Ok...I hate asking newbie questions! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Ok...I hate asking newbie questions! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mercstrider
02-10-05, 05:19 PM The only things I know about the FR are what I have read in Salvatore's books and in the games of the FR that I have (BG, IWD etc.).
I've never played D&D before, so I have no clue as to what i would need to even start playing!

I've talked to some of my friends, and we're all interested in playing, but none of us knows what kinds of books or sources we'd need to get started even the most basic of campaigns, and I'd rather not just buy everything and not end up with what we really need!

Please help! I really hate not knowing anything on a subject! It makes me feel like a 12 year old again! :P
mastroyo
02-10-05, 05:29 PM To start playing DnD you need the core books. The Players Handbook, the Dungeon Master Guide, and the Monsters Manual.

For a specific setting, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a start. Well, actually, IMHO the FRCS is ALL you need to play in the FR. Perhaps Faiths & Pantheons is a good book also, considering the influence of the gods in Faerūn.
You could also get a hold of the 2nd edition FR Campaign Setting, for what is written there is almost the same. I kinda like it better. And the maps are cooler. If you are only 'experiencing' (no such word?) the Forgotten Realms, I suggest you buy a used 2nd edition FR setting and read from there. Or start reading stuff online to see if you like it.
scarolina
02-10-05, 05:39 PM Your group needs to have access to three books to play Dungeons and Dragons. These are cumulatively known as the Core Rule Books, and include the Player's Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) and the Monster Manual (MM).

Dungeons and Dragons is basically pretend time for grown-ups. The main difference between a roleplaying game and imagination time is adjudication. To play DnD a group needs to consist of players (PCs) and a dungeon master (DM). The dungeon master, through his words, creates the imaginary world in which the PCs play. As an analogy, the dungeon master acts as the computer program, creating a setting for the players. The DM controls all non-player characters (NPCs), which include everything from the mayor of the town to the blacksmith to the orc cheiftain. Ideally, though not necessarily, each player (PC) should have a copy of the Player's Handbook, and the DM should have all three of the core books. The books contain the mechanics for gameplay, so that it can be determined who won the fight, the cleric or the troll.

There are many supplements to these three books. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) is an excellent resource if you choose to set your game in the Forgotten Realms.

Basically, these four books are necessary to play Dungeons and Dragons in the Forgotten Realms.

-Cheers
aonaran
02-10-05, 08:31 PM Something that no one has mentioned yet is that the core books can be bought as a boxed set for a little less than you'd normally pay for the 3 of them individually. This is the way to go if you are new to the game or have never bought any of your own D&D books before.

Also you will find that miniatures and Dice are important.
The miniatures can be pawns that you steal from other games, but most people want at least their own character to look like thier character, so your players should probably make a trip to a comic book store/gaming store to look for those as their basic equipment. Also, if your group finds that one Player's guide is not enough you can download most of the important parts of it from this website. (do a search for SRD) but it's still important to have at least one real copy for the group.
(making characters is hard enough the first time, doing it without explicit instructions on how is nearly impossible.)

The DM guide comes with a battle grid, but you should look for a laminated or vinyl one so you can write on it with erasable markers.... either that or buy a bunch of the plastic D&D miniatures starter sets (they come with paper grids and cardboard tiles)

On the topic of miniatures, if you can't afford plastic or metal ones there are third party suppliers of D20 materials that sell cardboard "counters"
The yellow boxed D&D Adventure Game (in a box about the size of a typical D&D manual) has some of those in it too, along with a second battle grid and some really simple adventures (I mean really simple) and one set of dice. Not too bad a deal for about $10 US/$15Canadian.

Remember, have your players buy their own dice, if you can afford to invest in the core books and FRCS they can afford a $5 set of dice and a $2 miniature... but don't ever turn somone away from your game simply because they can't.
Another Gnome
02-11-05, 01:29 AM And the maps are cooler.

Well, sure, in that 2E maps take up your entire wallspace. But I'd hardly call those faded 4-color posters cool in any other respect.
Schattenritter7
02-11-05, 02:37 PM As the others mentioned, definately pick up the core books and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. That book has a TON of information, definately worth the price. Definately need some dice sets, too. You can print out Character sheets from Wizard's site so don't go buying any of those. I haven't gotten into miniatures yet, but I'd like to, if only for the player characters. Right now I just use props like loose change for monsters, and it works pretty good for now until I can get some cash together and start looking at minis.

As for some others to look out for... Faiths and Pantheons is awesome. It has a lot of the same deity info that the FRCS book has, but it has racial deities as well as quite a few intermediate/minor/demigods that didn't make it into FRCS. Plus, it has a lot more information on the gods and their dogma, clerics, holy days, etc. Races of Faerun is also great if you want to know more about subraces and their attitudes/interactions with others and some pretty good history, but then again I'm hooked on this stuff. I can't get enough info on the Realms, luckily a friend of mine has all the FR stuff that I don't so far. :)

Good luck
Mercstrider
02-13-05, 02:25 AM I went to one of the shops (one of only two here), and they sugested the same things as you guys and showed me a little more on why miniatures help make life easier on the imagination :) They also showed me some of the map sets you can bu (you know, the fully 3D ones that you can use to build a dungeon as you go?
Man...they are well aweome :eek: but expensive! Everything costs more here in the UK :( Seems like to get started properly with all the books is going to cost more than £100!!!!! :eek: I have to pay bills dammit >.<
Faraer
02-13-05, 01:19 PM If you like it, and can afford to, you should support your local game shop. Otherwise, because of larger economies of scale and the strong pound vs dollar, you will save a lot of money by ordering expensive books (not mass-market paperbacks) from amazon.com, despite the shipping.

Miniatures are very much optional and have pros and cons. They help you understand tactical positioning, but they tend to draw focus and br ing down the players' imaginations from what's in their heads to what's on the tabletop, and the birds'-eye view encourages tatical thinking in combat rather than narrative roleplaying. I would go for the sourcebooks first before trying miniatures to see if you like them.

To see whether you like the Realms, as opposed to particular novel and videogame series, you might want to buy the ESD of the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=806&), which gives a more focused look at the core Realms than the very expansive and variegated 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book.
mastroyo
02-13-05, 04:25 PM Well, sure, in that 2E maps take up your entire wallspace. But I'd hardly call those faded 4-color posters cool in any other respect.

Well, considering they where printed in 1992-1995 I'd say they are pretty good. I don't understand the idea of a map having 16bit colors, but what I do expect from a map is detail. Logic detail. And this is where the maps where good, 'couse they showed detail near high populated areas, and left other desertic (desertic as in unpopulated, not as in arid) areas with few details.
As a geograhy major, I can say that 2nd edition give much more information and data than the single 3rd edition map does.
Meta_FR_DM
02-13-05, 08:05 PM If you are short on funds, I would strongly recommend the DnD Basic Boxed Set to get you started. As I recall, that set will have dice, basic game rules and a few minis in it, all of which are required to play the game.

Once you get the hang of the basic rules you can purchase the three Core Rulebooks and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

A note on minis: some say that using them keeps one focused ‘on the battle mat’ and not on what’s going on in the story. For someone inexperienced with using them this might seem true, but it is not.

Placing a miniature for a Huge or Gargantuan creature on the battle mat (like that of a Cloud Giant or a Dragon) for the first time, especially right next to any character’s much smaller miniature, will illicit looks of worry and wonder from a group of players and go a long ways towards bringing home the idea of just how big and monstrous some of the foes an adventurer faces really are.
Alac Luin
02-13-05, 08:18 PM If you were intrested in the realms, and wanted to help fleash out some areas, you can get some stuff for free here...
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads

Since you will be starting in 3.5, just ignore the rulesy stuff (aka. Crunch) and focus on the history, area discriptions, etc (AKA Fluff).
Zerohawk
02-13-05, 10:10 PM On a budget 'eh?

Roleplaying can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. Keep in mind that you /do not/ need to rush out and buy every book WoTC puts out. They are, especially in FR, worth it if you can though!

Well, the 3.5e books are a bit expensive new, bu if your budget minded ask your local comic or game store owner if they have a used 3.0e books for sale. You can usualy get them all 3 together for $30-$60. The big clincher is going to be the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. It retails for $40, and unlike the core rule books, people tend not to sell it back. The core ones were sold back in floods when people upgraded to 3.5e. (I just gave mine to my younger brother.)

As others have said, getting the older 2nd edition box set of the FRCS is a good idea as you can either find the hard copy for cheap, or you can get it as a download PDF from a site that sells out of print TSR books on PDF for about $5. The disadvantage of this is that you don't have it printed out, and paying to get them printed is about the same price as getting the new books. Heck you could, if you wanted, buy PDFs of all of the original 2e core books and play with them too if you wanted, at $5 each as well. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell what sites specifically sells them, but its all legal and my personal favorite is listed in the list in the FR board sticky 'Where to Get Out of Print FR Books' or something like that. Also there are 38 free PDFs of old FR books that you can use as well on the downloads section of the FR site, I STRONGLY recomend you get them all if you are able. The Volo's Guides are particularly fun to read.

Keep in mind that unless you are using old 2e books for FR that the rules inside them are for older edditions and are no longer fully compatable with the new version of the game. However all of the 'Fluff' (story, background, descriptions etc...) is still just as usuful and are the more important parts of the books anyway.
Han Duo
02-14-05, 01:19 PM I just like to add that if you buy the v3.5 core books, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (which officially is v3.0), you might also want to pick up the Player's Guide to Faerun (which is v3.5). The first three chapters of PGF replace the first two chapters of the FRCS.
loki87
02-14-05, 02:54 PM If your friends are interested, and you're on a budget, you should each buy one book and share. Here is what you, as a group, need to get started:

Player's Handbook v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786928867)

Dungeon Master's Guide v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786928891)

Monster Manual v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/078692893X)

Forgotten Realms: Campaign Setting (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918365)

Now surely, split amongst friends, this can't hurt the wallet too much.
koray_taemar
02-19-05, 09:54 AM Short on funds try walmart.com- seriously. Thats where i go for most of my rpg books. 40%-50% off in some cases.
Players Handbook $18.86
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2136228
DM's Guide $18.19, Monster Manual $18.19
The Realms setting is like $24 instead of $40 and so on.
Mercstrider
02-20-05, 03:10 AM lol, those might be good suggestions in the US, but here in the UK, they don't really count ^_^;;
Comic book stores aren't around here in the uk, or if they are, they're only in the big cities! No chance of them appearing in the boonies where I am!
Thanks for your all your help though!
ClobberinTime
02-20-05, 11:39 AM Dang quick somebody call the queen-

So at a bare minimum, you can play with a 3.5 players handbook and a 3.0 DmG and MM, most of the tricky rules like gaseous form-etheralness that you need the DMG for have been detailed on the Wizards website.

So I would go with just the 3.5 players handbook and the SRD if I were you. Definitely don't buy the Monster Manual. Plus remember you will make mistakes and it will be ok so don't sweat it and have fun.

As someone else said for flavor go to the free downloads page and download the Volos guides, you need the FRCS to see how things fit together but it should help you out alot with the feel of the game....

Good luck and have fun....

Hey also where can I go to get those cardboard cutouts.....
Alac Luin
02-20-05, 06:49 PM Hey also where can I go to get those cardboard cutouts.....

Is this what your looking for?
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fpm/archive

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mercstrider 02-10-05, 05:19 PM	The only things I know about the FR are what I have read in Salvatore's books and in the games of the FR that I have (BG, IWD etc.). I've never played D&D before, so I have no clue as to what i would need to even start playing! I've talked to some of my friends, and we're all interested in playing, but none of us knows what kinds of books or sources we'd need to get started even the most basic of campaigns, and I'd rather not just buy everything and not end up with what we really need! Please help! I really hate not knowing anything on a subject! It makes me feel like a 12 year old again! :P
mastroyo 02-10-05, 05:29 PM	To start playing DnD you need the core books. The Players Handbook, the Dungeon Master Guide, and the Monsters Manual. For a specific setting, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a start. Well, actually, IMHO the FRCS is ALL you need to play in the FR. Perhaps Faiths & Pantheons is a good book also, considering the influence of the gods in Faerūn. You could also get a hold of the 2nd edition FR Campaign Setting, for what is written there is almost the same. I kinda like it better. And the maps are cooler. If you are only 'experiencing' (no such word?) the Forgotten Realms, I suggest you buy a used 2nd edition FR setting and read from there. Or start reading stuff online to see if you like it.
scarolina 02-10-05, 05:39 PM	Your group needs to have access to three books to play Dungeons and Dragons. These are cumulatively known as the Core Rule Books, and include the Player's Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) and the Monster Manual (MM). Dungeons and Dragons is basically pretend time for grown-ups. The main difference between a roleplaying game and imagination time is adjudication. To play DnD a group needs to consist of players (PCs) and a dungeon master (DM). The dungeon master, through his words, creates the imaginary world in which the PCs play. As an analogy, the dungeon master acts as the computer program, creating a setting for the players. The DM controls all non-player characters (NPCs), which include everything from the mayor of the town to the blacksmith to the orc cheiftain. Ideally, though not necessarily, each player (PC) should have a copy of the Player's Handbook, and the DM should have all three of the core books. The books contain the mechanics for gameplay, so that it can be determined who won the fight, the cleric or the troll. There are many supplements to these three books. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) is an excellent resource if you choose to set your game in the Forgotten Realms. Basically, these four books are necessary to play Dungeons and Dragons in the Forgotten Realms. -Cheers
aonaran 02-10-05, 08:31 PM	Something that no one has mentioned yet is that the core books can be bought as a boxed set for a little less than you'd normally pay for the 3 of them individually. This is the way to go if you are new to the game or have never bought any of your own D&D books before. Also you will find that miniatures and Dice are important. The miniatures can be pawns that you steal from other games, but most people want at least their own character to look like thier character, so your players should probably make a trip to a comic book store/gaming store to look for those as their basic equipment. Also, if your group finds that one Player's guide is not enough you can download most of the important parts of it from this website. (do a search for SRD) but it's still important to have at least one real copy for the group. (making characters is hard enough the first time, doing it without explicit instructions on how is nearly impossible.) The DM guide comes with a battle grid, but you should look for a laminated or vinyl one so you can write on it with erasable markers.... either that or buy a bunch of the plastic D&D miniatures starter sets (they come with paper grids and cardboard tiles) On the topic of miniatures, if you can't afford plastic or metal ones there are third party suppliers of D20 materials that sell cardboard "counters" The yellow boxed D&D Adventure Game (in a box about the size of a typical D&D manual) has some of those in it too, along with a second battle grid and some really simple adventures (I mean really simple) and one set of dice. Not too bad a deal for about $10 US/$15Canadian. Remember, have your players buy their own dice, if you can afford to invest in the core books and FRCS they can afford a $5 set of dice and a $2 miniature... but don't ever turn somone away from your game simply because they can't.
Another Gnome 02-11-05, 01:29 AM	And the maps are cooler. Well, sure, in that 2E maps take up your entire wallspace. But I'd hardly call those faded 4-color posters cool in any other respect.
Schattenritter7 02-11-05, 02:37 PM	As the others mentioned, definately pick up the core books and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. That book has a TON of information, definately worth the price. Definately need some dice sets, too. You can print out Character sheets from Wizard's site so don't go buying any of those. I haven't gotten into miniatures yet, but I'd like to, if only for the player characters. Right now I just use props like loose change for monsters, and it works pretty good for now until I can get some cash together and start looking at minis. As for some others to look out for... Faiths and Pantheons is awesome. It has a lot of the same deity info that the FRCS book has, but it has racial deities as well as quite a few intermediate/minor/demigods that didn't make it into FRCS. Plus, it has a lot more information on the gods and their dogma, clerics, holy days, etc. Races of Faerun is also great if you want to know more about subraces and their attitudes/interactions with others and some pretty good history, but then again I'm hooked on this stuff. I can't get enough info on the Realms, luckily a friend of mine has all the FR stuff that I don't so far. :) Good luck
Mercstrider 02-13-05, 02:25 AM	I went to one of the shops (one of only two here), and they sugested the same things as you guys and showed me a little more on why miniatures help make life easier on the imagination :) They also showed me some of the map sets you can bu (you know, the fully 3D ones that you can use to build a dungeon as you go? Man...they are well aweome :eek: but expensive! Everything costs more here in the UK :( Seems like to get started properly with all the books is going to cost more than £100!!!!! :eek: I have to pay bills dammit >.<
Faraer 02-13-05, 01:19 PM	If you like it, and can afford to, you should support your local game shop. Otherwise, because of larger economies of scale and the strong pound vs dollar, you will save a lot of money by ordering expensive books (not mass-market paperbacks) from amazon.com, despite the shipping. Miniatures are very much optional and have pros and cons. They help you understand tactical positioning, but they tend to draw focus and br ing down the players' imaginations from what's in their heads to what's on the tabletop, and the birds'-eye view encourages tatical thinking in combat rather than narrative roleplaying. I would go for the sourcebooks first before trying miniatures to see if you like them. To see whether you like the Realms, as opposed to particular novel and videogame series, you might want to buy the ESD of the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=806&), which gives a more focused look at the core Realms than the very expansive and variegated 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book.
mastroyo 02-13-05, 04:25 PM	Well, sure, in that 2E maps take up your entire wallspace. But I'd hardly call those faded 4-color posters cool in any other respect. Well, considering they where printed in 1992-1995 I'd say they are pretty good. I don't understand the idea of a map having 16bit colors, but what I do expect from a map is detail. Logic detail. And this is where the maps where good, 'couse they showed detail near high populated areas, and left other desertic (desertic as in unpopulated, not as in arid) areas with few details. As a geograhy major, I can say that 2nd edition give much more information and data than the single 3rd edition map does.
Meta_FR_DM 02-13-05, 08:05 PM	If you are short on funds, I would strongly recommend the DnD Basic Boxed Set to get you started. As I recall, that set will have dice, basic game rules and a few minis in it, all of which are required to play the game. Once you get the hang of the basic rules you can purchase the three Core Rulebooks and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. A note on minis: some say that using them keeps one focused ‘on the battle mat’ and not on what’s going on in the story. For someone inexperienced with using them this might seem true, but it is not. Placing a miniature for a Huge or Gargantuan creature on the battle mat (like that of a Cloud Giant or a Dragon) for the first time, especially right next to any character’s much smaller miniature, will illicit looks of worry and wonder from a group of players and go a long ways towards bringing home the idea of just how big and monstrous some of the foes an adventurer faces really are.
Alac Luin 02-13-05, 08:18 PM	If you were intrested in the realms, and wanted to help fleash out some areas, you can get some stuff for free here... http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads Since you will be starting in 3.5, just ignore the rulesy stuff (aka. Crunch) and focus on the history, area discriptions, etc (AKA Fluff).
Zerohawk 02-13-05, 10:10 PM	On a budget 'eh? Roleplaying can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. Keep in mind that you /do not/ need to rush out and buy every book WoTC puts out. They are, especially in FR, worth it if you can though! Well, the 3.5e books are a bit expensive new, bu if your budget minded ask your local comic or game store owner if they have a used 3.0e books for sale. You can usualy get them all 3 together for $30-$60. The big clincher is going to be the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. It retails for $40, and unlike the core rule books, people tend not to sell it back. The core ones were sold back in floods when people upgraded to 3.5e. (I just gave mine to my younger brother.) As others have said, getting the older 2nd edition box set of the FRCS is a good idea as you can either find the hard copy for cheap, or you can get it as a download PDF from a site that sells out of print TSR books on PDF for about $5. The disadvantage of this is that you don't have it printed out, and paying to get them printed is about the same price as getting the new books. Heck you could, if you wanted, buy PDFs of all of the original 2e core books and play with them too if you wanted, at $5 each as well. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell what sites specifically sells them, but its all legal and my personal favorite is listed in the list in the FR board sticky 'Where to Get Out of Print FR Books' or something like that. Also there are 38 free PDFs of old FR books that you can use as well on the downloads section of the FR site, I STRONGLY recomend you get them all if you are able. The Volo's Guides are particularly fun to read. Keep in mind that unless you are using old 2e books for FR that the rules inside them are for older edditions and are no longer fully compatable with the new version of the game. However all of the 'Fluff' (story, background, descriptions etc...) is still just as usuful and are the more important parts of the books anyway.
Han Duo 02-14-05, 01:19 PM	I just like to add that if you buy the v3.5 core books, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (which officially is v3.0), you might also want to pick up the Player's Guide to Faerun (which is v3.5). The first three chapters of PGF replace the first two chapters of the FRCS.
loki87 02-14-05, 02:54 PM	If your friends are interested, and you're on a budget, you should each buy one book and share. Here is what you, as a group, need to get started: Player's Handbook v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786928867) Dungeon Master's Guide v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786928891) Monster Manual v3.5 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/078692893X) Forgotten Realms: Campaign Setting (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918365) Now surely, split amongst friends, this can't hurt the wallet too much.
koray_taemar 02-19-05, 09:54 AM	Short on funds try walmart.com- seriously. Thats where i go for most of my rpg books. 40%-50% off in some cases. Players Handbook $18.86 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2136228 DM's Guide $18.19, Monster Manual $18.19 The Realms setting is like $24 instead of $40 and so on.
Mercstrider 02-20-05, 03:10 AM	lol, those might be good suggestions in the US, but here in the UK, they don't really count ^_^;; Comic book stores aren't around here in the uk, or if they are, they're only in the big cities! No chance of them appearing in the boonies where I am! Thanks for your all your help though!
ClobberinTime 02-20-05, 11:39 AM	Dang quick somebody call the queen- So at a bare minimum, you can play with a 3.5 players handbook and a 3.0 DmG and MM, most of the tricky rules like gaseous form-etheralness that you need the DMG for have been detailed on the Wizards website. So I would go with just the 3.5 players handbook and the SRD if I were you. Definitely don't buy the Monster Manual. Plus remember you will make mistakes and it will be ok so don't sweat it and have fun. As someone else said for flavor go to the free downloads page and download the Volos guides, you need the FRCS to see how things fit together but it should help you out alot with the feel of the game.... Good luck and have fun.... Hey also where can I go to get those cardboard cutouts.....
Alac Luin 02-20-05, 06:49 PM	Hey also where can I go to get those cardboard cutouts..... Is this what your looking for? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fpm/archive