Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are a form of collaborative storytelling that have been around since the ‘70s and are still growing in popularity. They afford a level of freedom that more modern innovations like video games have difficulty replicating. While there are a variety of different rule systems that can match the needs of any story, the most common and easily accessible system is the sword and sorcery game “Dungeons & Dragons” (D&D).
With live-play podcasts like “Critical Role” and “Dimension 20” pulling in tens of thousands of players every stream and movies like “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” performing well critically and financially, new players are being exposed to D&D every day.
Despite the hype, actually starting to play the world’s greatest roleplaying game can be an intimidating prospect. Between gathering a group of people to play, deciding what books to buy, and trying to find tools to help the game flow smoothly, many a would-be player’s dreams have crashed before they’ve taken flight. This guide will help you get past these initial hurdles and adventuring in no time.
1. Gather your party
D&D, like all TTRPGs, is a form of collaborative storytelling. That means the first thing you’ll need to do is find a group of other people also looking to play. Because enjoyment of the game is directly reliant on everyone’s fun, it’s important that your adventuring group is composed of people who are communicative and that you enjoy spending time with. If you can’t find a group of friends whose schedules align or if you’re feeling particularly social, online forums like Reddit’s “Looking For Group” can help you find people to play with remotely.
Once you’ve got an interested party of five to seven people, sit down and have a conversation about what you want your game to be. What themes are you hoping to see in the story? Are you looking for something with low stakes, or are you looking to stop an impending apocalypse? How much magic is going to be in the game?
It’s also important to hash out everyone’s role. One player in particular is going to play the role of Dungeon Master (DM). The DM guides the story for the other players, who react to the situations they find themselves in. The DM plays a much larger role in directing the story than other players; without a DM, the game can’t be played.
Finally, the administrative decisions need to be made. How often will your group meet? Will you be in-person or remote? Who’s in charge of bringing snacks? Most importantly, what does everyone’s schedule look like? The beginning of any D&D game is always a bit touch-and-go, so expect decisions made today to be changed in the future.
2. Get the books
Now that you’ve got your party gathered, it’s time to pick up the essentials you’ll need to play D&D. Realistically, there are three books that you’ll need.
The first is the “Player’s Handbook” (PHB). The PHB has all the rules a player needs to create and run a character, including information about the different classes and races a character can be and a step-by-step guide to creating a character. This is the ruleset used by the players and is essential for playing the game. The book is available for purchase from local bookstores, digital marketplaces like Amazon, and in PDF form from websites like D&D Beyond.
The second is the “Dungeon Master’s Guide” (DMG). The DMG is the DM’s equivalent of the PHB. It contains the rules for running the game and includes important information and tips for bringing the fantasy world alive for your players, creating your own adventures and monsters, and doling out rewards to your players for completing quests. Like the PHB, the DMG can be picked up at a local bookstore or game shop, digital marketplaces like Amazon, and in PDF form from websites like D&D Beyond.
The final book is the “Monster Manual” (MM). The MM contains all the information you need to take monsters from the page to your campaign. This includes their statistics like how much health they have and how hard they hit as well as descriptions of the monsters themselves. Without the MM, your players will have no adversaries to defeat on their adventures. Like the other books, you can find a copy of the MM at a local bookstore, on digital marketplaces like Amazon, or on websites like D&D Beyond.
While these three are essential to playing the game, new players should also look into picking up an adventure module to help establish a story and world to play in. Modules can range from a few weeks to a few years of gameplay, so investing in one you’re interested in is really a bang for your buck. Beginners can pick up the free adventure “Frozen Sick” to get a taste of everything D&D offers.
3. Learn your tools
The actual gameplay of D&D is pretty simple. A player tells the DM what they want their character to do, and the DM tells the player a way to check if they succeed. While there are a variety of ways to decide if something is successful or not, D&D is built on a seven-dice system that players roll to determine the outcome of their actions.
A physical set of dice for D&D can be purchased from a local game shop starting at prices as low as $5. The tactile response of rolling a 20-sided die (d20) and putting it in dice jail when it rolls a one adds to the immersion of the game as well as the tension of the situation. For an in-person game, having a set of physical dice can really pull players in. Digital dice are also available in various forms, such as on D&D Beyond or by asking Google or your phone to roll a die. This can be especially useful during remote games so that everyone can see the rolls you make or for trying out the game without having to make a monetary commitment.
Another important tool for playing D&D is the character sheet. Your character sheet keeps track of your character’s statistics, inventory, and actions that can be performed. While these are traditionally done using pen and paper (and can be downloaded for free from Wizards of the Coast’s website), D&D Beyond allows free players to create up to six characters in a very beginner-friendly fashion, handling a lot of the math involved in the process.
Finally, while not necessary, some kind of map is useful for running combat encounters and giving players a spatial awareness of the environment around them. Many in-person games use sheets of grid paper to draw maps or print gridded maps before sessions. One useful alternative is using a virtual tabletop like Roll20 or Foundry Virtual Tabletop (VTT). Both virtual tabletops allow users to buy premade map bundles for published adventures as well as tools for creating your own map, making them useful for all levels of DMing.
4. Venture forth
There is one final rule to playing a D&D game that everyone should know: the rules are suggestions. TTRPGs are first and foremost a way to tell a story with your friends, and for the sake of drama or tension or fun or something that’s just really cool, you may have to go outside of the rules written in the PHB and DMG.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make mistakes. The community surrounding D&D is both large and friendly. New players bumbling their way through their first encounter with a mind flayer are what keep the hobby alive. This game is what you make of it, so make it something fun for you.
For more resources on getting started in the world’s greatest roleplaying game, check out the DnD subreddit’s resources page or D&D Beyond’s new player guide.