Latest / Bards and Barrels / S1 Ep12 - Session 1

Transcript

S1 Ep12 - Session 1 · Bards and Barrels

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Bards and Barrels, the podcast for Dungeons and Dragons players, new and old.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Brett Miller, and I'm joined by my friends and co-hosts Phil Boone and Ross Cruz.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you're a new player just starting out or a season veteran, looking to get some new perspective on things, cards and barrels has something for everyone.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So sit back, grab a drink, and join us as we rub over initiative and embark on this epic adventure.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: As the pops open.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking about jumping in to your first session.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: A very exciting time.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, sorry, I'm done.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm done.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: The mystery of the popping can has been solved.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why it's these ones.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So first session, what do you what do you think?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember your going into your first session, first of all?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I had the biggest okay, so first session, DM like starts explaining.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: We were doing Curse of Strahd.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: This is before you joined, though, I think.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: And like starts explaining, like laying out that initial description of where you're at, and I have the biggest smile on my face that entire time.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is so flippant epic.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for this.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I was really lost in my first episode.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I could see that.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to do this play, but I'm like, uh, you said what?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what are uh what am I supposed to do?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: I I think I just felt like I had no idea what I was doing.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's what hit me, my very first, very first time playing.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I jumped in after Ross and some of the people had been playing for a little bit.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was terrified because I'm like, I have no idea what's going on.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to like watch every YouTube video I can just so I can like not make a fool of myself going into this.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're coming into your first session, what do you guys say are what do you need to have?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: What do you need to bring to your first section?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Fest first session, what do you need to expect on that first first go about?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: We looked at each other and they couldn't decide who was gonna go.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: You go.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, okay, fine.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I I think the the first thing that you need to make sure you have is your player sheet.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So you want to come to the table with your player sheet.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you're playing with actual dice, make sure you have those.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you're playing in D Beyond, your your dice and your player sheet are gonna be in one spot.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Phil, what other things do you think you need?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um if you're bringing paper or whatever, you need to take notes.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: So either bring a computer or tablet, phone, pad, and a pen, or pencil, probably pencil.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you're gonna take notes on the session, which I strongly encourage, especially the further on you get in the session and the DM's like, hey, remember that one person you met in session two?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know, there's really not a whole lot out snacks or uh something like snacks, beverages, drink.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, beverages for sure.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 100% on the snacks.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh if you're playing with minis, if your DM's not keeping them, make sure you bring your minis with.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um or even just a token, right?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you're brand new to DD and you don't want to go buy miniatures or create one, like through Heroforge, which is a service you can use to create them.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you just take something.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: A Lego minifigure, uh coin, you know, honestly anything that can represent your character on a battle map if there happens to be an actual battle map on the table.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of tokens, I saw uh a Facebook reel the other day where somebody was like, you can take magic cards and punch out the images and use them for tokens.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And my heart just about broke.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, why would you do that to your magic cards?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you've got like eight copies of a carry-on crow, you can punch one out and just put it in a token, and it would be fine.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Phil would know about this.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's a much better use of a magic card than everybody's blasphemy.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Hard take.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jeez.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Hard take, hard take.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right, hard take.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one thing we haven't talked about, I don't think, on any of the episodes is how D is structured when you're actually playing it.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's an open world game, it's free-flowing.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: There may be kind of a path to A and A to B that the DM has to worry about, but you as a player, you kind of get to just go along for the ride.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: I I would say if if you've never played DD before, the closest you're gonna come, it would be like in today's context, would be like a Hogwarts Legacy, a Grand Theft Auto type video game, where you can go do whatever you want and you choose when you do the missions, right?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably the closest you're gonna come.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: DD is probably more open world than that.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: You could spend sessions upon sessions doing absolutely nothing that pertains to the actual storyline of your game if your DM allows that.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so, in that sense, it is like the true essence of you can go do whatever you want for however long you want until the time comes that they're gonna find a way to hook you into the story.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it is the true epitome of open world.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, for for better or for worse, I would say on the DM side of the table, it is an extremely open world, and you can spend six sessions hanging out at some random bazaar, or um, you always have that one character that no matter where you go, they're always spending every time you're in a village at the brothel, and you have to figure out how to fit that in or get them out of there.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: They want to know what happens.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, did they get a special boot?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, well, how'd it go?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like we'll roll and see how you did last night.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: So figuring out how to kind of fit those things in.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it really is that open world.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: There's a point A and there's a point B.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: There's a start, there's a finish, and some things, you know, we got to connect the dots, right?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: But how we get there, I mean, you got some pretty crazy looking line charts.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna meet a lot of NPCs, non-player characters along the way.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the ones that the DM probably didn't expect you to fall in love with are all of a sudden gonna be ones that you want to drag along with you for the length of the campaign or come back later on.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one of those things where the DM doesn't necessarily know, the players don't know, it's just gonna be free-flowing on where things are gonna take you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's like the the the biggest like pro and con to the open world is it's like it's great that you have the ability to do that, especially if you have a DM that knows the world inside and out and can describe things quickly, accurately, although you'd never know the difference if it was accurate or not.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then the flip side of that is they may not be prepared to do that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you're not gonna know that if they're at least quick on their feet and you know can do something, pull something together pretty quick.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So as you jump into the first session, one thing is have you had a session zero?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Have you introduced your characters to each other before this session, or are you jumping in cold and introducing your players for the first time?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And how do you even start that for the first time?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think if you didn't have a session zero, right, this is your opportunity to you know potentially try to tie your character into the world.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if it hasn't happened yet, a lot of the kind of out-of-the-box um pre-written campaigns that uh Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast that they've created, they start typically with a group of adventurers in a tavern or something akin to that, you know, outside of a gate or um in a marketplace.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, that's kind of like a meat cube for the characters, but you have to figure out how your character got there.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: So what is there in your background that could bring them into that particular scenario or that particular area in the realm?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I've also seen game sessions where they've done like a essentially, you know, everybody's at the table and then you go player by player.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like everybody's in the same city, but it's like, where are you and what are you doing?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then after you go through everybody introducing their character like that, then you pull them into that tavern or into that common area, and that's how they meet.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then so you've established their personal backstories at least a little bit, and then you've brought them together, and then you take off from there.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, but you're absolutely right.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's the stereotypical, well, you're sitting in a tavern and this person's sitting across the way kind of deal.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Ross, one of the ones that you've talked about before, uh, at least us, is you DM'd a session for some new players that once you got into it, you were like, Okay, you're in a marketplace, what do you do?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they were kind of like, uh Right.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think with with first-time players, you're always gonna run into that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they they just don't know how to react.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: So so as a DM, you just have to walk them through those things, right?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's there's some good that comes out of that awkward, like, it's an awkward pause.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: What am I gonna do?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Stressful situation as a player that pushes you and gets you out of your comfort zone and gets you into the world and thinking as your player.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it's it it's almost not DD related.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's like anything.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if somebody puts you on the spot in the real world, like there's three of you, and I'm gonna pose a question, and one of you needs to answer.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody is gonna step up and do it, and then that's gonna free the others up to also do that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's just DD is is the just the structure of the game is you put them in a situation and you see how they react.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: How they react leads to the next step.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's all you're doing here, and so it's like that, like you said, that awkward moment, somebody steps up, answers, and then you move on to the next one.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of like improv, but without the pressure of being on a stage.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think it can help almost establish uh not necessarily a party order, but you start to see the people that are kind of always willing to jump in, or like someone's getting ready to jump in, and a lot of times they end up being the people that lead a lot of the social interactions.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Not always that way, but especially at the beginning of a campaign, as people are getting more comfortable, especially if you're working with a party that may not know one another.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you go to the table with people you've never played with before, you kind of have to learn that.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what's their style, who's comfortable talking, uh, who's gonna take the lead.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: And honestly, like you know, which characters have high charisma, who should be taking the lead, because you're gonna learn that over time too.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: You're not gonna know that out of the gate.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: You also find out who who is comfortable role-playing too.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because you're gonna run into a lot of just people like refer to themselves in the third person, like they're not gonna jump right into that role-playing right away.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it's again, it's navigating through those things because those first several encounters are gonna be a little awkward.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then so as you're getting into those encounters, the dice start to be rolled, and that's where your your player sheet and your skills come into play.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think it can be overwhelming for a new player, but if you really kind of boil down the roles, right?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: There are three main roles in the game in its entirety.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: So you have your ability check, a saving throw, and an attack role.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Now, beyond that, you have some like damage type roles, those kinds of things, but those are the big three, and those are the ones that are based on the role of your D20, and typically that are all tied back to those ability scores that you would have assigned out during your character creation process.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say as a player, you don't have to be worried about knowing when to roll something.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Your DM is going to ask you to roll something.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you're talking to a shopkeeper or barkeeper or something like that, um, and they're like, and you're trying to say, hey, what's going on in the city?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And or hey, I need a room, give me a room right now, or else I'm gonna beat you in the beat you in the face.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: The the DM is gonna be like, okay, give me an intimidation role or give me an insight role or something like that to know if the barkeeper is telling the truth or how your encounter is how your interaction is going.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: And what Brett's describing there is what we typically would consider like your ability check, right?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like how good are you, either innately or training-wise, good at overcoming a specific challenge.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: So if you are trying to maybe negotiate a situation and you're making a persuasion check, you know, how persuasive are you?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna roll that d20, apply your modifier, and the DM's gonna have basically, you know, how difficult is that?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's a difficulty class.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Is it really hard?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, do you have to roll at least higher than a 20?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: Which would be really hard.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Or, you know, is it pretty mundane?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Is it relatively easy you roll higher than a 10?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what you'll see a lot of times in your first sessions.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Those difficulty challenges or those difficulty ratings are typically on the lower side.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and as you you know gain levels, they get a lot harder.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: But that's kind of your ability score piece.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, your DMA also asks you to make a save, and that is, you know, um, like shit's about to hit the fan.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: You know, are you gonna be able to dodge something that's coming at you, right?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: Roll your D20, apply your DEX modifier.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Did you get out of the way in time?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Did you save?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's where those ones come into play.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: I would also say uh if you're a first-time player, don't be afraid to ask questions.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Also, don't be afraid to say, is that a D20 that I'm rolling?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's a lot of people will a DM is always like saying, Hey, you need to make this kind of check.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they'll assume you know it's going to be a D20, but if you're not sure, ask the question.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I I would much rather you ask me, hey, what do I need to roll, than to just assume and and roll the wrong thing or feel uncomfortable.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time it'll be that D20, the big one.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I do think if you're playing beyond, as much as I love using DD Beyond, it's also kind of a crutch, too.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Because if I tell you to make a perception check, you can just click on it.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: And you don't have to know anything about what dice is being rolled, the math that's being applied, or anything like that, which is super helpful.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, yeah there's something to being able to learn how the game is actually played.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the other thing is knowing when to jump in as your character.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you might have some really talkative people at your table, but your character has something to say.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: When do you pipe up and say it?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's a tough question.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: I so there are there are different ways you can look at it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: So honestly, uh naturally, when I am a player character, I'm typically not the first person to jump in unless no one else will.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now, most of the time I also play characters that have pretty low charisma, if you can tell by some of my character builds um that are out there.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: So uh normally my play style doesn't lend itself to being that jump in person.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Now on the DM side of the table, if I notice some players that tend to be dominating the conversation, not intentionally necessarily, it just happens, it's natural.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Some people are more comfortable than others.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: I try to ask specific players questions to pull them in.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say, you know, if if you feel like you can't jump in, or if you're you know there are some players that tend to talk more than others and you're worried about it, you know, talk to your DM because they can help bring that, you know, to a more equal balance.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing, if you look at your character sheet and you see you have a proficiency in a skill, which is a little filled-in circle next to your skill list, that means you are good at it.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you are talking to somebody and or are trying to intimidate someone and you have that intimidation circle filled in, that might be one of those occasions where this is somewhere you you should step in as your character.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: When in doubt, if you're a first-time player, I would much rather you talk and then I as a DM sort it out.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like if multiple people are trying to talk, and then I can say yes, you you go first or whatever.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: I would much rather just jump in and we'll figure it out than nobody talking.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Especially early on in the campaign, too.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: Showing up to your first session, talk about everything.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't know the rules, speak up because that's the time to start learning instead of pretending or trying to figure it out on your own, and then you're like six sessions in and you still don't quite know how to play your character because you didn't really ask, and then you just you kind of shut down.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: You don't even want to jump in because you don't feel confident.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's important, I think, up front to ask those questions.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Don't be afraid to throw yourself out there because you're probably not the only one, especially if you're in a party of new people.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: And even in the role-playing, like, don't be afraid to jump in.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Same same sort of concept.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: So after you've confronted the barkeeper and decided intimidation isn't working, you're gonna punch them in the face, then you go into attack mode and you're going into a battle.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what does your first battle look like?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: What do you need to expect going into combat for the first time?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: So this is where DD becomes more structured.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, yes, we've talked about open world, doing whatever you want.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: Combat has an order.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: So the very first thing your DM's gonna ask you to do is roll initiative.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, usually there might be some surprise stuff, but typically at some point you're gonna be asked to roll initiative, which means you roll your d20, you apply your initiative bonus, which is also your DEX modifier, and that is where you're gonna determine what order you're going to go in in the combat.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Highest numbers at the top, smallest number at the bottom, and literally each person gets a turn.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I roll a 20 and have plus three to initiative, I get 23 and probably go first.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So my first attack, what am I gonna do?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna look at my player sheet, look at the actions in combat, and decide am I gonna attack?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Am I going to disengage and run out of there?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: If it's somebody who is a lot bigger than me, possibly, um, and figure out what to do from there.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I would say too, so one thing to know is just because you're in combat doesn't mean you have to fight.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: You could still try to talk yourself out of a situation, you're just in that structured turn order because you technically are in combat.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think one thing that we need to establish as when you get into combat, everything slows down in time relativeness.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um each each action is six seconds.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: So every round, everybody is going through a six-second time window.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you go back to the top of the turn order and go through the next round, it's the next six seconds.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: So ten rounds is a minute of combat.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So everything is very condensed to just a short little window of things happening.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's where a lot of people have gotten confused in the past, at least in sessions that I've run, is that that time dilation is like you're absolutely right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: It does condense so much.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's like essentially in a round, it's it's six seconds, like you mentioned.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: So everything that happens in that round is happening concurrently.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's like people lose track of that a little bit.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like if you're trying to have an entire conversation after combat has started, it's gonna be tricky.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Your DM might limit you on how much you can say on your turn because it's gonna keep moving.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be the next person's turn coming up.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's true.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and one thing with combat is like if you've watched The Legends of Ox Machina on Amazon, sometimes they get sped up in the action and in the combat sessions to be that quick.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: A whole bunch of characters doing something like, and it's only a brief second of a clip that you see them do something.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's a little bit more realistic of what you're actually talking about.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in actual gameplay, when you're sitting at the table, it's probably gonna be 15-20 minutes per round.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, trust me, you're six seconds of uh your turn, or I guess six seconds around.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: So if you got six people, they get one second turns, right?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Technically, right?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: A six second round.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's more like five minutes per person, I feel like most of the time.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: So those tend to be a little lengthy, but which tends to make a lot of sense.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't talked about it, but when you're talking about actions, reactions, like those would all be instantaneous things that happen on your turn quickly, and then you're moving on to the next thing.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And thankfully, you get some time to figure out what the heck you're gonna do next.
• 21:24
  unknown: Right.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Until the person right before you screws up your plans and then you have to go off the rails.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you gotta learn to adapt.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Always right.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: So after you've survived your combat and you're back to a more level spot, you're probably gonna be wrapping up your session for your first session and looking at what are you gonna do next?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so that leads to one thing that we've learned is very, very vital is schedule your next session right away.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one of the things that we've gotten really good at is like when we hit the end of a session, it's like we know we want to play every two weeks.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: We all look at our calendars and we all find time.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Even if that's tentative, it's better to get it on the calendar and adjust than to not even plan the next one.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're playing the next day, get everybody in agreement and look when are we gonna play next?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Have something to shoot for because if you're just like, oh yeah, I'm excited to play again, and then if you don't have anything on the calendar, it's not gonna happen.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: And know how you're gonna play too, right?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, okay, we're all playing next week.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: We're getting online, we're getting together, you know, what's the plan?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, make sure everyone's in the loop.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking at the number one advice you could give a new player going into their first session, what would be your top advice heading into their first session as a player?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Ross is looking at me, so I assume that means he wants me to go first.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: But uh honestly, so there are a lot of things that you could do to get ready to play in your first session.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, you are playing DD because you're here to maybe try something new, try something different, ultimately uh to have fun, right?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like it is an open world, you get to make decisions for your character, you are playing with a group of people, so you want to make sure that it's not just fun for yourself, but for your entire party.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: So play as a party member, don't play as a single character, and be willing to you know roll with the campaign.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: You get to make choices, so does the DM.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: So your choices have consequences and live with them.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, the goal is for you, everyone at the table, and the DM to have fun playing the game.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: The only thing I would add to that do not feel like you need to try to learn everything, know everything.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna happen.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Come to the table, open-minded, ready to play, and have fun.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's the goal of the game.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: 100% agree with that.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's kind of what my number one thing was is you don't need to know everything.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you kind of know how to do a skill check, that gets you probably 90% of the way there.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you at least spend a little bit of time on your character sheet looking at how does my character make an attack, that's probably most of the rest of the way.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because after that, you're maybe some saving throws, but yeah, those are pretty easy to learn on the fly.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And even if you don't ask questions, there's nothing wrong with that.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Highly encourage you to ask questions as well.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because the people that have played before are very going to be very willing to keep you interested in playing.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: They want you to come back for the session too.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, right.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we are gonna wrap things up there.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, guys, it's a fun time on Bards and Barrels.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't checked us out on Facebook, check us out.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Bards and Barrels.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll catch you again on the next episode.