Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kid_Buu 09-02-06, 10:33 AM	Ok, so i have the core rulebooks now and am somewhat delighted! :D Ok so i have a few questions just about d&d in general, i know this is probably should be in the general section but most of the questions are more player orientated :embarrass Question 1: How many heroes can/should play at once? Now the basic game taught me and my mates to play with 4 characters and then one person would be just the DM. Now we have 5 of us who want to play and then another mate who is just a permanent DM (6 mates playing total). Now how should we deal with this.... i know it's only one person more but we have had interest from a lot more people. So how many should be in a dungeon at once without it getting uber-complicated and too easy for us? Or how should a DM deal with more people? Question 2: How does the time system work? as i'm struggling with it, luckily we've not reached a situation where time is that specifically needed, as we've just been using the basic game, which sort of avoids it entirely. Question 3: Where do you get more tiles/maps from? we want to run a series of dungeons, sort of almost zelda in their manner. For each dungeon we have a mission to complete, we go in and try and achieve it but half way through we encounter some kind of mini-boss in form of some bizarre beast and then we face up against a main boss after completing our task, which our DM is making for each dungeon an evil equivalent to each of our characters... as well as in some of the other dungeons some just nastier beasts. Then we face the one last evil (for us it's some kind of dark entity, but for link it would have been ganondorf :D ) and our campaign is complete. So how do we deal with travel etc? basically i'd just like some advice on running a campaign. Question 3: I Don't understand base attack bonuses and base save bonuses.... as the rulebook is unclear.... now i'm assuming you just add this to your melee and ranged attack rolls and then when it eventually gets to values like 12+/7+ this means you can do two attacks, one with a 12+ modifier and one with a 7+ modifier, so until you get one of these values you can only attack once still yes? And then for base save bonuses you simply add the value to all your saves, for example the good base save bonus at level 2 is 2+ this means a reflex save of say just D20, will be upgraded to D20+2. (hypothetical situation) Also for the basic attack bonuses i'll do a hypothetical situation as how i think it works.... tell me if it's wrong. :eek: Regdar has D20+4 for his attack roll, and he then upgrades to level 2, this means he recieves a base attack bonus from the good table which for now i will say is 2+, so his attack roll would be D20+6. He will carry on like this until he gets to values such as 12+/7+, this means his first attack will be at D20+?? (Whatever it adds up to) and then the second attack will be resolved at D20+4+7, so D20+11. :confused: That right? Thanks for any advice, i'm sorry for the n00b-ness, just want to make sure i understand everything before i actually begin a campaign or play outside of the basic games rules. :embarrass
HauptSin 09-02-06, 12:07 PM	1: Basically, for more PCs, increase the number of enemies, or the strength of those enemies. If 4 [Monster]s are a good challenge for 4 PCs, then 6 [Monster]s are a good challenge for 6 PCs. Or 2 [Monster]s and 2 s. 2: Really, it's more a roleplaying thing, as not many actual rules deal with it. Of course your characters need sleep, and prparation time for the casters, but you don't really need to get specific with it. In combat, just remember that 1 round is 6 seconds. 10 rounds to the minute. So if there's a trap that triggers after 30 seconds or something(as is popular in Zelda with doors, etc.), then the PCs have 5 rounds to deal with it. 3: I think there are books of them somewhere but I'm not sure. You could always just draw your own on grid paper or something. :p 4: I believe you're correct. At level 1, a Fighter gets +1(his Base Attack Bonus) added on all of his Attack [s]and Damage rolls. This increases to +2 at level 2, and so forth. Then for the multiple attacks, he'd get one attack at +12, one at +7, and one at +2 (+12/+7/+2 for a Level 12 Fighter). Then you factor in his Strength bonus, any weapon bonuses, spell bonuses, etc. To get the hang of things, I'd suggest just running a handful of combat scenarios to get a feel for everything. Helped me out a lot when I ran a handful of "Coliseum" type of fights.
Zuj 09-02-06, 12:21 PM	4: I believe you're correct. At level 1, a Fighter gets +1(his Base Attack Bonus) added on all of his Attack and Damage rolls. This is incorrect. You only add your base attack bonus to your attack rolls. For example: Regdar, the level 1 human fighter with 16 STR has a base attack bonus of +1, but an overall attack bonus of +4 (+1 BAB, +3 from strength). When Regdar hits level 6, his base attack bonus will be +6/+1. His overall attack bonus will be +9/+4 (because of his 16 strength). Regdar's damage bonus is only +3 (from his strength), unless he has any increased damage feats or magical items.
HauptSin 09-02-06, 12:41 PM	Right, my bad. Sometimes I fail to notice what it is I'm typing, and my hands get carried away on me. >_>
Malek 09-02-06, 12:46 PM	Erm - you got multiple attacks wrong also... it's a second attack at +6, third at +11 and fourth at +16 (So for a fighter: +1 at 1st level +6/+1 at 6th level +11/+6/+1 at 11th level and finally +16/+11/+6/+1 at 16th level... classes with worse bab get less attacks)
Kid_Buu 09-02-06, 01:25 PM	Thanks for the advice Hauptsin and for the corrections Malek and Zuj. It's mostly just the tiles etc i'm keen on finding out now, as although paper would be a cheap option, i'd just like some that are a little more aesthetically pleasing and not as easily damaged. Yeah, i think the little monster balance system you have there will work, i think in total it will be 6 of us playing and then the one DM. The idea is that we each get one of the basic classes/races and we build them up and then they face evil equivalents of themselves..... like for our good ranger, we will face off agains an evil ranger made from the ordinary tables or maybe arcane archer, who will be a good bit stronger, so basically they'll have weaknesses/strengths on each other and the rest of the party deal with the little beasts running around, if you follow me? :embarrass
HauptSin 09-02-06, 01:29 PM	Umm... +11/+6/+1 at 11th level, when the third attack is actually gained. +12/+7/+2 at 12th level, from using the OP's example of "+12/+7" Or so says page 39 of my PHB.
Vanigo 09-02-06, 01:51 PM	Also for the basic attack bonuses i'll do a hypothetical situation as how i think it works.... tell me if it's wrong. :eek: Regdar has D20+4 for his attack roll, and he then upgrades to level 2, this means he recieves a base attack bonus from the good table which for now i will say is 2+, so his attack roll would be D20+6. He will carry on like this until he gets to values such as 12+/7+, this means his first attack will be at D20+?? (Whatever it adds up to) and then the second attack will be resolved at D20+4+7, so D20+11. :confused: If I'm reading this right, you're actually wrong. What you seem to be thinking is that a fifth level fighter's base attack bonuses will get his attack roll up to 1d20+1+2+3+4+5 (+1 for first level, +2 from second, and so on). This is, as I said above, wrong. You only get the base attack bonus for your current level, so a fifth level fighter would get 1d20+5. Same for base save bonuses; a fifth level fighter gets only +4 to fortitude saves from his base save bonus. Another thing worth pointing out: there are, as you seem to have noticed, other things that you can add to your attack bonus, like your strength modifier. This can get a fifth level fighter's attack bonus up to, say, 1d20+5 base+3 strength+1 enhancement, for a total of 1d20+9. (Enhancement bonuses typically come from masterwork or magic weapons.) Most people will abbreviate this as a +9 attack bonus. This is what you'll actually be adding to your attack rolls, but it's important that you not mix this up with your base attack bonus. The reason to keep them separate is that, while your total attack bonus determines whether you hit, it's your base attack bonus that determines how many attacks you get in a round. For the sake of redundancy, if your base attack bonus is +6 or higher, you get a second attack at a bonus five points lower than your first. This is written as +6/+1 (or +7/+2, or whatever), meaning that you get one attack at a +6 bonus (plus all your other bonuses), and a second attack at +1 plus everything else. Similarly, if your BAB (Base Attack Bonus) is +11 or higher, you get a third attack at a bonus ten points lower than your first, and at +16 BAB or higher you get a fourth attack at -15.
Azezel 09-02-06, 03:18 PM	Ok, so i have the core rulebooks now and am somewhat delighted! :D I'm glad to hear it - didn't I say the Basic Game was only a shadow of the real thing? Ok so i have a few questions just about d&d in general, i know this is probably should be in the general section but most of the questions are more player orientated :embarrass Question 1: How many heroes can/should play at once? Now the basic game taught me and my mates to play with 4 characters and then one person would be just the DM. Now we have 5 of us who want to play and then another mate who is just a permanent DM (6 mates playing total). Now how should we deal with this.... i know it's only one person more but we have had interest from a lot more people. So how many should be in a dungeon at once without it getting uber-complicated and too easy for us? Or how should a DM deal with more people? Tricky... At the most basic leve, anywhere between one and about twelve PC's can form a party. That said, it is more complex. Four is the ideal Five is easy, so is six. More than six and ballencing encounters becomes slightly harder, but more importantly, everyone gets less face-time. Everyone wants their time to shine, and the more people there are, the less time each gets. Also - getting 6+ people together at the same time regulalry can be hard. Fewer players in a party mean you must give them easier enconters, and it is likely that the party will lack some critical ellement (Though a Bard can help here). On the other hand, each player gets more time in the sun. There is such a thing as 'Gestalt' - essentially a system where one character has two classes per level, but this is complicated and probably not something you want to play with until you are comfortable with the game. Question 2: How does the time system work? as i'm struggling with it, luckily we've not reached a situation where time is that specifically needed, as we've just been using the basic game, which sort of avoids it entirely. It varies. In combat time is devided into six-second long rounds. Spell effects and sundry other things last for a given number of rounds, minutes or hours. A minute, obviously, is ten rounds and an hour is six hundred rounds. Outside of combat it's really up to the DM. The players say something like 'We walk to Moonwell Pass' - and the DM looks at his map and says 'okie dokie, that takes you three days'. Question 3: Where do you get more tiles/maps from? we want to run a series of dungeons, sort of almost zelda in their manner. For each dungeon we have a mission to complete, we go in and try and achieve it but half way through we encounter some kind of mini-boss in form of some bizarre beast and then we face up against a main boss after completing our task, which our DM is making for each dungeon an evil equivalent to each of our characters... as well as in some of the other dungeons some just nastier beasts. Then we face the one last evil (for us it's some kind of dark entity, but for link it would have been ganondorf :D ) and our campaign is complete. So how do we deal with travel etc? basically i'd just like some advice on running a campaign. Hm - well traditionally, dungeons are drawn on one-inch scale graph paper (which is increasingly difficult to find here in Blighty, though that's by the by). One inch equals five feet. Lots of people like to use dry-erase or wet-erase boards (whitboard sort of affair). Draw a one inch grid on one of these with permanent ink and then use non-permanent markers to draw the dungeon ontop. Also, lots of companies manufacture battle-mats. These are specifically designed for gamers to use, and have agrid or hexs already printed (in fact most have both, one on each side) on them. But if you buy a cheap whiteboard from an office supply shop, you will come out ahead. For larger scales you will need a world. That is to say, a big 'ol landmass with a few cities, some foressts, rivers, mountains and whatnot, probably surrounded by sea (though any and all of these features are optional). There are a number of published worlds, called Campaign Settings, available. Each comes in a big book with contains all the details needed to set, run and play a game in that world. The 'standard' setting for DnD is called Greyhawk, and it is set around the Free City of Greyhawk on a planet called (you'll love this) 'Oerth'. Greyhawk is no longer actively supported by Wizards of the Coast though. WotC actively support two settings, one, Eberron is a sort of 'pulp' style thing, it smacks of anime and steampunk - if you've ever played Final Fantasy IX then that's pretty much Eberron. The other is The Forgotten Realms (which I like much more). FR is a more standard fantasy setting, and is rather cheaper too (about £20 from amazon). Lastly - I have to plug my favourite setting - Ravenloft. Ravenloft is based on Gothic Literature. Books like Dracula and Frankenstine, and poetry such as written by Shelly or Poe. It is very deeply atmospheric and I like it a lot. Question 3: I Don't understand base attack bonuses and base save bonuses.... as the rulebook is unclear.... now i'm assuming you just add this to your melee and ranged attack rolls and then when it eventually gets to values like 12+/7+ this means you can do two attacks, one with a 12+ modifier and one with a 7+ modifier, so until you get one of these values you can only attack once still yes? And then for base save bonuses you simply add the value to all your saves, for example the good base save bonus at level 2 is 2+ this means a reflex save of say just D20, will be upgraded to D20+2. (hypothetical situation) Got it in one, my young friend. BaB applies only to Attack rolls, and one merely adds the number to a d20. If you have two numbers listed for BaB then you get two attacks, etc. (Technically, if you two weapons, or use a weapon in one hand and a fist of the other, or two fists you get ONE extra attack in a round) Also for the basic attack bonuses i'll do a hypothetical situation as how i think it works.... tell me if it's wrong. :eek: Regdar has D20+4 for his attack roll, and he then upgrades to level 2, this means he recieves a base attack bonus from the good table which for now i will say is 2+, so his attack roll would be D20+6. He will carry on like this until he gets to values such as 12+/7+, this means his first attack will be at D20+?? (Whatever it adds up to) and then the second attack will be resolved at D20+4+7, so D20+11. :confused: Regdar, as a level one fighter has a BaB of +1 (lets assume he has a strength of ten for simplicity). His attack is 1d20+1. He gets to level two - his BaB increases to +2 (yes, fighters, and some other classes get +1 BaB per level) His attack is 1d20+2 When Regdar gets to level six his BaB will be +6/+1 His attacks will be 1d20+6 AND 1d20+1. Although he will only gain that extra attack if he uses the Full Attack option. That right? Thanks for any advice, i'm sorry for the n00b-ness, just want to make sure i understand everything before i actually begin a campaign or play outside of the basic games rules. :embarrass Welcome aboard, the Exits are here, here and here, but you won't need them, very few people want to leave.
JiobiValen 09-02-06, 03:42 PM	Well first let me just say welcome aboard! I think you'll find D&D to be one of the best things since sliced bread. Now while the others seem to have covered your current questions very well, allow me to offer my services in a more direct way. You see, I rather enjoy teaching budding DM's and players the rules, as well as giving some tips beyond what the books have. So, if your interested in some real time feedback, send a pm my way and i'll have a chat with you sometime on aim or some other messenger service. Either way, good gaming.
draco1119 09-02-06, 05:14 PM	My suggestion for the tiles: The DMG has them in the back of the book. Make LOTS of copies. Alternatively, you could buy a dry-erase board or dry-erase foldable map and use (and re-use!) this...
armeniantwins 09-02-06, 06:06 PM	Azezel is right, you need to make a full attack to make use of a higher base attack bonus. If a lvl 20 fighter moves twenty feet and swings his greatsword at a Balor, he can still only make one attack. His base attack bonus is +20/+15/+10/+5. He would make this attack as 1d20+20+[Any other Modifiers]. About saves, that chart that you looked at showed good and poor base save progressions. Those just show what they can be, not what they actually are. You need to look at individual class descriptions to see their base save progressions. For instance, a monk has good reflex, fortitude, and will saves, which means that at 1st lvl a monk would have a base bonus on all saves of +2. A 1st lvl fighter would have a fortitude save bonus at +2, and he would make will and reflex saves at +0. You have to keep in mind that these modifiers would change further based on the crucial ability modifier that corresponds to a specific save. You wisdom modifier affects your will saves, you constitution your fortitude saves, and your dexterity your reflex saves. About having multiple players in a campaign, this can be a mixed blessing. One of my friends ran a campaign with thirteen people in it, and it failed miserably. This was because nobody but the best players got a chance to shine in the spotlight. Also, challenges became screwed up. The group took down a nightwalker at 14th level and a Balor at 16th lvl, while fighting through a substantial demon army. On the other hand, a moderate number of people can lead to an enhanced experience. With more then four people, it allows players to experiment with their characters a little more. Rather then the typical fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric party, players can delve into interesting Prestige Classes or Multiclass a lot more. In the campaign I'm currently in, there is an Anti-Paladin, a Mystic Theurge, a rogue assasin, a Warforged Metal Bender (Eberron), and a cleric that's obssessed with the Abyss. I hope that clears a few things up. Good luck learning to play D & D, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Kid_Buu 09-02-06, 08:28 PM	Regdar, as a level one fighter has a BaB of +1 (lets assume he has a strength of ten for simplicity). His attack is 1d20+1. He gets to level two - his BaB increases to +2 (yes, fighters, and some other classes get +1 BaB per level) His attack is 1d20+2 When Regdar gets to level six his BaB will be +6/+1 His attacks will be 1d20+6 AND 1d20+1. Although he will only gain that extra attack if he uses the Full Attack option. That right? Now hold on a second as i'm getting slightly confused.... i understand the basic attack bonus now from this, but don't you add something like your strength modifier on? lets say for the sake of inconvienience that he was strength 12 meaning he'd get a modifier of +1, so a level one regdar would have D20+1 for his basic attack bonus then that would move up to +2 because of the strength modifier. Then when he upgrades to level two (strength not changing) his attack roll would now be D20 + 1 (Strength Mod) + 2 (BaB) or in simpler terms D20+3? That right now? So eventually when he gets to level six, he'll recieve an extra attack in close combat, One with D20+6 and one with D20+1, these would then be upgraded to D20+7 and D20+2 due to his strength modifier (+1) That right? Please tell me thats right??? :weep: Also what is this full attack option? i'm guessing it means that i take no other actions in the round besides fight, for example i can't charge in and full attack, but in the next round i can as i won't have moved or done anything else? :embarrass And finally can someone explain two weapon fighting and how BaB's affect it? :confused:
ashcat_lt 09-02-06, 10:12 PM	we are happy to help, but you really should take a minute to read your new books through. The chapter on Combat (PHB3.5 pg133) actually has the answer to the questions on full attack (PHB pg143) as well as two-weapon fighting(PHB pg160). Basically, yes, full attack means you do nothing other than attack. Actually, you can take free actions (PHB pg139) in the same round, and you could also take a 5' step. Great fun all these rules and things, no? Read the books. Once you think you've got it, read them again. Ask all the questions you like, and we will all do what we can to help you understand. Keep in mind, though, that there are different forums on this board for different categories of question, so when you get into specifics ("how does this feat work?" etc) you can often get better answers if you put your questions in those specific forums. You are right in the most recent post, but to be precise regdar, as presented in the Basic Game, is a Ftr1, with Str 15. In fact, for all those that haven't seen it, the PCs in the basic game are all built with the elite array (DMG3.5 pg169). Regdar's attack bonus with greatsword: +4 = +1 (Ftr1) +2 (str) +1 (Weapon Focus: Greatsword) If he happened to pick up a magic greatsword+1, he'd have: +5 = +1+2+1+1(magical enhancement bonus) At Ftr2 (keeping the magic sword), he will have: +6 = +2(BAB)+2+1+1 At Ftr4 he'll add a point of strenth and he will have +9 = +4(BAB)+3(Str)+1(WF)+1(magic) And yes, at Ftr6 he would have (if everything else stays the same) +11/+6 (two more points of BAB, and an extra attack at -5 of the first) To make things a little more confusing, he adds 1.5 x his strength mod to damage on attacks with that greatsword. And on top of that, he's got Power Attack, which lets him trade in points of BAB for damage.
Vanigo 09-02-06, 11:49 PM	And finally can someone explain two weapon fighting and how BaB's affect it? :confused: Two weapon fighting works like this: You hold a weapon in each hand. When you use a full attack, you get to attack with both. You designate one weapon as your primary weapon, and one as your off-hand weapon - you can choose which is which, and even switch in the middle of combat if you want. You get all your normal attacks with your primary weapon, but only one attack with your off-hand weapon. The one attack you get is, however, made with your full base attack bonus, not the reduced bonus for your second/third/fourth normal attack. There are a couple catches, though. First, whenever you fight with two weapons, you get some penalties to hit. How big the penalties are depend on whether you've got the Two Weapon Fighting feat and whether your off-hand weapon is a light weapon or not, but there are always some. These penalties apply to all the attacks you make in the round. Secondly, you only get to add half your normal strength bonus to damage with your off-hand weapon. (Your primary weapon still gets the full bonus.)
Azezel 09-03-06, 07:22 AM	Two Weapon Fightiong? Okie dokie... Hold tight. Let's say that Regdar (with STR 10, which means a STR modifier of 0) was a level 1 fighter. He has BaB +1 If he uses a single Longsword his attack roll is 1d20+1. LEt's say though, that he wants to use a Longsword in each hand. Now he has two weapons and he gains ONE extra attack per round IF he uses the Full Attack option. But he suffers penalties on his attack roll. At level one his full attack would be 1d20-5 ANd 1d20-9. That's right, -5 and -9. If he used one Longsword and one Shortsword his attacks would be 1d20-3 AND 1d20-7. Still very bad. If he was level six he would have the following attacks with a Full Attack 1d20+2 1d20-3 1d20-2 As you see, in each case he gains ONE extra attack if he uses the Full Attack option. The extra attack is called the off-hand attack and is calculated thusly: Highest BaB + (1/2 STR modifier rounded DOWN to nearest whole number) + Weapon Focus or other bonusses - TWF penalty (anywhere from -10 to -2) Now, the name 'Two Weapon Fighting' is a misnomer. Regdar does not technically need two weapons, he can make his extra attack with a fist, or a foot or a headbut or whatever - but note that unarmed attacks have their own penalties. There are Feats such as Two Weapon Fighting which decrease the penalties for using two weapons, and if you plan to fight like this often, then you will really need these feats. Also note that double weapons, such as quarterstaves and two-bladed swords count as two weapons for the purposes of TWF. But you can treat them as a single weapon if you only wish to make one attack in a round. I strongly recomend that you read the combat section of your PHB more han once. As you can see from this thread, even those of us who think we are knowledgeable enough to help the new guy do make mistakes. I garuntee that I have made one somewhere on this thread. DnD is a fairly rules heavy game.
Kid_Buu 09-03-06, 07:51 AM	Ok thanks guys, makes more sense now, also it's not that i'm not reading the book or only reading it once it's more that i just plain don't get it, no-one where i live has played before so i'm trying to learn everything as there is no-one here i can stop and ask for help.... thats why i need you guys. Thanks for all the replies :D
Bob Loblaw 09-03-06, 12:04 PM	Just to give you another resource, WotC has addressed some of the confusing rules here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/rg). You can also find some more answers to your questions here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221a). Sometimes you'll find things may look wrong in the books which can make it more confusing. Check out the errata (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a) when this happens. Oh, and welcome aboard. I think you'll really enjoy this ride.
rogue_lettuce 09-03-06, 02:10 PM	Ok thanks guys, makes more sense now, also it's not that i'm not reading the book or only reading it once it's more that i just plain don't get it, no-one where i live has played before so i'm trying to learn everything as there is no-one here i can stop and ask for help.... thats why i need you guys. That's ok, the rules are somewhat complicated if you have no-one to explain them to you. Glad to see you're getting the hang of them, now you can explain them to all your friends. :D
Kid_Buu 09-03-06, 06:56 PM	That's ok, the rules are somewhat complicated if you have no-one to explain them to you. Glad to see you're getting the hang of them, now you can explain them to all your friends. :D Thanks, see it's hard for us because we are at the far north of scotland (approx 15 miles away from the very top of scotland) so we don't get a lot of d&d players..... or places that sell d&d.... or anyone else who even knows what it is.... :eek: Kinda sucks really but hey thats what the internet is for! :D Thanks Again guys, mucho appreciation!
Nom 09-03-06, 10:21 PM	Question 1: How many heroes can/should play at once?4 is "ideal" in terms of game design. Fewer than 3 is problematic in combat, since you won't have enough characters to give a good spread of abilities and a single unlucky hit can take down half your party (rather than 1/4 with 4 PCs). You can help alleviate this problem by padding the party out with allies (NPCs who adventure with the party) or cohorts (as allies, but typically 2 levels lower). If you do this, try to ensure that the PCs call the shots and the NPCs help out, rarely or never the other way around. More than 5-6 gets problematic from an attention perspective. You can help alleviate this by making sure everyone is familiar with what is happening, and by encouraging quick and decisive play. If someone is prevaricating too long, just tell them that they are "delaying" (PH pg 160) and move on to the next person. With more PCs, add more opponents rather than a single more powerful opponent. Single, powerful opponents are difficult to balance correctly, and the likelihood of either a total party kill (TPK) or an easy victory increases when you have (say) 8 weaker PCs instead of 4 appropriate ones. Question 2: How does the time system work?Game time vs real time: Game time is how long it takes in the game. Real time is how long it takes to play it out. The two are only occasionally connected. A round of combat can easily take 5-10 minutes to play (real time), but represents only 6 seconds (game time). Taking 20 to search a 5 ft. square takes 2 minutes (game time), but is resolved in about 5 seconds (real time). Travelling for 3 days (see example above) takes 3 days (game time), but can be resolved in a single sentence. Think of it like a book. The time taken to read a paragraph has no bearing on how long the events in the paragraph took. Game time, is usually measured with the same units as real time: minutes, hours, days, and so on. Three time units deserve special mention. "day". This is a day as we know it, but several game mechanics work "per day". Rather than nit-pick 24 hours, it's usually best to take a reasonably casual approach. Spells reset 1/day, typically at daybreak, but not if they were used within 8 hours of reset time. Using the same approach for other per day abilities works fine. "round". Once you enter combat, time is measured in "rounds" and "turns". A round represents 6 seconds of activity, and runs from (the start of) any given character's turn to (the start of) their next turn. "Turn" is, obviously, a character's turn to act. "action". During their turn, a character may take 1 standard action and 1 move action. They may exchange these for 1 full round action, or downgrade the standard action to a second move action (2 move actions total). They might also take free actions (no explicit limit). Most actions have no specific duration attached to them, they are just an abstraction of how much activity the character can do within the 6 seconds of the round. Some actions (casting certain spells, some skill uses) take an amount of time measured in rounds. If 1 round, the action requires a full round action and continues until the start of the next round (normal full round actions only take your turn, they don't continue during other character's turns). If multiple rounds, just keep going like that until the time is satisfied. I usually describe standard actions as "interesting" actions and move actions as "miscellaneous" actions. Thus, on your turn you can do one "interesting" action and one "miscellaneous" action. See above for free actions and full round actions. Occasionally, the rules use "action" when they mean "turn to act" or "turn". If you're left thinking "did they mean 'action' or 'turn', they probably meant 'turn'". Question 3: Where do you get more tiles/maps from?The "default" mapping technique is to laminate the map in the DMG and then draw on it with eraseable markers, either ahead of time or as you go. When using tiles, one common technique is to "walk" them, moving previous tiles to form new rooms. For more tiles, check out the downloads section of the WotC web site or look on-line. RPG-now has several makers of third party tiles that you can buy and print. Some companies even make 3D plastic or plaster models of dungeons, but these are expensive. If you're using markers, the DM should draw small versions of the maps (say 1 square = 5 ft.) beforehand. 5 mm or 1/4 inch graph paper is ideal for this. Then he can copy his maps to the laminated mat as required. I have heard of some people using large 1 inch display pads from office supply stores in place of laminated mats. WotC also sells "fantastic locations" packs. These are about 1m x 2m pre-drawn maps with an included adventure. You gain detail and cosmetics, but you lose flexibility. Finally, you can buy software (such as Dundjinni) that allows you to draw and print your own maps, or just use a graphics program to do the same thing. So how do we deal with travel etc? basically i'd just like some advice on running a campaign.Anything that's not tactical, just describe. "The journey to the dungeon takes 3 days" "You meet an old man at the house. He greets you, and asks why four such well dressed warriors are out in this wilderness and scaring his goats." "The room is about 30 foot long. On the far wall are two huge carvings. You think they are ogres. There are two large pillars on each side wall." ... "OK, you move up and search the pillar. Let me roll you a seach check; what's your search modifier?". In this example, the DM rolls this check so the player doesn't know whether he rolled bad (perhaps something to find but he missed it) or well (nothing to find). "Your agressive response seems to have scared the kobold chieftain. He takes a step backwards, then all the kobolds go for their weapons. The room looks like this (draws map), they're here (places kobolds) and you're here places PC figures. Roll initiative ..." (time switches to tatical rounds with map).
Azezel 09-04-06, 09:36 AM	Thanks, see it's hard for us because we are at the far north of scotland (approx 15 miles away from the very top of scotland) so we don't get a lot of d&d players..... or places that sell d&d.... or anyone else who even knows what it is.... :eek: Kinda sucks really but hey thats what the internet is for! :D Greetings from the oposite end of the country, but the identical situation... You could try putting something in your sig 'If you live in X please PM me. It doesn't actually work, but it might make you feel better.