Latest / Bards and Barrels / S1 Ep.5 - Getting started with Dungeons and Dragons

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S1 Ep.5 - Getting started with Dungeons and Dragons · Bards and Barrels

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Bars and Barrels, the podcast for Dungeons Dragons players new and old.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're just a few 30-something dads who play DD on the regular.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Ross Druze, and I'm joined by my friends and co-hosts Brett Miller and Phil Boone.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: We'll be exploring the world of Dungeons and Dragons in each episode, sharing our experiences, offering tips and advice for those who play and run this classic game.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_03: Don't miss out on us discussing everything from character creation to combat mechanics and even delving into some of the lore behind the game.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_03: We'll also be sharing some of our funniest and most memorable moments from our own DD campaigns.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: So whether you're a new player just starting out or a seasoned veteran looking to reminisce about your own adventures or just get a new perspective on things, Bards and Barrels has something for everyone.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: So sit back, grab a drink, and join us as we roll for initiative and embark on this epic adventure.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back, fellas.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a question for you.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna jump into DD in 2023, what do you need to get started?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you were gonna ask if I had any great coupon, to be honest.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, well, that too.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: I don't.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Great coupon?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Are you serious?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: You all know that commercial, right?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: The great coupon commercial where he like pulls up in the limo and he like hits the button, he's like, Pardon me, do you have any grey coupon?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: It's like a mustard.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I try not to poop on anything other than my toilet.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: So good to know.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, what was the actual question for this episode?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you're jumping into DD in 2023, what do you need?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: You watch these videos, you see like uh people playing DD in uh TVs and movies, that they've got this giant table full of miniatures, full of dice, full of books everywhere.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: What do you need to get started?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: None of that.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to play DD, all you need is a copy of the basic rules, which you can get for free in several places.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: DD Beyond has a free copy of it if you're looking for a digital version.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Wizards of the Coast, so DD.wizards.com.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: They have a free downloadable PDF version that you can download and print if you want to.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a copy of those rules, which are going to give you the basic how-to-play type of scenarios, as well as um some of your beginning character choices.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it'll run you through how to build a character.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's a couple tidbits in there for your dungeon master, something else that you're going to need to play.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: You got to have one person in your group of friends that's willing to be the storyteller slash referee.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna run the show, they're going to set the scene, they're going to be the rule judge, and they're gonna help move the story along.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: You need some sort of a blank character sheet, whether that's digital, whether that's printed, once again, another free resource you can find on those same websites.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the one that's kind of, yeah, you sort of need it, but you don't need the physical version are the dice.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I think you need.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: What do you guys think?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think you're absolutely right.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: You don't need any of that thing.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Most of the time, what we see when we when we see people playing DD, either in pop culture or whatever, is we're seeing the sexified version, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was jumping onto DD Beyond earlier and looking through starting a new character, and there's pre-built characters in Beyond.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you don't even have to spend a bunch of time trying to come up with your own character.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: You can start by just going into Beyond 20 minutes before your first session and looking at hey, what are some of these pre-built characters?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: They give you a level one character that's all set up for you.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Not a lot of backstory, not a lot of detail.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: You can add that later on.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it gives you the base character, the base stats.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as long as you spent a little bit of time familiarizing yourself with what a character sheet is, some of the details about uh how to read a character sheet and some of the skill sets, spell spell attacks potentially, um, how do you use that in in gameplay, you're good to go.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I one of the things I just want to throw out there real quickly, kind of as a DM that's worked with you know groups that have had no experience, had mixed experience, and have had some experiences, you know, one of the things to know is that if you print off a physical copy of a character sheet and you come to the table to build a character, um, your experience may be a little bit different than someone who's trying to build a character in Beyond.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the advantages of using DD Beyond to build your character is that a lot of your choices are laid out for you.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of just get to pick them from a list.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if you're going to build a character on you know piece of paper with your pencil, you actually have to read.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: You got to read some of the things in the handbook or the basic rules to kind of learn how that character is built.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It will teach you a lot about the game.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're looking to show up at a table one afternoon, you want to build characters and start a campaign.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I would probably enter that session with some sort of a phone, tablet, computer, maybe that you could create a character indeed DD beyond.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It will just make your character creation process a little bit easier.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: I will say I'm very much a lazy player.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to have to remember uh this stat adds into this stat, adds into that set, and the interconnection of those things.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember that, especially as you level up and that changes.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's too much for me.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna let DD Beyond handle that for me because uh knowing that the initiative modifier or the proficiency bonus affects this or that, too much for me.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna let that have let that all happen automatically and beyond and just roll with what it tells me.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: I I think one of the uh kind of to go back, one of the things you mentioned, Phil, the uh talking about you know, you need some dice, right?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: And and if you're gonna go with a a uh a digital player sheet, there's some dice in there that are gonna roll automatically for you, pushing certain buttons.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and even if you're not using that, you still don't need dice anymore.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: You can say, hey, Google, roll a d20 for me, and Google will roll a d20 for you, or Alexa will, or any of them will, which is so much different than the players back in the day who used to start with this.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So speaking of dice, that's another thing that a lot of people jumping into the game are like, what's up with all the dice?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: I only know dice from Yahtzee.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well uh which are you?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me about some of the other ways.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: I I I mean at the end of the day, what it is is it's just a way for it it increases chances for certain things, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: So if you have a higher, if you do an attack, you're gonna roll a d20.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: So that's that's for chance, right?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: And then for damage and stuff, it's it's based on how hard are you hitting.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: So like a d6 is gonna be lower than d10 or something like that.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's the very base thing.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so for for anyone who's not familiar with like a D set of typical dice, usually it's you have seven dice kind of in a set, and it's comprised of you know, a four-sided dice, a d4, a six-sided dice, which is your standard d6 that you see in you know most board games, a six-sided die, an eight-sided die called a d8, a ten-sided die called a d10, twelve-sided die called a d12, and then the most popular die that we use, the d20, the golden die, uh 20-sided dice, and then something also that's technically called a d100 or a percentile dice, but typically still just has 10 sides.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: As Ross kind of alluded to, you know, your big roles in DD, your ability checks, your attack rolls, your saving throws, all of those things depend on the role of the D20.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna roll a 20-sided dice, you take whatever is on the face of the dice that rolls to the top, and you typically add or subtract a modifier to that to determine what your roll is gonna be.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then those subsidiary dice, d4s up through d12s, those typically determine determine maybe how much damage you're going to inflict on a hit and percentile dice.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Eh, you're gonna use that d100 not that often.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's used when you're rolling on a loot table, maybe when you're determining probability, something along those lines.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I I should note that no matter what dice you're doing you're rolling, you always have an equal chance of being screwed because we've all been screwed at some point by the dice.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: So just being real here.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: Doesn't matter what you roll, you're gonna roll some ones at some point.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: So sorry.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And beware, as you get into like acquiring dice, it is a slippery slope.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna want more dice, you're gonna want different colors of dice, you're gonna want dice that if one dice isn't rolling well, you can go put it in dice jail and roll a different dice.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So true.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: So so speaking of slippery slopes, though, actually, Phil, go ahead.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so raise of hands, and so that way no one can see it here.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just gonna be on video.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: But how many of us have spent more than a hundred dollars on one set of seven dice?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: No, on one set?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I have not gone that extreme yet.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well shit.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: You were expecting more hands and it was just my own hands.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was expecting more than just my own hand to raise, and it wasn't for me, it was for a friend.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's okay.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that's not that doesn't help.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's well, I don't know.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: I feel if it's a gift, you're slightly forgiving.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's nope I'm gonna be.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Not the only set that I've purchased for over a hundred dollars.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, never mind.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: I take back my previous comment.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh speaking, speaking of slippery slopes, though, and this is kind of going back to our original question of what you need to play DD.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: The the funny thing is, you know, as we've alluded to, you don't need a whole lot of anything to play the game, which is amazing because even your typical board game, name your board game, costs 50 bucks nowadays.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: You can buy the player's handbook for 30 bucks and play from there.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: The funny thing is, though, as you play, you tend to acquire things.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: You buy dice, you buy maps, you buy battle maps, you can draw on, you buy more books, you buy more things, and it is definitely a slippery slope.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: So on the flip side of all this though, somebody's got to be the DM.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: What does the DM need to get started?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a that's a good question, Brett.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll kind of hit on that one because I feel like I've kind of uh kind of slid into that role, especially in the group that we play in on a regular basis.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: I become the DM.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say kind of general necessities as a DM, you technically could become a DM using the basic rules.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: However, there are a lot of gaps if you are just trying to use the basic rules to be a dungeon master.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Realistically, if you want to be the dungeon master for your group, and I encourage you all to try it at some point.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: You may try it and find out it's not your cup of tea, but I want you to try it.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I would suggest that you obtain a copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're just looking to get your feet wet and you don't want to buy it, maybe see if someone in your party has a copy of it that you could potentially borrow.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually think it's really beneficial as a dungeon master to also have a copy of the player's handbook.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that way you can make sure that you're familiar with all of the pieces of DD that exist in the player's handbook.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: There are some reference tables, getting to know the classes and what features they have that exist in the player's handbook that don't show up in the dungeon master's guide.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it is advantageous to potentially have a copy of the monster manual or some kind of a you know published um source book that may have some monsters in it, so you can kind of populate or see the stat blocks for the opposition that's going to come against the party.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily necessary, but helpful as a dungeon master.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: I will say, uh, as somebody just dipping the toe into DD to see if you even are interested in playing this, um, one thing that you can do is go get a DD starter set.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's a couple different versions of the starter set, and they're pretty good.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like they have pre-built characters for your entire party.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they've got a basic set of the rules in there for you, and they've got a campaign laid out that walks you through um here's what you can do to go uh walk a party through the campaign, here are the different paths that they can go.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them are set up, so there may be two, three sessions.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So short campaigns, but very manageable for an entry-level DM.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things that I absolutely love about those packages that they built too is that you can kind of there, there are choices, right?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to go for the high fantasy, you know, wizard sling and magic, I want to build a what you maybe would consider a kind of a traditional DD campaign, you have your you know essential starter kit.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Then they've also come out with some spins on that, right?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a Stranger Things fan, there's actually a Stranger Things kind of starter set where you're fighting things um like the demo Gorgon and things like that.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And your pre-rolled characters are the characters that Will has created in his campaign, so you can kind of get that taste, or there's a Rick and Morty kind of starter pack.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's your fandom and you love Rick and Morty, you can get into DD by using that starter set, and it makes that you know level of entry really simple.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: Swinging back to what you need if you're a DM, well, one of the things that's free are books.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: Any book.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like one of the keys to being a decent DM is storytelling.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Pull things from everything that you've read.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things that I did for these two guys that I do the podcast with is I I pulled this random thing out of the Da Vinci Code by by Dan Brown.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was like a test of honor thing that I asked some questions, they didn't recognize it.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: Brett recognized it after I told him what it was after the end of the end of the session we were running.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: But but that that goes back to the fact that you know, if if you read a lot and you find yourself telling good stories, if you were a writer, something like that, uh you don't even need to be a writer, that was a not necessarily a prerequisite by any means, but good storytelling typically leads to good DMing.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: One other thing I want to touch on is sometimes if you watch like high-level DD, like Critical Role or some of the big podcast uh gameplays out there, they're gonna be talking in um all sorts of just descriptions, all sorts of uh character voices.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need that to get started.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Do what you're comfortable with, dip your toe in the water, figure out what level of immersion you want to jump into and what you're comfortable with, and roll with that.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it also affects uh your party, the group that you're playing with, what level they're playing at as a group, fit uh fit the group that you're playing with and just have fun.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I want to make sure that, like as an introductory level level player that you're comfortable with is always coming to the table as you.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, as a dungeon master, I personally am not a super gifted voice actor, right?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I will never be a Matt Mercer.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: That is not in my wheelhouse, that's not who I am.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't do great character voices, but I never ever want to discourage someone who is interested in trying to do a character voice and truly immerse themselves in the experience from doing that.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want your character at to have a voice to kind of even physically act out some of the things that you're doing, right?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: With you know, don't act out your violence, right?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like use some common sense there.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: But don't be discouraged, even if you're the only one in your party that's doing that, because some of that's contagious.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the other people in your party may just be too shy to try.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: So by you putting yourself out there and exhibiting that, if that's something that you're interested in, it may encourage them to adopt a voice for their character.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So always make sure that when you come to the table, that you are being authentic to yourself and playing the character that you want to play.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think wrapping up, I think the main thing is just jump into it.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need a lot of uh extra stuff, you don't even need dice, you don't even need a full player's handbook.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can get away with very entry-level, just jumping into some free resources, trying out DD.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Be careful, you're gonna want more.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's a lot of additional stuff that you can unlock, but uh it's very approachable and it's kind of a um an easy entry to getting into this category or getting into this hobby.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: I I think at the end of the day, there are always gonna be more people that play DD than you think there are.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so go find your group, have fun with it, and don't feel like you need anything to jump into the game.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know something else we found is as you're talking about DD with some of your friends, some of the people you know, you're gonna find people that are interested in DD, or maybe are uh quote unquote closet DD players that play it but don't necessarily broadcast that they play it.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Feel free, let your nerd them shine.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's probably more people out there that are interested and we're willing to play with you than you probably expect.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: But with that, we're gonna wrap up for today.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, please, if you have um any tips or tricks for new players, feel free to drop them down in the comments on Facebook.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and if you haven't followed us on fall on Facebook, uh give us a like at Bards and Barrels um on Facebook.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we'll catch you next time.