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As the title so blatantly points out, I joined a D&D group. Now since I'm new to tabletop RPGs are there any recommendations to help make things go a little smoother?

All you need to know is the basics at first, your other players will help you with complex stuff.

Just make sure to read the how the game is played, what dice you need and what you need to do to succeed or fail at something. This normally accounts to something like 10 pages out of the main book.

Make sure you have an idea what you want to play before hand, sometimes I've gotten new players and taken 2 hours just letting them choose what they want to play. Also ask your game master if you can change your character later, since your still learning.

Thanks. I asked if I needed any rule books and the GM said it was ok that I didn't have any and that I should just read the rules online, so that is what I'm doing right now.

Dice.

Pounds and pounds of dice.

Roll human fighter the first go through. Solid character that's very easy to play, and I'd say it be the best class to start learning with.

I agree, roll a human fighter armed with a sword and a shield, take weapon focus on the sword and put the best stats in strength and constitution and then learn the basic rules for combat and checking skills.

Have a basic idea of what your character is like as a person and don't be a pratt during the game.

If you have a decent DM, he should be able to handle the rest.

One of the other "Tricks" is to find a Character from a Book/TV/Book, Mini or Picture you like and try to base your character off it.
Build 2-5 Characters until you are comphortble with the creation method, then Build your Character.
Don't take everthing seriosly, just have fun with your mistakes.

and lastly never never pull levers

I loved D&D... I want too so start again

Ok so fighter, sword, base it off of character from something else, never pull levers...got it, thanks.

Be prepared for someone at some point to tell you the game you are playing is terrible and you are wrong to play it. The trick of it is that the question actually isn't 'what game/system are they playing?' but 'are these people I want to play with?'. A meh system with a good group is fun while a good system with people you wouldn't want to be around will be terrible.

Sooooo, which version of D&D is this? *waits in the bushes, ready to pounce*

The GM said it was 3.5 or 4.5 I can't remember which one it was rather loud in the lounge that day.

Skycrawler wrote:The GM said it was 3.5 or 4.5 I can't remember which one it was rather loud in the lounge that day.

Probably 3.5 then, since there is no 4.5 (Essentials?)

Ahtman wrote:The trick of it is that the question actually isn't 'what game/system are they playing?' but 'are these people I want to play with?'. A meh system with a good group is fun while a good system with people you wouldn't want to be around will be terrible.

A thousand times this.

The more I think on it the more certain I am that it was 3.5

Get to know what kind of gaming group it is before you start throwing your weight around - are they serious team oriented questers, power gamers, combat orientated, non-combat oriented or are they more into stabbing each other in the back because they are playing fluffy fun characters?

From what the GM said it's more fluffy fun characters with well thought out and detailed backstory.

infinite_array wrote:4.5 (Essentials?)

Some refer to it as that. By itself it isn't to bad and streamlines the system a bit, but if you start mixing in feats from 4e and Essentials as well as items, then whoah boy, look out. You're back to the broken days of 3/3.5 in some of the goofiness.

From what the GM said it's more fluffy fun characters with well thought out and detailed backstory.

That is always the dream, but it ends up being the halfling accidentally selling out the group, the DM putting the pally into impossible situations to watch em squirm, and the wizard not paying attention to anyone else until it is time to fireball.

Necroshea wrote:Roll human fighter the first go through. Solid character that's very easy to play, and I'd say it be the best class to start learning with.

This is not quite as true for 4th edition. Defenders (of which the fighter is one) can be surprisingly tricky as they have a bit more of a 'job' in combat than previous editions. They aren't just standing around hitting things, they need to use various techniques to make sure they're the ones getting hit.


At low levels it's not too bad, but even early on a fighter that isn't using Marks or other methods will potentially leave the squishy characters exposed.

Thanks for the tips guys (and girls?). I spent most of my day (after school of course) working on back story for my character, its not particularly good but I need the practice.

Back stories were always an enjoyable part of character creation.

Balance wrote:This is not quite as true for 4th edition.

Some of us like to believe 4th edition never happened

Necroshea wrote:

Balance wrote:This is not quite as true for 4th edition.

Some of us like to believe 4th edition never happened

You might find this link useful. Avoid Getting Stuck in the Past

If you have ever played fantasy football it is just like that except with more fantasy and dragons. DND is alot a fun, enjoy it!

4th is fine - lets not derail this into edition wars.

Get a set of dice and during the other players turn's try to think what you will do in combat.

Be honest and have fun :-)

Ahtman wrote:You might find this link useful. Avoid Getting Stuck in the Past

Twas not useful. I played AD&D, and when 3e came out I embraced it with open arms. When 4e came out, I found it rather distasteful. I do not dislike change, if anything it's quite the opposite. However, I do tend to avoid participating things that I find lacking in quality in one form or another. New =/= good.

Necroshea wrote:

Ahtman wrote:You might find this link useful. Avoid Getting Stuck in the Past

Twas not useful.

Wasn't supposed to be really, twas but a trifle. A little joke shared amongst gamers, but I see now you can make jokes, but that you can not take them.

Necroshea wrote:I played AD&D, and when 3e came out I embraced it with open arms. When 4e came out, I found it rather distasteful. I do not dislike change, if anything it's quite the opposite.

I've been playing since AD&D as well. So what? I didn't care when they went to 3 and still didn't care when it went to 4. If I didn't give them an honest chance and played them I then wouldn't have met new people had had new experiences. I rarely worry abut the systems, I worry about the community. At this point (and I am in a 3.5 game atm as well as 4e) I find the 4e community as a whole more enjoyable. I find they spend their time on the game whereas I find the 3/3.5/PF crowd spends at least half their time, if not almost all of it, bitching about 4e.

Necroshea wrote:However, I do tend to avoid participating things that I find lacking in quality in one form or another. New =/= good.

So you aren't playing 4e and you aren't playing 3/3.5/PF either? What do you play? WEG d6 Star Wars? Middle Earth RP? BESM?

Oh wait, I see what happened. You confused your opinion for facts. 4e isn't lacking in quality, it just isn't your cup of tea, which is fine. No one remotely made the argument that new = good. You are making a strong case that you seem to think that old = good, which is a pretty poor position as well.

You're trying to make an argument out of a simple comment saying that some people don't like what you like. I'm not participating.

Necroshea wrote:You're trying to make an argument out of a simple comment saying that some people don't like what you like. I'm not participating.

Uhm, did you read what you wrote? You also were the one that started the discussion by responding to a joke about your little joke. It's like you threw a fireball and then were surprised that there were flames. Now you are trying to act all innocent, making you seem even more disingenuous. My argument isn't that you should like what I like, though if you actually read what I wrote you would see you probably like the same things I like, I just also like other things as well. You aren't participating because you actually don't have a leg to stand on. Be honest. All you have is "I don't like 4e", which is fine, but you can't just let it be that simple, you have to actively let everyone else know that you don't like it, which is what is sad.

Get someone to loan you a copy of the Player's Handbook and read it cover to cover twice. Worked for me

Obrek wrote:Get someone to loan you a copy of the Player's Handbook and read it cover to cover twice. Worked for me

Indeed, also when going through it, it's pretty important to know how to read a character sheet. Once you have that down, you could even make up some scenarios that require the use of skills. Jumping over a gap, searching for a hidden door, etc. etc.

Edit - Lifting is not a skill