What do I all need for D&D?
Cowboy Bebop
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So after all the hype I thought it would be intresting to see what D&D was like.The only problem is that I'm not 100% sure of all the books I/my group need to start playing.
Player's Handbook
Monster Manual
Dungeon Master's Guide
Are the books I think we all need,so if someone could confirm I have all that we really need that would be great.
Player's Handbook
Monster Manual
Dungeon Master's Guide
Are the books I think we all need,so if someone could confirm I have all that we really need that would be great.
Cowboy Bebop on
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Posts
Character creation will go much faster if everyone has a copy of the PHB, because otherwise you can only really do one character at a time.
Physical Materials
* Set of D&D Books
* One set of polyhedral dice per person (d4, a couple d6s, d8, 2d10, d12 and d20)
* Battle Grid (Combat tool that lets you visualize what's going on. Hobby stores sell vinyl mats that you can draw on with wet erase markers for optimal experience. You can also use graph paper or whatever else makes sense)
* Minis, Standees, Tokens, Etc (For representing characters and monsters on the battle grid)
* Paper, Pencils, Snacks and some good mood music - To Taste.
You'll need something that functions as a battle grid (square tactical grid to represent battles like a Strategy RPG). Hobby stores sell excellent wet-erase marker friendly vinyl mats that serve this purpose well. You'll also need something to represent the characters on this grid.
You don't all need all 3 books. Your group will probably need one DMG and one MM. Then for PHB's, you can get away with one, but the more the better. I'd say shoot for at least 1 per every 2 people in the group, minimum 3. Since 4th just came out, make sure you all get the same books. Doesn't really matter which edition you use, but the new one definitely seems newcomer friendly. If you're all starting from scratch and don't have any experienced players to DM, you might want to start with a pre published adventure, where Wizards has done all the work of dungeon design, plot, and monsters for you.
Then there is the obvious stuff, dice (7 die sets - d4, d6, d8, d10, d10 numbered with 10's, d12, d20) - one set per person. Pencils. Paper/character sheets.
Optional but really helpful: "battle mat" or large grid paper (1 inch squares) for combat, along with something to represent characters and monsters. Mini's are useful here, but not strictly necessary if you don't have the resources/inclination. We used to use d12's, as they're easy to differentiate if every one has unique sets of dice and they're not used that often outside of the barbarian class, for PC's, and pennies or bottle caps for monsters.
Mountain Dew and Pizza not mandatory, unless you want to live up to stereotype fully.
EDIT: Wow, beat'd point by point by a minute.
Outside of that, pen, paper, and a full set of dice are all you need. It's better for the players to all have their own set of dice and, if you are running the game, to have 3-4 sets, but not required.
D&D emphasizes minis, so some sort of grid and tokens is helpful. There are wet-erase mats that are GREAT, but I wouldn't shell out until you are sure you are sticking with it. You could get by with a piece of paper and a pencil if you need to.
I would recommend picking up Keep on the Shadowfell, as it is a premade adventure with maps and even premade characters BUT you should be warned that some of the early encounters are tricky (read: deadly) for inexperienced, or even experienced players, so you might want to tone it down some.
Does the DM book come with some pre-made adventures by any chance? No biggie really but it would make the transition easier for when we start to make our own.
And if I understand what I've read about it correctly, it includes all the rules you need to run it, so you could use that as a sort of test run before you and your friends invest 100's of dollars into this game.
I accept equal blame for going along with this, but there actually is a premade dungeon in the DMG. Just a little thing, just 5 rooms or so, but it's in there.
1. It's better to make a ruling quickly, even if it's wrong, and look up the official rules lately. Nothing makes a game suck like arguments over rules. When in doubt, get the player to roll a d20 and add whatever ability + skill seems right.
2. Your players are not going to follow your plan, and that's a good thing. Always have some backup stuff they can do if they don't want to go fight the Big Bad.
3. Don't be afraid to fudge if it makes the game more fun.
4. If the game is running slowly, take a hint from the movies: ninja attack!
As an intro module it's well liked, as a stand-alone adventure -- not so much.
"Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!"
~ Dr. Emilio Lizardo
This is what makes the difference between a good DM and a bad one. Know when to role play and explore, and know when to push back. A bad DM will let their players do whatever the hell they want with no consequences, and give them gobs of experience for it. A good DM will force players who want to go outside the bounds of the "dungeon" to role play and make sense, and they can either succeed or fail. Success is rewarded (appropriately) while failure is punished.
For example, say there's a room and one of the walls is busted. The campaign is set up so the wall is simply broken to allow light in, but one of your players could explore it and look for an opening. A good DM could, say, let the character find an opening and squeeze through it, if they're a small character (like a halfling or a skinny elf). They could find an old room with metal bars (like an old jail cell) with some rusty weapons and some skeletons that died from what look like arrows. If they go forward, they could trigger a group of rats to pour into the old room, or they can simply grab a rusty weapon that they don't know what it is and suffer -2 hp and temporary -2 strength from breathing in the old dust. You can even present it like "you see a huge cloud of old dust rise up when you take the weapon" and have them roll a die and add their dexterity to see if they're fast enough to grab the weapon and avoid breathing in the dust. Just make sure they didn't find some uber-weapon, too ;D
That's really basic, but it's a simple way how to go "out of bounds," have fun with your players, and keep it interesting. You should have some basic "out of bounds" ideas sketched out before you start so you're not making things up on the spot, as DMs who are inexperienced yet try to improvise tend to either be too nice or too mean.