Insects Are Exempt From Microwave Radiation

[Scott5114]

My wife and I recently bought a DnD starter kit since we're looking to learn to play. Were not really sure where/how to get started either.

Here is how I would recommend you get started: Just focus on making characters. Don't worry about anything else yet. Don't even worry about the game rules. First off, you want to get an idea of what sort of person you're going to be piloting around the game world.

Start with the race and class chapters of the book. The first few paragraphs of each option are flavor text that give you the gist of what that option is about, and then it gets into the various mechanical features of that choice. Just read the flavor text for the races and the classes and stop when you get to the rules. Each class has a few subclass options as well, so read the flavor text on those. Once you've read them all, pick a combination of race, class, and subclass that seems interesting.

Now, delve into what would cause that person to exist. Why would an orc become a wizard? What would make a dragonborn become a cleric? Did their parents encourage them to take this life path, or was it something that they picked up themselves? Did they have the guidance of a mentor of some kind? With some classes (like warlock and sorcerer) the person doesn't necessarily choose to become that class, it just happens through circumstance. What sort of effect has that had on their life and how the world sees them? Also, it takes a certain sort of person to be type that a D&D game will be focusing on—they are going to be in dangerous situations and probably traveling around a lot. Why are they choosing this life, instead of just sitting at home and being a tailor or blacksmith or accountant or something that doesn't put them in mortal peril all the time? Is this a young person just starting out, or an older person forced into this situation by circumstance or going through a mid-life crisis?

You get the idea—you want to know what your character is good at and what their motivations are. A lot of people have more fun with this part of the game than anything else, and you don't need to have anything special to do it. If your wife is the sort of person who likes road trips, take her on one and talk about this stuff the whole time you're on the road (ask her to take notes if you're prone to forgetting details). Bounce ideas off of each other. Your character doesn't have to be serious, either—they can be as ridiculous as you want. You want the end result to be someone you like as much as your favorite character from your favorite book or TV show or whatever; that you love so much you feel compelled to find out every little thing about what makes them tick. How do they speak? Do they have any funny little mannerisms? What are they afraid of? What's their pet peeve? You want to be invested in them enough that you care about what happens to them. (You might realize along the way that you've actually made a dud character that you can't get to this point with. Don't feel bad if you need to scrap them and start over with a new idea. It happens.) You basically want to know everything that an actor would need to know to play this character. Because that's basically what you're going to be doing when the game starts.

(One asterisk on this—make sure you make a character that has the ability to play along with others. Too many people have fallen into the trap of making an aloof cool-guy character who doesn't let anyone get under his skin...then proceed to have no fun at all because nobody wants to talk to the guy who gives no indication of his personality other than being cool and aloof. Or they make a character who has no reason to go on an adventure to begin with and is Just There for the whole game. Or they make a character who is just an out-and-out asshole that undermines what the other players are trying to do. Nobody wants to play with one of these. You're in a cooperative game. Use your common sense.)

Now go and read the rest of the book. When it comes time to fill the character sheet out, you probably won't have to sit there and evaluate whether this bonus or that ability will be better, because the correct choice for each option presented to you will be obvious based on their background or their motivations. You just know your elf will have a longsword, because she's been training for years to become a fighter, so she was gifted this sword by her mentor after such and such event...

When it comes time to play the game, this preparation will pay off, because it means you have everything you need to step into the character's shoes and make decisions the same way they would, and say the same things they would. (You may not even have to think about it too hard—if you know a character well enough it can feel like they're the one in charge and you're just along for the ride!) The rules and the dice rolling basically exist solely to facilitate whatever it is you want to do. "I think Russell would want to try to swim across the river." Okay, there's a dice roll that will you whether he succeeds or not. You can try virtually anything, and it may be difficult enough you can only make it happen if you roll a 20, but you're allowed to at least try.

And that's the fun of the game, really. You are all collectively telling a story about your favorite characters, going on the adventure of a lifetime together. Enjoy the ride. Years afterward you'll probably still be referencing stupid running jokes that get made and shenanigans that happened from botched dice rolls.

You're going to need another player or two.

Not necessarily—one-on-one games are possible, and can be quite satisfying because whichever person that's running the game can focus on tailoring the game to the taste of one player and not have to worry about keeping everyone in the group satisfied.

But that's also something you get a lot more out of after you've played a few group games to get used to the "normal" dynamic. I wouldn't recommend it for a first game. The ideal number of players, in my opinion, is four (one DM and three players).

[Rothman]

Pfft.  When my friends and I played in elementary school, had a friend who was the DM, he handed out character sheets based on a couple of preferences and away we went.  All this background stuff is for the birds.

[Scott5114]

Pfft.  When my friends and I played in elementary school, had a friend who was the DM, he handed out character sheets based on a couple of preferences and away we went.  All this background stuff is for people who don't want to play the Olive Garden of D&D games.

ftfy