Intro to DnD (and other RPGs)

[Jennifer]

So I was reading my "new" Players Guide, and I had a thought (scary I know).

1) Would anyone be interested in taking an intro to *insert game*? Very basic stuff, but would be an opportunity for players who are clueless about such things (like me!) to meet experienced players, and get a feel for how the game is played

2) Most importantly! Would anyone be willing to "teach" such a thing? If we decide to charge for the session (not sure of the rules for that), you'd get a portion of the profits.

So! Reply with what you're interested in, experienced with, etc, and any other ideas you might have!

[newfie]

OMG this is exactly somthing I am looking for! Forever I have wanted to play DnD but I dont know anyone who would be into it If anyone is willing to teach, I am willing to learn!

[rahlious]

I know DnD 3.0/3.5 quite well. I can teach people the basics... no problem at all

[manzer]

Let me know if you get together to do this, it might be fun to try

[newfie]

Why dont we make a DnD night for an event of the month? It will make organization, (or there lack of ) easier

[willow]

i'd be interested to try

What is anevent of the month and how does it make organization easier?

[Toadbell]

Woo! Thank god. I've been in a serious RPG drought lately: our last D&D campaign finished in September and Shadowrun is currently on hiatus until our potential GM has time for it, so all I've got to tide me over is an online D&D campaign in which I'm playing two different characters (a female wild elf cleric/bard, and a male goblin ranger) as part of two different parties (who will likely never meet, according to our DM). Online D&D just doesn't have the same "oomph" as the real thing. The small group gathering with their many and varied source books, discussing their characters, eating a ton of snacks, making jokes at the DM's expense (not too many, though, or a dragon may just eat your character). So much more satisfying.

With regards to experience, I've been playing D&D3.5 for a few years now, but unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to DM yet. I'd love to take part in some teaching sessions for character creation and game mechanics. I think charging would be a little heavy-handed, though. I'd suggest setting up a poll or two to see the interest level in the society, and work from there. If it's less than 7 or 8 people, we could easily sit down for a few hours and go over the basics. If there's more demand, we could set up something more formal. If anyone's interested in just sitting down on a one-on-one basis, because of lack of experience or rulebooks or what have you, send me a PM and I'll see what I can do. I have too much free time on weekdays anyways.

One of the biggest hurdles for most people to start playing is the cost of the core rulebooks. Suppose you want to play an orc instead of a half-orc, but don't have the Monster Manual? Want to play a rogue who excels at trapmaking, but haven't got the DM's Guide (where the traps are detailed)? Or just too cheap/poor to buy any of the 3 cores, period? Well, luckily, almost the entirety of these books (and a few more) are available as a System Reference Document under the Open Gaming License, and, due to this availability, have found a home at the Hypertext d20 SRD (www.d20srd.org/index.htm). There are other places where this can be found (including the actual Wizards website), but this is my personal favourite. While not as brightly illustrated or descriptive as the rulebooks, the SRD serves as a functional guide for the basics. The only important things missing are references to experience gain and a few monsters that are considered product identity by Wizards. Definitely something to check out. I use it all the time!

Back on topic, though, I'd love to sit down with some n00bs, crank out a few basic characters, and take them through their first shaky paces. Everybody's gotta start somewhere, right? I've been dying to find some players new to the game to try DMing - I've never run a game, and they've never played, so everyone's on even ground!

It's ridiculous how excited the prospect of more D&D excites me. That was a long post.

[newfie]

If we are going to start a game, we all need classes right? Well for the sake of making learning a little bit easier, anyone know of a class that is easy to start off with and is demanded? Ill try and learn as much about it before we start.

[rahlious]

newfie said:

If we are going to start a game, we all need classes right? Well for the sake of making learning a little bit easier, anyone know of a class that is easy to start off with and is demanded? Ill try and learn as much about it before we start.

Fighter

They're at the top of the (basic) physical characters and get extra feats to make them even better at combat. They don't have spells, many skills or other features (except weapon and armour use) but the extra feats are really very good. Also, the feat selection allows for a lot of different customization. (ie:many different kinds of Fighters can be made, even at 1st level)

[Toadbell]

rahlious said:

Fighter

I definitely agree with rahlious on this one. Generally speaking, first-time players will usually find the hack'n'slash classes the smoothest to transition with. Barbarians and fighters are notoriously easy to use, particularly the latter, and are a great start. Rogues and rangers are also a good choice, with their fighting abilities enhanced in some ways (sneak attack and combat style, respectively) and balanced against other benefits, such as trapfinding, or tracking and endurance. Monks start off a little low-powered, but if you're either starting a high-level campaign or plan on playing 'til level 10-15, they're a good secondary combatant.

You might want to wait for a few games before dabbling in magic, but if you're determined, it's not impossible for your first character to use magic. Clerics and paladins are good choices, since you don't need to rely on magic entirely, giving you a chance to ease into its use. Sorcerors and bards are also good for first-timers, since you don't need to muddle around with preparing your spells every day. The druid and the wizard would probably best be left until you've taken part in a campaign or two, but there's no real reason you can't start with them if you really want to. You're definitely going to want access to a Monster Manual if you play a druid, though. Keep in mind that learning to use magic is another mechanic entirely, so if you're just learning about combat/skill mechanics, you'll be taking on more.

The essentials for a basic campaign would probably be:

• a couple of meat walls with big weapons (fighters, barbarians, monks, and paladins)
  
• a rogue for traps, sleight of hand, and other skills (possibly substituting a barbarian for traps, or a bard for the skill requirements)
  
• some kind of healer (usually a cleric, but any other magic user can fill that slot, just not as flexibly)
  
• at least one combat magic user (damaging/buff/echantment/summon spells) is usually a good idea
  

Needless to say, there's a lot of choice available, so your first character can be daunting. One method of character creation that may help is envisioning the alignment and/or roleplaying personality of your character first. Is he/she a loner, generally reserved, moody, and possibly even quick to anger? These are traits that would be especially likely to show up amongst rangers and rogues. Outgoing, friendly, and charismatic? Definitely found in bards and paladins. A little crazy in the head with a love of battle? Barbarians and fighters. Quiet and contemplative? Monks and clerics, and most wizards and druids, too. Any character traits can show up in any class (except for chaotic tendencies amongst monks or paladins, or lawful tendencies with barbarians or bards), so feel free to mix and match.

If in doubt, just pick a fighter and a big weapon. The party can always use more fighters. What I usually do, though, is find out what everyone else plans to use before the campaign begins, then fill in any gaps (who needs 3 rogues?), guaranteeing a well-rounded party.

[Jennifer]

Well the next question would be when would be a good time to offer this, and who would be willing to put the time into helping me plan it/teach it.

Should it be a most of day thing, afternoon, evening, few hours, whole bunch of hours, multiple sessions?

I didn't expect such a great responce! Thanks guys!

[rahlious]

Character building and starting a campaign would be good. Even it it's not intended to be continued for a long time, it would be excellent for all the first-timers.

I've only DM'd once; it didn't last long and it didn't go particularly well so I'm not eager to volunteer for that :/

[Toadbell]

I'd start with character creation first. Maybe a short session or two to go over how to make the most out of the creation mechanics, and maybe to cover combat and magic mechanics. The important thing isn't creating a working party, but everyone (especially new players) creating a character that interests them; if everyone wants to play a cleric, then everyone can play a cleric (oh, the number of zombies I'd send at you). I'd be afraid of someone getting stuck in a role they didn't enjoy, and having their first D&D experience soured immediately. Once everyone's happy with what they've worked on, we can get a dungeon crawl moving and work from there. Maybe two, if there's a lot of people interested. I'd be willing to attempt running my first campaign, or, if I'm really strapped for the time, pick up a module or something. I'd rather the former, because it'll be easier to tailor the game to the needs of the players, which is especially important for new players. I'm sure I'll be able to find a couple of experienced people within the forum or elsewhere (my girlfriend has already offered to join, in which case we may have more gals than guys!) to balance out the party, but we'll cross those hurdles when we come to them.

I'm definitely willing to help put in the time for this. What I'd like to do is get everyone who is interested in being involved (be it teaching or learning) all lined up, and then work out times and such. So far on this forum, we have Jennifer, newfie, rahlious, manzer, willow, and myself who have indicated interest, with two experienced players and four people willing to learn. I'd suggest waiting another day or two to see if there's any more interest, then decide when and where to meet. I'd say a couple of hours when everyone can meet should be enough, and I doubt we'll need to take up a room at MUN, so someone's dining room or basement should be fine. (Don't forget the Dew!)

Looks like I'll have to put down my Expanded Psionics Handbook and go back to the basics for awhile.

[Toadbell]

Alright, for organisational purposes, I've created a Yahoo! Group for those interested in RPGs. While a forum is great for the general purposes of the Geek Society, this will allow for a more streamlined organisation of the topic. I've used Yahoo! Groups before to organise D&D and I found it worked quite well. Not to force this on you guys, of course, but I think it'll make life a lot easier for everyone.

The url is games.groups.yahoo.com/group/mungeeksocrpg/. Feel free to join up!

[newfie]

DOes somonw with more DnD experience want to help me create a DnD fighter? There are so many skills and abilitys and rules, I dont know what to choose.