Episode 20: Dungeons and Dragons Tutorial

Episode 20: Dungeons and Dragons Tutorial

Topic: Dungeons and Dragons

By personal request from mom, tonight, we dive head first in to the complex world of Dungeons and Dragons.  Because Mom wanted to know what on earth was going on at her dining room table at 11pm at night. 

Tutorial:

Like all fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons is based off J.R. Tolken’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and Hobbit books.

Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 as a spinoff of another game called ‘Chainmail’. 

Chainmail was an early predecessor that revolved around the rules for medieval miniatures and armies.  It provided the first major set of rules for miniatures and very popular.

Dungeons and Dragons was original Published by Tactical Studies Rules(TSR) and later bought by Wizards of the Coast(same people as magic the gathering card game.)

Dungeons and Dragons is considered the benchmark for ‘Table-top Role Playing’ games, with many variations on the game for different setting, time periods, and genre.

Game has had multiple editions over the years, with a number of additional books, reference, and modules available to expand your game should you want to.

Did have multiple controversies over the years due to its content, particularly in the 80s.  Has spawned toys, more books, basis for just about any other Table-Top RPG, and even had its own 80s cartoon on Saturday mornings and a Movie in the 90s.

Playing the Game:

A group of people come together to play.  Any number can be done, but optimum is 4-5 players, with more being unwieldy for some groups, and three or two being a bit boring by comparison.   

One person plays the Dungeon Master, also known as a Game Master.  Short Abbreviated as DM or GM.
• DM is the main narrator for the story, leading other players through stories and acting out additional characters, often known as NPCs or Non-Player Characters.
• DM also acts as a guide, steering and leading players through various Adventures.

Other people plays as their own Player Characters, or PC.
• Every Player Character has their own race, class, abilities, history, and powers.
• All of a Player Character’s information is on a ‘Character Sheet’, which allows people to review your character and their abilities, along with being a bench make for yourself.
• Players often spend days making a character, customizing it for your liking.
• Players can coordinate and each take different roles to group to better round out a group, or can make their own characters and see what happens.
• A group of players is known as a ‘Party’

Dungeons and Dragons is basically an imaginary game, but with defined rules.  Everyone had played this game on one level or another, but Dungeons and Dragons represents a codifying of rules for everyone to play around, thus making it fair for all participants.

Multiple sessions are usually had with the same characters over the length of time.  Some games last for a month or so, while others can last for years.  Depending on how you and your friends play, you may end up meeting every so often, once a month, or even once a week to play, which is up to you.

There are three types of games, 1) Rule Heavy Games, 2) Story Heavy Games, 3) Casual Games.

Most notable feature of Dungeons and Dragons is the dice, which helps determine your outcomes.  

Based on the event, skill check, environment, attack, defense, or even talking, you roll dice to determine if you are successful or not.  Dice help add some randomness and make it so no favoritism happens in a game, making it fair for everyone.  There are various dice for the game, from your standard 6 sided dice, to a 4 sided, 8 sided, 10 sided, and even 20 sided dice.  What you have to roll depends partly on your skill or stat being used, or the DM’s whim.  

All Adventures start in a tavern, which is a staple and hallmark of the series.  You’re presented with a quest or adventure to go on.  Depending on the DM, your adventure might take multiple sessions, the story itself plays out over multiple sessions even, or your adventure is over in a single day. 

How to get started:

Wizards of the Coast offer a basic rule set for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition online for free.  The 180 page PDF offers a lot of the basics of the game, a few of the races and classes, and if used, can be the basis for your own game campaign if you want.  It’s a free and easy entry point.
https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DnD_BasicRules_2018.pdf

If you desire to play the game more long term, with an eye for being a DM at some point, the Core Set is a good place to start.  It includes:

Player’s Handbook
A good starting point for players as it has all the basic rules, expanded classes and races, and more help for building your characters

Monster Manual
A major collection of all sorts of Monsters, flavor texts, and additional information, so that you are all set for an adventure.

Dungeon Master’s Guide
For Dungeon Masters and helping with specific rules for things.  IE, NPC strength, fighting in different areas like Sea or underground, specific rules for different instances, etc.

The Player’s Handbook is likely the most useful, followed by the Monster Manual.  The Dungeon Master’s Guide is useful, but not required to run a campaign.

  

If you want to do more, additional books have more stories, settings, and even advanced classes and races to be, with some books focused purely on fleshing out the core class.  Only necessary if you intend on playing for long term, definitely a future purchase, not a beginning one.

Character Creation:

This can be fun, but intimidating the first time.  Depending on your fellow players, you may want to take up a certain role to round out the group.  You may also just want to invent your own character and play whatever way you want.  It’s a good idea to think of a character you want to play, but be willing to work with your fellow players if roles want to be assigned.

Steps to Create a Character:
1) Choose a Race
2) Choose a Class
3) Determine Ability Scores
4) Flesh out your Character’s Story and Personality
5) Choose Equipment

1) Choose a Race
There are lots of Races to choose from.  Some do better as certain types of classes, but even if they aren’t great in that class, it doesn’t really hinder play at all.

Dwarf
Short in stature(under 5 feet tall), living over 400 years, Love mountains

Elf
Slender and Graceful, living over 700 years, more attune to nature

Halfling
Small and Practical(about 3 feet tall), live for about a 150 years, Think hobbits from Lord of the Rings

Human
Broad Spectrum, the most basic race, good at just about anything

Dragonborn
Humanoid Dragons, over 6 feet tall, get a bonus to breathe magic based off type of dragon

Gnome
Like Halfling and Elf mixed together, small in stature, naturally intelligent

Half-Elf
Human and Elf hybrid.  Very much like humans.

Half Orcs
Human/Elf/Half-elf and Orc Hybrid.  Grey/green skin, very brutish and strong, think Hulk.

Tiefling
Human and Demon/Infernal Hybrid.  Human in nature, but with demonic appearance.

2) Choosing a Class
This is primarily how you will fight and be identified.  Usually, your class represent was your good at doing and potentially bad at.  IE, you can be a wizard and swing a sword around, but you’re not necessarily great at it, nor do you get a lot of buffs/spells/abilities to get any better at it.

Barbarian
Close combat melee class, relies on anger and brute strength. Easy to play.  Doesn’t have to wear armor.

Bard
Jack of all Trades character. Good at buffing and debuffing. Typically a traveling musician with adventuring skill.

Cleric
Pray to a singular god to become powerful. Like a life god to become great healer.  Various branching path.  Religious in nature.

Druid
Shapeshifter.  Similar to the Cleric, but more about Nature instead of religion.  Uses nature around them.

Fighter
Similar to Barbarian, but instead of fighting harder, it fights smarter. Possible Tank

Monk
Hand to hand Fighter.  Kind like a Kung-fu master.  Non-traditional fighter.

Paladin
Similar to Cleric and Fighter in one.   Various roles

Ranger
Typical long range fighter. Bows and arrows.  Think Legolas from Lord of the Rings.

Rogue
Typical thief and great at dodging.  Specializes in small talents, but great at them

Sorcerer
Innate magic caster.  Able to modify their spells when cast.

Warlock
Made a pact with a god/demon for power.  Must appease their god/demon, but gain power as a result of it.

Wizard
Study magic, not born with it.  Able to learn more spells than other spell class.

3) Determine Ability Scores
Once the race and class are chosen, your stats and abilities must be chosen.  Your stats dictate your natural abilities, ie: Naturally strong, charismatic, or if you have enough willpower.  This is generally decided by dice, but some abilities, your race, or your class might offer bonuses to your preferred stats for your character.

This is also when you start defining your character with abilities.  If you’re a Spell Caster, this might be what spells you know. For a Barbarian, it might be the type of proficiencies you have or rage abilities.  These essentially outline what you’re character knows how to do and how they can interact with the world.  Some abilities are universal, but a great deal may be limited to certain classes or even certain stats that you might have.

Don’t worry about getting the best character just yet.  Your character is just starting out, and you can get more abilities and stats later on.  As your character levels, you’ll get more powerful over time.

4) Flesh out your Character’s Story and Personality
At this point, you might want to flesh out your character’s back story and personality.  This can be useful for when interacting with the world, as you get in to the spirit of your character, you might interact with stuff differently than you might normally. 

If your character is a druid, they might have a greater appreciation for nature than others.  Thus, if they see a burning forest, it will affect them more than others most likely. 

If your character is very religious, and someone spit or tries to tarnish your religion, you might get angry and attack them. 

This stuff is up to you, but it aids the DM when creating stories and plots, as it can be personal to your character, thus enabling you to have a deeper story and involvement. 

Alignment system:

Based somewhat on morality, it helps define how your character might interact in general with the world around them.  Not a necessity, but helpful when defining your character in a ‘Broad’ scope.

  -Lawful Good: Follows a strict moral code & always fights evil.
  -Neutral Good: Always does the right thing, even if the Law is not on his side.
  -Chaotic Good: Fights the system to do what he thinks is Right.
  -Lawful Neutral: Believes so strongly in Justice, he will carry out any Order.
  -True Neutral: Unaffected by the petty squabbles of the masses
  -Chaotic Neutral: Cares only for himself ignoring morality and the law.
  -Lawful Evil: Power above all Else, Uses the law to maintain control.
  -Neutral Evil: Pursues evil at all costs
  -Chaotic Evil: Exists purely to destroy.  Revels in acts of evil.

5) Choose Equipment
Ideally, the last part, depending on your class, some races, and rolls earlier for stats, this will dictate what kind of gear or weapons you can equip.  Some Races have natural affinity for armor classes, while other classes immediately give you the ability.  Typically, you choose gear that helps you do what you want to do.  IE, if you’re a ranger, you want a bow, now a staff.  Same for a Wizard, they won’t be wearing plate armor to battle typically. 

There are a number of appendix and lists to choose from for this.  

Humors, yet informative videos