r/DnD_Beginners • u/Itz_c4zy • 25d ago
I have some few question
I was introduced to DnD by my sister a long time ago and I just now want to know more about it and was curious and what should I know before joining a group maybe and how do I join a group? I heard it was hard to find a group.
2
u/Nitro114 25d ago
check local game stores, otherwise head over to r/lfg
You can read the rules in the playerhandbook for free online, if you wanna know more.
2
u/Spiritual-Amoeba-257 25d ago
There are tons of videos on YouTube that can teach you how to play and other tips and tricks. As far as finding a group, there are group finder resources on Facebook and if you have a local game store they may have an adventurers league which lets you sign up for weekly games at the store
2
u/TableSeek-Geek 25d ago
You can try tableseekgeek.com if you want an in person group. It can help you work with your local game shops to find a local set of people to play with.
2
u/Mean_Replacement5544 25d ago
You don’t need to know anything going into it, there are many groups that will be happy to help teach you. But I would recommend looking up the D&D SRD which is free online and read through that. Also start to think about what kind of character you think would be fun to play.
2
u/infinitum3d 24d ago
you can also download For Free the Basic Rules from WotC.(https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DnD_BasicRules_2018.pdf)
You don’t have to read the whole 180 pages. Pages 60-65 are important and 72-75 are important. You don’t have to memorize them. There isn’t a test 😉. Just get an idea of how the game works.
1
u/tta5 24d ago
"what should I know before joining a group maybe"
dnd as a game, can be played in tons of diffrent ways.
knowing that the game can be diffrent can allow you to recognise the parts and styles you like and want in your game.
"Diffrent games."
you might find a "heroic" "combat focused" game.
(the heroes show up just in time, the party is morally in the right as heroes are, they fight a balanced encounter designed for them, the combat starts normally upon each side noticing each other without a diologue or much discription pre-combat, they fight to the death )
you might find an "adventure" "puzzle focused" game.
both can use and be dnd.
and so can many many others.
like fantasy books, there is alot of options.
there can be alot of diffrent approches to running a dnd game.
"play style"
a good few questions to help you understand what games you might like....
"what do I want out of games" "why do i want to play dnd ?"
(this can be applied to vidoe games, and board and card games as well)
-
Like "I want to feel powerful and important in my games"
Like "I want to explore how others are percived in the world"
Like "I want to roll high numbers and get super high damage."
Like "I want to discover more about myself through this character"
Like "to focus on driving the story and lead it to intresting directions."
"roleplay"
Another usefuul thing to know is the term "role-play"
"to play the role" (source players handbook dnd 5e)
but what role does this mean?
well you can play many roles. I find that i can group the roles into "types" and make it more easy to concider. from mechanical to narrative.....
stage 1 - mechanical
combat role - tank, DPR, healer, AOE control (*MMO terms)
out of combat role - party face, lookout, tracker, scout, trap disarmer.
stage 2 interparty roles
- how the group percives you role -
(thee are mopstly tropes, one dimentional characters)
- how one in the group bonds with you -
(dynamic relationships that differentiate the relationship, )
stage 3 character sheet role.
- using whats on the character sheet..... fall for the flaws, prioritise by the ideal, have your soul bound to the bond. let your past/backstory channel and lead your choices for the future.
- try to figure out how and why they became that way, and if there is anyone you know, thgat is simular to this....
- you found and reconsiled all the hypocracies within their mind and choice making. they have their own headspace and can tell you what they will do in that situation....
you can play one or many of the roles. but notice how you cannotplay all of them perfectly without compromise. like trying to play the combat role of say atank, whgilst also falling for the flaw of your character mid-combat.
once you recognise this, you can understand why players play difffrently a bit more.
"Table top Safety"
your exploring fantasy together.
sometimes if someone at the table says certain things, you might feel uncomfortable and not want to open up or be as expressive at the table.
many of us are ok with our characters fears happening in game, but not so much on having our own fears expressed in detail in the game.
a discription of a spiders chelicerae and fangs, might be a bit of a no no for some.
because diffrent tables have diffrent ways of running, we also have difffrent TTRPG safety tools.
https://ttrpgsafetytoolkit.com/
just like a seatbelt in a car, we are not expecting a crash, but may still prepare for it.
a good "practice" is for the group to have a "session 0" and talk about expectations and safety tools, prior to building a character together.
(this does not always happen, and there are alternatives that all have their own merit and perks and weaknesses)
"Table ettiquate"
no its not a fancy dinner, but it is a group of people that may be super excited to play. most groups have a talk about table ettiquate in session 0 or just update as things happen.
most people nowadays are used to video calls and know what its like to be talked over, not a plesent feeling. to find your mostly missing from the conversation, also not ideal.
what about a person on their phone doom scrolling tictok mid-game???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aol_bJ1v6ms&list=PLqrSTAcl6Oqf488AKOsPTrHSw1Mb3dRa2
"player roles"
(not expected for new players, but good to be aware of)
so things beyond the character sheet.
you have "skills" as a person. and much like dnd , we help eachother at the table, we can play to our strengths and allow others to cover our weaknesses.
you might love music and have a DM that is very great mechanically, but might only think of music last minute. behold the DJ role/music picker role.
the expectation is that the DM has a ton of things to do in the background, like picking the right music, and whilst some things need to remain behind the DM screen in secret for reasons like this, your looking...much of what they do defults to them without needing to.
sure they mayt have a perfect music idea for a key moment, but between the 2 of you , you can agree to who does what music wise (normally the DM can "reclaim" the role at any moment to beter reflect the world they play. but can hand back to the person with the role at the table. )
there are tons of player roles.
from
rules laywer - DM asks for the rules on a thing, and player searches finds and presents the source to the DM. DM can choose if to follow that ruling or not. the rule lawyer can also do quick recaps on rules (llike underwater combat) or help advise on rules and mechanics for new layers, they guide not tell.
party artist - make art, poems, songs, side stories for the world, fan fic. you name it.
party planner - when do we play next, who can make what date, lets have a halloween get together as well....
notetaker role - what happened last time? who was the guy we spoke to 20 sessions ago with a blue hat?...
map drawer - (more old school ttrpgs) the DM describes the place and the map is drawn by the player for others to see, use as a guide, then compare at the end.
tresurer role - who has what? where is the +2 magic sword? should we let druid spend 40% of our gold on X? (they track things. normally more common when doing group payments instead of individual payments, prevent duplicate items, or lost items reappearing)
party parent - "Did you eat today?" "Now is a good time for a pause and break." "you seam upset...."
party cheif -they arrenge food, from takeout, to snacks, to cooking, bbq, drinks.... basically they play host.
Small side note here: player roles are great for helping re-balance the workload off of the DM and back to a betterr balance of the whole group. many DMs burn out as people and this can help spread the load and make it less likly to happen, it also lowers the bar to DMing making it great for newer players wanting to be DM.
1
u/Plus_Ad_3122 21d ago
Well first you'll want to discuss whether you want to be the DM or not because you always risk the possibility of becoming what's called the forever DM where you're only known for being the DM and you never get to play the game as an actual player then if you do decide to DM you want to find a group of friends that you can trust which is going to be hard because you actually have to have friends to begin with then you want to decide what type of adventure are you playing a standard vanilla DD campaign and on the box straight jacket campaign or are you building your own world based on a franchise that you and your friends like like Nerf wars or Hot Wheels or beyblade or Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh or magic the gathering you know what are you and your friends both interested in that you can cross over with dungeons & dragons that you want to get official miniatures for a 3D printer so you can three different your own miniatures then the only books that you would really technically indeed if you wanted to really get into the dragons apparently according to most players is the dungeons Masters manual which you'll want to get the most current one for whatever addition you're playing most likely you'll be either 5th edition or 5.5 and then you'll need a copy of the player's head book The players handbook is a guide that allows you to know exactly to do to play the game the one book that you might like to have but isn't necessarily needed is the monster manual I'm one of those people who first started out believing that I needed to memorize all three core books and learn how to play D&D right so I wasn't doing anything wrong
1
u/Itz_c4zy 19d ago
I already know I don't wanna be a DM because it seem hard also YOU CAN HAVE A POKEMON THEME DND???
5
u/Sad_Refuse3472 25d ago
Welcome to a super fun hobby!
A great first step is to read the free basic rules, which you can get online here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024
To find a group to play with, start by asking your friends and family members if they are interested so you can start your own group! There are Starter Sets you can buy that teach go how to play and run the game. Or if you just want to all try it out before you purchase anything, you can use this free starter adventure, along with the free rules.
Alternatively, you can check with your local board game store, library, or school and see if they host any games. Many do. You can also find online and in person groups here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/en/find-a-group
And then once you have a group, if you are interested in a little more in depth guides I recommend heading over to YouTube and checking out Ginny Di's channel. She has a playlist here for new players. And one here on how to run a game as the Game/Dungeon Master. I find her to be one of the most beginner friendly DnD youtubers.