Skip to toolbar

Dungeons and Dragons – where to begin

Home Forums Fantasy Tabletop Game Discussions Dungeons and Dragons – where to begin

Supported by (Turn Off)

This topic contains 27 replies, has 12 voices, and was last updated by  commodorerob 5 years, 5 months ago.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 30 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #1272956

    commodorerob
    11076xp
    Cult of Games Member

    I have a question for you guys, it has been about 30 years since I last played D&D. It was my introduction to RPGs it still holds a special place in my mind. Now recently my 9 year old is asking to play it. I have decided to give it a go. However the D&D I played was the original version that started with the red tsr starter set and then followed the other coloured books. I never got into AD&D. I looked out my original red set ( my mate at the time had the other books we used).

    Anyway I have totally lost touch of where D&D went and only know there is a new version out there.

    Anyway my question is do I start off playing the basic original edition with my son or do I start with the new version, and if I get into the new version what do I need to buy to get started?

    • This topic was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by  commodorerob.
    • This topic was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by  warzan.
    #1272963

    mage
    Participant
    20595xp

    Start off with the current fifth edition

     

    it is more stream lined, not as miniature orientated, not over designed, still has depth, has a lot of support and a variety of products avaialabke

     

    this might be conyroversial, but the older versions of d and d have not aged well and aren’t as good in my opinion to what is presently out

     

    Start with the starter set ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’

     

    It’s a good set, all the hard stuff for a kid is already done, it includes a lot for what you get and is an effective affordable and convenient entry point

     

    Any more questions just ask away

     

    #1272964

    evilstu
    15298xp
    Cult of Games Member

    @commodorerob nice to hear your little one is keen to get gaming 🙂

    The current version of the game is 5th edition. there is a free ‘starter’ rules set available at the below link if you wish to review prior to procuring anything more tangible:

    http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

    If you want to progress there is a basic D&D starters set which I believe is the core rules, some adventures and some pregenerated characters. Alternatively, if you want to jump in properly you would be looking to pick up the three ‘core’ books (Players handbook, DM’s guide and Monster Manual) which will set you up with all the basics. From there on if you wished to continue you could look at picking up the themed supplements, procuring community content or third party games (Kickstarter or Drive Thru RPG have an overwhelming wealth of options) or just create your own monsters and worlds.

    If you want a quick ‘up to speed’ with the basic rules there are many videos up on Youtube.

    While 5th ed is a lot more streamlined than previous editions (3.5 for example) this comes at the expense of some of the depth of character flexibility previously available. While this allows a greater focus on the narrative aspect and will probably better suit new players please be aware that things may be a lot more ‘forgiving’ in game that you remember from the old D&D. Ie, current focus is on ‘role’ playing rather than ‘roll’ playing.

    Best of luck! Any questions just let us all know 🙂

     

    #1272971

    mage
    Participant
    20595xp

    The thing is If he falls in love with it and wants more it will get expensive to track down old books

     

    and a lot of work needs to go into preparing games with the older rules with home made scenarios. The current rules have more mathematical theory and balance going into it and lots of classes, races, monsters, scenarios and campaigns all ready to go. It’s ljmenhaving a buffet compared to a set dinner list

     

    from the starter set you’d get stuff in the following order:

     

    players hand book (making new characters and accessing other classes, spellsand races) and is important as you can’t go passed level five with the starte set

     

    next is a monster manual for having gribblies and baddies to populaye the world

     

     

    Next should be a campaign book

     

    then the sun from masters guide. Not as essential but handy

    #1272976

    mage
    Participant
    20595xp

    I’m going to play devils advocate here a @evilstu but tell me what makes the characters less deep or flexible cos I disagree and would love to debate the topic

    #1272980

    evilstu
    15298xp
    Cult of Games Member

    @mage Just typed a long reply but getting blocked from posting?… Well I guess we all know what Groucho Marx said about not wanting to join any society that would admit him as a member 😛

    #1272984

    tankkommander
    Participant
    6389xp

    The new 5th edition is the best so far…and I have played since Red Box D&D and 1st edition AD&D.

     

    #1273117

    commodorerob
    11076xp
    Cult of Games Member

    Cheers Guys, thanks for the advice I have a starting point now 🙂

    #1273189

    koraski
    Participant
    1971xp

    I agree with @mage Since you are wanting to play with a kid go for 5th Edition. Some may prefer older editions for various reasons but 5th is definitely the most kid friendly. For starting 5th Edition the best place is the ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’ starter set. It has everything you need to play. If after going through that adventure you want to delve deeper into 5th Edition then his recommendations on what to get next are also good (Players Handbook and Monster Manual are more or less required, Dungeon Masters Guide and any of the Campaign books  and later supplements are optional).

    #1273540

    commodorerob
    11076xp
    Cult of Games Member

    Well I have ordered a copy of the starter set to see how it goes I picked it up for about £15 so not a massive outlay 🙂

    • This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by  commodorerob.
    #1273557

    jamjarst
    4011xp
    Cult of Games Member

    The 5th edition starter set is very good, you won’t regret it @commodorerob, you may regret the sudden need to get more stuff lol

    #1273566

    commodorerob
    11076xp
    Cult of Games Member

    @jamjarst lol – oh I have  a plan for dealing with the ongoing financing of this. It all comes down to whether my son enjoys playing, if so, then its his pocket money and birthdays and Christmases that will fund it …:-D

    #1273631

    limburger
    21533xp
    Cult of Games Member

    The pathfinder starterset is pretty nifty too (standees for lots of monsters are included), but it is a bit more D&D v3.5-ish and definitely more combat oriented.
    They do hide a lot of the maths for the beginners with their pre-generated characters.
    It does make me want to track down the 5e starter, just to see how it compares.

    I think the best thing to learn is the mantra ‘rulings over rules’.
    It’s the one lesson that the vast majority of books fail to teach, because they want you to buy stuff with more rules …

     

    #1273702

    commodorerob
    11076xp
    Cult of Games Member

    @limburger I have never looked at Pathfinder (other than buying a Pathfinder Battlefoam case as it met my needs..lol) so know very little about it.

    #1273711

    limburger
    21533xp
    Cult of Games Member

    It’s basically D&D 3rd edition, except it has managed to become its own thing because wotc kind of forgot to respect its playerbase at that time.

    I’ve been hearing good things about 5e, because it has reduced a lot of the rules heavy nonsense that started to infect D&D 3rd edition onwards.

    It still isn’t as lightweight as the various OSR (old school rules/revival) variants like “Lamentations of the Flame Princess” (definitely not for kids) and DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics : http://goodman-games.com/dungeon-crawl-classics-rpg/ ) , but then that’s progress.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 30 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Supported by (Turn Off)