What Exactly is Dungeons and Dragons 5E?
Dungeons and Dragons 5E is the Fifth Edition of the hugely popular tabletop role playing game. For almost half a century, the world’s biggest and arguably the best tabletop role playing game (RPG) has been universally recognized as being Dungeons and Dragons. Due to the incredible number of settings, books and campaigns available to the public you will be able to spend a considerable portion of your life on earth playing Dungeons and Dragons once you become familiar with its rules and world. Whether you’re a complete beginner to tabletop role playing games or just new to Dungeons & Dragons 5E, this quick guide will show you how to get started playing Dungeons & Dragons 5E.
How Dungeons & Dragons Works
One player is the dungeon master. The dungeon master serves as a storyteller, referee and actor all rolled into one. The dungeon master creates an adventure, which can be a one-off, which means that you can play the whole story in one session, or the adventure can take on the setting of a longer-form campaign, which is an ongoing story that lasts multiple sessions.
This adventure can be written entirely by the dungeon master, which is a type of Dungeons and Dragons adventure that is known as homebrew, or players can use a pre-made, one-off scenario or campaign. There are a wide-range of official Dungeons and Dragons 5E campaigns available out there packed with plenty of non-player-characters, maps, lore and story to inspire your next adventures.
The Dungeon Master as Referee
The dungeon master serves as a guide by providing the tabletop role playing game players with concise descriptions, clear dialogue and exciting quests. The dungeon master also ensures that the rules of Dungeons and Dragons are being followed. The Dungeons & Dragons 5E rules are designed to mimic the real world, even though in reality it is a fantasy cosmos, falling off of a cliff is likely to kill a character in the tabletop role playing game. The dungeon master will use dice to determine consequences, just like the other players. In the case of falling off of a cliff, for instance, the dungeon master could make you roll a dice to determine how well you land or if you survive should you stumble off a cliff in Dungeons & Dragons 5E.
Storytelling and Improv are a Big Part of Dungeons & Dragons 5E
Combat and strategy are still integral parts of the tabletop role playing game but most of Dungeons & Dragons 5E campaigns are improv and storytelling. Combat is effectively conducted as dungeon master versus player. The dungeon master controls monsters in the same way that players control their characters. Both participants use dice rolls to determine whether their attacks and spells hit and exactly how much damage they will do to opponents. Battle maps and miniatures may be used to depict fights visually if players wish but they aren’t necessary to play the game.
How Many Players Can Participate in Group Play?
As few as two people can join one dungeon master to play Dungeons & Dragons 5E or you can join a larger group of up to five other players in total. Dungeons & Dragons 5E beginners, when getting started, The GM Says, must first decide whether they have an interested group in real life. If an interested beginner doesn’t already have a group that is able to meet up in-person, anyone can always play Dungeons & Dragons 5E online. Interested players can also look to lead the way by starting a Dungeons & Dragons 5E Group. Each player will create characters, or use pre-generated ones, to interact with the fantasy world being created. As part of Dungeons & Dragons 5E character creation you will have to choose a character race. As part of this character creation, you will also need to pick a class, which outlines what type of fighter your adventurer will be throughout the campaign.
Dungeons & Dragons 5E Rogue Class and Subclasses
Dungeons & Dragons Rogue Class will enable you to be both spry and sneaky if you wish to play that way. If, on the other hand, you want to use strange magic you can choose to play as a Dungeons & Dragons 5E warlock or even a Dungeons & Dragons 5E wizard.
There is also a large amount of variation within classes as well. Dungeons & Dragons 5E has a broad range of subclasses available. The subclasses include everything from cursed knights to rogues wielding magical spells.
Roll the Dice and Store Information on a Dungeons & Dragons 5E Character Sheet
After creating characters with subclasses you will need to roll dice to determine your characters stats. Character stats include strength and intelligence. Some Dungeons & Dragons 5E players have suggested using certain delivery services that may inspire the creation of extremely unique characters and perhaps even a severe case of the munchies as a side effect, so have snacks and a lighter ready just in case you decide to do so. Wily players can also use what’s known as a “points buy” to allocate a set number of points to whichever stats they choose. All of this information, along with an inventory and your skills and abilities, will be written down on a Dungeons & Dragons character sheet for reference throughout the adventure.
Finally, it’s very important to consider what you want to get out of playing Dungeons & Dragons 5E, exactly. Most Dungeons & Dragons 5E players typically fall into two general camps. One camp is in it for the tactical monster-slaying and cool new gear. The other camp is in it for storytelling moments and character interactions. Realize that different groups will have extremely different playstyles. The majority of tabletop role playing game enthusiasts use a balanced mixture of storytelling and combat, whereas some groups will focus more on one over the other. In the end, you will get together with like-minded people, either in person or online and play through the adventure much like binge watching a television series, where new things happen every episode, only you control the script and ultimately influence the outcome as well.
