How to even get started with D&D

Klipsched

Hello everyone,

I'm making a new thread for this because I've looked everywhere and could not find an informative source for what I want to know outside of buying books like D&D for Dummies. Being a long time reader and fan of Penny Arcade, my interest in getting into D&D has become peaked thanks to Jerry, Mike, and that last PATV video. It just looks like fun. My problem? I don't even know how to get started! Should I buy the starter kit? The one that costs about $20 that will get me up and playing quickly or should I invest in the Player's Handbook and the other two books that most people recommend?

I downloaded the character creator last night from Wizards and have been playing around with it as I understand you make make a play ready and legal character with it. Also, I've been doing some checking in my local area and there really aren't a lot of places (one, actually) that host games. I went to the store while there was a game going on just to scope it out but the players were all arguing amongst one another which didn't leave me with the impression that I would enjoy playing with these guys very much. This brings me to my next question. How do I get into playing over the internet?

Please keep in mind that I am totally new to all of this and have little understanding so explaining things would help a lot. Thanks a lot, and I hope to get some guidance here.

Farangu

One of us...one of us...

I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard that the starter kit is a good...starter. If you can find what it says in there fun, then you should be good to go with getting the core books.

Also, good luck trying to find a random group of people to play with that you will actually enjoy the experience(Outside of here, of course.) Your best bet for a Real-Life group would be to start talking to existing friends, and sway them to try it with you. Over the internet there are a couple of options; doing a play-by-post game on a forum, Maptools can host games...but for a first timer, you're really going to get the best experience sitting around a table with friends.

Incenjucar

Hi! The main D&D thread is here and the OP is chock full of information: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=120499

If you're looking for people to play with, your best bets are:
http://www.meetup.com/
http://ww2.wizards.com/StoreAndEventLocator/
http://www.enworld.org/forum/gamers-seeking-gamers/

For online gaming, there are a number of tools, including:
http://rptools.net/
http://www.obsidianportal.com/

For getting started, free downloads!:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/TryDnD.aspx

Hope that helps!

As for books, the Essentials line is coming out, which is the updated and clarified rules. There have been a LOT of changes in the core books over the years.

SkyCaptain

There's always going to be arguments. It's just the nature of the rules-heavy game. You might give them a second chance and see if they'll give you a chance to play.

Kingbuff

Hey,
I've started recently myself and I'm playing in 2 PbP campaigns. If you want to get a feel of it, check out the podcasts by the Robot Chicken crew. 25 clips of 8-9 mins of new people playing DnD, getting a feel of it and having fun. It's on Youtube somewhere. I toyed around with the DDI builder a lot and made some chars to play with, etc. The Wizards site has a lot of free stuff to check out and learn the basics.
And if you need another player in a new campaign, I'm your man

Caddywumpus

Hey, guys. I'm in a pretty similar situation to you, Klipsched. I just started looking for over-the-internet games on this website:

http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/

Also, in response to Kingbuff and Klipsched, I'd also be up for a new campaign, with fellow newbies or otherwise. I'd request that we use a virtual over-the-internet tabletop and Ventrilo though, instead of PbP, but PbP would work too.