Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Crazy_Carnifex wrote:

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:

Anung Un Rama wrote:

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:

Anung Un Rama wrote:Considering that you're the one who wants to start this with some friends you should probably try to master.

And, this might be a given or not, I dunno: try not to have an all-male group. A female player gives the group a whole new dynamic in my experience.

I play at my school's gaming club, which may or may not be returning next year, and we didn't have any girlies, whichmade me 2x sad. I guess only Germany has girl gamers. Here's to hoping my pop and I can find some.

Then go ask some. It's not like you only have male friends at school, do you?

I'll give you a few minutes to consider how stupid that question is. But to answer, yeah. But they are more into Twilight (goddam you Meyer!) then Dark Heresy. Hmmm.... Maybe my local comic shop has a few girl gamers? I doubt many live in PA, but I'll give it a shot.

Throw a Vampire in your campaign

No cause then they'd be all like "WHy are we trying to kill Edward and why is he drinking human blood instead of animal blood."

I have said it once, and I will say it again. Cool Vampire: Dracula, Nosfertu, the ones from Salem's Lot and TSephan King storyies, Angel.

F**kin Stupid vampirs: Twilight. SPike. I had to misspell that because that is how stupid they are.

Go away, 3.5 fans. That system was awful and overcomplicated. It's dead now, get over it.

4.0 is streamline and simple and is designed for new players.

Alternatively, there's a fixed version of 3.5 in print by an independent company, but I don't remember the name.

A lot of people are ticked about 4th ed because it means no new source Material for 3.5.

Wait, what?
You don't like Spike? Are we talking William the bloody (awful poet) Spike? How can you not like the coolest british Vampire ever?

For someone totally new to DnD 4th edition is a cleaner place to start.

3.5 can get pretty, complicated when you start doing crazy stuff (like my monk/barbarian/fighter/acrobat that gave RPGA DM's major spasms!).

And girl gamers are out there, just try not to slobber and creep us out. Playing the games in a nice clean place(with clean bathrooms!!) goes a long ways to helping convince us to keep playing too

Frosty Hardtop wrote:4.0 is streamline and simple and is designed for new players.

Mistress of minis wrote:For someone totally new to DnD 4th edition is a cleaner place to start.

Exactly, guys. I'm not going to get into this 3.5 v. 4E thing here except to say that 4E is easy to learn, easy to play, and SO easy to DM. In other words, Golden Eyed Scout, I would highly recommend starting with this. It won't be what your dad remembers but I don't he actually remembers the rules anyway. Go with 4E and you will not be sorry. Start with 3.5 and you won't be playing D&D for very long.

**note: I played AD&D for its duration. I played 3.5 for its duration.

@mistress: As I've said elsewhere, stereotypical gamer girls are just as creepy as stereotypical gamer guys albeit in different ways. The guys just seem creepier because they have traditionally monopolized the niche and it's their creepiness that has shaped the dominant culture.

No, start with 1st or 2nd edition. Nice and simple, not as powerbuild-centric as 4th, and can easily lead into 3.5.

It's true that 3.5 and 4E are all about building powerful character. If you're more into storytelling, AD&D is better. But getting the materials is going to be more of a chore. And I doubt, since you are too young to have any feeling of nostalgia associated with these things, that the production values will be so low as to bore you on sight.

Noooo! Get 4th ed, man. It's much closer to your dad's D&D than 3rd is...

i've rather enjoyed 3/3.5, buddy of mine has enjoyed 4th.
I managed to pick up 3/3.5 fairly easy when i was like 13.
go with whatever you can get the best deal on/ find people to play with.

Okay, could everybody calm down on all the 3rd ed vs. 4th ed crap talk? I've already purchased 4th ed, so that is the end of the arguement on that point.
Now, if you have some helpful information on the other stuff I asked about, that'll be great. Thank you for not starting a flame war.

Okay, lets see.

Get a DM. Get at least one dice of every kind from D4 to D20. You'll probably need more of the 4, 6 and 8-sided ones for damage roles.

And play whatever class you find most interesting. Pen & Paper games are full of possibilites, if you don't like waht your class does, you can always switch later.

Or you could just play a Rogue, they're the best

Yeah, haven't you heard of Bloody Path?

Instead of using dnd minis, which I do not really like the look of, would some reaper or other type of minis?

Having played 3.0/3.5/4th I'd say definitely go with 4th. The person DMing won't want to pull their hair out after the first game. Everyone will also be able to take to it pretty quickly.

I'd suggest DnD minis for all your little minion type guys. Like if you need a ton of goblins get DnD minis. But I actually paint up a mini every time I roll a new character I know I'm going to stick to for awhile. I like it a lot more than using one of the DnD minis as my PC because I can always spot my guy on the table and everyone knows I'm the dude with the snazzy paint job.

I've had one go at 4th Edition and liked it. It wasn't different enough for me to dump all my 3.5 books though and spend big on 4.0. And my regular gaming group (except the youngest guy) were not even interested in trying out 4.0. It takes them years to switch from one edition to another, they're all old farts.

Anyway my advice is find at least ONE person who has played D&D before of any edition (preferably 4th Ed, but any editon would be fine) because the hardest part for new players is dealing with the freedom you have to do anything you like and not knowing what your options are.

Enjoy! It's a whole new world! Or worlds!

Half-Orc Fighter. That is all.

Clthomps wrote:While I don't want to start a fight, I might suggest you buy D&D 3.5.

It is by far a much better game in terms of customization, and there are fewer rules discrepancies to fight over.


Not to mention you can get them for a fraction of there price since they are being phased out.

I second this.

3.5 is much superior to v4.

I find it a much better system too and it has a lot more settings than 4th.