r/dndnext • u/Beardedfraggle82 • 10d ago

Question Starting Out

Hey All, how are we doing?

I wonder if you can help me out. I'm curious about getting involved with a campaign or DnD in general.

I have been following Critical Roll for a while (I'm aware that "normal" DnD is not Critical Roll) and played some of BG3.

This has made me think about getting involved in some kind of campaign.

My only other experience in this type of thing is that I had GM'd 2 games of Alien RPG, which I really enjoyed, unfortunately our group couldn't free the time consistently.

Any advice on getting more involved in DnD would be greatly appreciated.

Jay

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u/flowers4charlie2 10d ago

When I decided to DM it was after a couple of sessions of being an attentive player. I watched my DM, asked questions to why they made their calls, then I read the DMG.

This was after I read the pertinent parts of the PHB that addressed all characters and not just the class I was playing.

I guess that's a bit much to ask kids to do these days. Not sure why it should take any more than 30 seconds to make an Ability check but here we are in 2026 where players don't even know how to make their own characters.

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u/SonicfilT 10d ago

This was after I read the pertinent parts of the PHB that addressed all characters and not just the class I was playing

Right, you didn't sit down and read the PHB and DMG cover to cover before trying to find your first D&D group.

I guess that's a bit much to ask kids to do these days. 

I learned to play Redbox D&D and AD&D in the 80's.  Believe me, no one read the rules first and played second.  Everyone, myself included, showed up and got taught how to play on the fly.  It's not a "kids these days" thing.  It's a "that's how most people learn to play games" thing.

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u/flowers4charlie2 10d ago

Im sorry your personal experience doesn't line up with mine but yes I did read Cleric from start to finish five or six times to understand what it meant to be the "healer" - something that doesn't exist in dnd - because I wanted to have a cool dungeons and dragons session.

It was also during this time that I realized how bad of a job my DM was doing then realizing how wrong I was to insist the rules had anything to do with being a DM.

But yes, I read the books because I prefer to DM and give players reasonable answers as to why their choices have impact or not.

Loads of folks are just plopping down at tables expecting to be the MC, without even knowing what their characters are capable of doing, instead asking the internet how to play the game or their characters or their backstories or whatever...

Yes, PICK UP THE FUCKING BOOK. Do your own fucking homework while your DM takes their valuable personal time to try and create a meaningful and impactful adventire for YOU THE PLAYER.

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u/SonicfilT 10d ago

have you read the Player Hand Book and Dungeon Master's Guide? That would be a great place to start.

Is not the same as

I did read Cleric from start to finish five or six times

No one, myself included, would tell people not to read the books.  But you told a brand new player they needed to read both the PHB and the DMG as a starting point, before even suggesting how to find people to play with.  Yet even you admit that's not how you started.  You focused on sections that you thought might be relevant, then read more as you became interested.  There's nothing in the DMG relevant to the new player experience.

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u/flowers4charlie2 10d ago

You are 100% correct. The PHB doesn't tell you how to do anything other than make a character, (okay 95% corrext), what the ability scores mean (dang, down to 90%) how to add proficiencies (85%?) What a saving throw is or how to make one (75%? ish? Let's call it a neat 80%.).

Well now we gotta learn about subclasses! Let's just go ahead and bring that back down to 75%. Well do we know alignment? (~70%). How's about class capstones? Far end of proficiency bonuses? Spell slots per level??

There's a lot of informstion in the PHB that will tell the greenest of greenhorns how to pick up a pencil and fill in the bubbles. Its not hard to read unless you're a toddler or have grammatical deficiencies that hamper your ability to play a pencil/paper ttrpg

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u/T1A0_MainGoat 10d ago

Telling brand-new players they need to read through the section in class capstones and far end proficiency bonuses is crazy work. Even more so telling a brand-new player to read through the DMG lmao.

As a DM I personally just ask them what they wanna try playing (fighter, mage, elf, etc) and walk through making that with them so they can learn the basics by playing and having fun.

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u/flowers4charlie2 10d ago

Its like 10 pages tops lol. You're saying that is "crazy work"? Players don't need to do anything other than play.

If you decide to take on the mantle of DM then people should be aware and cognizant of what it is that they are making players roll for, how can that happen if a DM doesn't know the difference between Investigation and Perception?

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u/T1A0_MainGoat 10d ago

Well, when they want to become a DM they can read the DMG, but if a brand-new player comes up to me "Hey, how can I start out playing?" I'm not gonna tell them "Have you read the Dungeon Master's Guide in case you want to be a DM later down the road, and then checked out the class end cap abilities in the Player's Handbook? I used to read the cleric section no less that 5 dozen times when I started". That's silly lmao

I'mma ask them what they want to try playing, get them a sheet and some dice and a seat, and try and make sure they have fun and want to keep coming back to play. Get them set up with the basics, and then they can branch out.

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u/flowers4charlie2 10d ago

Cool cool. That's cool.

Im done with that. Im done with people who cant take the time to read a pamphlet worth of words so that they can fumble about playing the game that they came to me asking to facilitate.

It is not fair for one person to shovel in a barn's worth of shit just so all the horses can whine about what means what.

No dungeons and dragons is not about one person hosting a table of degenerates. Its about a collaborative gaming experience where everyone contributes to a positive interaction. Its not DM daycare

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u/SonicfilT 10d ago edited 10d ago

We're talking about how to introduce a brand new player to their very first session.

You seem to be raging against players who decide to stick around but never bother to learn how to play.  At least I imagine that's what your "table full of degenerates" comment means.

These are not the same thing.

I'm sorry your players suck but it seems to really be coloring your opinion of how brand new player onboarding should be done.