An Introduction to D&D for Beginners

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a co-operative story-telling game.

Players play as their characters, going on adventures in a world narrated by the Dungeon Master (DM).

Each Player Character has their own unique set of skills and abilities, determined by their race and class.

The party work together as a team to complete quests.

The DM plays the game in a different way to the rest of the players. Their role is to guide the story and controls the non-player characters (NPCs).

In many ways, playing in a weekly campaign is much watching an episode of your favourite show with friends ... except you aren’t watching it - you’re living it!

In this guide, we will go over the basics of how D&D works for those who are new to the game.

How D&D is Played (Describe, Decide, Roll the Di!)

At the heart of it D&D is played by the DM describing a situation, players stating their characters intentions, with dice rolled to determine the outcome.

Describe

The Dungeon Master serves as the narrator and referee, describing the setting, actions of the NPCs and obstacles characters may face.

Decide 

During the game, players interact with each other and the world around them by speaking in character.

Roll the Dice!

When Players decide what their characters want to do, the DM tells them what dice they’ll need to roll and what ability modifiers to add.

For example, you might decide you want to try and pick the lock on a dungeon door.

In that case, the DM would tell you to roll a d20 (a 20-sided di) and add your character's thieves tools proficiency bonus to the roll.

The DM narrates the outcome and we start the cycle again. (It's a lot more exciting playing compared to reading - I promise!)

How DnD Dice Work

Dungeons and Dragons uses polyhedral dice to introduce chance when determining an outcome.

The most commonly used dice is the D20.

The D20 is used to determine the relative success of skill checks, attack rolls and saving throws. A higher roll means your character is more likely to succeed with what they were trying to achieve.

After rolling the D20, a player adds the relevant modifier from their character’s stat block (see more on that in this post here).

If the result is higher than the locks Difficulty Class (DC), the character succeeds on their attempt.

In your set of DnD dice, alongside the D20 there is also a D12, D10, D8, D6 and D4

You will usually roll these dice to see how much damage you do but they can also be used for spells or abilities like Bardic Inspiration.

You can read more about D&D Character sheets in my post here.

How DnD Combat Works

Sooner or later the party is bound to get into trouble...

Combat in D&D is turn-based, with each character taking their turn to perform actions such as attacking, casting spells, or using abilities.

Players can move a certain distance on their turn, and can take one action and one bonus action.

They can also choose to take a reaction outside of their turn, such as an opportunity attack against an enemy who moves out of their range.

You can read about what you can do in a D&D combat turn in more detail here.

One-shots Vs Campaigns

The difference between one-shots and Campaigns is like the difference between watching a movie or a TV series.

One-shots are a single game that tells a complete story with beginning, middle and end and can be played in a day.

They can range from an hour or two in length to 8-10 hours (sometimes us nerds can get intense ;) ).

Final thoughts

To sum it up; Dungeons and Dragons is a fun and exciting game that allows you to embark on quests and adventures together with your friends.

If you want to learn more about how to play Dungeons and Dragons, make sure to check out my other blog posts.

If you learn by watching, I recommend checking out D&D campaigns on Youtube such as NPC D&D (for 30 min episodes) or Critical Role (the worlds most popular D&D show).

Whoever you are, I recommend you give Dungeons and Dragons a go at least once.

With imagination, a DM, and a set of dice, anything is possible!

Adventures and shenanigans await!

 

Hi! I'm Annabelle! I'm the author of this blog and a huge nerd!

I also make magnetic, double-sided, modular dungeon tiles!

My DnD terrain contains secret spinning magnets so that each piece snaps instantly to every other. They even come in a box disguised as a spellbook to store away on your bookshelf!

They're really cool, you should totally check them out here!