D&D Basics (Getting started)

The Absolute Basics

First you will want to grab either the Basic rules (Free), the Starter Set (Cheap), or the Players handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Probably Monster Manual

Then you need to have at least a few items

• Dice (Phone apps will work if absolutely necessary, or these)
  
• Paper & Pencil (for notes)
  
• Character Sheet (In the free PDF or an app)
  
  The starter set is nice because it does a bunch of the work for you, it has an easy to follow adventure, pre-made characters, Dice, and rules for the DM and players. And at half the cost of just the players handbook AND including an adventure, it is an incredible value.
  
  Once you finish that then looking at at least a players handbook for the extra races, classes, backgrounds, and other things is a good deal. That should let you run free adventures people have put online.
  
  The DM's guide will let you get deeper into rules and the right way to call them, break them, and make them.
  
  The monster manual can be a great tool to make better encounters.
  
  If you want to run a commercial adventure after the one's included in the starter set, "Tales from the Yawning Portal" includes the Sunless Citidel, considered by many to be an excellent adventure for those new to the game and just recently brought up from 3.5e into 5e
  
  

  Common Tools of the Trade
  

  
  As you start running more complex adventures you are going to want to have a few tools to keep things moving, either as a player or as a DM.
  
  

  As a Player
  

  
  The bare essentials every players should have are listed above, but most players agree having a few extras can make the game run really quick.
  
  

  Spell Cards
  

  
  These cards have all the spells available for specific classes or from specific books on really well organized cards that make it easy to set aside your prepared spells and quickly reference all the core details.
  
  Cleric, Arcane, Ranger, Druid, Bard, Paladin, Martial Powers and Races, Xanathars Guide to Everything
  
  

  Binders & Sheet Protectors
  

  
  Keeping everything neat and organized can be a huge time saver and make it much easier for you to find what you need. Binders can be a great way to keep your notes and other materials organized. In addition many sheet protectors easily erase dry erase markers making it easy to keep track of spells and other changes without ruining character sheets with constant erasing.
  
  

  As a DM
  

  
  DMs have their work cut out for them. But a few simple tools can make the game run smooth and leave everyone having that much more fun.
  
  

  Index Cards
  

  
  A set of index cards can go a long way to speeding up the game. Players can put details on spells or magic items on them. You can prepare loot for the game ahead of time and hand it out allowing players to look over the gear as the game continues. You can also use them to hide portions of a battle map or commerical map to give the effect of fog of war.
  
  

  Game Mats
  

  
  A game mat let's you make single maps by drawing on them with dry erase or wet erase markers. Many are made of vinyl and can last a long time. Normally they will have either 1" squares or hex shapes.
  
  

  Minitures
  

  
  These things can be expensive, but giving your game that 3D upgrade and helping players better manage space in a game can be well worth it. You can use actual miniatures (Like those from Reaper), Create custom ones on Hero's Forge, or even just buy some cheap stand in tokens from Game Mash.
  
  If you just need a cheap way to keep track of positions army men, bottle caps, colored game pieces, and even legos can all play the role.
  
  No matter what you use, you can pick up colored rubber bands to mark status conditions or other information.
  
  

  Where Can I Play?
  

  
  You can find tons of places to play D&D.
  
  

• Get together a gaming group.
  
• Find a Guild or club in your area. Meetup.com,
  
• Most hobby shops and especially comic book and gaming shops offer games, usually Adventure League. WotC offers a tool to find stores here.
  
• /r/lfg can be a great way to find others to play online with.
  
• Play by Mail sites like RPoL allow you to play by forum post.
  
  

  Also:
  

  
  Critical Role - Voice actors playing DnD, Matt Mercer (The DM) is an amazing Dungeon Master and shows how the game should be played.
  
  Matthew Colville - Amazing videos on being a DM, must watch material for every DM. Even when your opinions differ he gives good reasons and great advice.
  
  

  Compendiums
  

  
  These let you ciew all the free open rules (SRD & Basic Rules) for D&D 5e at no cost.
  
  Roll20 Compendium - Has all the open rules for the game, so a good source for monsters, items, spells, etc.
  
  DnDBeyond - A more official source for the content, plus you can buy all the materials released by WotC to use, and has a great character builder.
  
  

  Adventures & Maps
  

  
  DMsGuild - Tons of free and paid adventures and other materials. The quality can be varying, but many are free and that can be great.
  
  /r/dndmaps/ - What more can they say, D&D Maps.
  
  Mike Schley Makes many of the maps for the D&D Adventures.

I recently went through a bunch of my old drawings and filled a couple recycle bins full of paper because of it ( I went to an art school and had boxes of daily figure drawing exercises and old assignment from 10+ years ago). I'm by no means done, I still have to actually sort my paper mess, but I can share what worked for me so far.

For classifying drawings and sketches, I tried to keep only the things that I remember being "proud" of, or ideas that I would like to revisit later. Then any clean paper got a separate section. I didn't keep all of the finished drawing assignments. I would go through everything and think " I remember in this particular drawing I got the flow of the figure right" or " I struggled with proportions on this one, I feel like I've gotten much better since then!" Most of the drawings I had to go though got a "meh" response, so out they went. I went through that pile again though, and decided, moving forward, "what kind of reminders of this time as a student do I want to keep?" That helped me quite a bit on reducing the pile =)

As for "idea" sketched, I organized those in a type of clear file system. I jot things down on odd shaped scrap paper all the time when I work of long term projects, and I found it helped to have a book that I could safely store them into and I could see them quickly at a glance if I needed to revisit an old idea. ( something similar to this file folder https://www.amazon.com/Aimeio-60-Pocket-Protector-Presentation-Available/dp/B079MGBVQ9/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=clear+file+folder+book+small+portfolio&qid=1555099157&s=gateway&sr=8-3)

With the sketchbooks, unless the majority of the book was work keeping, I ended up neatly taking the drawing I liked and putting them in another clear file. There's a few that I want to use in some collage work, so they went into a little box with other nice bits of paper that are too small to draw on, but have a pretty stamp on them/cute pattern/texture.

Oh, I did this all separate from the "normal" paper pile, still need to get to organizing all my bills =p

....I didn't realize this was going into rant territory, I hope it helps a little bit!

Hey all,

I've been working on new ways to improve my DM organisation and the players seem to take interest, so thought I'd share.

After trying a few methods to record my campaign (onenote, physical notebooks, etc), I ended up deciding I wanted to keep my campaign (printed) on 3x5 index cards; green for locations, blue for NPC's, red for enemies and encounters, yellow for lore.

What you're seeing in the video is my regular 5th edition screen with magnetic sheets super glued onto it, and magnetic strips onto the backs of my index cards so they just slap right on the screen, and move around with no effort.

The standard screen easily fits up to 16 cards total, so plenty of space without even taking up desk space yet. I've found it pretty handy, but it's an ongoing trial and error.

Hope this helps someone else reading this in some way. :)

Happy gaming!

EDIT: I am now going to be taking the cards in the above, and instead attach the magnetic strips to some 3x5 index card sleeves, so I don't have to keep getting magnetic tape. Credit to /u/Moleculor for turning my cool idea into an amazing idea!

https://www.amazon.com/25-3x5-Topload-Holders-Plastic/dp/B00FO8ZECC

Further credit still goes to /u/averageordinaryguy for suggesting to put the magnetic strips on the BOTTOM of the cards so I can have an extra row extending from the top of the screen, which is a subtle but brilliant change that brings the card limit up from 16 to 24. :)

Not bad for a first go at it, kydex takes a little finessing but once you figure it all out it's pretty easy and fun to work with. I would recommend going another 50° up in the oven and rigging up a press, it can be as simple as a pillow folded in half with a board or big book that you can actually sit on for ten minutes. Should help the kydex form with sharper lines to whatever you're molding.

I've also found these screws look really good and you shouldn't have to cut them.

Good luck! I love seeing other guys DIYing.

I’d recommend buying a fireproof and waterproof safe, which I bought for my artifacts at a hardware store. It’s never big enough, but at least it suffices for the most valuable items.

And just as a temporary measure, since you’ll handle some items over and over while organizing the collection, you can individually ziplock some items, to reduce skin oils. It sure beats wearing gloves. This way is also good so that you can jot notes on post-its and slap them on the ziplocks. Later when everything is sorted, you can remove the photos & docs from the ziplocks to put in a more dignified storage.

For some items, I’m having customized floating frames made, which is expensive, but should be worth it. Framing them isn’t for display purposes per se, but just to preserve. I’m still unsure about which to use - glass or acrylic. I don’t know if ink will leach into either one.

And for wrinkled documents that you’d normally put between two books to flatten out, I recommend these plastic sleeves instead. They’re great - not for putting anything in them, but between them. These are heavy rigid plastic sheets, and I lay a wrinkled document between two sheets. Since they’re transparent, you can see where the remaining wrinkles are, and reach in with a toothpick to straighten them out.
(20) 8.5" x 14" Document Topload Holders - Rigid Plastic Sleeves - BCW Brand https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KAENV2A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8.EuDb2F1RTWV

I have a lot of documents relevant non-relatives, so I scan them and upload them to findagrave.com so that descendants of these strangers don’t have to pay anything to view them.
issuu.com may be good if your documents are several pages long, like a book.

Lastly, if you buy binder sleeves, make sure they don’t have glaring branding printed on them like “Office Depot” for instance.

I buy Ultra Pro 1-Pocket Platinum Page and create my own pockets using a Photo Sleeve Fuse. You can watch instructions from a girl who does this here. For the heat resistant mat that you'll need, I use a glass mat with ruler markings on it. It works well because there's already a grid to work with.

This method is great for larger cards like the Mediheal ones, that are too small for full pages, but too big more most ready made sleeves. It's also good for the NOW2 bookmark and Skool Luv Affair card - long and not quite the right shape to fit anything out there.

I also saw another really cool (and easier) idea here. The only thing is that I would take out the cards before gluing the pages together just so glue doesn't get on my cards. This way, you can't see the back of cards and some cards have nice designs on the back. But it's scrapbooking and you can custom make it to however you like.

What type of three-ring binder are you using? Always use a larger size than you think you need, and go with the "D" ring binding style. The older style circle binding tends to jam up but the D rings are great if the binder is large enough.

If you really want to go the spiral route, it can be expensive to use a company like staples. You are better off purchasing the machine and equipment, it is pretty reasonable and pays for itself if you are making more than one.

This binding machine is under $40, can bind up to 450 sheets of paper in each book, and comes with 10 spiral bindings. If you need more, you can buy a 100 pack of spiral bindings for under $10, just make sure you buy the right "sheet capacity" size bindings. (i.e. if you need to make a 250 page book, buy bindings that have at least a 250 sheet capacity or greater).

i hope the kizu LN sell well so that Vertical can see that there's a lot of interest to warrant a full series localization.

By sealed away, some BDs come with artbooks and i put them in those bags, just the artbooks, if they are bigger i use a bigger bag like so. These are what i use to seal the artbooks shown. The one i linked previously was just for manga/LNs.

In regards to figures... I know figures are made to match preorder amount. Its the retailers/sellers that put in the order, some a little more than what really is preordered to sell after release. Another thing is that people cancel their preorders at the last minute, causing the seller to have extras. You can still get releasd figures, sometimes for cheaper than original asking price. This is why buying figures can be hard sometimes, if the figure is popular/well made the demand will be high and so will the price. At that point, you better be prepared to shell out the big bucks or pray that the manufacturer does a rerelease. The after marker isn't so bad, some people take really good care of their figures, like not taking it out of the box, etc.,and you can buy those second hand figures.

It is a slippery slope. Don't get me wrong, i like all the figures i bought but it could've been cut in half if i really limit myself to characters/shows i REALLY like. But there's no regrets now.

Re-sealable just means that it has a strip of adhesive that you can use to close the flap. You can just buy a bag with no adhesive and use a tape to secure it like what i do to my hentai manga. 2 mil thickness is a good amount, you don't want your collection to get too bulky or else you can't more in a shelf. All you really want these bags to do is protect the books from dust and air.

Oh man, all these digital suggestions are great, but as a player that got started in about 1994, let me make one suggestion that will solve a few of your bullet point issues. A sheet protector and a nice dry erase marker will go a long way. That should cost a total of $2 at walmart or target. You'll never have to erase money, HP, temporary bonuses or penalties, etc.

Sometimes simple is better :)

The best I've got for you is 3-ring binder pocket pages. You can get them with various sized pockets. It probably won't be as space efficient as the full sheets (though you could use full-sheet protectors for full sheets of minis)... but it should keep them nicely organized, protected, and easy to access.

Also, because they work with 3-ring binders, you could do things like have separate binders per AP, dividers between chapters, etc. etc.

I'll try!

This is the magazine boards. They work well and are nice and thick, but you might be able to find a cheaper alternative card stock.

BCW-BBMAG - Magazine Size Backing Boards - White - (100 Boards) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JQY0NG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ql5UDbG47F7ZR

6 x 9 sleeves, I like these most

Wowfit 100 CT 6x9 inches Clear Cello Cellophane Plastic Bags, Re-Sealable Self-Sealing Cello Bags Great for 6x9 Print Photos A7 A8 A9 Cards Envelopes and More (6 x 9 inches) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VG7H175/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sn5UDbFR5EXJE

One pocket pages, these are a little frosty, not as crystal clear as I had hoped, but they work, and are cheap.

AmazonBasics Sheet Protector - Non-Glare, 100-Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R8DX3ZX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_so5UDb42A2C0T

$5 for 25 pieces? sounds pretty good.

do you buy resealable ones or just regular ones that you close up with tape?

I'm looking at this one right now but it seems like it's only good for new comics so if I start buying classics, the bag may not fit.

I guess silver age bags are the best way to go at it?

Thanks for this. I did the rest of the digging and found this video:
https://youtu.be/07JWIRTRTWk
I'll outline what I did if someone finds this later, and maybe I'll post a tutorial or something if I feel it's wanted.

I hadn't thought of sheet protector sleeves, turns out they work perfect (I got these which have just the right clarity and gloss: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZSRSWS/ )

I used customgamecases.com game boy game cases, removed the upper half of the game cradle, and cut a hole in the middle of the 2 cases with an oscillating tool and knife. Gluing together my first one I learned JB Weld doesn't work (maybe if I rough sanded it it would have been better) and neither does superglue. My backup, hot glue, is working better than I thought it would but I'm going to try another case before I recommend it.

The case looks really nice but it is obviously homemade when you see the edges of the film or the holes I cut - but looks perfect from the end when it's pushed into a collection, which was my goal.

That looks like a very clean machine.

Something I like to do is to make a system info packet.

• On a modern laser printer with archival quality paper, a few pages about the system, its original specifications, and any modern modifications. Specific product names, configuration settings, quirks, passwords, a software list, etc. Put each page in a plastic 3 ring holder. Like these.
  
  
• Copy software and images to modern physical formats, and include them in the protector pages. (Some more properly sized ones can hold 3.5" and 5.25" disc/ks and microSD cards more securely).
  
  
• Put all that into a nice 3 ring binder, optionally with printed photos of it being used and enjoyed. Keep the binder with the system.
  
  
• Optionally, sans binder, if the system in question has enough space inside its case, you might be able to keep this administrivia inside the computer case itself.

Last time I travelled with games I bought some of the ultrapro hard plastic deck boxes and a hard plastic project case. Games like Splendor can fit in a deck box. Games with boards / bigger components fit in a mix of deck box and in the project case.

I think I brought 10 or so games with me in 1 project case and 4 or so deck boxes and the hard plastic kept everything safe even in a checked bag.

Rome wasn't built in a day. You don't need any accessories to get started. Print a few sheets of paper with 1x1 inch grids, and put them in clear sheet protectors: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Office-Sheet-Protectors-Pack/dp/B07C425X2N?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_490544011_&pf_rd_p=a0090627-0fa5-5265-be45-6c2555389144&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=490544011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0CY7MQZQXKJ3CJDHT343&pf_rd_r=0CY7MQZQXKJ3CJDHT343&pf_rd_p=a0090627-0fa5-5265-be45-6c2555389144

​

Draw on them with dry erase markers.

When you're ready, buy a bigger battle mat.

Keep an eye on Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up. I just saw a like-new, 5e, Players Handbook for $20.

Dollar stores often have miniatures. They may not be high quality, but they can get you started.

Good luck!

I use antistatic bags with paper labels (nametags/address labels). I prefer the pink ones to metallized since it's easier to see/read through. Big stuff gets grouped together in bigger bags and put in a big box in my closet since I'm limited on space. Ideally I'd have shelves for them, I hate the little draw collections because they take extra time, rattle, and constantly threaten to fall over or just break. I keep heat shrink, tape and wires in bags too- even though its rare I hate it when those things unwind and end up everywhere. It's always at the most inconvenient time, destroying your flow and setting you back way more than the time it takes to clean up. Plus they can get grimy when stored in the open, particularly cheap electrical tape. Better to keep it in bags and pull out what you need as you need it.

Bags of chips, SMDs, small tapes, limited #s of components go into binder card sleeves. The bags are important for this since there's so much plastic rubbing around. Jewelery boxes are also good, definitely better than pill boxes, but I think binders are much better. Labels on the spine and stack them up, put them on a shelf, or stick them in a filing cabinet. Coin storage sleeves also work, but they're thicker and smaller than is convenient.

I used to have a scrap board bin but I tossed it. Components are too cheap to bother salvaging, generally. Motors, encoders etc go in a box if someone gives me a broken device. Having a 3d printer has actually made stuff like that way more useful but not enough to bother sorting them better than in the box.

Tools go where I can fit them unfortunately. I try to do stuff with the printer as much as possible to minimize cleanup.

Made this video in high school my sophomore year. It was one of the funnest school projects I have done, and it cracks me up every single time!

Item

Thanks for the contest!

I use this Avery binder and these inserts! The inserts are nice because they are bigger than the standard so they cover the entire playbill. The binder is just the right size to cover all the playbills, and it holds about 20, give or take a few. SO much cheaper than the playbill brand and it works great.

I use a binder with the cards loaded into plastic sheets.

I use these for the smaller cards:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QO5KLK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use these for the bigger terrain cards:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AOK3O6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Both of these fit the cards perfectly and I just stick the plastic sheets in a binder I carry with me and grab what I need when it comes time to game.

I got a bunch of sheet protectors for my group.
They go in some dollar store binders with lined scratch paper and some trading card sleeves to put hand written spell and item cards. Combine with cheap dry/wet erase markers and a pencil, and they're good to go for several campaigns.

My washi tapes are in this 3-level Sterlite stack & carry box and I might get another.

My pens are in these three semi-transparent toiletry bags: 1; 2; 3. I like these because I can see what's in them. I use hair elastics to band groups of pens together.

Some of my stickers are in this Avery mini-binder with these top loading protector sheets. Some stickers are in a few accordian file folders.

One of these may be better than buying pages. Either one of them can hold up to 160 cards but the Ultra Pro one may need sleeves on the cards to make them fit properly.

http://www.amazon.com/Konami-Classic-Duelist-4-pocket-Portfolio/dp/B00HZVMW9O/

www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-Pocket-Binder-White/dp/B0094J1PPM

Hey guys do you know where I can get something like this locally?

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Ultra-Pro-9-Pocket-Coupon/dp/B004QO5KLK/ref=lp_490544011_1_8?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1486452506&sr=1-8

Avery trading card pages work just fine. I admit that I do not sleeve, though.

I'm a fan of 4-pocket binders, but the HORI binder is just disappointing. I was hoping it would be similar to the NA promo binder.

I own the UK album but it's too big for my tastes. I'll be sticking to my Ultra Pro 4-pocket binder a little longer - it's not perfect and has a flexible cover but at least I don't worry about bending cards. Plus it has side loading pockets!

Five star flex binder that contains hero lab printouts, stored in sheet protectors; wet erase markers to scrawl temporary notes, modifiers, damage, and other stuff stuff on the protectors with.

A notecard with daily spells and abilities, along with a pencil and good eraser.

Extra 3x5 notecards and a permanent black marker, to use for writing down buffs, ad-hoc compass roses, table tents, etc.

Cut up dice necklaces to drop wall effects, track open doors, etc.

Spell templates and elevators

Modeling eraser to mold stuff on the fly.

Glass beads for invisible PCs.

Dice bag full of dice, mini, and a couple iconic minis for people who forget.

Scrap paper and extra pens and pencils.

It all fits in the flex binder, dice bag, and project case. I then put it all in a normal backpack. There is room to spare for a big water bottle and/or a sandwich.

I would assume Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/BCW-Current-Comic-Book-Boards/dp/B001244X56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453942291&sr=8-2&keywords=bag+and+board

The guy uses [regular plastic page sleeves](Better Office Sheet Protectors, 50 pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C425X2N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wriyCbN8SMCRT) and cuts them to fit in the tiles in custom made pockets, and then solders those pockets melting the plastic.

I was looking at getting a package of these to start with:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001244X56?colid=1MOP00VJRQNOC&coliid=I1DAU1CNOLPDYM&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

I've used magazine holders for other things before and my concern is that the comic books would be too small and look out of place.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-Resealable-Current-Comic/dp/B002QGAF8S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373005336&sr=8-3&keywords=bags+and+boards

and

http://www.amazon.com/BCW-Current-Comic-Book-Boards/dp/B001244X56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373005336&sr=8-1&keywords=bags+and+boards

I use a 3-ring binder with a 3x3 plastic sleeve-sheet.

Similar to this but my local game shop sells them for $0.25/each.

No problemo!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006NI6HA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O48JXYS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1