. This is the general stuff. If you don’t feel like dealing with all the nitty gritty, then you can get started here to decide if you wanna read the other post or skip it.

Here's a link to the technical sister-post: http://imgur.com/a/Zm9Oq

Lets get down to business!

This is an extremely common question, and completely understandable. You want to play, but where the hell does one jump in? Well, you should probably start with finding a game.

Do you want to play online, or in person? Here’s the pros and cons:

Online:
Pros: Easy to go to sessions, easy to find sessions, lots of tools on most platforms, potentially no startup costs
Cons: Communication can be difficult, you don’t get to physically roll dice!! There’s lots of random people, you never know what you’re going to get

In person:
Pros: Dice! They’re fun to roll, you get to hang out with friends, you can borrow fellow player’s books, communication goes a lot easier in my opinion, and you get to throw things at each other!
Cons: You might want/need to buy your own books, it’s a bit harder to dedicate the time if you have to go somewhere, it can make new players a bit nervous (but it shouldn’t, we’re a nice community)

Okay, so if you’re new, make sure to specifically look for a game that welcomes new players. Most in-person games do, but some online groups don’t want the added hassle of teaching new players, since it can be a bit harder over skype.

If you want to play online I suggest roll20.net. There are a few other resources, but this one is by far the best. It simulates the sheets, the dice rolls, the maps, etc. It’s pretty fun, especially when used in tandem with a voice/video chat service (it has its own, but it’s kinda crappy). There’s also a group called Dungeons & Downvotes on Imgur, but I know just about fuck all about it.

If you want to play in person, which I suggest, finding a game usually is easiest if you just call up your local game/card/comic shops and ask them if they have any games with open slots. They usually have a game night for tabletop games, maybe more than one. They’ll usually either just tell you to show up one day and see if you can join, or they might take your number and give it to the DM so you can speak with them. If that happens, you might want to ask what kind of characters they need so you know what to roll.

Speaking of making character...

There’s a really wide range of characters you could play. Do you want be the charismatic rogue with a silver tongue and a habit of exploring other people’s pockets? Or maybe the staunch and stalwart paladin, fighting for the principals of your deity? Or maybe the mysterious monk, able to defeat foes with nothing more than your feet, fists, and a wooden staff? You’ll need to choose a class, which determines how you fight, and then a race, which determines your physical appearance as well as factoring into a lot of your character’s personality. Their alignment is next and will greatly hone in on your character’s character (I made a pun, cue laughter please). Take a look at this: http://imgur.com/gallery/rNCWlT5. Finally, a background lends to character development. There are lots of online resources, I like Dawncast Forge on Youtube, and I go over this in more detail in my technical post.

Now I personally love the roleplay aspect of D&D, and so I really enjoy getting into character. I’ll go over a bit with you the development of one my characters that I used very briefly while I wasn’t DMing. I made Kiljourna, the neutral good Dwarven Cleric. I figured out her class and race, gave her a name, and then got to work on her personality. I like to slip into character before I actually play, kind of run through their background as them, get to know who they are and flesh out their behavior a bit. And then once you actually start to play you get to know them a lot better! I hadn’t planned on it, but Kili is a complete goofball who is actually quite the clever liar who will deceive people to protect those she sees as in need. She also chews on leaves constantly and pretends they get her wildly high even though they’re completely mundane, but we’re not gonna get into that.

Just remember here that player and character are two totally different things. I am the player AndreLeePottsMadHatter, the human who likes rainy days and rolling dice. The character Kiljourna is the Dwarven Cleric who likes leaves and protecting the weak.

We’ve all heard the stories of vengeful DM’s killing characters out of wrath, but maybe we, as players, won’t understand why. I, as a DM, never kill characters out of spite like this, if you die, it’s because you’ve made a bad move, didn’t plan well, or just couldn’t quite stand up to the challenges, but not all DM’s play the way I do.

So the first and most common way to piss off a DM is to try to rules-lawyer them. This is when you try to prove the DM wrong when they’ve made a decision. Now DM’s make mistakes! It happens! We know it, it’s no big, and the good ones don’t mind if you point it out. But if they overrule you and you persist that is rules lawyering. Want me to require an Acrobatics check instead of an Athletics check to climb a wall? Sure, bring it up. But no, I don’t agree with that, Acrobatics is more for getting down without hurting yourself. If you drop it right there and concede, we’re all good, but persisting is not going to get you your way, it’s just going to upset the DM. One of the very important rules of D&D says that when the rules and the Dungeon Master conflict, the rules are wrong. This is critical as it allows for a lot of customization (house rules and general tomfoolery), but also means that rules lawyering can cause problems. Of course, if you don’t like how much the DM bends the rules, maybe their game isn’t for you! We all know that our games aren’t right for everybody. I personally like to stick to the rules for the most part, but sometimes the Rule of Cool is just too strong to overcome, and I have a few house rules.

Another good way to rub people the wrong way is to attack your party members. Just… don’t do this. No one wants to have to deal with party conflict. The character may be pissing yours off, but if you try this it starts as “I hit you!” “No you didn’t!” and, at best, ends in turn-based combat which is a pain for everybody. If your characters like each other then maybe a little friendly tripping or tackling is okay, it only requires one contested skill check (you both roll skill checks and the higher roll wins), but if the DM has to ask for initiative she’s gonna be really annoyed, as are the other players.

One of the more obnoxious ways is to be the lawful boring character. Oh no! We can’t go into that tunnel! There’s a keep out sign! Someone was murdered? We should leave it up to the city guard. I would never talk to a ghost, my god abhors the undead! It just blocks everyone else from having fun, including you! Of course it’s possible to play lawful characters and have fun! But I would say a beginner might want to go for a Neutral Good or True Neutral character until they get a good grasp on the roleplay. PS. Playing an Evil character is extremely tricky, but can be very fun if done right.

If you find a good DM they’ll help you along as you’re getting used to playing. I have a few steps to try to bring to heel a player who’s causing problems. First comes the silent “Get yourself in line” look, a little eyebrow raise and a slight frown. If you don’t get that hint, I’ll wait until everyone else is talking I’ll look you in the eyes and tell you to stop doing whatever it is you’re doing, verbally letting you know you’re fucking up without embarrassing you. After trying that a few times I’ll interrupt your bullshit and tell you to stop, which will inevitably get everyone’s attention. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to have a chat away from the table about why your actions are causing problems and how we can correct them. I extremely rarely get past step 2. The only instances I can remember involve players insulting other players, making out of line comments about other players, or insistantly trash talking me.

Here’s where D&D captured my heart. You can do WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANNA DO! This can be hard to grasp after the confines of video games, but seriously, there’s an open world for you to explore, countless NPC’s to talk to, conversations to have, quests to take on. Keep in mind the tips for not pissing off your party from above, but within those guidelines, the sky is the limit. Want to flirt with the barmaid? Okidoki. I mean, she’s a half-orc who’s missing one ear and a few fingers, but you get your freak on, hon. Want to have a drinking contest with your party members? Alright, everyone roll constitution saving throws! Want to beast-shape into a fish in the middle of the tavern? Hey man, whatever.

May I suggest, if you’re a little lost when you start, join up with your party and just tag along for a session or two, hit the things they’re hitting, tag along into the dungeons they’re exploring, sleep in the bed they’re… wait, no, not that thing. Sleep in your own bed. You’ll wrap your head around it after a bit.

If you want to read the posts with fun stories, here are the links!
1: http://imgur.com/a/Qb1P7
2: http://imgur.com/a/gzIyl