D&D

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SkyStar14

Guest
Original poster
Greetings, people! So, a few friends and I are planning on a massive, weekend-long game of Dungeons and Dragons, and though we all know the general rules, none of us has ever actually played before. Therefore, I thought it might be helpful to ask for the advice of some experienced players, and who better to go to than fellow roleplayers? Anyways, if anyone wants to give a newbie a few tips, that'd be awesome!
 
Me and my friends have just recently gotten into playing DnD 5e specifically two weeks ago with me and a friend switching DM roles. We're still really new to this kind of thing, but I hope I can help you out!

If you could, what edition are you going to be playing?
 
I'm not really sure... pretty damn clueless what I'm doing with this game.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I say first thing first is that you figure out what edition you want to play, 5e has about the least amount of number crunching and the least amount of books that you could find online (legally or not notwithstanding). Alternatively, you could try a more rules-lite system. Make sure you have enough dice as well!

A general tip I should say however, is if you are the DM you should try to appeal to the players with what they want to do. If your friends like to kill things, do loadsa that and if they like role playing more you try to incorporate that more often. Not to say you should give up on the things you want, but if you can't get your player's attention it will be an uphill battle.
 
5e is an amazing starting point. It's nowhere near as rules-heavy as the ever-tried-and-true 3.5e, and the very popular Pathfinder. The rules are broad stated, so if you have a "stickler" in your group, you may have issues-- same if you have someone that likes to argue with a stickler-- but other than that, I really like D&D 5e, or D&D NEXT, or whatever they're calling it.


That said:

@Vay
@Grumpy
@Asmodeus
@Karsikan the Berzerker
@Fyrra
@Tribs
@CoffeeCake
@Moonlit Blade
@AnyoneelseIcan'tthinkof


Helps these li'l bruhs out. I'm sure you guys know moar than I do.
 
Last edited:
I have never played 5e.

My experience is 3, 3.5, pathfinder, and 4e.

Let's not talk about 4e.

I can say that http://donjon.bin.sh/ has some great tools though.
 
OH, in case you guys aren't aware of this:


http://roll20.net/


Is an amazing website. Play your campaign online! YAAASSS.
 
Play for silly, not serious. You'll have way more fun that way. Be a charismatic bard who makes traps. Roleplay things out. Make finger traps that can kill by sheer HP damage. Don't be an engineer, else things get really silly by abusing mechanics.

Have fun. Don't take anything seriously. Don't be shy about being bawdy or a little loud with your roleplay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dervish
I know a lot of the dice mechanics and how to make them do what you need, without those disgusting house rules.
 
Buy a 10 ft pole

Never split the party

Always check the ceiling

A room full of treasure and furniture is actually a mimic , a gelatinous cube, a Trapper , a stunjelly, and a Lurker Above

Don't trust a door with a lock
 
I learned a couple things over the years.

General rules:

- Don't take it too seriously. D&D is good fodder for laughs and as you progress later into the night things often start going overboard.
- Don't be too silly. Your characters odd fascination with 'defiling' things may be funny at first, but will quickly feel forced.
- If you are legal age in whatever place you currently reside, drink a little. It gets the role-play juices flowing.

As a player:

- Learn how to play the damn game. It's ok not to know every little nuanced rule but if you find yourself not knowing what AC means give the player's manual another read.
- Conversely, if a fellow player does not know a rule and you do, help him out. Try not to sound too condescending.
- Don't be impatient. Especially in larger groups, things take time.
- Do make plans and discuss tactics. Try to get everyone involved.
- Don't take forty-five minutes at every door and fork in the road discussing where/if/how/why you should go.

As a GM:

- Keep up the pace, if players are taking too long to complete a simple task (such as decide which hallway to go down) give a nudge in the right direction. Just to keep the game rolling.
- Be flexible. More likely than not the players are going to attach to a barrel of custard or something and treat it as the most important thing in the whole damn world. Just roll with it and take great pleasure when you force the players to eat their precious custard.
- Know the rules. More-so than the players you should know what the hell everything means. If you don't know a rule off the top of your head you should know where you can reference it.
- Screw the rules. When you have sufficiently mastered your system of choice you should start cutting rules that get in the way of a good role-playing experience or negatively affect pacing.
- Javelin's kill players, I don't know why but a group of orcs with pointy throwing sticks will down more players than a dragon ever will.
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Gwazi Magnum and Brovo
to add to @Snaketoof 's list

As a player:

-Derail the storyline! Asymmetric thinking and out of the box plans is half the fun of dungeon crawling. If its crazy, it JUST MIGHT WORK.


As a GM:

-Let the players derail the storyline! Don't fall into the mistake of having this elaborate step-by-step story. Have a starting point and an ending point...and let your group figure out the details in between. You'd be surprised how much harder players make it on themselves (and therefore, funnier) when they end up going off the rails. But everyone ends up having a good time and the players end up with just as much creative input into the game as you do.

-Let the players find the Head of Vecna.

-Let the players fight a gazebo.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: Valentyne
Windsong said:
Play for silly, not serious. You'll have way more fun that way. Be a charismatic bard who makes traps. Roleplay things out. Make finger traps that can kill by sheer HP damage. Don't be an engineer, else things get really silly by abusing mechanics.

Have fun. Don't take anything seriously. Don't be shy about being bawdy or a little loud with your roleplay.
Click to expand...

All of this. The first time I played, I started a bar fight in the starting town to act as a distraction, tipped an outhouse over one of my companions was hiding in, convinced the guards who came after us for robbing and hog tying the blacksmith we were representatives of the king, spat on the douchebag carriage driver's fare, pissed on a goblin, making it lose it's grip and falling on a bed of spikes, and other jackass like things while channeling Gaston as an inspiration. It was awesome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Windsong
Thanks so much for all the help, everyone, as well as for the very brilliant and comical tales of you own experiences! Definitely gonna use a lot of those suggestion! :D
 
Windsong said:
Play for silly, not serious. You'll have way more fun that way. Be a charismatic bard who makes traps. Roleplay things out. Make finger traps that can kill by sheer HP damage. Don't be an engineer, else things get really silly by abusing mechanics.

Have fun. Don't take anything seriously. Don't be shy about being bawdy or a little loud with your roleplay.
Click to expand...


speaking of engineers....

decanter of endless water + water wheel and gear system = instant ecofriendly engine
 
Razilin said:
speaking of engineers....

decanter of endless water + water wheel and gear system = instant ecofriendly engine
Click to expand...
Peasant rail gun.
Arrow that fires a rolled up portable hole into a bag of holding.
Anything involving bags of holding.
Abusing crafting to create a magnetic toothpick that sticks to armor and repeatedly pokes for exactly 1 damage multiple times a second.
Anything involving an endless anything.
Being a necromancer that destroys a nations economy by using skeletons as free labor.
Being a black smith who trains rust monsters to hunt adventures for repeat business.
Being a merchant at all.
Half aasimar/half celestial paladin/sorcerer with golden armor and a giant claw for an hand with a laurel made of psion stones.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Razilin
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back