I'm very new to D&D Miniatures, and have just ordered D&D Miniatures Starter Set. The version I have ordered is version 4 I believe, its the same one as on this page: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20040520b
I have read that you can play battles with them, and you can role-play. Will this have everything I need to role-play, what else do I need? What are campaigns and modules? Do you buy these or download them? Do I need Adventures? Please can you explain to me the difference between Adventures, Campaigns and Modules?
I would really appreciate the help!
Many Thanks,
Firstly, hopefully you have ordered this miniatures starter set
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndmin/215510000
rather than the green one shown in your link, as the green one is a couple of years out of date.
Secondly, the miniatures sets are (predominantly) designed for a miniatures battle system rather than the Role Playing Game. They contain only the battle rules, and nothing regarding the role playing, the rules for which can be found in these books
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/217367200
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/217507200
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/217207200
or this boxed set which is due out in October
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/217120000
OK, campaigns and modules.
A module is a pre-written adventure, consider it like a novel. A campaign
is a series of linked adventures/modules which combine to tell a story, like a trilogy or series of novels does.
Both are available to purchase or download for free (if you can find them), or, if your Dungeon Master feels confident enough then can write them themselves.
Hopefully this answers most of your questions. However, if you can let me know where in the UK you are, by PM if you would rather not say on the board, I may be able to point you a a shop or person who can do more.
Here's the one I bought: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360082813157&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=023
That is a lot of reading! Three books, I'm guessing they're quite thick! How long does it take you to learn all the rules?
I like the look of the boxed set that's due out in October, I take it that's a basic introduction that you can start playing with that?
What are Adventures? It says it includes one, what's in an adventure?
Thank you so much for answering my questions, there is so much information on this site I didn't really know where to begin!
Right, the new 2nd Edition of the miniatures rules is downloadable here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/errata
The top link where it says Dungeons of Dread Rulebook.
Unfortunately the revised stat' cards for the miniatures in your box will unfortunately not be available to download for a couple of months. The only thing that I can up with to cover this in the mean time would be to download the cards for the more recent sets, and those which have been converted, and select figures for you miniatures to represent. e.g. if you get a dwarven warrior in your set, find the card for a different dwarven warrior and use those.
These cards can be found here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20080410a
(Note that the Starter Set listed is the current one...)
Role Playing side:
Off the top of my head the three books comes to about 900-1000 pages, it took me about two months to read them through, but I don't get a lot of spare time to read, four kids will do that to you.
How long to learn? Well, that depends. If you actually have somebody on hand who knows how to play who can teach you, you can have the basics in an hour or less. (I've "taught" people at demo' events in 15-20 minutes.) Getting a handle on the whole thing, without any outside help; obviously it will depend on the person, but I would say that one thorough read of the Players Handbook, cross checking things as you go should do it. (The intro' set will obviously be easier though, as that's what it has been designed for.)
The October set should be exactly what you are suggesting it is, assuming that the designers have done their jobs correctly.
An adventure, to continue my analogy from my above post, is like a part written novel. It includes the core of the plot, and a general idea of what will happen in each chapter (or encounter). However, it cannot show what exactly will happen, as the players get to decided what their characters are doing, and if they choose to do something completely off the wall, then the "story" can vier off into uncharted territory.
You can find some sample adventures here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dutoc/157
These are not simple introductory or beginners ones, but they should give you some sought of idea.
No problems helping, I can certainly understand this all being rather a lot for a beginner. If you would rather just ask any other questions privately, just PM me, left clicking on my name will bring up options including one which can e-mail me directly, but whether its here or there I'll do my best to answer.
I think I have a lot of studying to do! I will start figuring out the combat for the Miniatures games, as I assume that will also be used in the Roleplaying? Or are they completely different where combat is concerned?
The combat rules for the RPG and the miniatures game are now very similar, though not quite identical.
Basically, this summer saw the release of the newest editions of both the Role Playing Game (4th edition) and the miniatures game (2nd edition). Wizards deliberately chose the bring the rules for them closer together, presumably top increase the chance of "porting" players from one to the other, and so increasing sales.
As Darrell suggested, letting us know whereabouts you are could help, as then we might be able to point you in the direction of people close by who are playing, and who can talk you through things. In some respects the best way to figure out what on earth this is all about is to play!
The rules for the 2nd edition of the minatures game are similar (though not identical) to the combat rules for the 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. I'm not sure what sets of minis those figures are all from - I know that the Gnaw Demon is from the new edition - you might find that the format of the cards differs. The roleplaying stats are cut-down versions of the kind of stats which a Dungeon Master would use to run the monster as an adversary for the characters controlled by the players during a D&D adventure.
One advantage of getting involved now is that it's quite close to the launch of the new edition of D&D (back in June) so lots of people are still learning the new game, meaning you are in no way on your own if you don't understand all the rules, and we're less than a month past the launch of Living Forgotten Realms, which is a world-wide D&D campaign the details of which are relatively unimportant - what it means is that there are new groups of people all over the country (and world!) springing up and looking for new players to join them in playing a series of one-off adventures designed for play in about 4-5 hours. It's a great chance to have a go at something without any kind of commitment to a regular game.
The other place you are bound to find players is if there is a university near you - almost all universities have roleplaying game societies, and almost all of those welcome non-students who want to join - and have plenty of people who've never played before join in the first few weeks of term, so are often pretty good at catering for them.