Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit (D&D Boxed Set)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabt1_y.jVFbNV7T3VX

BFRPG is a great system, very fun and decently paced. It is a lot more brutal than 5e though you can easily die at low levels and when you're out of spells you better have something to throw =)

If the potential cost of 5e is daunting, remember that you can still start out quite frugally. You can usually grab the latest 5e "Essentials Kit" for under 20$ on amazon or 20$-25$ from your local gaming store (buy from your local gaming store if you can, you might meet cool people) the box has a full set of decent dice, character sheets and enough included self contained content to get a party to level 7 and has digital codes that unlock adventures on dndbeyond.com that will take you to level 10.

Well, if you're willing to try a new system the D&D 5e essentials kit is a good adventure that advertises itself for a 1 on 1 campaign.

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit (D&D Boxed Set) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_wbkVFb9KHVNFC

Secret Hitler works kind of like a one night werewolf game.

If you have 5-7 players the game is amazing, but fun at any #.

I had never played dnd before and on a whim bought stuff for it to play with friends.

It feels daunting I agree. But best advice I can give is buy a player handbook, and read.

You can even get starter sets for like 20 dollars. Pick a person to be the dm, and they read everything. Then once you’ve got rules figured out just play a game. You don’t need miniatures, or maps. Although they do boost the immersion.

Here’s a starter set if you’re interested!

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit (D&D Boxed Set) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_cpl3Fb1X50VQX

Buy the essentials kit boxed set which should contain a 50% off coupon for the players handbook on DnDbeyond and then use that discount code to buy the players handbook.

The essentials kit also includes codes for the adventure contained in the kit as well as a few follow on adventures.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YyerFbXEQ72ZV

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit (D&D Boxed Set) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.VeUEbSK60M7M

I’d say this would be your best bet then.

Looks like the Essentials Kit is also on sale right now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/

OP, either of these kits is a great place to start. The main difference between the two is the adventure that is included.

Currently you can get 50% off of the PHB on D&D Beyond if you buy the physical copy of the D&D Starter Set (which is $16 on Amazon right now).

Until Mythic Odysseys of Theros was released, if you pre-ordered the physical copy of the book from a local gaming store (that was a part of the Wizards Store Network), you would receive a 50% off code for MOoT on D&D Beyond.

D&D Beyond has been VERY clear (on their dev streams, especially) that they would LOVE for more of this, but it's all up to Wizards. They like supporting local stores and also giving people a reason to use DDB.

For myself a hobby book I would like is the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit, it is a game I would like to play and I need to learn even more about it.

For others I recommend Needle Felting for Beginners: How to Sculpt with Wool, I loved needle felting and I feel others would love it as well, it's really fun!

Sorry that was the old kit they printed a new one called the essentials kit on sale for $15.59

Therapy is a good start either way. Do little thing like pay attention when she is talking, don't look for a way to solve a problem and instead sympathize with her.

I'm guessing, he plays 5th edition. This kit is pretty good link

For dice you can get them basically anywhere. Metal ones are pretty cool and load dice are a good joke.

For anyone wondering why OP didn't post links:

Starter Set

Essentials Set

If you have friends that are interested, the Essentials Kit is $15 and has literally everything you need to start.

I'm talkin everything. A condensed and simplified version of the rules. Basic characters for anyone that just wants to play without making a character. A starter campaign that's easy yet intriguing for players - but the book also teaches the DM exactly what to do. It's got dice, it's got a DM screen, it's got little paper slips for all the loot you get so players can physically get a little magic potion.

If you think you can convince some friends to try it - even if literally everyone involved is new - give it a shot. Read up on the adventure a little, bring friends over with snacks and beer, and cross your fingers.

What worked for me at 13 or 14 (I forget which) and 36 (I'm 40/M now) was D&D. Dungeons & Dragons. It's a game without a game board (except 4e which was rather divisive) defined by shared/collaborative storytelling. One player (known as the dungeon/game master) sets the stage, and the rest of the players have a character they literally have total control over, with almost no limitations. The DM/GM controls every other character, and of course the monsters, but is not your opponent, merely a referee and arbiter of rules. If you find yourself adversarial to your DM, give the DM a character as well, and take turns in the DM role. Or, have a more experienced player DM (since they need to know the rules a bit better) and then you and your new friends bond in your struggle against the older/wiser DM.

Of course, this advice works for any hobby, lots of hobbies are a good place to meet people with common interests, but D&D will really bring out what a person is about. They won't tell you things about themselves, but those things will shine through their characters. If you have a player who wants to graphically describe their kills, or especially if they ask if they can seduce or even rape a barmaid... those are red flags that should tell you that person might not make a good friend. But, generally, experienced D&D players start with what is called "session zero" where rules and expectations are laid out. Personally, I believe D&D is for everyone, so I keep my games PG-13 and no sex is allowed. That's just me as a DM. Some DMs prefer an adult oriented game, and that's fine, as long as everyone is on the same page. I also have a few house rules (rules that directly contradict the book) and I go over those, too. Some players may not agree with them and we talk it out. I explain the change and they decide if they can enjoy the game with the change or they bounce. A good DM does not negotiate in session zero; there are way more players than DMs. So we can afford to be picky.

Lastly, D&D really is for everyone. One of the best players I've played with was a six year old girl (this was when I was 13 or 14). Long story short, my DM's mom was babysitting her, she was watching us play, she got interested, and she wanted to play. So one summer, she was staying over every weekend, and staying up easily until 1AM with us (we stayed up later). She'd fall asleep either on my lap or at the other end of the couch. So the DM made her character my character's little sister, and when she (the player) fell asleep, her character was asleep (unconscious) and a liability I had to protect. As a DM later in life, I've played with guys in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. As a player, I played alongside a mother and son (she in her 50s, he in his 20s or 30s), and their characters were socially equal (not related). Little kids actually play a very simple variation of what D&D is at its core without knowing they do it, sometimes. They make up simple characters and tell stories and ask what the character would do in certain situations. We call it make believe and kids have been doing it for probably centuries, only now a lot of pop culture gets into it. It's just that in the 1970s, some guy named Gary Gygax took The Lord of the Rings and all that and rolled it into a game he could sell. Also, D&D used to be a lot harder. The rules were more complex and the combat was more unforgiving. The newest, Fifth Edition, is easy to learn and you pretty much won't die unless your DM is a jerk. But it is possible, just suck it up and have a new character ready to go. Your fighter died? The party now has an opening and will pick up your new fighter, or maybe rogue or wizard, at the next town. Taverns/bars (in the game) are the best places to pick up would-be adventurers looking for a party,

Lastly, if you're interested in getting into the game, forget about heavy books and expensive dice. Especially being in high school. I bet you have a smartphone, too. Android or iOS, it doesn't matter. Go on Amazon and spend like $15 on the Essentials Kit. $15.59 right now.. This includes dice, actually. It includes an adventure, and even some pre-made characters. Never mind the dice, though. Or the adventure, for now. Look for the D&D Beyond codes. One lets you activate what you bought on the site, and another gives you half off the Players Handbook. So spend the $15 on the Players Handbook, which lets you make characters using those rules, and then get a dice rolling app. Then you can run the whole game off your phone. Couldn't be easier.

I'd recommend the D&D Essentials Kit, it has everything you need to get started playing with just about anyone. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Essentials-Kit-Boxed/dp/0786966831

Newbie playing with kids - Feedback please

Overview I'm completely new to DND board gameplay, though I'm familiar with DND from books and video games. My goal is to start playing with my kids (ages 5 & 9) with me as DM. I really want to do this right so my kids can have a blast.

What I've done to prepare

• I purchased the Essentials Kit from Amazon.
• I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and read through this sub to get a feel for not only playing, since I'm new, but playing with kids. Uhm, playing DND with kids.
• I've repeated to myself that the rules are a guide and not to get too hung up on that right now. This is really hard for my brain, but I kept hearing this message over and over. "HAVE FUN"

Our first quest

My daughter and I decided to do a test, with the complete understanding that this is new for both of us. The map and quests in the kit felt a bit overwhelming, so I drew up a VERY basic map and created a straight forward quest to save a little girl trapped in a cage past a dark wood. Here's a quick overview of how it went:

1. My daughter created her character, a mythical creature from her Prodigy math game named Puck. I gave Puck 10hp and let her pick 3 class attributes (Str, Int, & Wis) as well as a few spells. She drew what her character looked like and we started our journey.

2. She walked to a nearby house where she knocked on the door, found a panicked mother, and accepted a quest to save her daughter.

3. She made her way to the woods, where she encountered an aggressive crow. She attempted to grab the crow, which failed to roll to her benefit. The crow attacked her and she lost 1hp. She then ran away, came back and fed the crow. This distracted the crow and she was able to get by.

4. She made it into the woods, failed to cast a light spell and fumbled her way through into a clearing with a house. She tried to kick the door down and succeeded thanks to a favorable roll.

5. She saved the girl and returned her to her mother. The mother gave her a reward, some trinket I can't recall, and told her if she sees a fairy, give the fairy the trinket.

We ended there. all in all it took about 25 minutes to complete. The encounter with the crow was definitely the highlight! We laughed a lot at the different approaches to dealing with it.

Anyway, I would love any constructive feedback or suggestions to keep building on this. We really did have a lot of fun, especially considering we don't know what we're doing lol

you can buy it here or at target, I believe:

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Essentials-Kit-Boxed/dp/0786966831

Deal link: Amazon

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Probably the hardest part of getting started is getting a group together and deciding on a DM. So congratulations, you're already past the hardest part.

As to the rest of your questions: there is no "board" in D&D, not like there is for Monopoly or Clue. Many people use maps on the table to help illustrate the scene and so that everyone knows what's happening, but those are not necessary, especially if you're just beginning.

If you're a little uncertain about how tabletop gaming works, I'd recommend watching some streams, of which there are plenty. Critical Role is probably the best and most well-known, but keep in mind two things if you watch them: 1. They set a pretty high bar, especially with their maps and in-character acting. You do not have to be as good as them to enjoy the game. 2. You also don't have to play the way they play. The nice thing about RPGs is that the correct way to play them is the way that your group enjoys, meaning you should worry more about making sure everyone in your group is having a good time than about whether or not you're doing things the way another group does.

As far as what you need to start, a low-cost way to get into the game are the two starter sets, both of which are available on Amazon. Here's the Starter Set and here's the Essentials Kit. (Note that those are U.S. Amazon links.) You're probably fine with getting either of those. They provide basic rules, some dice, an adventure, and pre-made characters. Of the two, I'd recommend the Starter Set, but that's only because I have no experience with the Essentials Kit. I've heard good things about it, though, so you probably can't go wrong with either one.

If you've got more questions, feel free to message me.

The official starter kit is your best bet! It includes a condensed ruleset, and a full adventure. If he's only one person and a DM though, the essentials kit might be better, because it includes sidekick rules.

I'd say get the starter kit if he's got a group, the essentials kit if he's just got a DM, or he's being the DM for one person.

Indeed, there is a Starter Set and an Essentials Kit. Both are built to be for first time players. Pick one and it'll have everything you need to start playing.

Did you get the Starter Set or the Essentials Kit? Not nitpicking, you just mentioned both so I wasn't sure if you were mixing terms or actually have both.

If you have the Starter Set, then I recommend actually just playing the campaign that comes with it. It will walk you through how to run the game as you read it, which will help tremendously with the whole not being able to understand everything in the next few weeks bit. You also then won't really need them to look at anything more than their character sheets beforehand.

(The Essentials Kit may do something similar, but I haven't read it, so I can't confirm.)

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Essentials-Kit-Boxed/dp/0786966831

> Might as well try the Starter Set or Essential's Kit

Do you only need one of those? It seems that they often are sold togther if i belive in Amazon.

Target: $8

Amazon : $8

I highly recommend the starter sets from Wizard of the Coast.

D&D Starter Set

• $12.40 on Amazon
• Rules booklet for all the rules you need
• Great starting adventure that goes from Level 1 to Level 5.
• Printed pre-made characters
• 6 dice

D&D Essentials Kit

• $15,58 on Amazon
• Rules booklet for all the rules you need + Character cration rules
• Great starting adventure that goes from level 1 to Level 5.
• Bonus dndbeyond.com content that continue the story up to level 13 via unlock code code but you do need the Player's Handbook for the rueles to upgrade players beyond Level 5.
• 50% coupon code for the Player's Handbook on D&D Beyond
• GM Screen (although it flimsy one)
• 10 dice
• Simple rules for sidekicks that better allow parties of 1 player.
• Blank character sheets. No pre-made characters but you can print the pre-made sheets from the Starter Set for free from here
• Cards for Magic Items the player gain trough the adventure
• Cards for conditions
• Cards for sidekicks
• Storage box or all the cards

I personally think Essentials Kit is a far better product. I liked the adventure quite a bit. It's more "sandboxy" than Starter Set's adventure but it works really well.

Essential's Kit is just much better value for money and the biggest downside of it (no pre-made characters) is a very easy fix by just downloading the free PDF and printing them out yourself.

Still, both are a great way to get into the hobby.

Both adventures require players to think outside the box. You as a DM have to accommodate that or push them in that direction a bit. In both adventures players will die if they take certain challenges head on. For example, a Lvl 1 party can start a fight with a Manticore. In direct combat that can proven to be fatal.

I’d really encourage you to give it a shot. I’ve never played D&D before and I jumped in with 5e and it was really easy! Also remember, you don’t have to be a rule arbiter. D&D is about having fun! Just make up rules you don’t know for the time and if you care look it up later.

D&D is all about just having a good time and telling a story. Don’t let the thickness of the books or the huge catalog trick you into thinking it’s anything more than that. The rules are just suggestions to help you have fun.

You can actually get the basic rules for free from Wizards here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules

I’d also highly recommend getting the D&D starter set. Small books, walks you through everything, simple rules, and it comes with a free adventure that the community almost completely agrees are some of the best pre written adventures you can get!

There are two versions. An older one (that I have) and a newer one. I’ve heard they are both great, so you can’t lose!

Old: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786965592/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Lq1UEb2Y95QYQ

New: Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit (D&D Boxed Set) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dr1UEb8HDD837

I know you stated you wanted someone else to run it, but I think you and your kid and his friends would have a great time with you as DM! Maybe even make your kid learn to DM.

One thing I always see from new DMs in this Reddit is feeling overwhelmed and having a lot of pressure to tell a Tolkien level story and get all the rules correct and memorized. They see these three massive core books you can get and see other DMs that are fairly popular and they feel it’s beyond them.

I’d just want to encourage you to give it a shot. You can run a minimum game with the basic rules with like an hour of reading. Don’t worry about getting movement perfect, or getting exhaustion, or tracking food. Again, just have fun, roll some dice, and tell some goofy dumb story with your kid and his friends and you’ll probably fair better than most D&D groups that have run for years!

You can definitely play online. For that I would pick up a copy of the Player's Handbook, which will give you all the things you need to create a character and play, and then look for online games. To get you started you can try searching the Roll20 Looking for Group forum or r/LFG. Finding a good group to play with online can be a bit challenging but if you keep it at it you'll eventually find something that suits you.

Alternatively, you could try to make your own local group to play with. For that you'll want to find 2-5 people who are interested in playing and for one of them to agree to be the DM. If you manage to do that then I would suggest picking up either the 5th edition Starter Set or Essentials Kit. Both contain all the dice, rules, and character sheets you need to get started as well as an adventure to play though. The character options are more limited than what you'll get from the Player's Handbook but they're more than enough to get you started playing the game.

I haven't used it but D&d Essentials is $8 at Target this week.

The Starter Set is a great first adventure if you have a few other interested players. It does a good job of guiding first time players and DMs.

[5e?]

Newb here. My kids and I want to learn and play DnD. Two girls, 11 and 9. I have a few questions and it's been hard to sift through all the info on the internet, I'd appreciate any guidance.

- Assuming their mom also plays, is 3 players enough to have fun? If she doesn't, is 2 enough?

- What should I buy? I have plans on the DnD Starter Set, DnD Essentials Kit, and the Young Adventurer's Collection. But I'm open to better suggestions.

- Is Lost Mine of Phandelver (SP?) a good first campaign for us? I will be DMing but other than watching Matt Mercer on Critical Role I dunno wtf I'm doing.

-

The hardest part is finding a group. Ideally you'll want at least five people, one of which whom wants to be the Dungeon Master. You don't have to play in person: You can play online using webcams or sites like https://roll20.net/ that are set up for virtual play.

Once you have a group, you'll need materias. Ideally, every players hould have a Player's Handbook and the DM should probably also have the Dungeon Master's Guide. Having said that, there are a lot of free resources:

• Free basic rules: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

• Web site with tons of resources, including tools to create characters: https://www.dndbeyond.com/ (you can also buy virtual copies of all the source material here, including the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide)

• Basic rules on above web site: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules

Another excellent way to start is to buy one of the starter kits that exist. These have everything you need to get started. There are a couple of options:

• The D&D Starter Set: https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Wizards-Team/dp/0786965592

• The D&D Essentials Kit: https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Essentials-Kit-Boxed/dp/0786966831

The top review under the D&D Essentials Kit explains the difference between the two. The reviewer recommends getting the Starter Set first, but either one will serve you well.