Can YOU answer the thousand questions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can YOU answer the thousand questions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Brācken
10-30-03, 11:57 PM "Yeah, it's me again. I have gotten my questions a little more organized this time. Please, keep in mind that I do not have the Player's Guide."

1. What is the average statistics for a Human Warrior (I need to build a character for tommorow, and I have no dice)?
2. Does your height and weight affect play (your character's, I mean)?
3. What are XP's? What is a Kit?
4. Do Warrior's or other classes start with weapon's? If so, which would a Warrior start with?
5. What do Saving Throws do? How do they work?
6. What is my Social Class? Does it affect gameplay?
7. How do I obtain a Kit?
8. What does my alignment do? What are my options?
9. What is my attack adjustment? How about my damage adjustment?
10. What does my "Shots Fired" block affect?
11. What are henchmen and do mounts affect your speed? How many blocks can you move per turn?
12. What are my racial abilities?
What are my Class/Kit Notes?
13. What is my movement ratio? How do I determine it?
14. What are my non-weapon proficiencies?
15. What are my weapon proficiencies?
16. What are rogue abilities? How are they obtained?
17. What do "ep", "sp", "gp", "pp" and "cp" mean, money-wise? How do I earn or win money?
18. What is my equipment? Does it slow me down?
19. Where do I get magic items?
20. I see on the Map-a-Week all the maps are divided into squares... why? Are those movement squares? Are they necessary?

"I know these are LOADS of questions, but even if every person were to simply answer two of these questions... I would be absolutely ecstatic, because then I could fill out those lonely spaces on my character sheet." :D
Endarire
10-31-03, 12:42 AM 1: Which edition?
2: Check the FAQs if you haven't, especially the PHB boards'.

-EE
Giant in the Playground
10-31-03, 03:58 AM OK, well, welcome to D&D, but it sounds like you have more problems than these questions.

First, you need to know what edition you are playing. From your questions, it sounds like you are playing some form of Second Edition. These message boards are 99.9% for the Third Edition, which has significantly different rules. No one here is really going to be able to help until you can tell them what edition you are playing. Ask whoever is running the game you are joining what edition it is.
• If you are playing Second Edition, you need to go ask your question in the D&D Out of Print (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=54) message board. The guys there will know the answers better than most of the people here.
• If you are playing Third Edition (or "3.5 Edition"), you are almost certainly using the wrong character sheet. Most of the terms you list in your questions are not part of the Third Edition D&D game; for example, there is no such thing as a "kit" or a "nonweapon proficiency" in Third Edition. This may be the root of your problem. Try finding a Third Edition character sheet.

Second, regardless of the edition, you are going to need to read the appropriate Player's Handbook. It's pretty hard to get around that.
Algolei
10-31-03, 06:00 AM Judging by the word "kits," I have to assume you are going to be playing 2nd edition AD&D. :) Which is cool.

I've got a couple of hours to kill :cool: so what the heck.

1) Average human statistics are 10 or 11. Your character should have better than average stats, however. The game master (or DM [Dungeon Master]) will tell you how to generate your stats. The normal method is to roll 4 dice and add together the three highest numbers. This will give you a number from 3 (totally awful) to 18 (massively superior).

2) Not usually. Sometimes your DM will use your height and weight to determine if you can crawl in a tight crevice, stand upright in a hallway, or fit into a suit of armour you have found. Other than that, it's just "flavour"--which means it just helps you to imagine your character.

3) XP are Experience Points. Your character gains them by defeating monsters, and perhaps by achieving goals, roleplaying well, and other stuff that your DM will decide.

3a) A kit is...hmm. It's a character type, like Forest Lord or Peasant Wizard--something beyond just being the basic class of Warrior or Wizard or whatever you've decided to be. They are optional additions to your character. Basically, they determine your background, and probably grant some advantages and also lay some disadvantages on your character.

4) Each character class begins with a different random roll for how much money they start with. After that, they buy equipment according to how much money they have. Basically speaking, a Warrior will want a weapon that does more damage, like a longsword or a battleaxe (which do 1d8) rather than a dagger (1d4) or a club (1d6).

5) Saving throws are ways your character avoids some injuries. For example, if an enemy Wizard cast a spell at your character, you might get a saving throw vs. Spells (although not all spells allow for a saving throw). If you make the Save, you suffer less or possibly no effects from that spell. There are saving throws for: Paralyzation, Poison or Death Magic (PPDM) Rod, Staff or Wand Petrification or Polymorph Breath Weapon and SpellYour DM will tell you when you are entitled to roll any of them.

6) I don't know what Social Rank is. We never played with it. But I can guess! It's probably, y'know, like, whether you are a peasant or a nobleman or whatever. It'll almost certainly affect how your character reacts to others around him, and vice versa.

7) You pick one, then ask the DM if it's okay. If the DM says yes, then there ya go. Easy peasy.

8) Oooh. Alignment is how you want to play your character. It's your motivation, like if you were an actor. The choices are ninefold [hey, that sounded cool!] Lawful Good Neutral Good Chaotic Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful Evil Neutral Evil and Chaotic EvilBasically it goes like this: Lawful people work well together and fit well into society; Chaotic people are loners, geeks and misfits; Good people respect life and help others; Evil people care only for themselves and are willing (perhaps eager) to kill others. And of course Neutral people tread the path between the other alignments. (If you are True Neutral, you have chosen to be Neutral with regards to Good/Evil and also Neutral with regards to Law/Chaos.)

[For the most part, alignment causes a lot of arguments on these message boards. People argue all the time about the meanings of the different alignments, about whether other people are playing them right, and about whether the alignment system even makes sense. If your DM feels you are playing your character differently from the alignment you chose for him, he'll certainly let you know.]

9) When you are attacking with a combat weapon (sword, axe, club, whatever), you get a bonus or penalty to hit with it based on your Strength score. But when you are using a missile weapon (sling, bow, rock, dart, etc.) you use the bonus or penalty based on your Dexterity score.

10) I don't know. You are probably looking at a character sheet, so I'll have to visualize it. Ohm!... Ohm!... Well, apparently the "shots fired" section is under your equipment. When you buy arrows or other ammunition, you record in that spot exactly how many you have; then each time you fire one away, you cross off one box. It's an easy way to keep track of ammunition, that's all.

11) Henchmen are extra characters called NPCs (Non-Player Characters). They're like buddies for your main character. If you have a henchman, you'll make him up just like you made up your main character. You don't usually have any at lower character levels, so unless your DM is starting you off with "experienced" characters, you won't have to worry about it yet.

11a) Mounts affect your movement rate if you are riding them. Which I'm sure you will agree makes sense. I mean, if you're riding a horse, you can probably move a lot faster than Bob who is running or Joe who is riding a tortoise. How many squares can you move? As your DM. Usually the squares are 5 feet across, but that's arbitrary--the DM will worry about it so you don't have to.

12) When you make a character, you have to choose a Race, like Elf, Human, Dwarf, Halfling, Half-elf, Half-orc, or whatever. Ask your DM what races are available. Each race gets different modifiers to ability scores, and they also get different abilities, too. But there isn't enough room here for me to start listing them. Ask your DM to show you in the book(s).

The same goes with Classes. You need to choose one when you make your character. (Actually, if you make a character who is not human, you might be able to choose more than one class. Elves make good Warrior/Wizards, for instance.)

And the same with Kits, except that you don't have to take a kit. They're just added touches.

13) Um. Jeez, let's see. I haven't tried to think about this in ages. Your Movement Rate is how fast you can go. It's usually measured in inches on the tabletop, so you might have a movement of 12 for example. This actually means you can move 120 feet per round. Alas, your Movement Rate depends on your Race, and how Strong you are combined with how much Equipment you are carrying, so I can't figure it out for you here. You'll need to make the character first and buy your equipment.

14) Non-weapon Proficiencies, right. Depending on your Class (and modified by your Intelligence), you will get a certain number of Non-weapon Proficiency Slots. You use them to buy your character skills (called Non-weapon Proficiencies). You'll need to see the charts in the book to do it, so ask your DM to show you.

15) Weapon Proficiencies are handled just like Non-weapon Proficiencies. You use them to purchase skills for your character. The DM will have to show you what weapon skills are available for your character--it depends on your Class. Wizards should take the staff or the dagger; Rogues might take shortsword or shortbow or dagger; Priests use different weapons depending upon their religion; and Warriors can pretty much take any Weapon Proficiency they want.

16) Rogue get special abilities that only Rogues can have. These are Pick Pockets, Open Locks, Find/Remove Traps, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Detect Noise, Climb Walls, and Read Languages. Your character will only have these if he is a Rogue. Otherwise, forget about them.

17) Money! Ah yes. It depends, but usually the coins go as follows: 1 Platinum Pieces = 5 Gold Pieces 1 Gold Piece = 2 Electrum Pieces 1 Electrum Piece = 5 Silver Pieces 1 Silver Piece = 10 Copper PiecesThis is the basic coin system. Depending on the books your DM is playing with, though, he might be using a different system. No matter which one, though, it takes a little getting used to. For example, with the basic system, 1 Platinum Piece is worth 500 Copper Pieces; but most players don't memorize that, so they end up counting on their fingers and toes. ;)

Like I said earlier, you roll up a random amount of starting money for your character after you have picked a class. But that's just your starting money. After the game begins, you can gain further money by defeating monsters and looting their lairs, or earning rewards, or heck, I guess your character could even get a job--but that's not much fun, so it's better to go adventuring and defeat the monsters and loot the treasures! :D

18) After you roll up your starting money, you get to buy your character some equipment. For instance, you'll need a weapon (in fact, more than one, unless you're a Wizard). You'll also need some armour (unless if you're a Wizard; they can't wear armour). And of course everyone needs pouches, maybe a backpack, perhaps some rope, some torches and/or a lantern (oil for the lantern too), etc. Your DM will show you a list of equipment.

But be careful! Everything has an encumbrance weight. The equipment adds up to your total weight, and if it's too much, it'll slow you down. Being slowed down a little isn't too bad, especially if you can drop some of it in case you need to RUN AWAY FROM A BIG MONSTER!! I like to carry rope and stuff like that in a large sack over my shoulder just in case.

It's also a good idea to get the stronger members of your adventuring party to carry some of your stuff, if they're able. Or, if you're one of the stronger members, you could carry some of the stuff of the weaker members. But remember the most important Rule Of Surviving the Big Monsters: You don't always have to be able to outrun the monster, just so long as you can outrun your slowest friend. (That's a joke.)

19) You almost always get magic items only from looting monster treasure hordes. Occasionally you might be able to buy a magic item from a Wizard or something, though--but they're usually REALLY expensive!

20) The map-a-week maps are divided into 5 foot squares for movement purposes, but that's a 3rd edition thing that 2nd edition players don't need to worry about at all. If your DM is using 5 foot squares, he'll explain it to you and tell you how far you can move each round. They're not necessary for 2nd edition--heck, they're not even necessary for 3rd edition, but they went and wrote all those nice rules for 3rd edition, so most 3rd edition players do use them.

Hey, that's all of them!

Okay, now for some advice: This is your first game, and it's gonna be extra special. Try not to think about the rules too much, just imagine what you're character would do--let the DM struggle with the rules, that's his job. Listen to the DM's descriptions of things. And most important, have fun.

I remember my first game. I killed a giant rat! :) It was great!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Brācken 10-30-03, 11:57 PM	"Yeah, it's me again. I have gotten my questions a little more organized this time. Please, keep in mind that I do not have the Player's Guide." 1. What is the average statistics for a Human Warrior (I need to build a character for tommorow, and I have no dice)? 2. Does your height and weight affect play (your character's, I mean)? 3. What are XP's? What is a Kit? 4. Do Warrior's or other classes start with weapon's? If so, which would a Warrior start with? 5. What do Saving Throws do? How do they work? 6. What is my Social Class? Does it affect gameplay? 7. How do I obtain a Kit? 8. What does my alignment do? What are my options? 9. What is my attack adjustment? How about my damage adjustment? 10. What does my "Shots Fired" block affect? 11. What are henchmen and do mounts affect your speed? How many blocks can you move per turn? 12. What are my racial abilities? What are my Class/Kit Notes? 13. What is my movement ratio? How do I determine it? 14. What are my non-weapon proficiencies? 15. What are my weapon proficiencies? 16. What are rogue abilities? How are they obtained? 17. What do "ep", "sp", "gp", "pp" and "cp" mean, money-wise? How do I earn or win money? 18. What is my equipment? Does it slow me down? 19. Where do I get magic items? 20. I see on the Map-a-Week all the maps are divided into squares... why? Are those movement squares? Are they necessary? "I know these are LOADS of questions, but even if every person were to simply answer two of these questions... I would be absolutely ecstatic, because then I could fill out those lonely spaces on my character sheet." :D
Endarire 10-31-03, 12:42 AM	1: Which edition? 2: Check the FAQs if you haven't, especially the PHB boards'. -EE
Giant in the Playground 10-31-03, 03:58 AM	OK, well, welcome to D&D, but it sounds like you have more problems than these questions. First, you need to know what edition you are playing. From your questions, it sounds like you are playing some form of Second Edition. These message boards are 99.9% for the Third Edition, which has significantly different rules. No one here is really going to be able to help until you can tell them what edition you are playing. Ask whoever is running the game you are joining what edition it is. • If you are playing Second Edition, you need to go ask your question in the D&D Out of Print (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=54) message board. The guys there will know the answers better than most of the people here. • If you are playing Third Edition (or "3.5 Edition"), you are almost certainly using the wrong character sheet. Most of the terms you list in your questions are not part of the Third Edition D&D game; for example, there is no such thing as a "kit" or a "nonweapon proficiency" in Third Edition. This may be the root of your problem. Try finding a Third Edition character sheet. Second, regardless of the edition, you are going to need to read the appropriate Player's Handbook. It's pretty hard to get around that.
Algolei 10-31-03, 06:00 AM	Judging by the word "kits," I have to assume you are going to be playing 2nd edition AD&D. :) Which is cool. I've got a couple of hours to kill :cool: so what the heck. 1) Average human statistics are 10 or 11. Your character should have better than average stats, however. The game master (or DM [Dungeon Master]) will tell you how to generate your stats. The normal method is to roll 4 dice and add together the three highest numbers. This will give you a number from 3 (totally awful) to 18 (massively superior). 2) Not usually. Sometimes your DM will use your height and weight to determine if you can crawl in a tight crevice, stand upright in a hallway, or fit into a suit of armour you have found. Other than that, it's just "flavour"--which means it just helps you to imagine your character. 3) XP are Experience Points. Your character gains them by defeating monsters, and perhaps by achieving goals, roleplaying well, and other stuff that your DM will decide. 3a) A kit is...hmm. It's a character type, like Forest Lord or Peasant Wizard--something beyond just being the basic class of Warrior or Wizard or whatever you've decided to be. They are optional additions to your character. Basically, they determine your background, and probably grant some advantages and also lay some disadvantages on your character. 4) Each character class begins with a different random roll for how much money they start with. After that, they buy equipment according to how much money they have. Basically speaking, a Warrior will want a weapon that does more damage, like a longsword or a battleaxe (which do 1d8) rather than a dagger (1d4) or a club (1d6). 5) Saving throws are ways your character avoids some injuries. For example, if an enemy Wizard cast a spell at your character, you might get a saving throw vs. Spells (although not all spells allow for a saving throw). If you make the Save, you suffer less or possibly no effects from that spell. There are saving throws for: Paralyzation, Poison or Death Magic (PPDM) Rod, Staff or Wand Petrification or Polymorph Breath Weapon and SpellYour DM will tell you when you are entitled to roll any of them. 6) I don't know what Social Rank is. We never played with it. But I can guess! It's probably, y'know, like, whether you are a peasant or a nobleman or whatever. It'll almost certainly affect how your character reacts to others around him, and vice versa. 7) You pick one, then ask the DM if it's okay. If the DM says yes, then there ya go. Easy peasy. 8) Oooh. Alignment is how you want to play your character. It's your motivation, like if you were an actor. The choices are ninefold [hey, that sounded cool!] Lawful Good Neutral Good Chaotic Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful Evil Neutral Evil and Chaotic EvilBasically it goes like this: Lawful people work well together and fit well into society; Chaotic people are loners, geeks and misfits; Good people respect life and help others; Evil people care only for themselves and are willing (perhaps eager) to kill others. And of course Neutral people tread the path between the other alignments. (If you are True Neutral, you have chosen to be Neutral with regards to Good/Evil and also Neutral with regards to Law/Chaos.) [For the most part, alignment causes a lot of arguments on these message boards. People argue all the time about the meanings of the different alignments, about whether other people are playing them right, and about whether the alignment system even makes sense. If your DM feels you are playing your character differently from the alignment you chose for him, he'll certainly let you know.] 9) When you are attacking with a combat weapon (sword, axe, club, whatever), you get a bonus or penalty to hit with it based on your Strength score. But when you are using a missile weapon (sling, bow, rock, dart, etc.) you use the bonus or penalty based on your Dexterity score. 10) I don't know. You are probably looking at a character sheet, so I'll have to visualize it. Ohm!... Ohm!... Well, apparently the "shots fired" section is under your equipment. When you buy arrows or other ammunition, you record in that spot exactly how many you have; then each time you fire one away, you cross off one box. It's an easy way to keep track of ammunition, that's all. 11) Henchmen are extra characters called NPCs (Non-Player Characters). They're like buddies for your main character. If you have a henchman, you'll make him up just like you made up your main character. You don't usually have any at lower character levels, so unless your DM is starting you off with "experienced" characters, you won't have to worry about it yet. 11a) Mounts affect your movement rate if you are riding them. Which I'm sure you will agree makes sense. I mean, if you're riding a horse, you can probably move a lot faster than Bob who is running or Joe who is riding a tortoise. How many squares can you move? As your DM. Usually the squares are 5 feet across, but that's arbitrary--the DM will worry about it so you don't have to. 12) When you make a character, you have to choose a Race, like Elf, Human, Dwarf, Halfling, Half-elf, Half-orc, or whatever. Ask your DM what races are available. Each race gets different modifiers to ability scores, and they also get different abilities, too. But there isn't enough room here for me to start listing them. Ask your DM to show you in the book(s). The same goes with Classes. You need to choose one when you make your character. (Actually, if you make a character who is not human, you might be able to choose more than one class. Elves make good Warrior/Wizards, for instance.) And the same with Kits, except that you don't have to take a kit. They're just added touches. 13) Um. Jeez, let's see. I haven't tried to think about this in ages. Your Movement Rate is how fast you can go. It's usually measured in inches on the tabletop, so you might have a movement of 12 for example. This actually means you can move 120 feet per round. Alas, your Movement Rate depends on your Race, and how Strong you are combined with how much Equipment you are carrying, so I can't figure it out for you here. You'll need to make the character first and buy your equipment. 14) Non-weapon Proficiencies, right. Depending on your Class (and modified by your Intelligence), you will get a certain number of Non-weapon Proficiency Slots. You use them to buy your character skills (called Non-weapon Proficiencies). You'll need to see the charts in the book to do it, so ask your DM to show you. 15) Weapon Proficiencies are handled just like Non-weapon Proficiencies. You use them to purchase skills for your character. The DM will have to show you what weapon skills are available for your character--it depends on your Class. Wizards should take the staff or the dagger; Rogues might take shortsword or shortbow or dagger; Priests use different weapons depending upon their religion; and Warriors can pretty much take any Weapon Proficiency they want. 16) Rogue get special abilities that only Rogues can have. These are Pick Pockets, Open Locks, Find/Remove Traps, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Detect Noise, Climb Walls, and Read Languages. Your character will only have these if he is a Rogue. Otherwise, forget about them. 17) Money! Ah yes. It depends, but usually the coins go as follows: 1 Platinum Pieces = 5 Gold Pieces 1 Gold Piece = 2 Electrum Pieces 1 Electrum Piece = 5 Silver Pieces 1 Silver Piece = 10 Copper PiecesThis is the basic coin system. Depending on the books your DM is playing with, though, he might be using a different system. No matter which one, though, it takes a little getting used to. For example, with the basic system, 1 Platinum Piece is worth 500 Copper Pieces; but most players don't memorize that, so they end up counting on their fingers and toes. ;) Like I said earlier, you roll up a random amount of starting money for your character after you have picked a class. But that's just your starting money. After the game begins, you can gain further money by defeating monsters and looting their lairs, or earning rewards, or heck, I guess your character could even get a job--but that's not much fun, so it's better to go adventuring and defeat the monsters and loot the treasures! :D 18) After you roll up your starting money, you get to buy your character some equipment. For instance, you'll need a weapon (in fact, more than one, unless you're a Wizard). You'll also need some armour (unless if you're a Wizard; they can't wear armour). And of course everyone needs pouches, maybe a backpack, perhaps some rope, some torches and/or a lantern (oil for the lantern too), etc. Your DM will show you a list of equipment. But be careful! Everything has an encumbrance weight. The equipment adds up to your total weight, and if it's too much, it'll slow you down. Being slowed down a little isn't too bad, especially if you can drop some of it in case you need to RUN AWAY FROM A BIG MONSTER!! I like to carry rope and stuff like that in a large sack over my shoulder just in case. It's also a good idea to get the stronger members of your adventuring party to carry some of your stuff, if they're able. Or, if you're one of the stronger members, you could carry some of the stuff of the weaker members. But remember the most important Rule Of Surviving the Big Monsters: You don't always have to be able to outrun the monster, just so long as you can outrun your slowest friend. (That's a joke.) 19) You almost always get magic items only from looting monster treasure hordes. Occasionally you might be able to buy a magic item from a Wizard or something, though--but they're usually REALLY expensive! 20) The map-a-week maps are divided into 5 foot squares for movement purposes, but that's a 3rd edition thing that 2nd edition players don't need to worry about at all. If your DM is using 5 foot squares, he'll explain it to you and tell you how far you can move each round. They're not necessary for 2nd edition--heck, they're not even necessary for 3rd edition, but they went and wrote all those nice rules for 3rd edition, so most 3rd edition players do use them. Hey, that's all of them! Okay, now for some advice: This is your first game, and it's gonna be extra special. Try not to think about the rules too much, just imagine what you're character would do--let the DM struggle with the rules, that's his job. Listen to the DM's descriptions of things. And most important, have fun. I remember my first game. I killed a giant rat! :) It was great!