Anybody got any good tips or tutorials for someone who's

>>54432868
the starter set is one of the best intros to D&D since Moldvay Basic in the early 80s.

Venomfang is a potential party wipe so don't feel bad if you fudge the dice rolls

>>54432868
Read the rulebook. If you're a player, at least be sure you know the rules for stuff that your character has and is capable. If you're a DM, become familiar with the *entire* book, or at the very least the fundamentals of how the system works so you can make appropriate rulings.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Tabletops are supposed to be fun and you will get better over time.

If you're DMing something like the starter set, read it all the way through and take notes. The 5e starter set isn't hard to run but it's also not very long, so read it through and be familiar with it.

If you're DMing in a premade setting, grab the general overview books (from older editions, usually) and give them a read over. Get familiar with the basics but don't sweat the small details.

If you're DMing a homebrew campaign, always start small. Focus on a town, a few NPCs, and a villain or two with particular goals. Spread out the worldbuilding and storytelling from there.

GM with 14 years experience here. (14 of GMing, more of playing).

Don't use D&D. Use Dungeon World system, but use it in your own setting. Just steal the core of the rules.

It's 2d6+appropriate mod, 6- = fail with consequences 7-9 = success but with consequences, 10+ = pure success.

Only players roll.

It is one of THE greatest systems I have ever played. The entire dw book is like a manual on how to be a great gm. The only bad advice I found in there was to split up your players as a 'move' you can make. That's always a terrible idea, unless its VERY temporary, like split them up but in the same room, to solve a trap puzzle.

Other than that, no warnings

The system is built to make amazing narrative with very even pacing and lots of interaction.

Let your players make up as much or as little as you like while still having as much control as GM as you want - but if you're stuck for an idea or etc. you can actually ask a player 'what is here?' or 'why is that?' and have what they say become reality.

I know what I'm saying isn't going to make complete sense without having read the rule book but trust me - its worth your time.

The rule book reads pretty bland and unappealing, that's VERY deceptive. I wasn't impressed by the actual book itself -- until I actually TRIED the system.

Blew me away.

GM with 14 years experience here. (14 of GMing, more of playing).

Don't use D&D. Use GURPS system, but use it in your own setting. Just steal the core of the rules.

It's 3d6 roll under, where success is rolling less than or equal to your attribute or skill.

Everybody rolls.

It is one of THE greatest systems I have ever played. The entire GURPS book is like a manual on how to be a great gm. The only bad advice I found in there was that the GM only "might wish to consider" limiting skill levels to 20-25. Wording it that way is a terrible idea, unless you WANT all of the players to put 80 points into guns.

Other than that, no warnings

The system is built to make amazing narrative with very even pacing and lots of interaction.

Let your players make up as much or as little as you like while still having as much control as GM as you want - but if you're stuck for an idea or etc. you can actually ask a player 'what is here?' or 'why is that?' and have what they say become reality.

I know what I'm saying isn't going to make complete sense without having read the rule book but trust me - its worth your time.

The rule book reads pretty bland and unappealing, that's VERY deceptive. I wasn't impressed by the actual book itself -- until I actually TRIED the system.

Blew me away.

>>54432868
QUICK STARTER NOTES:
-Improvisation is encouraged
-Roleplaying during combat makes thing's a lot more exciting and fun for everyone, and keeps it from becoming a boring, repetitive slog
-As a DM, don't be afraid to push the players
-4th edition is recommended to be used with miniatures
-3rd is generally a rules heavy, expanded D&D experience with so much 3rd party content and supplemental books that it's the most fleshed out of all the games
-2nd Edition is considered the pinnacle in terms of roleplaying
-5th edition seems like a fun game, but it has way too many over-simplifications (namely the advantage system), but appears to function the most straight-forward and mechanically sound of all the editions

Although it might not be the best example, what got me over the hump of "gazing weirdly at these intriguing and confusing rules" into actually running a game was listening to the penny arcade d&d podcasts back in 4e. They've got 5e videos now too but like I said, I caution you to take too much away from it, but it serves as a decent example of what a game is actually like and is DMed by the man that made me want to DM. Chris Perkins.

>>54432868
I don't know many people that didn't have someone more familiar with the game introduce them to it, but since the internet it a thing your kind are common enough. I'll describe this like you're the dm, because if you're not the dm you just find somebody that doesn't mind showing you the ropes and follow their lead.

If your whole group is new to the game, try to print off a few copies of the basic rule from wizards' site. Folks are gonna want to look stuff up a lot as they try to remember how it works. You don't actually need to do this as much as you are all going to, but if you knew what you were doing you wouldn't be asking for help.

Stuff outside of combat is pretty simple. Well, tracking encumberance, ammunition, rations, and time is a lot of book keeping, so everyone ignores it. When stuff starts to look stupid maybe take a look at those things and ask if tracking them would fix your problem- but ignore that shit for now just like everyone else.

If somebody wants to do something they basically explain what they're trying to do. If that obviously works then... that obviously works. Continue from there. If that obviously doesn't work, then that obviously doesn't work. Let the player know that what they are describing is impossible or nonsensical or whatevs. If they're trying something that's iffy or sort of close to something that would work, then roll dice to find out if it works. Skill checks are always the big round one with triangle faces (d20.)

There are rules for various situations but fuck those, you're new. Get a notepad or some post its and note when you think there's a rule for something you wanna look up later, but just roll a skill check right now and move on with it.

>>54437517

Combat is more like a war game so there are a lot more rules about it. Most stuff is either an attack roll or a saving throw. For attack rolls roll that d20 again and add the bonus, then see if it's higher than AC, then roll damage if you hit.

Saving throws are more like a grenade exploded at your feet. No need to tell if that hits, it's just a question of how much it hits. The person rolls a d20 and adds a specific stat bonus to see if they beat the DC on that effect, then you just do what the effect says (most often a successful save is half damage.)
Magic Missile is one of a very few things that don't take an attack roll or have a saving throw, so expect these for almost everything.

During a round of combat you get 1 action, 1 bonus action, 1 move, and 1 reaction. That's your action economy, not a lot of stuff in the game violates this.

Your action is mostly for attacking. There's a nice list of other actions in the combat chapter that you should show the players. Maybe print off just a page listing those for the group.

It's also worthwhile to print off a page listing the status effects and what they mean.

Magic is going to be a pain in the ass until you are grizzled veterans. Either go grab a snack whenever the wizard wants to look something up or make them print off some quick reference for the spells they can actually cast. That fat dictionary of spells is organized alphabetically and just takes forever for someone new to read.

If you followed that and you can keep track of it when you play then you can pretty much run the game. There's lots more shit to master, but you don't need to yet.

Expect to screw stuff up. You're new and your players are new, so they'll be forgiving. If they're not forgiving, fuck them. They knew you were new when they started playing.

>>54437517
Most people recommend following the starter adventure or running a one shot for your first time, and these usually come with some premade characters. Use those character sheets. They are custom tailored to whatever adventure, and you don't have to deal with as much random crap as you try to figure out what you're doing. Smooths out the whole process.

As for running modules, it's nice to have the training wheels there to catch you, but flipping through pages to try and figure stuff out sucks enough when the wizard is just doing it for spells, much less when you're doing it for the entire world. Actually skim the whole adventure and write down a little summary of the plot. Now read through it again and note all of the interactions that are important for getting the party from point A to point B. Now throw the book out.

Ok, now go pick the book back up. That thing has monster stat blocks and maps that you're going to need, but in a symbolic way, leave the plot in the trash. You just created all of the outline notes that you need to run that, and you know where all the important interactions are, so you can just make the rest of it up if you need to.

See if you can't print off some cheat sheets of the creature stat blocks you're going to use too, since it's useful to have those all in one place.

Congratulations, you're basically ready. See if you can't manage to look cool while doing dorky voices and acting like you actually want to tell this story with your players.

>>54432868
Try watching other people play some?

>>54437824

Any starter adventures that you would recommend for first-timers?

>>54432868
Don't play D&D. It's one of the worst rpgs ever created.

>>54441474

Tired trolling is tired.

>>54441503
He's not wrong. D&D is an insidious evil that destroys roleplaying by hyperfocusing on outputting damage. Not even combat, just damage.