Can anyone explain to me how to play D&D?

[peelsdeeni]

I've been meaning to learn ho to play D&D for a long time but I just, uhh, didn't have the time(also procrastinated).

I was looking at a few tutorials on YouTube but I just got more confused. i learned a little bit from JoCat's vids but it was mostly just memes. all I know is knowledge gained from copious amounts of manga, anime, rpgs, mmorpgs, and anime.

Basically, please assume I know next to nothing on how to play dnd.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

There’s a boss dude, the game master who does prompt stuff and will screw over the crew and create conflict, and the crew of players ought to act against this with dice rolls which determine the success of their actions

 

[Amok]

attain a player's manual and read up on basics. go to discord servers and observe a game or join right in.
Bard's Lore is a decent server for beginners, should be able to find 'em on disboard. Other servers as well, tho not any I have recently been part of that I know are beginner-friendly.
Create a dndbeyond acc, easiest way to creat a char without ken(on the server itself there'll be a guide as to how to create, as well as links)
Roll20 may seem complex, but if the server combines avrae rolls with R20 it's easier to get into imo.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

I've been meaning to learn ho to play D&D for a long time but I just, uhh, didn't have the time(also procrastinated).

I was looking at a few tutorials on YouTube but I just got more confused. i learned a little bit from JoCat's vids but it was mostly just memes. all I know is knowledge gained from copious amounts of manga, anime, rpgs, mmorpgs, and anime.

Basically, please assume I know next to nothing on how to play dnd.

Thanks in advance.

pick a class, roll the dice for an action, and if you roll nat 20 you get to fuck anything you want

 

[DarkeReises]

Roll dice to determine the fate of your entire party, cause god knows one fuck up means a party wipe.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Roll dice to determine the fate of your entire party, cause god knows one fuck up means a party wipe.

I remember this exact thing happening because i killed an npc that was important later down the line by swinging them around as a club at a monster because my weapon broke

 

[DarkeReises]

I remember this exact thing happening because i killed an npc that was important later down the line by swinging them around as a club at a monster because my weapon broke

Understandable.

 

[peelsdeeni]

I remember this exact thing happening because i killed an npc that was important later down the line by swinging them around as a club at a monster because my weapon broke

Understandable.

I-
This stuff happens?
What sort of power does the DM have?

 

[DarkeReises]

I-
This stuff happens?
What sort of power does the DM have?

the DM is essentially God. The God. Like, their words have to be taken as gospel. If they tell you you can't do something, then you can't. Though if they refuse to allow you to do anything that goes against their plot, that's just boring. A DM has to expect the unexpected and prepare for the players doing whatever the fuck they want, as it is the player's responsibilities to deal with the consequences of their actions, and the DM's responsibilities to design those consequences, within logic... sometimes.

 

[Agentt]

It requires friends.

 

[Amok]

I-
This stuff happens?
What sort of power does the DM have?

DM creates the mileu and chooses how it interacts with the players, how it reacts to their actions. They also set the scene with prose, and at times with music/sounds/imagery.

Some games can have no combat at all and rather be RP sessions, or peaceful explorations.
Basically the DM controls actions of monsters in combat, and can make players do saves and checks depending on scenario: Constitution save if poisoned, Perception check if studying a door or if walking into an ambush, animal handling check if trying to mount a lizard, strength save if trying to lift a boulder from one's body etc.

I've only played two one-shots, so pretty much a beginner, and I'll say it all makes sense once you play. Getting into an oline RP only session can be a great way to get familiar with grid movement, actions, turns etc.

 

[Zirrboy]

You start with a set. It has descriptions of creatures, places, items etc, as well as core game rules (such as "Healing type spells don't work on undead" or "medium sized humanoids can ride horses")

From there, the GM thinks up a campaign. Usually that is to fight a certain monster or find some item, but anything is possible.
For the rest of the game, they're the one who decides anything not dictated by the set rules.

As the players decide on their characters, the GM decides if any traits/combinations are too overpowered.

During the game, you cycle through rounds.
The DM gives a brief description of their surroundings ("you're in a dark hallway with one bright exit"), the players ask more specific questions ("is there anything on the floor in front of the exit?") and announce their actions ("jump over the pressure plate to reach the door")

Then the GM assesses the feasibility of their choices and assigns dice results (">10: You safely jump over; >4: you make it across, but trigger the trap, separating you from your party . <=4, You fall face first onto the trapped tile, taking full damage")
And, as Amok has mentioned, control any NPC agents.

The campaign ends if either the goal is reached or all players are dead/incapacitated

 

[Agentt]

Rolling a 20 is a meme, kinda.
Every action you take requires a range to be rolled.

If you are level 10, and encounter a level 1 goblin, the range is probably gonna be something like
Roll anything other than 1, and you win.

If you are level 1, and encounter a level 10 goblin, the range is gonna be something like
Roll a number higher than 18(there are only 20 faces)

Rolling a 20 allows you to do whatever you want. You can ask a volcano to fuck off, and it will indeed, fuck off

 

[DarkeReises]

It requires friends.

Told her that myself, I think she cried.

 

[owotrucked]

What edition of D&D?

You need to buy the edition of 'player's handbook' and have friends. At least one of them need the 'dungeon master book' and 'bestiary'

 

[DarkeReises]

Rolling a 20 is a meme, kinda.
Every action you take requires a range to be rolled.

If you are level 10, and encounter a level 1 goblin, the range is probably gonna be something like
Roll anything other than 1, and you win.

If you are level 1, and encounter a level 10 goblin, the range is gonna be something like
Roll a number higher than 18(there are only 20 faces)

Rolling a 20 allows you to do whatever you want. You can ask a volcano to fuck off, and it will indeed, fuck off

Well, no... That's not how it works.
We'll go with your example of a goblin.

When attacking them, you roll a d20, and you have to beat the Goblin's armor class(AC), which is 15. Meaning your d20 roll has to be 15 or higher. If you get a success, that means your attack hits, and now you roll for damage. What changes based on class and level, is your own bonus to your d20 rolls to hit them, as well as the damage you can deal in a single successful hit. Meaning a level 10 player character can theoretically miss every hit on a goblin, while the goblin can get 20s on their roll every time, meaning they crit and roll twice the amount of dice when you roll for damage(Meaning if you were to roll 2 d4s normally, you'd now roll 4 d4s.). Basically, having a higher level only greatly increases the chance of getting successful rolls, since your bonuses are higher, and you're likely to kill them in a single hit. Not to mention magic-casting classes have access to better spells that pretty much guarantee a hit and can instakill lower-level mobs.

Anyways, d20s are great on attack rolls and all, but it's when they're gained on ability checks(when you do an action and need to roll for it based on a list of skills, such as athletics, history, arcana, survival, etc.) and great things happen. For example, seducing a dragon.

 

[Echimera]

The best entry into TTRPGs (both in general and for completely new systems) is probably a dedicated beginers game with an experienced DM that is prepared to teach a bunch of newbies.

Maybe look for that on roll20 or a similar site.

Also, unlike what the memes would have you beliebe, dice rolls are only a small part of the game.

 

[Southdog]

Find the nearest sweaty gamer joint you can, a dice ranging in size from 4 to 20 sides in increments of 2 (skipping 14, 16 and 18), and waste four years of your life on DnD.

 

[Maldon]

It's basically just like any normal rp sesion if you've ever done that, but you also follow certain rules and roll dice to know the outcome of an action you took.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

I-
This stuff happens?
What sort of power does the DM have?

nothing and everything