Getting Started

What's this game?

We're playing Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. D&D is a pretty flexible game; there's been lots of different versions of it and it can be adapted to lots of different genres. We're playing 4th Edition because that's the one I own the rule books for.

There's three important things to understand before you start:

• I think D&D works best as farce, so that's what the game will be angling towards. Puns, innuendoes, running gags, mustachio-twirling villains, that sort of thing. Think Oglaf and Discworld, rather than Conan the Barbarian or Lord of the Rings.
• We're going to be playing make-believe with each other for at least a few hours. If you're not used to improvisational theatre or roleplaying, it's probably going to feel super awkward and embarrassing. But we're here to have fun, no-one's judging! Break through the shyness with laughter. Make everyone giggle with your Sonja the Unstoppable impression or talking about how your staff has a knob on the end.
• I'm your Dungeon Master or DM, which basically means I run things. But this is a collaborative storytelling game - I make up situations and plot, and you decide what your characters do, but I can't come up with everything myself. If you have an idea for something that would be cool, or fun, or lead to a bad joke, suggest it!

Do I need to read anything in advance / buy anything / bring anything?

No. If you're interested, you can read through the first player handbook, but it's very much not required - I'll be easing people into the rules during the initial session, and most things we can cover off as they come up.

If you already have copies of the books or your own dice you can bring those, but we have the books and lots (lots) of dice here already.

The core mechanics

The core mechanic of D&D is the d20. Once you've decided that you want your character to do something - make an attack, search for tracks, distract fellow bar-goers with a bawdy ballad, pickpocket said distracted bar-goers - you work out whether or not you succeed by rolling a 20-sided dice.

There might be some numbers to add or subtract - maybe your character is particularly skilled in that area, or I say that the situation is helping or hindering you.

I compare that to another number - maybe your victim opponent's defense score, or a set difficulty rating. If you beat it, you succeed, otherwise, you fail. Both can be exciting parts of the story we're telling! What that success or failure looks like is up for us to decide.

This leads us on to the other core mechanic of role-playing games - talking to each other to decide what happens. I get final say, but I will definitely be relying on you to drive the stories forward.

How do sessions work?

Each session will be episodic and (mostly) self-contained. This means you can join in when you can, and not everyone needs to attend every session (which is probably a good thing, since we've got quite a large group). It also means you can give it a try and it's not a problem if you don't like it.

How do I become an Adventure Pal?

Read The Setting, then take a look at Making a new character. If you aren't sure at all, I'll make a character for you. If you don't like the one you make, or get inspired with some ideas after you've given a session a try, we can re-make you a better one.