Dungeons and Dragons
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Intro/Dungeon Master

Ahh, so you plan to learn the ancient --well relatively old at least-- art of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS (D&D)! You have come to the right place young one, or maybe you are an old person, how the heck should I know? But hey, you are young when it comes to knowledge about D&D. D&D is a role-playing game. No, it is not a computer game, or a board game, it is an in-your-mind game. This means that there are three kinds of characters in this game. First, the Dungeon Master (DM). The DM is the main guy in D&D. If you are just learning to play, it is definitely a good idea to get an experienced player to be the DM. The DM makes up your surroundings. The world, dungeons, geography, population, monsters, everything.

 For example: a DM might start off a game by saying "You adventurers are gathered together around a table in a crowded inn. The inn, located in the bustling city of Tarrns, is the most popular place for meeting friends, getting drinks, eating, and finding a place to sleep if you need it. Suddenly, a man bursts through the door screaming 'Goblins! An entire hoard of them! They're attacking the city and--' The man falls forward, a small arrow sticking out of his back. The entire inn goes up in immediate chaos, and is soon empty except for a few passed-out drunks and you. What do you do?" It is the DM's job to create an interesting, detailed fantasy world for the adventurers to travel through. A DM needs three books to get a good game going: The Dungeon Master's Guide, The Monster Manual, the Player's Handbook, and d20 system dice. The Dungeon Master's Guide is not actually essential, but it helps out enormously for a new DM trying to learn the job. To become a DM, one should first be a player and have an experienced DM for a good amount of time, read a lot of fantasy books, and at least skim through the Dungeon Master's Guide.

^A Dungeon Master creating his world^

(No you don't actually have to make volcanoes rise from the ground and dragons burst forth into existence, but have good descriptions of events, places, and creatures!)

 

Players

 

The majority of the people playing the D&D game are the players. They each make up their own characters for the game, and can customize them however they want, with the DM's approval. Most beginning players should just use the classes, spells, skills, feats, and other rules provided in the Player's Handbook. If you need help creating a character, you can generally ask your DM or another experienced player, but if you read the Player's Handbook carefully enough, you can usually work out your problem. The basic steps for creating your character are:

  1. Pick your class, alignment, and race.

  2. Roll ability scores, add/subtract racial modifiers.

  3. Record racial traits in the Feats/Abilities section of the character sheet.

  4. Choose starting level and second/third/etc. class if applicable (First-timers should start at level one and not worry about multiclassing for a few levels.)

  5. Record class abilities, base bonuses, and spells per day and known if applicable.

  6. Choose and record equipment, and record any bonuses provided by equipment (First-timers should probably go with the starting package provided for your class at the end of the class description in the Player's Handbook.)

  7. Choose skills and ranks in each skill (Once again, first-timers should go with what's in the starting package.)

  8. Chooses feats (First-timers, starting package.)

  9. Add up attack bonuses, armor class, saving throws, and roll hit points. (Most DM's will allow you to take maximum possible hit points at first level.)

  10. Make up your character's brief history, develop his/her personality (should reflect ability scores), etc., and if desired, draw a character portrait.

 

FINAL NOTE

D&D IS A GAME. IT IS NOT REAL LIFE. UNFORTUNATE AS IT MAY BE, DRAGONS AND ELVES REALLY DON'T EXIST IN THE REAL WORLD. DO NOT HELP GIVE THIS GAME A BAD REPUTATION. REMEMBER THAT YOU DO HAVE A LIFE OTHER THAN THAT OF YOUR D&D CHARACTER, AND IF YOUR REAL LIFE SUCKS, YOU HAVE TO LIVE IT ANYWAY, SO TRY AND MAKE IT BETTER. THE REST OF THE REAL WORLD DOES NOT LIKE YOU TO BECOME COMPLETELY OBSESSED WITH FANTASY AND FORGET TO DO REAL THINGS. THE HONEST PLAYERS OF D&D IMPLORE YOU, DO NOT MAKE OUR LIVES WORSE BY GIVING THIS GAME BAD CONNECTIONS JUST BECAUSE YOUR REAL LIFE ISN'T EXACTLY THE WAY YOU WANT IT. IT IS YOUR LIFE. DEAL WITH IT.

~THANK YOU!~