So You Want To Learn To Play “Dungeons & Dragons”

If you’ve been to the movies recently, or have watched the right TV channels, or been on IMDb in the last few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly seen promotions for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. You probably know it it’s based off the tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) of the same name. And, if you’ve never played before, there’s a part of you that wants to see what this whole thing is about. You’d like to actually play the game, just once, to get your feet wet and say, “Yeah, I tried it.” But where do you start? Fear not, for we at GameLuster are watchful, and have a lot of experienced players to help guide you.

First Steps

Before you run right out and start buying a whole bunch of stuff, let’s take a quick overview of what Dungeons & Dragons is and what’s involved in playing. A TTRPG combines elements of wargames and storytelling to describe an adventure, which could be anything from a murder mystery in a spooky mansion to exploring ancient ruins or uncharted cave systems. Dungeons & Dragons allows players to create a character in the adventure, known as a Player Character (PC). This character may be of human or non-human origin, with a profession known as a class which dictates their skills and abilities. A group of characters within the same adventure is known as a party. As a general rule, players control one character of their own creation. They cannot directly control other characters. One person among the players is referred to as the Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM). The DM’s role is that of arbiter, referee, and storyteller. They don’t create characters, but instead play as all of the random citizens in towns and random monsters in the wilderness, collectively referred to as Non-Player Characters (NPCs).

An adventure is a written outline of a story, containing certain plot points which the party must reach to advance the story to its conclusion. The DM sets the initial scene at the start of the adventure, giving players general directions of where they need to go for the first plot point, and then leaves the actual action up to the players. A simple adventure might have the party investigating an old watchtower which sits on top of a previously unknown cave network. PCs might start in a nearby village, get directions to the tower, and go down a given road towards their destination. As they travel, the DM might have players use their characters’ skills to keep from getting lost or take note of a potential ambush. These are known in D&D as “skill checks.” They can be initiated by the players, at the DM’s instruction, or sometimes rolled by the DM secretly without the players seeing the result. Skill checks can vary in difficulty, depending on the DM’s assessment of the situation at the moment. You might have a low difficulty for finding water if you’re hearing a babbling brook nearby, but finding water in the desert might be significantly more difficult.

At some point, the party will find themselves in a situation where violence has broken out and combat is required to proceed. PCs will have a variety of weapons available to them, usually purchased as part of character creation, which doing varying amounts and types of damage. Certain monsters and NPCs may have weaknesses to certain damage types or may be resistant to others. Combat is handled in rounds, with each combatant (PC or NPC) taking a turn in a descending order of initiative. Assuming the PCs defeat all opposing combatants, rewards are granted in the form of loot (coins, special items, magic weapons or armor, etc.) and experience. Depending on the adventure, characters may earn enough experience points to advance to the next level of their respective character class, improving their existing abilities and/or granting them new ones. Experience points can also be granted at the DM’s discretion for clever tactical actions, particularly dramatic moments, or generally good roleplaying (taking on the character’s persona and embodying that character through dialogue and actions). Most adventures are written to take PCs from a starting character level to a target character level.

A halfling bard dances on a bartop while playing for patrons.
“OK, enough of the boring terminology! On to the adventuring!”

The Call To Adventure

So, now that we’ve covered the high points of what can happen in a D&D game, the next question is, “How do I find a game?” Or, alternatively, “How do I get a game going?”

There are a number of answers to these questions. The first, and probably the easiest, is to buy the materials yourself. D&D has a few different starter sets for brand new players, listed as either “Starter Set” or “Essentials Kit.” They contain abridged rules, pre-generated characters, one set of polyhedral dice, and an adventure module. The only things you really need to bring to the table are your imagination, your own set of polyhedral dice (sharing dice is occasionally an impediment that slows down gameplay), a pencil, and maybe snacks. A set of dice can be had for about $10 USD. The starter sets can be had at bookstores or stores like Wal-Mart and Target for about $20 USD.

Alternatively, if you want to jump in feet-first, you’ll need to pick up the Player’s Handbook (PHB). You can find this at most bookstores and game stores for $50 USD. This will give you all the rules you need to create characters, handle combat, and full descriptions of spells for the spellcasting classes. For those who intend to be running the game as a DM, you’ll also want to pick up the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) and the Monster Manual, each an additional $50 USD. Keep in mind that these are prices for new copies. Used copies can be found in used bookstores for less. Adventure modules range from free to $50 or more, depending on the source and whether they’re printed or digital. If you’re not interested in ponying up for map tiles to help lay out the dungeons and combat areas, you can use 1″ lined graph paper and draw out the areas as the PCs advance and open up doors.

The Cover of the 5th Edition Player's Handbook for "Dungeons & Dragons"
One book, infinite potential for fun.

Ideally, there will be people you know who are interested in playing D&D, so finding players shouldn’t be much harder than hitting up your friends, family, and colleagues. But if you get a bunch of rejections, you may be forced to look beyond your immediate circle of contacts. Fear not, there are alternatives available. If you purchased your books or starter sets at a game store, there’s likely a bulletin board where people put up notices that they’re looking for players. Also, game stores often run “organized play” campaigns (a series of adventures connected by a narrative throughline), similar to events for trading card games like Magic: The Gathering or Pokemon, which can be a good starting spot for beginners. Social media sites like Facebook and Reddit will have a number of groups relating to TTRPGs and there will undoubtedly be posts concerning open seats at a table. Your local library or rec center may also have events scheduled involving D&D. Finally, there is the “pro GM” option. Found through sites like StartPlaying.games, as well as advertising their services on bulletin boards at game stores and elsewhere, pro GMs charge a set fee per head per session and run players through one-shot adventures or campaigns either online or at a specified venue.

Wherever The Road Leads

When you go to a game store, or even just the RPG section of a book store, you’ll see a lot of other books besides the three “core” D&D books. And you’re probably wondering whether or not you’ll need them. If you’re just starting out, the answer is, “not yet.” While Wizards of The Coast has released expansions with new character creation options such as Xanathar’s Guide To Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, these are not absolutely necessary to start with. You can get by with the base classes without much trouble, and it’s probably a good idea to get at least a couple sessions under your belt before you go looking for expanded rules and options.

On the other hand, if you’re going to be running games for people, the answer is, “probably.” Again, there’s nothing that says you can’t have a great adventure just with the base rules found in the PHB and DMG. But other books have other rules, not just character creation, but new skill mechanics, new ways to build dungeons, entire settings to put new adventures of your own in. As a DM, you should have at least a slightly better understanding of how the rules work than most of your players. Which means being prepared with other books for when your players come up to you saying they have an idea about what direction they want to take their character. Setting books, sometimes referred to as “splatbooks,” are focused primarily on lore and variant rules for situations, as well as specific character creation options. Currently, Wizards of The Coast has put out setting books for:

  • Eberron (a high fantasy “magitech” type setting)
  • Ravenloft (various horror locales)
  • Spelljammer (science-fantasy, kind of in the vein of Star Wars)
  • Mythic Odysseys of Theros (a pseudo-Greek/Roman “sword-and-sandal” setting derived from Magic: The Gathering)
  • Strixhaven (another Magic: The Gathering-derived setting focused on life at a magic college)
  • The Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnos (yet another Magic: The Gathering setting with a more political/factional tone to it)
  • Acquistions Inc. (a humorous business-focused variation from the creators of the webcomic Penny Arcade)
  • The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount (based off the first campaign from the popular web series Critical Role).

And these are just from Wizards. Other companies have put out their own D&D-compatible settings, such as Darrington Press’ Tal’Dorei Reborn (based off the “Exandria” campaigns in Critical Role) and Warchief Gaming’s Auroboros: Coils of The Serpent (basically a “low magic” version of World of WarCraft with the serial numbers filed off). More are currently in development. All of them have new options, variants, and other setting-specific rules which you, as DM, need to at least be aware of before running a game with them. You don’t have to go right out and get them, but it wouldn’t hurt to make a list of the ones that interest you for future purchase and to keep abreast of in case a player asks.

A group of dinosaurs run through a forest, evading a T.Rex
Some requests may be more…whimsical than others.

As you can see, Dungeons & Dragons has a lot of options, and a lot of ways to start playing. Cost is comparatively minimal, and it’s inherently a social activity, so you’re getting to meet new people or hang out with old friends. At a time when things are getting progressively more and more expensive, Dungeons & Dragons remains a great way to stay entertained long after the initial purchase. And the memories you make at the table will likely be some of your fondest.

If you’re still unsure about anything, your (hopefully) friendly DM will likely be good to answer your questions, or you could drop a comment here! If you enjoyed this piece about the joys D&D can bring, why not check out one experienced DM’s thoughts on the recent Wizards of the Coast ‘OGL Crisis‘? 

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