What is Dungeons & Dragons?
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) since 1997.
The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D.
What is 5E?
It's the fifth edition. I know nothing about the other editions, all I know is the core system has been revised.
Why should I play it?
It's fun and the ladies love it.
What do I need to play it?
Back in the day they did it with pen, paper, and dice. Most importantly though, you need a dungeon master and a party.
What's a dungeon master?
A dungeon master, DM is the guy or gal who guides you through your adventure. They're essentially the storyteller and you and your party are the playable characters in the story. The dungeon master has to provide you with the world to play in, and the non-playable characters for you to interact with.
What are all these books?
There are different types but I'll get in to that later.
What's all this extra life stuff, DM Guild?
WotC publishes a bunch of adventures and mini-sourcebooks for charity, as well as the writers for WotC get involved and produce extra content. You can find a ton of DMs Guild.
www.dmsguild.com
What is the Adventurer's League?
The official WotC sponsored gaming league. If you play an Adventurer's League game, you have to play by their very specific rules and use their specific adventures!
What is Roll20, D&D Beyond, Fantasy Grounds, etc.?
All of these are tools meant to enhance the experience. Instead of buying the physical books and playing with pen and paper, and other physical tools, the modern era has provided us with these digital tools meant to replace and enhance the core experience of the game. Imagine you're about to go watch a movie with your friends, and you have three different theaters to choose from. At the end of the day, you're still going to watch the same movie, just the experience may vary.
What about homebrew?
Homebrew is just campaigns and stuff made by people, not official WotC content. There's a ton to enjoy but I would probably start with official content so you can learn there and experience the base content before you go crazy experimenting with someone else's invention.
Okay, so how do I start?
Find yourself a DM and party. You can likely find one on roll20 and there are D&D 5E groups on Reddit and Discord. DMs are kind of like whores, they'll DM for you for a fee. If you want to be a DM then pick up the Dungeon Master's Guide which will be in the guide below. You will definitely need a character sheet. There are all kinds of crazy specialized character sheets out there, but you just need a base one and the starter set comes with a few starting characters to use.
dnd.wizards.com
Content Guide
There is a TON of content for Dungeons & Dragons 5E. Some people go all out and build out entire maps with miniatures or draw everything out. I'm going to cover what the different products are and how they differ.
Types of products:
Sourcebook - This is a book that provides setting and content for a DM to use. May include races, items, settings, etc. Some include a campaign or mini-campaign.
Adventure - This is essentially a campaign or mini-campaign book.
Supplementary - This is typically a physical item meant to enhance the game experience. You do not need tile sets, or maps and miscellany, or DM screens, or special dice sets, but damn do they look nice.
What is errata?
This is corrections made after publishing. I included links for them so if you decide to play a product you can find the latest errata.
What is going on with this table?
If you're a nerd like me who likes collecting then you like release dates and other miscellaneous information. I've included release date, types of product, alt cover, setting, and whether there is a corresponding dice set.
Some campaigns have a matching dice set, and some have an alternate cover, but not all.
What is the setting?
Basically what realm in the D&D multiverse the campaign or sourcebook takes place in. The majority are Forgotten Realms which is the main D&D setting, but not all. Different settings may have different races or histories.
What about all these other random D&D things I see like Stranger Things and Rick & Morty?
These are just sourcebooks for those worlds if you wanted to create your own campaign in those settings. This is pretty common in tabletop games, a book gives you the setting information and history, along with limitations, rules, etc. and then you can create your world in that setting.
Anything else I should know?
Everyone says buy your books at your local supplier blah blah, but sorry they can't compete with Amazon prices. Local suppliers will likely have them in better condition though, every now and then Amazon sends me a book looking like someone had sex with it before they shipped it.
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) since 1997.
The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D.
What is 5E?
It's the fifth edition. I know nothing about the other editions, all I know is the core system has been revised.
Why should I play it?
It's fun and the ladies love it.
What do I need to play it?
Back in the day they did it with pen, paper, and dice. Most importantly though, you need a dungeon master and a party.
What's a dungeon master?
A dungeon master, DM is the guy or gal who guides you through your adventure. They're essentially the storyteller and you and your party are the playable characters in the story. The dungeon master has to provide you with the world to play in, and the non-playable characters for you to interact with.
What are all these books?
There are different types but I'll get in to that later.
What's all this extra life stuff, DM Guild?
WotC publishes a bunch of adventures and mini-sourcebooks for charity, as well as the writers for WotC get involved and produce extra content. You can find a ton of DMs Guild.
Dungeon Masters Guild -
What is the Adventurer's League?
The official WotC sponsored gaming league. If you play an Adventurer's League game, you have to play by their very specific rules and use their specific adventures!
What is Roll20, D&D Beyond, Fantasy Grounds, etc.?
All of these are tools meant to enhance the experience. Instead of buying the physical books and playing with pen and paper, and other physical tools, the modern era has provided us with these digital tools meant to replace and enhance the core experience of the game. Imagine you're about to go watch a movie with your friends, and you have three different theaters to choose from. At the end of the day, you're still going to watch the same movie, just the experience may vary.
What about homebrew?
Homebrew is just campaigns and stuff made by people, not official WotC content. There's a ton to enjoy but I would probably start with official content so you can learn there and experience the base content before you go crazy experimenting with someone else's invention.
Okay, so how do I start?
Find yourself a DM and party. You can likely find one on roll20 and there are D&D 5E groups on Reddit and Discord. DMs are kind of like whores, they'll DM for you for a fee. If you want to be a DM then pick up the Dungeon Master's Guide which will be in the guide below. You will definitely need a character sheet. There are all kinds of crazy specialized character sheets out there, but you just need a base one and the starter set comes with a few starting characters to use.
D&D Character Sheets | Dungeons & Dragons
Download official D&D Character Sheets and explore pre-generated characters inspired by the most popular D&D races and classes!
Content Guide
There is a TON of content for Dungeons & Dragons 5E. Some people go all out and build out entire maps with miniatures or draw everything out. I'm going to cover what the different products are and how they differ.
Types of products:
Sourcebook - This is a book that provides setting and content for a DM to use. May include races, items, settings, etc. Some include a campaign or mini-campaign.
Adventure - This is essentially a campaign or mini-campaign book.
Supplementary - This is typically a physical item meant to enhance the game experience. You do not need tile sets, or maps and miscellany, or DM screens, or special dice sets, but damn do they look nice.
What is errata?
This is corrections made after publishing. I included links for them so if you decide to play a product you can find the latest errata.
What is going on with this table?
If you're a nerd like me who likes collecting then you like release dates and other miscellaneous information. I've included release date, types of product, alt cover, setting, and whether there is a corresponding dice set.
Some campaigns have a matching dice set, and some have an alternate cover, but not all.
What is the setting?
Basically what realm in the D&D multiverse the campaign or sourcebook takes place in. The majority are Forgotten Realms which is the main D&D setting, but not all. Different settings may have different races or histories.
What about all these other random D&D things I see like Stranger Things and Rick & Morty?
These are just sourcebooks for those worlds if you wanted to create your own campaign in those settings. This is pretty common in tabletop games, a book gives you the setting information and history, along with limitations, rules, etc. and then you can create your world in that setting.
Anything else I should know?
Everyone says buy your books at your local supplier blah blah, but sorry they can't compete with Amazon prices. Local suppliers will likely have them in better condition though, every now and then Amazon sends me a book looking like someone had sex with it before they shipped it.
