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Saturday, January 26, 2019

Review: The Basic Rules PDF v5.1

I haven’t looked at the Basic Rules since version 1.0 when it was first released, until a few days ago when I started working on a series of articles about the best way to play D&D without spending any money. Since I was recommending the Basic Rules as one of the cheapest ways to get into the game for new DMs and players I figured I’d refresh myself on how the Basic Rules presented the rules.



A fan made cover for the Basic Rules PDF
A fan-made cover for the D&D Basic Rules PDF

On opening the PDF the first thing I noticed was that it was now professionally laid out and it had art! The first version may have had color accents and light formatting, but compared to this, it was pretty damn boring. The drawback of the original design was that it looked like a free product and by that I mean a product without value. But in reality, what you couldn’t see, was that right there in those dozens of pages, was an amazing modern RPG. And now, the new design makes it easier to read and just as importantly, makes it more fun. Here's one other interesting thing to note; all the art is pencil art with no ink or color, just well-done pencils. Until you get to the last page. Nice touch there, Wizards.
Example of Art in the D&D Basic Rules


The Basic Rules has the same opening content explaining the core concepts of D&D as the Player’s Handbook and it seems to be almost word for word. From there you go straight into making characters, which gives you the steps for character creation, and then the options for each step. Basic Rules gives you the classics fantasy race tropes that most western audiences should be familiar with, elves, dwarves, half its and humans. Most the races seem to have two sub race options, which is interesting, because having read the Player’s Handbook, I know the Basic Rules takes a different approach when it comes to classes. The choice to give two sub-race choices is an interesting one, but I assume they did this because the benefits of race are more limited than the benefits of class. Race is more of a static choice, you make it and then you move on.

The class section presents the classic archetypes of Clerics, Fighters, Rogues and Wizards. The Basic Rules gives the same progression table as the hardback, but when there are decision trees, such as Cleric’s divine domain, the Fighter’s martial and Rogue’s roguish archetype, and Wizard’s arcane tradition, the Basic Rules only gives one option for each class. It clearly hints that the there are more options if you buy the Core Rules, but this is really where you get your first sense that you might be missing something. But if I were trying to put together my first game of D&D, this is probably enough. Each class has clear and distinct personalities and play styles. With these four classes, I think you have enough to stretch out the game and see what it can do. I think the inclusion of one more class would have been nice for larger groups to cut down on duplicate classes, but then again, for groups new to D&D, it might not be a bad idea to incentivize a four-player group vs. larger groups to make sure the game moves along at a decent pace. This also has another effect of highlighting race and backgrounds as distinguishing factors and puts a bigger spotlight on those choices for players who share a character class.

The next chapter, Personality and Background, explains all the other characteristics of a D&D character. This chapter covers character details, such as height and weight, alignment, and languages. It shares details on what 5e calls Personal Characteristics, which are Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws. And then it gives 6 options for backgrounds, which provide random tables to help select your Personal Characteristics. The Backgrounds presented are fully featured and there seems to be enough to help differentiate characters and create a more diverse set of narratives.

So with these three character creation decision points, you can have any combination of 4 races (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling or Human) with two subclasses each (except humans), 4 classes (Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard) and six backgrounds. I’m not great at math, but that seems to be 168 unique combinations for character creation. The Basic Rules provides 168 combinations of race/sub-races, classes, and backgrounds. This seems like it should be more than enough, in terms of having different abilities at a table, but those familiar with the game will tell you that class, by far, has the largest mechanical impact on a game. And since there are only 4 classes, each with very little personalization choices after 1st level, if options are your thing, these sections on character creation might seem a bit unfulfilling.

The section on equipment seems fully featured and not truncated at all. It lists all the armor, weapons and goods you can imagine wanting and using in a fantasy setting. It even gives you a random list of 100 trinkets to help add flavor to things, so each loot drop isn’t always about what magic items or useful gear monsters leave to you after they are vanquished.

The Customization Options section is just an ad for the Core Rules. It tells you these options exist but doesn’t even give you an example of what they look like. I think new players would be better off ignoring this section or just think of it as an advertisement for the expansion pack for this game.

The next few chapters are the rules of the game and these sections seem full featured. After reading it twice, I can’t seem to find anything that is described in the Player’s Handbook that isn’t in the Basic Rules. How to use ability scores, timekeeping, movement, character speed, traveling, falling, suffocating, vision and light, food and water, social interactions, resting, downtime, combat, and even mounted combat and underwater combat are explained. The spell casting section could probably use some visual examples for spell area of effects, but other than that, it seems fully featured.
D&D Basic Rules Spells List
D&D Basic Rules Spells List

The section describing actual spells is where the Basic Rules again differentiates itself from the Core Rules. There are 4-9 spells for each level for each of the two spellcasting classes in the Basic Rules, Clerics and Wizards. But all the classic spells are here: Fireball, Magic Missile, Cure Wounds, Hold Person, Haste, and Teleport. For new players, you won’t notice a deficit of choices. Even though you may have a sense that there is a huge number of possibilities out there in terms of spells, this section won’t feel like it’s scratching the surface. The Basic Rules gives you all the classic stuff that is famously D&D.

The next few sections are specifically for Dungeon Masters, but interestingly, the Basic Rules doesn’t delineate itself clearly. The previous section ends with a stat black for the Web spell and then there’s a divider page that says Dungeon Master's Tools, but unlike other starter sets I’ve seen, it doesn’t explicitly tell players to stop reading. This is neither a good nor a bad thing, but I thought it worth noticing.

The monsters section gives you a decent selection until you get to 7th level monsters, where the pickings get pretty thin. There’s enough here for your first 8-10 sessions for D&D, but once your players reach 6th level, there’s probably enough variation to keep them challenged without throwing the same monsters at them again and again. And over ½ of the monsters are stats for real-world animals or humanoid NPC archetypes like Bandit and Knight. I understand the reason Wizards of the Coast took this approach, but I think making it harder to DMs to easily run games is misguided, but more on that in the conclusion.

The next chapter in the DM section is for magic items of which the Basic Rules gives you 12. There are only two “very rare” items listed, which both happen to be consumable, meaning you use them once. The only legendary items are items which have multiple rarities, depending on their mechanical bonus, so +1, +2, or +3 magic weapon, with the +3 magic weapon being the of the Legendary type. Magic items can add a lot of color to your games, and from a DM’s perspective, this has about the same limitations as the Monsters section of the Basic Rules. It’s probably enough to get you through 8 - 10 sessions, but once the characters get to about level 7 or 8, its going to be hard to reward them with interesting things, using only the Basic Rules.

In summary, the Basic Rules does exactly what it sets out to do. I think it presents a well written, fun, and clear picture for how the developers intend for people to play D&D. I think the rules are complete and well presented. I think the player’s options are just about right for an entry product and are good and plentiful enough if your not a player who’s experienced with all the copious options of the core game.

I understand the reason to limit options in a free product, especially a product that is meant to be a gateway drug for their more expensive offerings. But I think the model of getting to DMs to pay for benefit of getting to do the job they do, limits the growth of the hobby. My theory is that the more DMs there are, the more players there will be. The more DMs there are, the easier it would be for players to find games. My main criticism is that as the rules source, and free entry point for rules for DMs, the Basic Rules falls short. It requires too much investment and too much effort for DMs to be good DMs over the course of a campaign. Luckily there’s the SRD, but the SRD isn’t even mentioned in the Basic Rules. If you are totally new to D&D, you may not even know what the SRD is. But if we need the SRD to make the game really sing, then the product is clearly lacking. But as a source for players, it enough to build some great experiences. To be clear, if you are thinking about DMing and you want to run a full campaign, you're going to need some help, beyond the Basic Rules. But as a product to act as an introduction and starting point for brand new players and a brand new DM, it’s a great product.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Budget Dungeons and Dragons (or how to play for almost free!)


So here's something for people who are considering starting a Dungeons and Dragons group but don't want to invest very much money to do it. Considering it getting into D&D on a budget.

So we’re going to try something and see how far it goes. I’m going to run a campaign that's going to require me to create a bit of content and then I'm going to post it here. So in a sense, we're going to do this together. This campaign will entail something experimental, which will be not using any D&D material that costs more than $5.00, and no pirating. So this series of articles is going to be about playing D&D on a budget. A very, very small budget. Obviously, there are going to be limitations, especially if you’re used to buying and using the vasts amounts of material that comes out from Wizards of the Coast and DMsGuild.com. Our goal is to play Dungeons and Dragons for as little money as possible and make it fun for everyone.

This series of articles is going to focus on the Dungeon Master’s perspective because let’s face it, DMs can end up spending an enormous amount of money on this game. I’ve probably dumped in $5000 over the past two decades. So we’re going to help you learn D&D and DM on a small budget, but this should also be helpful for new players as well. Veteran players are probably accustomed to having all the bells and whistles that come with the standard package of the game, but hopefully, this will still be an interesting read and these players will get a taste of nostalgia from a time when everything was new and shiny. So even if you have all the official 5th edition material ever published (like I do), I hope it will still be fun to follow along. Most of what I paid for over the years has mostly been of value as a source of inspiration. I’ve used, maybe 5% of the everything I’ve purchased in an actual game. But I’ve read, cover to cover, all of it.

Getting Started

If you’re interested in learning and playing Dungeons and Dragons and you're willing to organize a game but you don’t have a lot to work with in terms of money and people, you are in the right place. Follow along over the next few articles and we’ll hopefully get you everything you need for less than a price of a brand new console video game.

There are five elements you need to bring together for a Dungeons and Dragons game. 1) A Dungeon Master (that’s you) 2) players, 3) rules, 4) a place to play, and 5) a way to generate random numbers and track character sheets.

Over the next week or so, we want to put out a 5 part series.

Part 1: Get All the Rules You Need For Free (this one)
Part 2: Roll20, the cheapest way to play D&D
Part 3: Finding Players - DMs Have It Good
Part 4: Preparing Your First Game
Part 5: Bringing It All Together

Part 1: Get All the Rules You Need For Free

Since we’re playing D&D on a budget, lets first talk about how to acquire everything we need to learn and reference the rules, create game materials (such as characters and monsters), and run an adventure or campaign.

There are three easy to access sources for free D&D. The Basic Rules PDF which can be downloaded here. DnD Beyond, which has a web-based version of the Basic Rules, and the SRD which is a skeletal framework designed for developers who want to create content they can sell. And then there’s Roll20, which has rules referenced in the SRD. These are going to be our base sources for our campaign. Between these three things, we have more than enough content to start our low budget D&D campaign.

The first thing you’ll want to do is download the Basic Rules for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. It’s free and it has all the rules you need. The main difference between the Basic Rules and the complete set of hardbacks is the number of options and a deeper set of instructions. But the Basic Rules is a complete game and I think the Basic Rules there’s enough there to run a really enjoyable game. Along with this site and nearly limitless resources of the internet, you’ll be able to build a full D&D experience. The main reason I recommend starting with the Basic Rules is that it follows the basic learning path that has worked for D&D since the very first White Box. There’s a section for rules and characters (Player’s Handbook), there’s a section for magic items and encounter building (Dungeon Master’s Guide) and then there’s a section for monsters and NPCs (Monsters Manual). Unlike the SRD, or even reading the Basic Rules as published on DnD Beyond online, the Basic Rules PDF provides a structured and a narrative-driven approach to how the pieces of the game fit together.

The Basic Rules has three main sections. The first section is how to play the game. This has all the rules on how to create characters, how combat works, how magic works, and how the economy works. This is stuff that player should know, but its all the stuff the DM needs to know. I would read this first section cover to cover and if you retain 50% of what you read, you will have a good enough understanding of how D&D works.

If you recruit players that have never played D&D before, they will need a copy of this as well and we will insist that they download and read through it, even though it’s likely that they won’t. But that’s okay, you’ll get used to it. You’re a DM now.

Player Character Rules in the Basic Rules

The Basic Rules explains all the character options that are available for the basic classes: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard. For races, there are the classic D&D races of Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, and Humans. Each class is only given one tree or pathway, so this is the main difference between using the Basic Rules vs the complete hardback ruleset. But if your group is new to D&D, this shouldn’t feel like much of a hindrance. Matter of fact, it will make your games move faster.

The main thing that slows down a D&D session is the time players spend trying to make the most strategic choice. Should I do this or do that? And then a DM has to adjudicate the interactions between actions and outcomes a new DM might find themselves constantly referring to a guide or manual, instead of keeping the game moving. This whole project is predicated on this advantage. I think that starting with the Basic Rules will lead to faster, smoother learning experience for new players and new DMs.

The spells section probably has the most specific detail and don’t worry about remembering all of them. You can refer back to the Basic Rules as a reference when spells come up during play. So now we’re done with step one, which gathers up the rules.

Summary

To sum it up, download the Basic Rules, use that as your guide and then sign up for an account with dndbeyond.com and roll20.net and start building characters. If you’ve only read the Basic Rules, I recommend sticking to these character options during your first few sessions. Players may complain about the lack of options, but I’ll give some suggestions on setting expectations with players in the later post about finding and aligning players.

As a DM you should build characters, even if you never get to play them. It’s a great way to learn the rules and see how each class’s abilities grow over time. You will begin to see the power curve that happens as players grow and characters level up and gain more and more options. The more you know about the available options, the smoother and faster the game will be.

So now we have enough rules to start. Take a few days to read it all! And we have spent $0. Let's play D&D on a low, low budget.

Links to Free Official Resources

Rules

Basic Rules
System Reference Document

Digital Tools

Roll20 - Virtual tabletop, character creation/manager
DnD Beyond - character creation/manager

Additional Game Content

Dragon+ game content and inspiration
Unearthed Arcana game content in a beta form

Tools and Misc

Starter Set Character Sheets - premade characters from Basic Rules
Form Fillable Character Sheet - character sheet
Character Portraits - for use with character sheets and virtual tabletops

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Learn to Play Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition on Roll20



So a full-time, 40-hour a week job pulled me away for, but now that I'm "consulting" I've found myself with a bit more time on my hands and I've been itching to get back into my favorite hobby. Roll20 and Dungeons and Dragons 5e.



I've actually decided to combine my work and hobbies, so I've begun offering my services as a writer on Fiverr. If anyone needs help coming up with scenarios, character backgrounds, of if anyone wants to pickup and run through the Starter Set Adventure on Roll20 and learn the game, I've got the service for you.

Check them out and more stuff coming out on this blog as well. It feels good to be back!