Dungeons & Dragons Lite?

TheBana

Me and my housemate want to try DnD. I'm pretty certain I'll enjoy it and she does seem very keen but her attention span is known to be terrible. If we both enjoy it we plan on having regular DnD nights with a couple more friends but this is more about trying out the game before we commit to buying the core rulebooks etc.

Currently we know no-one who plays and want to test the waters so to speak. Is there a 'light' ruleset (or a game very similar) which can be found online so we can attempt to play a basic version so I'm sure she'll like the game before shelling out for the kit?

PotatoNinja

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/TryDnD.aspx

Best of luck.

Terrendos

4E is probably the most newbie-friendly version of Dungeons and Dragons available, and you can download a trial module and character sheets for absolutely free right here.

On that site you can also snag a demo of the Character Builder, which is fantastic and does all the "hard" (none of it is really that hard) work and number-crunching for you.

TheBana

That's perfect, thanks.

Hopefully she'll like our intro to DnD and we can get some games nights going on. We'll be using salt and pepper shaker characters to start with though

PotatoNinja

As an FYI, the game is meant to be played with a group of about four to six people, so doing it with just two might feel a little weird. You'll still get a feel for what the game entails, but the group dynamic will not be present. Imagine playing Monopoly or Poker with just two people: Perfectly possible by the rules of the game, but you do miss out on part of the experience. Just keep that in mind.

TheBana

Yeah, I thought as much. I've played DnD based games (such as Baldur's Gate 2 etc) and figure in real DnD you'll get the same benefit from having a varied party of characters for balance and banter's sake.

I just want to make sure she understands what the game entails though before forking out for the books and stuff. I know what she's like...

DarkPrimus

On Wizard's D&D website, they have a search bar so you can locate local game stores. Most stores should have a dedicated D&D night, and you can go in and try it out with an experienced DM. I got my first experience with D&D on one of the "Delve" nights and pretty soon I was playing regularly there.

TheBana

DarkPrimus wrote: »

On Wizard's D&D website, they have a search bar so you can locate local game stores. Most stores should have a dedicated D&D night, and you can go in and try it out with an experienced DM. I got my first experience with D&D on one of the "Delve" nights and pretty soon I was playing regularly there.

Unfortunately I'm in the UK and there aren't any results in the country according to that locator.

I found an East Midlands DnD forum and they have regular nights at a pub around the corner from me. Now to convince them to let me tag along for an introduction at some point which doesn't interfere with their regular games.

bash

The lightest rules you'll probably come across are the Microlite rules. These aren't official WoTC rules but they are pretty much 100% compatible with 3rd Edition D&D. That page is to a really good print-out of the rules. It's really simple to get started and to actually play since there's not a lot of miscellaneous bits. It also segues wells into full fledged 3E D&D since the rules are a contraction of the 3E rules and compatible with them.