Reddit mentions: The best puzzles & games books

We found 5,215 Reddit comments discussing the best puzzles & games books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 1,627 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

5. Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition

    Features:
  • Author: Irving Chernev
  • Pages: 256 Pages
  • Publication Year: 2003
Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition
Specs:
Height8.5 Inches
Length5.3 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJune 2003
Weight0.74075320032 Pounds
Width0.748 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

6. Silman's Complete Endgame Course

Author: Jeremy SilmanPages: 530 PagesPublication Years: 2007
Silman's Complete Endgame Course
Specs:
Height10 Inches
Length7 Inches
Number of items1
Weight2.45594959868 Pounds
Width1.5 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

7. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

    Features:
  • Bantam, A great option for a Book Lover
  • Must try for a book lover
  • Compact for travelling
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
Specs:
ColorBlack
Height6.87 Inches
Length4.12 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJuly 1982
Weight0.3747858454 Pounds
Width0.72 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

10. Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess)

    Features:
  • Everyman Chess
Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess)
Specs:
Height9.25 Inches
Length7.5 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 2005
Weight0.06834330122 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

12. The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery

    Features:
  • The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery
The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery
Specs:
ColorMulticolor
Height9.16 Inches
Length6.04 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.6203976257 Pounds
Width1.12 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

13. Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs

    Features:
  • AK Peters
Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs
Specs:
Height9.9 Inches
Length8.4 Inches
Number of items1
Weight0.7495716908 Pounds
Width0.4 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

14. The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong

    Features:
  • Penguin Books
The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong
Specs:
ColorGreen
Height5.2 Inches
Length0.9 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJuly 2013
Weight0.61 Pounds
Width7.8 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

15. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change The Way You Roleplay

    Features:
  • Nilgiri Press
Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change The Way You Roleplay
Specs:
Height9 Inches
Length6 Inches
Width0.19 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

16. How to Reassess Your Chess: Chess Mastery Through Chess Imbalances

Siles Press
How to Reassess Your Chess: Chess Mastery Through Chess Imbalances
Specs:
Height9.75 Inches
Length6.75 Inches
Number of items1
Weight2.54 Pounds
Width1.25 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

17. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games

    Features:
  • Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games
Specs:
Height9.125 inches
Length6 inches
Number of items1
Release dateAugust 2013
Weight2.7778245012 Pounds
Width2.375 inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

18. The 99 Critical Shots in Pool: Everything You Need to Know to Learn and Master the Game (Other)

    Features:
  • Bill Hicks- Rant In E-Minor: Variations
The 99 Critical Shots in Pool: Everything You Need to Know to Learn and Master the Game (Other)
Specs:
ColorGreen
Height9.22 Inches
Length6.47 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateOctober 1993
Weight0.81350574678 Pounds
Width0.65 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

🎓 Reddit experts on puzzles & games books

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where puzzles & games books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 611
Number of comments: 22
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 372
Number of comments: 76
Relevant subreddits: 6
Total score: 230
Number of comments: 27
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 162
Number of comments: 70
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 124
Number of comments: 58
Relevant subreddits: 3
Total score: 95
Number of comments: 39
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 82
Number of comments: 32
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 76
Number of comments: 24
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 39
Number of comments: 33
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 14
Number of comments: 34
Relevant subreddits: 4

idea-bulb Interested in what Redditors like? Check out our Shuffle feature

Shuffle: random products popular on Reddit

Top Reddit comments about Puzzles & Games:

u/Im_a_shitty_Trans_Am · 2 pointsr/DnD

First off, sorry for the length. I had nothing else to do and a session tonight, so I've got a DnD itch and a lot of time. I just got carried away and enjoy writing. It's super close to the comment character limit. :/

Intro


So, how to start DnD. It's good to see how it plays. I find Critical Role to be a good place to start. The DM is Mattew Mercer, who is great and moving things along, and the players are all voice actors, so it's nice to listen to. CR is a bit unusual in how well behaved the players are, if you run the game, expect your players to be more annoying. I recommend starting with episode 14, "Shopping and Shipping" as you can pick it up easily, and everything gets a bit better at that point as the new arc starts.

It's also a good idea to figure out what system to use. 5th edition is the current one. I find it to be fairly simple on the surface, with a lot of extra detail in the supplementary books. It's very flexible in tone and complexity, and a solid foundation I expect to see a lot of extra content piled on top of, with extra classes, rules, monsters, etc, in later supplementary books. 5e is probably the best place to start.

---

What you need


First off, you need friends! I know it may seem cliché, but it is true. You want one person to run the game (the DM) and 3 or 4 (maybe 5, but no more if the DM is new) people to play an individual character. If you don't have enough friends to do DnD, you can probably find new friends with something called The Adventurer's League. You also need a set (or a few) of dice, which contain 6 to 7 different dice. You have a 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and the most-used 20 sided dice. You also have a "d100"^1 which is a d10 that counts in 10s. They're a bit unusual in early play, so don't worry. Last but not least you need the rules. The basic rules can be found here. If you want the complete rules and a few extra books, I'll PM you. Chaotic Good PDFs are frowned upon here.

Finally, you need to actually play is a story and a Dungeon Master. You can get prewritten stories and adventures that give the DM a framework to build around for money, although I have the 5th ed beginner adventure somewhere on my PC. (It's really useful for a beginner DM.) The DM can also create their own, but that needs a lot of effort. The DM acts as an arbitrator. They say how difficult it is do something, what happens when it's done, what the players see when they go somewhere, etc. They also role-play NPCs, decide what actions enemies take, etc. They are less a player and more the world the players are in.

---

The two main roles.


The Dungeon Master (Or Mistress)


The DM is often the person that brings the party together, finds people to play DnD, and ties it all together. However, they are not the most important, as that's a bad mindset to have. A DM without players is a person having conversations in their head. It's a symbiotic thing.

Being a DM is very hard, but also by far the most rewarding role if you have the skill and motivation. Being a DM is thinking up the bagpipe gag, is creating a cool city, is roleplaying the city guards who have no time for the player's shit and the shopkeep that warmly welcomes them. It is the role with the most freedom, as you can shape the campaign however you like. (As long as you don't drive your players away.) However, you need to know a lot of the rules by heart (it's easier than it sounds) and a good dose of creativity. The scheming, toying with the players and their emotions^2 all makes it worth it in the end. This is a bit long, but if you fancy the idea of being the DM I'll make a followup "How to DM." comment.

I also fancy the role of the DM myself as it feels like I'm making a world of facades very quickly, faster than the players can notice. The NPCs are fleshed out enough to survive one session without seeming two dimensional, but are not nearly as intricate as the player's characters. Physical locations have enough detail to tide the players over while I make more. However, if the players show particular interest in a character or place, I can build behind that facade to make the thing more and more realistic the closer the players look between running sessions. I also have a lot of pre-made things I can pull up. I might have a general set of bars with different qualities and a cursory list of their stock, with different names for different locations. So if the players go to a seedy bar in a dwarven city, I pull up a seedy bar template and add dwarven flavor to it. I'll also note down any on-the-fly descriptions for later use. If the players start to go regularly, I'll add detail. I'll create regulars with personalities and stories to them, I'll create notable events in the bar's history, etc. That feeling of going from pulling things together quickly to make it seem good enough, then after the session spending hours taking slower more thought out routes to flesh something out.

The Players


This section will be a bit less meaty. The players create a character from a set of races and a set of classes (some books have extra races and classes, and you can take levels in more than one class. So instead of being a level 10 ranger, you could be a level 10 character that is a 3rd level rogue and a 7th level ranger.) They have a sheet that holds the information they need to play their character, that details weapons, spells, abilities, HP, stats, proficiency, what skills they have, etc. Often the player will write a few sentences or paragraphs on their character and their backstory.

You also have personality outlines, which consists of (normally, you can change it up for fun)

  • 2 general traits (Like, "I am new to these foreign lands, and have numerous strange but minor customs others may find confusing.")

  • An overall ideal (such as "law keeps society together, those that break it should be punished.")

  • A bond they have (like: "I'm the successor to a major title, but my family was deposed. Some day I'll regain it.") that they will either constantly work on, or be called to fulfill. (like protecting an object from attack.

  • A flaw they have. (Like "I'm quick to anger, and can hold a long grudge." This could lead to a misunderstanding creating long-term animosity between a player and an important NPC.)

    These outlines are used to help the player get in the mindset of their character, and to role-play them better. So if the player outlined above is meeting a noble, because the noble's connections could help them regain their land, and they greet them in accordance with their strange customs, the noble remarks unfavorably about them, then the player should role play not liking the noble, but they shouldn't try and attack them, because that's outside the law. Stuff like that is what makes the player characters so much more complex. Also, don't take my talking up of the DM's role to diminish the player, they can have plenty of fun.

    Also, there are many types of players, and they often not just co-exist but may even require other types to do well. Some players just want to see what happens and play DnD, whereas others seize the initiative and direct the group. A party with too many of the first will do very little, and a party with too many of the second will do nothing but bicker. Also, some players are recluse and have a hard time roleplaying their character. Other players like playing hard to role play characters, and their willingness to set themselves up for possible failure (in roleplaying) might help nervous players come out of their shell. Some players make super strong characters without thinking about story, and others make weaker ones because all they think about is story. The strong characters will help the party in combat, the story characters will help the drama aspect of DnD that makes it so engaging. Some pay tons of attention, and can fill in those that don't. And so on. Together, you can get one functioning party!

    ---

    Buying things!


  1. The starter set is great. It has rerolled character sheets, the basic rules, and an adventure that holds the hand of the DM more than others, but also provides plenty of room for growth. Also, it's not even 15 bucks on Amazon.

  2. Dice. The starter set ones mysteriously all seem to be cursed to roll low, so new dice are good. Chessex looks good and is cheap, and Q-workshop are expensive but amazing.

  3. Dungeon master's screen. Hides notes & rolls, looks nice, and has a quick-lookup of stuff on the back. About 10 bucks, I highly recommend it.

    ---

    Footnotes


    ^1 Dice are referred to as d[number of sides.] So a 20-sided one is a d20, and so on. If multiple dice need to be rolled, like with a Greatsword, it's shown as 2d6 + [modifier], where you roll 2 six-sided dice, add that together, then add a fixed modifier. The rules have more detail.

    ^2 Randomly rolling dice to make them nervous, evily grinning when the players ask something even if the thing is absolutely fine, having that little smile when the players ask if those bagpipes are silent or not, asking the players if they're totally sure if they want to do something then making them live with the consequences are all ways to mess with them.

u/mrbiggbrain · 1 pointr/DnD

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.

u/ExcitedForNothing · 3 pointsr/Roll20

This one is going to be long-winded so I apologize in advance :)

I have been DMing D&D for a really long time. I have been DMing D&D and Pathfinder on roll20.net for a while as well. I dumped all other versions of tabletop (at the moment) for D&D 5e. D&D 5e moves away from the spreadsheet stat crunching type of play that D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder embraced. D&D 5e also departed the mechanical MMO style play of D&D 4e. I think you are making a good choice in choosing 5e especially being a group of new players & new DM.

Here are the things you'll need to make roll20.net work well:

  • Everyone will need a free roll20 account
  • Everyone will need skype,teamspeak,ventrilo, or google+ hangout capabilities to talk. Trust me voice chat is much easier to interpret than typed chat available in roll20.
  • Everyone will need a really good imagination and patience as you all learn the ropes

    Since you are all new, I would recommend running the Lost Mines of Phandelver. It is included in the D&D Starter Set (On Amazon for $12). It is an adventure that will take a group of 4-5 players through level 5 (roughly). I ran this for a group of newer players and it took us roughly ten 4-hour sessions to complete. The set comes with some helpful things for you as the DM and them as the players. It comes with the basic rules for both the DM and the players. These are also available and updated through Wizards of the Coast for free as PDFs and browser-friendly sources. It also comes with some pre-made character sheets. These are handy as they can save you time (and money) from generating your own characters. Usually for 4 players, it can take an entire session to plan out a character for each of them if you are new. This can give you all a taste of how the game works, how characters work, and if everyone is on board. Totally optional though! The adventure itself contains a DM booklet that gives you tips as a new DM as well as maps, layouts, monster stats, and descriptions.

    On the subject of maps and roll20. Roll20 gives you a graph-paper view that takes up most of the layout of the app. There aren't many gridded, digital versions of the maps for 5e adventures that I have seen. The ones that do exist will cost a little bit of money. This artist sells both player and DM versions of the maps for the adventure, but leaves some of the smaller encounters out. 5e relies on a lot of mind theater and imagination on both the players' and DM's part.

    What I tend to do for maps is, use the graph paper and draw on it using the simple controls roll20 provides. I tend to do this when I can't accurately describe the way things are laid out. For instance in the Lost Mines the first encounter can be tough to explain so I drew a rough outline of how the map looked while explaining to the players where they were, and where what they saw was.

    I'd highly recommend you get a free account at roll20.net first and then log in and play around with it, just to see what it handles like. It has its quirks for sure.

    Aside from the Lost Mines of Phandelver, there is one other official campaign called the Tyranny of Dragons. It contains two adventure books, Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat. They take a party from levels 1-8 and 8-16 respectively. Hoard takes a lot of skill to run as it is a bunch of loosely related occurrences that clever or adventurous players might want to explore outside of. It doesn't provide much support to a new DM for handling this. Rise of Tiamat opens up a little more and is easier to run but without Hoard, it can be confusing as to what is going on.

    Drivethrurpg has some smaller 5e adventures available. I haven't played any myself, but I have heard some good things. They are located under their D&DNext/5E heading.

    If you decide you do like 5e or are really committed to the cause from the get-go, I would recommend any player and the DM get the Player's Handbook (Amazon). This contains the rules governing attributes, player creation, combat, downtime, and a full description of all spells and spell casting classes. It goes well above and beyond the basic rules for players and I feel it is truly necessary to having the full experience. It can be pricey if you end up not liking it though.

    The DM additionally should consider the Dungeon Master's Guide. It really helps in running adventures, giving good flavor to the game, and creating your own campaigns. The Monster Manual is an optional buy, but helps by giving a large list of classic D&D monsters to populate your game with.

    I'm guessing you have already found /r/DnD, but for 5e you might want to consider /r/dndnext which has weekly question threads and is more focused on 5e (which was previously codenamed next).

    tl;dr: Whatever you end up doing, just make sure you and your friends agree that it is to have fun. You don't need to be perfect with the rules and you can feel free to make mistakes along the way as long as you all agree to laugh it off. You are playing with your players as a DM and not against them! Good luck.
u/AtriusUN · 7 pointsr/DnD
  1. I would recommend the D&D 5th Edition Starter Set if you are all new. Pathfinder/3.5/4E are all rather rule heavy and could take a while for everyone to get up to speed and be playing. You can download the basic rules for 5th Edition from the Wizards website for free (for players and DM), though there is additional bonus information in the Player's Handbook you can buy at your local game shop or online. (Website: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules)

  2. That's plenty, 2 players and a DM is recommended, but most adventures work best with 3-6 players.

  3. The players each play 1 character, but the DM plays "Everything Else". A DM is someone who should enjoy the fiction. They should be able to think and describe fantasy settings and imagine the stories they are telling in their head so they can relay it to the players. It also helps if they are willing to roleplay and pretend to be different NPCs and characters to create immersion but that's not required. Skills recommended: Organization, willingness to speak, imaginative, helpful, willing to put in some work

  4. I have not watched it sorry.

  5. World building is a great part of writing a D&D Campaign together. Often the DM will write the core of the events happening in the world so as to keep mysteries and adventure from players, but the players are free and encouraged to also make up and add to the story (such as home towns, backstories, names of great locations or historic things). It can be a lot more work to build a world for your first time playing, I would recommend not worrying so much about a world and just write a simple story for the first adventure or two (such as Save the King's daughter, or transport these goods to the wizard tower on the mountain, clean concise objective to learn the rules and learn your group).

  6. Everyone will need to know the basic rules. In terms of 5E everyone can download the PDFs and read them. The DM should read the DM Basics as well, and I would recommend at least one hard copy Player's Handbook (PHB) if you enjoy the material. There's a lot of bonus content in the PHB such as additional classes and information. (PHB Purchase links. Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606 Wizard's Store Finder: http://locator.wizards.com/#brand=dnd)

  7. You're playing make-believe. Your friends are pretending to be heroes. You are pretending to be the bad guys and everything else. You tell them what happens and they tell you what their heroes do. Together you make a story. Everyone follows the same rules and when you don't know what happens or who wins you roll dice.

  8. Keep it simple at first. Find or make a simple adventure that focuses on a quest that sounds fun. Don't overcomplicate it. The story doesn't need to be crazy for you to have a lot of fun. The fun will come from pushing the barrels over on the guys chasing you down the alley and failing to climb the wall and landing on your butt in the middle of a busy market street. Find out who enjoys doing what, the first adventure might result in your switching DMs at first to find out who fits the best. Experiment, make stuff up, tell crazy stories, and have fun.

    Edit. Added links to purchase the Player's Handbook
    Edit 2. Learned what ELI5 means. Sorry for my noobness.
u/AnEpicSquirrel · 2 pointsr/DnD

I agree with /u/Ryngard on checking out 5e, but that's up to you as a DM. The curve on "ease-of-learning" is noticeably different, so for beginners playing tabletop games, it is a great gateway. You could always look around for the information you need while the 5e handbook ships, but definitely get it, it's perfect for beginners. There are tons of 5e resources online (not just the pdfs that are not allowed on this subreddit; which I am not recommending here), that can help you with how to make a character, spells, stories, etc; made by other players.

As a DM, regardless of version, I'd make it clear on a few things:

  1. You are the DM, and the book is a guideline. You have the final say. This is important because sometimes the way you want to run your campaign will not follow how the book takes things; and that is okay. The story is yours, so take their concerns to heart, but be stern when it comes to them wanting something unreasonable. With that note, homebrewing is alright, but look out for OP things that sometimes don't reveal themselves until they level up a little more. It's okay to negotiate a nerf when homebrewing is involved.

  2. Make sure they have their character fleshed out before you play. It is a HUGE time-waster for new players to make characters while others and you want to play. Making a character is a personal experience, and by all means, help them, but don't make every wait on game night; they can join later at any time and simply learn how the game works if they aren't ready.

  3. Roleplay, roleplay, roleplay. Your character may not know what you know, including what is discussed outside of the game. The players and you must try their best to stay on top of not using knowledge that the character has no idea of, as it breaks, well, character. Also, if someone's character goes outside of their alignment, you can refuse to allow it, or have penalties, as a "Good" character most likely will not hold someone hostage, nor would an "Evil" character rescue a random peasant in need... without reward or personal gain being announced. It helps people get into the game, rather than play as themselves, which is nice, they're your friends, but it makes the story flow less emotionally, as the characters no longer have their own personalities.

  4. Have the game cater to everyone's interests, but do NOT spoon-feed one person's interest. This means that some people are in it for combat, others for story, and maybe even comedic moments. Set up your story to possibly include all these points, but do not bring up one thing over another to the point that someone who wants one of the focuses in the game get left out, or become the "main" character constantly. It is a difficult balance, and being new you guys might not know what you want, and that's okay, but find a balance that satisfies you all.

  5. It's okay to have things unanswered. You are telling a story about the lives of adventurers who most likely move from village to village. There will be things they miss, and things failed in terms of success. That is part of life and the game. This tip also extends into general storytelling. Don't throw out all the info at once, as players need something to draw them in, and mystery is a great incentive. As they dig deeper, the puzzle pieces start to fit, and eventually... bam, they've understand what was going on, and now based on their alignments, they have a few choices laid out for them. It keeps the longevity of your sessions, and things interesting.

  6. It's alright to have characters die due to difficult combat, but doing so frequently can make them lose attachment to characters, and become apathetic. Just try to keep them interested and invested, but do not make it too easy where they feel no challenge. It again, can be a hard balance, but they should not want to die, nor feel that "meh, I can just be a blank next time, give me a new sheet". Apathy can make players lose interest from what I've seen, but I'm sure they'll like their characters enough, due to them being their first ones.

    EDIT: Also, the player's handbook for 5e (with Prime, huzzah!) is half-off at the moment: http://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452288239&sr=8-1&keywords=dnd+5e
u/Danwarr · 1 pointr/gamedesign

I know this sub is generally more focused on video game design over board game design, but I think there are a lot of crossover principals that are simply core to board game design that should be kept in mind or considered when approaching new game design.

In the book Kobold Guide to Board Game Design, Richard Garfield, probably best known as the designer of Magic: The Gathering but has a very impressive catalog generally, has a chapter where he talks about how the best way to be a better designer is to simply play as many games as possible.

In having a broad exposure to games, it helps you understand why a certain genre or game mechanism might be popular or effective. This helps to establish what type of styles you might want to emulate as well as create a resource you can fall back on if you get stuck in a certain aspect of the game's design.

As far as finding things to help spur other creative ideas such as art direction or theme, having a wide range of things you read, watch, or just browse in terms of more standard art can help spark new ideas. Jamey Stegmaier's board game Scythe was inspired when he stumbled across some art by Jakub Rozalski. I even believe another game is being made based off of Jakub's horror work. There are some very creative people just sort of posting things all around the internet that can serve as resources for getting new theme ideas.

The biggest thing to remember I think is that your first few designs are probably not going to be great. That's ok. It's part of the learning process.

Finally, going back to the video game vs board game thing I mentioned up top, if you play primarily video games it would probably be a good idea to branch out and start playing some more modern board games. There are a plethora of amazing games out there that can really help broaden your horizons when thinking about games in general. Additionally, playing video game genres outside of your typical comfort zone can help inspire new approaches to whatever you might be trying to accomplish.

u/Sorcerer_Blob · 5 pointsr/DnD

Hey there, and welcome to the wonderful world of role-playing and D&D!

First off, playing online is pretty awesome. It is almost as good as the real thing, that is, playing in person. If you ever get the chance to play live, I highly suggest doing that.

In the meantime however, you are in luck! The latest edition of D&D is just now releasing!

A few weeks back the Basic D&D rules launched for free! Basically, it's the bare minimum rules you need to know to play and run D&D. Really the only thing it's missing right now are some monsters, but it should be updated with those (and some Dungeon Mastering advice) come August.

Additionally, the D&D Starter Set just launched this week! It's a great way to get into the game for a cheap price point. It comes with some dice, a great adventure, some of the basic D&D rules, and some pre-generated characters. Essentially everything you'd need to get some friends together and play D&D for a few weeks. I highly suggest picking this up if you are new to Dungeons & Dragons!

If you find that you are and your friends (either online or in real life) love the Starter Set and want more, you are in luck. In mid-August, the first of the three core D&D books releases. This is the Player's Handbook. Like I said before, when the Player's Handbook (or PHB) releases, Wizards of the Coast has said they will update the Basic D&D rules that are online for free with some extra content. So everyone wins, basically.

Anyways, if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

Good luck and happy gaming!

Edit to add:
If you are looking to find players or even a group, the best place to go are gaming stores and comic shops. Likewise, many areas have meet up groups online through sites like MeetUp.com and others. If you have friends that enjoy fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy or the new Hobbit movies, recruit them to play with you and maybe even take on the role of the Dungeon Master!

u/OwlinAutumn · 12 pointsr/Yogscast

~rings doorbell wearing a bright, over-enthusiastic smile~ Oh, hello friend. I hear you and your friends might be interested in getting started on the road towards board gaming! This is excellent news! There are many excellent resources to help guide you and yours towards many fun-filled experiences with friends and family. ^Please, ^don't ^be ^afraid!

~Whips out a bunch of pamphlets, waving them at you~ I would recommend checking out the /r/boardgames community here on reddit, especially this wiki post on what games you should try if you're new to modern board games. It's got a ton of great suggestions with descriptions to help you figure out if you might actually enjoy the game. That wiki and the subreddit itself also have tons of easily accessed info for you, if you need. They can even help you find your nearest FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store)!

Also you might check out some reviewers like Shut Up & Sit Down, who are my favourites and have a ton of articles and video reviews, or The Dice Tower, who have lots of videos of lists and reviews like the one I linked that can give you some ideas of what to get. (Sometimes way too many ideas... ~waggles her overly long games-to-buy list~) SUSD even has a great Intro to Board Games video for people who are hesitant or starting into the hobby and don't quite know what it's all about or where to start - it's a few years old, but still very relevant, and I recommend any of their videos. I find them hilarious.

And if you decide you're really getting into the hobby, you might start visiting the marvellous, dank morass that is BoardGameGeek, aka BGG or 'the Geek'...

As for recommendations straight from me... The hardest and best thing with board games is everyone likes something different? But I find one can't go wrong most of the time with these:

  • Pandemic
  • Survive! Escape from Atlantis
  • Takenoko
  • Forbidden Island
  • Colt Express
  • Jamaica

    Most of these are fairly simple and relatively short, but they're all fun starter games that are easy to pick up and play, and I've never known anyone to not enjoy themselves when I've brought out any of these. I often do game nights with different mixes of friends, to which I will usually bring an Ikea bag full of games, and there's almost always at least one or two of these particular games in that bag. I'm pretty sure they're all in print, too, so they shouldn't be too expensive!

    Also, if you guys are looking into tabletop RPGs but don't know where to start with that, and you don't have anyone who knows how to DM/GM handy, the newest edition of D&D has a Starter Set out - it's a pack that includes dice, pre-rolled characters, a starter rule book and a pre-written starting adventure. I will always recommend Red Boxes/Starter Sets, D&D does a great job with these and makes it really easy for you to get into it, even if no one in the group is familiar with rpgs to begin with.

    tl;dr - Board/card games are amazing, there's lots of resources out there for you, I hope I didn't scare you off with my enthusiasm. Welcome to tabletop gaming!

    ^Edit: ^Now ^with ^more ^links!!
u/ilikpankaks · 1 pointr/DnD

Hey man, happy that you came here. First and foremost, we have a good sidebar full of useful info, so be sure to check that out. Here is the basic rules for 5th edition. http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/PlayerDnDBasicRules_v0.2.pdf

You can buy a players handbook for 50 dollars, but it just ellaborates, and I reccomend you read the basic rules first to see if you like it.

D&D is a role playing game, where you can play any race or class your heart desires in any setting you want. YOU have control of your character. The DM controls everything else. The key to being a good player is to make a character (which the rules walk you through), and doing your best to role play the character without meta-gaming (using player knowledge instead of character's knowledge).

Other editions are still popular (3.5 and 4th edition are still commonly played). I would look up your local game store for a copy of the starter box (or check amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592). This comes with a pre made adventure, some rules, pre-made characters for the adventure, and everything you need to know to run a game (And a free set of dice! woo!)

You'll need a polyhedral dice set (d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, and a d4) or you can use a dice rolling app (but those aren't as fun!)

You can find new players most likely at your local game shop, or just ask your friend if he knows other people who game, since you don't get along with the other players. There is no shame in that.

Also, ask random friends if they are interested in learning D&D with you. Worst case scenario, check out roll20 (link is on the side bar). Roll20 is a website that allows you to play D&D online via skype and chat, along with hosting maps. I would reccomend this if you can't find anyone to game with.

If your game shop has Adventurer's League, that is campaigns made by the makers of D&D that are officially run, and are a great way to meet people.

Also, check out /r/LFG or your local subreddit to see if there are any people interested! You can make new friends that way too! and once you know some people, they can introduce to others who play.

Best of luck, and if you have any questions, check the side bar, use the search function, and if those fail, feel free to ask us here!

Another good forum-based website is Giant in the Playground. They are the host of the popular D&D webcomic Order of the Stick, and they have a good forum for discussing D&D. if you like 4chan, /tg/ is a board for traditional games, where D&D is discussed on occasion (but not always well recieved).

Good luck and happy gaming!

u/thesuperperson · 2 pointsr/DnD

Partially copy and pasted from an earlier post

Hello, and welcome to DnD!

Since you are new to DnD as a whole, I recommend the first two videos of this playlist: https://youtu.be/lWhySS2mJgk?list=PL29o6IJ5cVpy0gjtntARKjQwmNEvgdAc8

Now that we have that out of the way, you need to decide what edition to play on. Personally I recommend 5e, since it is best for beginners, while still being engaging as you gain more experience. The subreddit has a wiki, and there you can find a guide on choosing an edition to play: /r/DnD/wiki/choosing_an_edition, among other things

If you don't decide to go with 5e, I cant really help you much from here, but if you do, keep reading.

Since you're all new, and would be playing online. I'd say the best option for you all would be to go onto a website called roll20.net, create accounts, have the person you determine to be the DM go and buy the module The Lost Mine of Phandelver (you could all chip in if you wished, though, or one person could gift the module to the DM), and have them run it for you, which will occur over the course of many sessions.

It is literally designed for a bunch of people brand new to DnD, to be able to play it, and it has all the info you need along with some pregenerated characters for if you don't feel like bothering with character creation. You also wouldn't need to bother with paying for the full price Player's Handbook (which I would recommend you all eventually get, but only later down the line once you've further invested yourself into DnD as a hobby), that fully lists all the rules relevant to the players, along with all the base player options.

Why it would also be a good option is because as new people to DnD, you have enough to deal with in terms of learning to play, so having the module all ready and prepped for you on the most used online tabletop rpg website is just going to make the transition that much less of a hassle, when you aren't bothering as much with how to also learn to play DnD online.

Regardless, even if you decide that there must be some way for you to learn this hobby on your own, and without paying any money, there are the free to use online basic rules which come in the form of PDFs explained and given on that link I just provided. The first is the player basic rules and it goes over most of what you need to know in terms of how to play the game, the rules, and some of the player options. Both the DMs and players will want to read it. The second is the DM basic rules, which will teach whoever is the DM how to run the game, along with a huge host of other things.

I think thats all I wanted to say for now. Feel free to ask me or anyone for questions. There is a reason why this subreddit exists. Along with that, youtube is a great resource for learning how to play DnD. I learned how to play DnD all on my own just through looking up youtube guides, as someone completely new to tabletop gaming as a whole.

One good resource that you may find helpful is a video of step-by-step character creation (using the druid class as an example): https://youtu.be/9wMOaJQ4QHY (yes I know it is long, but it goes over everything you'll need, and even if someone was explaining it to you one-on-one it would take just as long). While the guy in the video is using his player's handbook as the reference for his viewers, the general procedure can still be followed just with the player basic rules.

Good luck, and welcome to your new hobby :)

u/CreeDorofl · 4 pointsr/billiards

tl;dr: I think you can improve a lot just with more knowledge. I reached APA7 pretty fast, despite a shitty stroke and bad habits, by just absorbing a ton of books, videos, and websites. I had to work on execution and fixing those habits to reach APA9 speed. At no point did I ever become any kind of serious tournament or money player, it's very possible to improve without doing those things, despite what "they" say. But there's a limit to how far you can go on knowledge only, you WILL need to practice and spend hours at the table, and you will need to enter pressure situations if you want to perform well in tournaments, league, etc.

--------------------------

● Playing better players is a bit overrated - you don't just magically absorb someone's skills by playing against them. I'm not saying it's bad, but find people that are willing to teach and answer questions... don't just hit balls with someone and be their rackboy.

If you figure watching the better player shoot will help you learn, then you can double your learning by just watching 2 better players shoot against each other.

There's a lot to be said for shooting people who are very close to your level, or just a hair better. You both learn together, and (hopefully) talk things over and figure stuff out. And you both feel like you can win, which is important. It makes things more competitive. A lot of people improve simply because their ego can't tolerate losing to 'that one guy'.

● People will also tell you that you need to just enter a bunch of tournaments, or gamble. That's only half-correct. Tournaments train one specific skill - handling pressure. They don't teach you stuff like advanced cueball control, or how to compensate for english, or how to aim a kick shot. You don't get those skills just because you paid your $20 and now you need them to win.

● So how do you get better? Well, there are two areas where everyone could stand to improve - knowledge and execution.

Of these two things, knowledge is much easier to get. You can get it from the internet, books, or by watching and talking to those local pros. It's free/cheap, and takes very little effort... there's no reason you can't max out your knowledge ASAP.

The trick is to make sure you get correct knowledge, because the pool world is unfortunately full of bad info. I wanna recommend some books which I know are good, because the info is easily tested and confirmed, and that's exactly what I did in a lot of cases.

Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards - comprehensive explanation of all sorts of useful concepts, explanations of how the balls will react on certain shots, and why, and how to take advantage of it... lots of specific shots to master... safety and runout strategy... pretty much everything you could need.

The 99 Critical Shots - If you want specific shots to practice, and a lot of the same useful info, but much shorter and cheaper... this is for you. As a 6 you maybe know most of this, but I bet you don't know all of it, and you can get a copy for $1.50.

If you feel like reading is for losers, you can learn off websites too -

Everything on Dr. Dave's website and videos is outstanding. Tested and proven both on paper, on video, and in the real world. http://billiards.colostate.edu/pool_tutorial.html ...see also http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads.html ...and http://billiards.colostate.edu/pool_secrets_gems.html .

Or, just watch his videos - it's great to actually see the info put into action: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrDaveBilliards

These tips I think are just about right for someone around your speed - https://www.reddit.com/r/billiards/comments/6oo5e7/tip_compilation_various_tips_kicking_systems/

--------------

As far as execution goes, you do need to spend hours on the table. But before doing anything else, you want to first make sure you have good fundamentals and a normal, textbook stroke. I can't say it strongly enough:

IF YOU DON'T FIX YOUR BAD HABITS NOW THEY WILL FUCK YOU LATER.

I had several that I needed to unlearn, and they still screw up my game to this day. I wish I could go back in time and learn how to stroke straight, not spin the cue ball all the time, and develop a correct stance. Don't be me, get your bad habits and stance issues under control now. Everything after that will come much easier. Don't hesitate to pay for a lesson from a pro instructor to have them go over your stroke and fix any problems they see. If you don't wanna spend money, you can video yourself and try to evaluate it, or upload it here and we'll give you some feedback.

Other key things that helped me learn how to execute better:

● Get out of your comfort zone and try new things. Don't just stick to the shots you know, try new shots. That doesn't mean try 2-rail banks every time you step to the table, I mean try "new" shots that you know you need to master, but haven't yet.

For example, maybe you suck at jumping and this situation comes up where you're hooked on the 5. You might be tempted to just kick it, but you KNOW any pro player will jump this ball and make it. So suck it up and try the jump, even though you suck at it. You need that practice. Don't chicken out and kick just because you're scared of missing and losing.

Whatever shots you hate and you're tempted to avoid, make yourself do them. Hate shooting the CB off the rail with heavy inside spin? Of course you do, we all do. But there will be times when you have to do it, so when the situation comes up, don't avoid it.

● Practice while you play. When you shoot with friends for fun, don't just stick to the safe comfortable stuff because you're worried about losing. You gotta make self-improvement a higher priority than winning every rack. If you miss and lose, so what? It doesn't cost you anything.

You might think "I don't need to try that spin shot right now, I'll just hit 50 of them when I go practice on sunday afternoon". Don't kid yourself... most people don't have the discipline to do that. They either don't practice at all, or do it for a few weeks and then lose interest, or they forget about that spin shot they said they'd practice. Even if you DO practice religiously, you will probably spend far more hours playing than practicing. Don't let those hours be wasted by refusing to learn new skills.

● If you do drills, do them with a specific purpose. Don't ever just hit balls without a goal. You're too advanced for that to help you much. Work on a specific shot... rail cuts, thin cuts, long straight shots, position drills, banks, whatever. And keep track of your results, so you know if you're improving or not. For example, don't just bank 50 balls and say "ok I practiced banks". Keep track (you can use your phone) of how many you made out of 50. Is it more than you made last week? Or 5 weeks ago? If not, why not?

● If you miss a ball, set it up and shoot it again, and don't just shoot it until you make it once. Shoot it until you make it several times in a row.

● Always be paying attention to your fundamentals. Even if they're already pretty good, bad habits can creep in if you don't pay attention.

● Be careful of laziness and wishful thinking. I explain more on that here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=2429822&postcount=16

● For the jump specifically from 6 to 7, I'd say mastery of inside english and uncommon position routes is crucial. You gotta get good at moving the cue ball along the safest path. Good pool is identifying 10 potential fuckups and identifying the solution that should prevent at least 9 of them. That sometimes means moving the cue ball with funky english or more force than you're comfortable with.

Here are some example shots that hopefully show what I mean. Some may disagree with the routes or say "I'd do this instead" or "you could totally do the other route here" or whatever... that's fine, focus on the theory more than on whether everyone agrees which route is best.

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/97d8d.png

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/6d4f3.png

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/1bee7.png

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/2a00b.png

...ok, this thing is long enough. If you made it this far, I guarantee you'll be a 7 in less than 24 hours, or your money back :)

u/TheGuyInAShirtAndTie · 6 pointsr/DnD

A mere 4 months ago I was in your very shoes, having never played DnD but wanting to DM. Now I'm running 3 weekly games [Protip: Don't do this]. Luckily for me I found a couple great resources to help me out:

The Dungeon Master Experience is a collection of articles written by one of the best: Christopher Perkins. He's not only a Senior Designer for DnD, but he's also the DM for a number of groups including Penny Arcade, Robot Chicken, and the other designers over at Wizards of the Coast. This will be your most valuable resource.

New DM Guide Reddit's #1 Resource for new DMs.

So You Want To Be a DM: A great collection of starter tips.

/r/loremasters: A subreddit dedicated to worldbuilding.

/r/dndnext: Like /r/dnd but solely for 5e.

The Angry DM: He can be a bit preachy at times, but Angry DM has a great amount of thought put into everything he writes.

/u/famoushippopotamus If you see him post on something, just read it. He's been DMing longer than most of us have been aware that DnD existed.

DnD Encounters is a weekly event at your friendly local game store. Check it out. It's also a great place to recruit players!

[Your head!](Link Not Found): The only thing you really need to get started is an idea, write it down. You'll learn a lot just putting your thoughts on paper and thinking of how to flesh it out.



I would recommend that you go and pick up the Starter Set (HOLY SHIT GUYS ITS $12 RIGHT NOW. BUY BUY BUY!). It comes with the basic rules, a set of dice, a prewritten adventure, and some characters for the adventure. Get a couple players together and this is all you need to get started. After that you can move onto other prewritten adventures, like Horde of the Dragon Queen, or you can write your own.

It shouldn't be that difficult to find people to play with, some people might care that you've never been a PC, but you don't need to play with them. If you have friends who enjoy gaming see if they're interested. And check out your FLGS (friendly local game store). If none of those work, there are plenty of online options as well.

One last note: In my short time DMing I have to say I did not expect the sheer amount of prepwork that goes into a single session. Players have to inhabit a single character and their mechanics. You need to understand not only the characters at the table, but every NPC, trap, and monster you put in front of them. It can be time consuming. It can be hard. But it is also one of the greatest feelings in the world when you hit that flow state where you and your players are building your world together.

Good luck! And welcome to DnD, where the rules are made up, and the rules don't matter either, as long as what you're doing is awesome.

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/chess

Let me tell you what I've experienced. I'll list off the most important things in descending order: 1. Tactics 2. Positional understanding 3. Basic Endgame knowledge (King pawn endgames and some basic rook pawn endgames)and 4. Openings.-- Now, people think this means openings are unimportant. so wrong... When I play players rated around 2000-2100 we're both doing the same thing:

Basic, vague generalizations in the opening and we play the middle game while trying to decipher the optimal positional goals to create and achieve and we crunch the tactics on the way to it, meanwhile considering the endgame that will arise out of the position along the way and always waiting for a chance to convert to a won or two result (win or draw) endgame.

Now, if you want to play with the big boys, you have to have a solid opening repertoire. I go to a decently strong club, everybody is rated around 1700-2100 sometimes a few 2300-2400's show up. I've won at least one of these tournaments and several times been second place. I often will lose either 0 or 1 game out of 3 or 4. (I typically draw my disadvantaged endgames).


--- The one thing all these players lack is a legitimate Opening repertoire. Once you reach 1700-1900uscf strength, you need some serious opening knowledge. SERIOUS. Knowledge. you need to know tons of lines, you need to know WHY they have to follow the lines and what you're trying to achieve and what THEY are trying to achieve. You have to know why Black can't develop his light squared bishop in the QGD Exchange variation. And when he tries, you have to know how to punish him. The opening becomes the game, and it is the game; I like to say that chess is the opening. The opening defines your strategic goals in the middle game and the structure of the endgame. Sure, the opponent can deviate, but at a cost. You'll at least be equal, and with all the general plans you learn about that opening, you'll be able to CREATE weaknesses and positions from openings you're familiar with, or continue about your plan because he's not following a proper one. The only problem is that Openings are extremely hard work. Extremely. It takes a huge toll on the memory and if you don't have enough time in your day, all the other areas of your chess will decline as you acquire your opening knowledge: Tactics, positional play, endgame etc. These things have to be drilled constantly so that you can improve. Without doing chess full time or at least having several hours a day to commit to chess, you're going to have to slip somewhere. ---

TL;DR and conclusion: My recommendation is that you acquire enough opening for your rating; what I mean by that is, get some basic guidelines, VERY Basic, for instance, go to wikipedia. and look up the opening you want to play, check it out, go to www.chessgames.com watch some pros play the opening you want to play, then start playing it. at your rating of 1300-1400 on chess.com I'd suggest switching to longer games (at least 15 min, but 45 would be nice) and studying tactics, and VERY importantly, get a book like John Nunn's "Understanding Chess middle games" [http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Chess-Middlegames-John-Nunn/dp/1906454272/ref=pd_sim_b_5/192-4270710-0603025?ie=UTF8&refRID=124Y382AWAKY8YZW33B1] or a book like "Jeremy Silman's Reassess your chess 4th edition" [http://www.amazon.com/How-Reassess-Your-Chess-Fourth/dp/1890085138/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405369188&sr=1-1&keywords=reassess+your+chess+4th+edition] These books contain the information necessary for you to understand positional evaluations in a game of chess. Also there is Jeremy Silman's Reassess your chess workbook [http://www.amazon.com/Reassess-Your-Chess-Workbook/dp/1890085057/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405369544&sr=1-1-fkmr3&keywords=reassess+your+chess+4th+edition+workbook
] They are all positional puzzles. It's great, because he breaks down the 7 main imbalances and you simply drill them. Very nice.---

Studying master games on your own is good, but you won't understand like 90% of what they do honestly. You need someone to hold your hand. If you could just watch it and understand you'd be a GM already.

--

FYI. I have Reassess your chess 4th edition. It's a miracle jesus walking on water great chunk of information. However, I find myself almost completely incapable of reading it anymore. I am so tired of the banter and the jokes, I just want the dang information. It's cute and spunky and fun and whatever the hell when you first read it; a real great joy, but after reading the same dang joke like 5 6 7 8 9 times you really start to wish you had a more serious book, like John Nunn's (Which I admit I haven't read yet, but it looks more like no nonsense material).

u/protectedneck · 3 pointsr/dndnext

I agree with everyone here. If they are friends/friendly already then that makes things easier.

I would say that you want to remember that you're the adult in the situation. So you're going to have to be patient. They're teenagers who might get side-tracked or not having the same expectations that you do for the game. So all the normal advice of "talk with your players to resolve problems" goes doubly here, since you have that extra layer of being the "mature one" in a position of power for the group.

Make sure you schedule times. Find out when everyone wants to play and what times work for them. Average sessions are between 2-4 hours. I like 2 hours for weekly games. Try to be flexible, since ideally this is a fun event and not a second job. But it's important to be firm about things like "if you can't make it to the game, you have to let me know at least a couple hours in advance." You might have to figure out ride situations, which means potentially coordinating with other parents. You might have to explain what it is that you're inviting their child to do with you. Some people are touchy about their kids playing D&D for a variety of reasons.

As far as the game is concerned, the D&D starter set has a great intro adventure and is basically all you need to start playing. Give everything a read a couple times to really familiarize yourself with the rules and adventure. You might want to pick up the Player's Handbook (PHB), Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), but I would hold off until you have at least a couple sessions played. You will likely need more dice. I recommend the Chessex Pound-o-Dice. I have a big bowl filled with dice on the table that people can use.

You can get pretty deep down the rabbit hole as far as other accessories go (figures, terrain, dice sets, extra books, DM screen, playmats, custom minis). I find it's best to just play with what you have and then pick up more things as you find them useful ("oh, I wish I had a dry erase mat for that combat, let me pick one up for the future").

As far as play goes, modern D&D is much more narrative. Player characters tend to be more hardy after a couple levels than in older editions. There's less emphasis on plundering dungeons for treasure and more emphasis on telling a combined story (that sometimes involves plundering dungeons). Characters are less likely to die and have a lot of resources at their disposal to succeed.

If you haven't already, I recommend checking out youtube to get an idea for how modern D&D looks when its played. Youtube channels like WebDM and Taking20 have lots of tips on running D&D. There are LOADS of live-play D&D games that you can watch. Something like Acquisitions Incorporated or Force Grey are worth a watch, if only to get an idea of the pacing of a typical D&D session.

Other than that, just have fun man! There's a million different ways to play D&D, and it's nice that you've got an opportunity to use this to connect with your daughter and her friends. You will encounter lots of individual problems as they come up, but that's normal. Being the DM is about being flexible and creative and solving problems. Thankfully there's a lot of resources out there these days for finding how other people handle their issues. A quick google search will provide all kinds of info :)

u/Terrulin · 1 pointr/dndnext
  • To echo everyone else, I would also say start with the starter set because it has everything you need to start, including a pretty nice set of dice. You could get away with this for your first session, but you will probably want some
  • dice This may be your most cost effective way of having a set for everyone, and enough spares for people to grab from for crits and spells like fireball. Everyone will eventually get nicer sets they like more, but this is a good way to start with matched sets. Depending on how happy people are with the player options in the starter set, your next investment will either be the
  • PHB for more player options, spells, items, and guide lines for how things should work. This is far and away the most import of the three books. As most people have said, you will probably get to the point where everyone wants access to this book. During play, you will probably want 2-3 of these at the table.
  • Battle Mat D&D can be played in Theater of the mind, but grid combat makes a lot of rules easier to implement and officiate with a grid. The one I linked is pretty big without being overly huge (there are larger ones), and it is vinyl which makes it durable, and it erases pretty well with good wet erase markers.
  • Miniatures is something else entirely. Most of the groups I play with have more than enough for me to ever have to buy any. Some players will make or buy a mini for his/her character. There are the round cardboard tokens that you could use for cheap. I run a D&D game on Fridays at the school I teach at and have the students use one of their dice as their mini. Monsters are usually balls of playdoh.
  • After finishing of the LMOP (the adventure in the starter's set) you will either want to pick up one of the other adventures like Out of the Abyss or Princes of the Apocalypse. You might need a Monster Manual to go with it. PotA has a digital supplement with the extra monsters, while OotA does not.
  • The DMG is optional really. It is great for magic items, alternative rules you could use, and world building strategies. You'll want a copy eventually, but like the MM, you wont need more than 1.
  • Other things. Look around for things like the Elemental Evil Player's Guide and Unearthed Arcana articles. They have a bunch of free content you could use in your games. They are usually rough drafts so they might be imbalanced, but you might find something you really like in there. There are also tons of homebrew monsters, classes, races, and items if you wanted to expand your game that way.

    angel14995 has a great summary of all the books. This list is more useful as a logical purchasing progression guide.
u/bjh13 · 4 pointsr/chess

>Is FICS still the best place to play?

For free places, definitely. If you don't mind paying, either ICC or Playchess will give you more/better opponents with better behavior, but I still play on FICS quite a bit even with an ICC account. Other free ones, such as Chesscube, I have found really annoying flash heavy interfaces that cause browser problems and very rude players that would rather let the 20 minutes on the clock expire hoping you will accept a draw than resign gracefully.

>Is Babas Chess the best interface?

Definitely.

>What's a good chess engine to analyze games? I have old version of Fritz, Fritz 8 I believe and I think Chessmaster 10.

The best two free engines are Houdini 1.5 (Houdini 2 is not free, but only like a 50 ELO gain so for your purposes no different) and Komodo. Komodo is almost as strong yet only single core right now, and I have found the analysis more useful personally as often Houdini will suggest lines I would never even consider playing.

>Anything else you think would be helpful?

I'd recommend playing slow games to start with, at least 30 30. I would also recommend a book like Logical Chess Move by Move. You can play through the games pretty quickly, don't bother analyzing things. Should help you get back into the feel for the game, I know doing something like that after not playing for a while helps me.

u/Gandave · 2 pointsr/TheGlassCannonPodcast

My first comment was more about "rants" in the show, but I also wanted to answer some of your other points.

First of all, on having to improvise or "help, my party killed the encounter I prepped for two hours":

I would be lying if I said, that I was never miffed when my players destroyed an encounter too quickly, or found a solution that invalidated what I had prepared. However, to be honest, it bothers me less and less. There are two reasons: One, I do not prepare as much, or as strictly, as I used to, because you simply cannot prepare how things play out at the table, and two, I got more relaxed when improvising, and that improved my improvising skills.

What I learned in my time as a GM, is that you should never prepare for a certain outcome or development of an encounter. As a GM I only provide a problem, and while I think about possible solutions, I let my players choose their approach. That simple frame of mind is often enough to change my attitude from sad/angry, because I don't get to show my planned encounter, to ecstatic that my players found a solution I did not anticipate. And by communicating this to my players (being exited and/or complimenting them on their solution), I make them feel better about themselves and maybe that will please them enough to overlook my so-so approach at improvising. ;)

I understand that improvisation can be a very daunting task, especially to newer GMs, but that problem can't be solved by being properly/better prepared (per definition improvising is what you do, when you've got nothing prepared for the situation). Instead you can only get better by practicing. And by being thrown into the cold water.

When I was in high school I was rather shy and conscious about speaking in front of people. Nowadays I have no problems with improvising a lecture provided I know what I'm talking about. That change did not happen over night. It happened because I was repeatedly forced to give presentations in front of ever bigger audiences.

I hated it. I had stage fright, I was shaking and sometimes felt downright sick. But that was what I needed to experience in order to get better. The important thing was not getting better at making presentations or taking classes on rhetoric. No, I just needed to get used to the feeling of standing in front of people to be able to relax. As soon as you're relaxed, your brain starts working again. And that, to me, is the essence of improvising: Pushing aside the anxiousness, relaxing and then just talking/reacting to what your players give you.

So my tip would be to ignore the inner voice that says that you can't do it, or that compares you to someone like Skid, who is really great at improvising, and to remember, that, hey, you're here with friends and to have fun, not to win the world championship of improvisation. ;)

Another thing, I learned from the book "Playing Unsafe" is that when people try to improvise "well", that will often result in "bad" scenes ("The harder you try, the more you fail."). If, instead they focus on making an average scene, the scenes tend to become great ("When you try to be average, that's when you're good.").


Secondly, the importance of combats:

I agree that combats can be very fun and enjoyable, but sometimes get a bad wrap. I believe this is due to either GMs having too many combats in a row or not varied enough combats.

Also, there is the issue that the narrative can easily be lost when initiative is rolled and the players and GM enter "tactical mode". I think that a good GM can counter that quite easily, but I know that it can be hard, as a player, especially if your party is in a terrible situation.

The lack of variance of combats is partly on the GM, if they do not offer the party any reason or possibility to change tactics, and combat after combat plays out exactly the same. And partly it is on the designers of adventure modules, who sometimes fill dungeons with a lot of combat without any significance or uniqueness, that only drain the party's resources.

For example take a look at the recent encounter on the stone bridge. The combat described in the module was more or less boring and has no real significance to the story (unless Troy thinks of something). While the designers added the tactic of bull rushing PCs off the bridge, they did not even give the giants the necessary feat. As such it was unlikely to play a large part in the combat and became or more or less a standard battle against two large, strong melee creatures.

I once ran an encounter from a module which was designed similarly, but much better. The PCs are on a bridge full of commoners, trying to enter a city, when suddenly the sky darkens and a squad of riders on flying dragon-winged rams descend and begin attacking indiscriminately. Part of their tactic was also to push PCs off the bridge using their mounts (who had improved bull rush).

These "Doomguides" could, on their mounts, position themselves more or less anywhere on or near the bridge which allowed them to actually bull rush every turn, if they wanted to. But the bull rush was only part of their tactic, they also had the Spirited Charge and Ride-By-Attack feat and Smite Good, so they were capable, yet elusive enemies due to their flying mounts.

On top of that, the bridge was filled with commoners, who panicked and scrambled to reach the city's gate, which created difficult terrain and dealt minor non-lethal damage on anyone not moving with the crowd, so casters had to make concentration checks. Finally, the city's gates were about to be closed, because the guards wanted to protect the city without regard for the people. The PCs could interact with the crowd, or the guards, or disregard all of it and concentrate on the Doomguides.

Now compare that to the stone giants on the bridge who were forced to move up, then around the party to have a chance to bull rush, all while taking attacks of opportunity. And that was the main draw of the combat. The only thing that kept that combat from being boring was the Xorn robe that one giant possessed and the fact that Troy made two encounters in parallel (which was a great idea, by the way!).

Of course, the encounter described above is an extreme example and it was major set piece of the module (though the module also had three(!) more encounters of similar extent), while the stone giants on the bridge are one among many encounters, but it goes to show, what is possible in Pathfinder if you are willing to invest a little time into design.


Thirdly, "encounter killers":

I'll try to keep this point short, but first I have to bluntly ask: What do you expect of your players in combat encounters? (The following is firmly tongue-in-cheek, by the way, so take it with a big grain of salt ;P)

In this Cannon Fodder, you and Troy talk about some spells and effects shutting down encounters hard and "killing" it. You mention Charm Monster, Sleep and Web (which I, personally, find is an odd example for "encounter killers"). In earlier Cannon Fodders (e.g. #44) Troy mentions that he dislikes Grease and Web and similar spells. Also, you talk about how massive damage can take away from the fun (again, #44). That leaves me with the question: Do you allow your players any effective strategy at all?

If I'm not "allowed" to shut down my enemies with save-or-suck effects (e.g. Charm Monster, Sleep), cannot use battlefield control (e.g. Grease, Web) and "should" not do massive damage, what else is left? Should I just twiddle my thumbs and cast healing spells? :P

OK, now somewhat back to a more serious discussion - I know, of course, that a lot of this is just ranting on the players when they got the better of you, not because you really want your players to stop using these strategies. It's only when a player overuses a certain strategy, that it becomes annoying (though non-casters, like Nestor, do not necessarily have alternative strategies as readily available to them).

But you do get my point, right? While playing chess, you wouldn't tell your opponent that the queen is too strong, and that using it would take away from the fun of the game, would you? No, because the queen is part of the game. The same goes for save-or-suck effects, battlefield control and characters who deal a lot of damage in Pathfinder.

In a more recent Cannon Fodder (#65, #66? Somewhere along these lines), Troy mentions that, to him, a good combat in Pathfinder would last about 12 to 15 (!) rounds. I can't think of a more boring thing to do in Pathfinder (no, seriously!). What is supposed to be happening in these dozen rounds? If the PCs are supposed to be hit and get hit every round, they simply cannot last that long, unless either their HP are seriously inflated or their damage is pitiful, and if both sides keep missing, nothing is happening - how is that any fun?!

Personally, I like these controlling spells and shutdown effects, and I like talking about their advantages and disadvantages, how to use them effectively and how to counter them. So if anyone is interested in an actual debate - aside from my ranting above - on certain "encounter killers", like Charm Monster, I'm happy to oblige.

Wow, that got even longer than I thought. To anyone who stuck with this comment until here, thank you very much and I'm interested to hear, what you think.

Have a nice day, everyone and happy gaming!

u/Cherry_mice · 3 pointsr/origami

First thing first: If you're american, I would suggest joining Origami USA for the lending library. I've never used it (not american) but it seems useful.

If you're looking to get past the youtube videos and simple models, I would recommend some of the classics (though they might not be the newest). They are also more likely to be available. [Origami Omnibus] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_Omnibus.html) gives a good overview of the field though it was written before the Tessellators made it big. It should help you decide what kinds of origami you're interested in.
Origami from Angelfish to Zen has a nice overview of the history of origami.
[Origami design secrets] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_DesignSecrets.html) is a newer classic and covers a lot of the technical advances in the latter half of the century.

As for intermediate/advanced books, the best ones are "boutique" books from special publishers.
origami house does all the hard core japanese designs like Kamiya, Komatsu, and Nishikawa. They also publish the annual tanteidan convention book which is hands-down the best collection of diagrams each year. I almost always buy it (though sometimes I wait and buy several at once)

[Passion Origami] (http://www.passion-origami.com/marques.php) is the other major publisher and has the books by Roman Diaz, Quentin Trollip, and the VOG.

If you don't want to pay for shipping dead trees around, [Origami USA] (https://origamiusa.org/catalog/newest-downloads) has some diagrams for online purchase, I haven't looked at them all, but there are some good names there.

Modular origami is actually kinda diverse. Are you interested in pure geometrics (phizz, sonobe), clever decorative (Miyuki Kawamura), kusudama balls (glue!). Try the flickr group or browsing.

For Tessellations, it's Eric's book Origami Tessellations, and the Origami tessllations flickr group.

Other books I like (and can name off the top of my head right now):[Origami Dream world] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_Dreamworld.html) and origami dream world 2, Brilliant Origami is a classic for animals and has many clever models, Origami for the Connoisseur is a mix of good models from other sources, Fuse's Spirals a gorgeous art book. I have a soft spot for Origami in action .

Hopefully that's enough so that you can get a feel for what's out there right now. If you can tell us more about what you like, then we can give more specific suggestions.

Last comment: Go to an origami convention! That's really where the new and exciting stuff happens and you can meet all the designers.

u/stevensydan · 3 pointsr/DMAcademy

I just ran my first session as a new DM with LMoP last week! I'll jot down my experience running a group of 4 beginners. (so take my advice with a grain of salt as a beginner that has not finished the campaign)

---
First, read through the books in the Starter Set! (If you can afford the Player's Handbook, that is a good idea as well.) I highly recommend going through the rulebook (or Basic Rules) then at least skimming through the entire LMoP module. You don't have to memorize everything but as a DM it is important to have the idea of the setting in your head.

For combat, you have to decide if you are going to run "Theater of the Mind" or battlemat+miniatures for combat. Theater of the Mind is more flexible and requires less preparation but battlemats give great visuals at a cost of preparation and supply.

Then you have to decide if you think your players would want to make their own characters or not. For my beginner group, I decided that they would be a lot more invested/excited if they could identify with their own creation so I chose to not use the pre-generated character sheets. Once you are comfortable with the rules of D&D enough, set a date to meet with your group.

Since we had to make characters, I held a Session 0 to introduce the basic concept of what to expect in committing to D&D as well as character creation. I highly suggest making characters together a separate day before Session 1 because it usually takes a decent amount of time for the first time (3ish hours for me).

My Session 0 looked like this:

  • Introduction to D&D

  • Explaining all races, classes, backgrounds and letting them pick

  • Giving character sheets, rolling stats

  • Guiding them through the char sheet by referencing DNDBeyond for background/race/class bonuses

    After everyone was done, I let them take home the character sheet and work on character appearance, personality, and background story.

    The week after, we had Session 1. Make sure you actually read through the LMoP module in depth, at least up to Part 1-2 beforehand. I also decided to take some elements of this supplement Part 0 for LMoP to use as a tutorial for my players. Then, begin your adventure! My party took a lot longer than I expected and only got to the entrance of the Cragmaw Hideout after 3 hours.

    Good luck to your campaign, I'm looking forward to my second session!

    ---

    Some recommended guides I used:

  • Matt Mercer tips (all DM's love this man)

  • Don't Stop Thinking guides (great graphic visuals and in-depth coverage)

  • Matt Colville tips (gives a good idea of how D&D should look like at an advanced level)

  • DungeonDudes (channel that covers good topics)

  • DNDBeyond (amazing website for the Basic Rules, classes, and races)

  • OneCritWonder LMoP tips (helpful overview of the module)

  • LMoP enemies (generator that adapts to how many players you have)

    ---
    Supplies I personally prepared (BUT ARE OPTIONAL):

  • Beginner dice (shared with my beginners, they are planning to get their own sets soon)

  • Custom character sheets (a bit overwhelming at first but I find helpful for each class)

  • Spell cards (I don't think many people use these but I find it an amazing resource to give your players if they are spellcasters)

  • Battlemat (use with Wet-Erase markers)

  • Paper minis (dedication and time required, can use coins, legos, or anything instead or even real miniatures if you can afford it)

  • DM Screen (the official and most standard and affordable screen)
u/bauski · 1 pointr/chess

I think I understand what you are trying to experiment. You are asking if 2 beginners start playing chess while reading different beginner books, how will their play styles and understanding of the game change? I think this is a very interesting idea, and although I hypothesize that "no matter how different the books are, the difference will be because of the players, not the books" I will gladly suggest some ideas for your experiment.

There are plenty of chess books that are written by classical GMs that many people still find amazingly helpful.

"Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals" is still a very good for learning strong end game and good idea of how pieces work together. His end games are still considered some of the cleanest. He was somebody who could take puzzling situations and make them simple. It's very satisfying to following his games.

"My System" by GM Nimzowitsch is a bit different. Where as Capablanca relied more on classical openings and simplified situations with strong piece control, Nizomwitisch was of the hypermodern school which focused more on challenging the old classical fundamental beliefs and positional superiority.

If both of you start with one of each book, it'd be interesting to see how both of you end up playing. But honestly as beginners, (I'm a low level asshole myself aka patzer) some of the higher level things we're talking about here may not even mean anything for a long time.

Honestly, everybody in life has a certain chess style. Some play for the tactics, some for positions, some for the calculations, while others for the pattern recognition, some play sharp while some play loose, some play meek while some play aggressively. It really depends on you as a player, and I think that in the end, no matter which book you start with, you will end up the player you are going to be anyway.

As for other books that may be of interest for both of you, as they always say in chess "tactics, tactics, tactics": it may be a good idea to supplement both of your books with a tactical book such as https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Tactics-Everyman/dp/1857443861 or https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Tactics-Champions-step-step/dp/081293671X or this https://www.amazon.com/Predator-At-Chessboard-Field-Tactics/dp/1430308001

and also supplement tactics with mating motifs like this: https://www.amazon.com/How-Beat-Your-Chess-Gambit/dp/1901983056

I hope you and your friend have a lot of fun playing and learning together. I have definitely enjoyed playing with my work mates. If you guys haven't chosen an online platform already, I suggest lichess.org or chess.com. Both are very great sites for playing chess for free. One is absolutely free and offers some very cool features for self analysis and community study material, while the other has paid premium memberships which offer a breadth of learning material in videos and articles.

u/vampatori · 5 pointsr/YouShouldPlay

First off, the very first thought that came into my head: Have you tried Dungeons & Dragons or another Pen & Paper role-playing-game? I feel like they would be perfect for you.. not only are they the best games as there are no limitations, all you need is any means of communicating and your imagination.

Here are some links to get started:

  • Basic Rules - Freely available online.
  • Starter Set is incredibly good value and includes the basic rules, dice, pre-made characters, and your first adventure.
  • Roll20.net - Virtual table-top for playing online with others, includes voice & video chat.
  • /r/lfg - A place to find people to play with online.
  • /r/dndnext - Dedicated to the latest (5th) edition of D&D. Really nice and friendly sub.

    ----

    Anyway, can you give us a bit of insight into your input mechanisms? How have you typed this post? How do you browse the web? What limitations do you have in terms of input speed and simultaneous inputs? What about moving pointers around, any limitations?

    I think with information like that we'd be better able to recommend games for you.

    Assuming input takes time and you can't push buttons quickly or control a pointer quickly - turn-based / pause-based games come to mind (also a personal favourite of mine).

    As I said in another post here, I highly recommend Voice Attack for voice-controlled input. I use it to assist me in games, but I see no reason you couldn't rely on it entirely. There is a small lag between saying something and it being actioned, which would rule out some of the more twitchy games.

    I've never tried it, but there's JoyToKey which allows you to use a controller to act as keyboard/mouse for gaming (and other applications, presumably). I imagine it's a lot easier to use a controller with your feet than a mouse and keyboard (I could be wrong, I don't know).

    What about a touch-screen?

    ----

    Civilization V

    This is a great turn-based strategy game that allows you to create a civilization and take it from the dawn of agriculture to space. I'd highly recommend getting this with all the DLC expansions in a bundle, as they add a tremendous amount to the game. This often goes on sale for very little.

    XCOM: Enemy Unknown

    This is a great turn-based tactical combat game where earth is under attack from aliens and you're tasked with building up an organisation to defeat them. Really one of the best games released in a long time, definitely worth a look. Play Ironman for the real experience (you'll see what I mean). You can play this with a controller.

    Hearthstone

    This is a really good 'battle' card game. These sorts of games are not my thing at all, I've never got into Magic and so on, but Hearthstone is the distilled essence of these games and is simple, deep, and a tremendous amount of fun. It has by far and away the best match-making, so you always win about 50% of your games, keeping the challenge on. While there is a timed element to each turn, it's generous and I doubt you'll have issues in terms of controlling it. Free to play, so no harm in giving it a go.

    EvE Online

    The space MMO. While this is real-time, for the most part it's actually pretty slow, and its combat is based on a lock-on system where you can select targets from a list. I don't know how well Voice Attack meshes (I no longer play), but from memory it should be really good. There's almost nothing you can't take part in here, and you can be 100% as effective as other players in many, many roles. Hell, you don't even need to leave a station if you want.. you can form your own corporation, trade, build, hire other players, lead other players, wage war, all from the comfort of the station!

    Pillars of Eternity

    This was just released and I'm absolutely loving it - it's a modern take on the old-school RPG games like Baldur's Gate and Planescape. While it is real-time, you can choose the speed to be slower, and you can pause it at any time to issue orders to your party.

    Elite: Dangerous

    Getting more tricky now.. this is a real-time space-ship simulator where you can trade, fight, mine, pirate, explore, etc. However, it's made for being controlled with joysticks and works perfectly with Voice Attack so I feel like you'd be able to control it more than well enough. In fact, you could probably do it with Voice Attack alone - though you'd have to run from pirates. Also, there is a rank Mostly 'armless that you could attain! (sorry, couldn't help myself!)

    World of Warcraft

    The definitive MMO. While I've not looked into it, it's so popular I'm sure if you do some research on it there will be a wealth of options. It's lock-on based combat, so again Voice Attack will work here perfectly for calling out attacks, movement with a controller, and so on.

    ----

    TL;DR: Really though, I think the limits are only what you place on yourself. What's stopping you from playing an FPS, MMO, RTS, etc. with your feet and Voice Attack?

    EDIT: Sorry, I thought this was in /r/gamingsuggestions/ which is why I included D&D. I'll leave it as I think it would be good in this instance.
u/turlockmike · 7 pointsr/magicTCG

The best book on strategy I've ever read is called "How to reassess your chess" link.

There are some really key things to be aware of.

  1. Imbalances. Each player in magic is playing a different deck. And even if it's the same deck, you will have different opening hands. Know what cards are good and what cards are bad against each deck. Know what cards your opponent can interact with favorably and vice versa.

  2. Come up with a plan. After you know what your opponent is likely to play, look at your initial hand and come up with a plan. A plan can be "Control the game until I get 6 lands to play elspeth on an empty board". Just randomly playing cards, even in a deck like RDW is going to lose you games. Recognize the weakness's and decide on a plan. Sideboarding plays into this a lot. If you are on the play after sideboarding and you feel like the agressor, then be agressive. Sometimes players will often become too passive after sideboard and ruin their opening hand.

  3. Play intentionally. This is a hard one for a lot of players including myself. Everything you do should have a purpose. Take your time and do the math to decide the right decision. Figure out what cards would you lose to and see if you can afford to play around them. Make decisions based on odds and information you have.

  4. Never blame your loss on luck. Although some games are impossible to win, there are always ways you can play better to improve your overall odds.

  5. Mull aggressively. Mulling in draft and sealed is usually devastating, but not so in standard. Getting a chance to mulligan is huge and use it to your advantage.

  6. Live for the game. If you want to be good, or even great then reading articles, brewing, playing daily are all good things. If you want to be the best, then make magic your life. Spend your free time playing it. Think about it as you fall asleep. Become obsessed. Look at Jim Harbaugh. That guy is insane when it comes to football. It's all he thinks about. And it makes him one of the best coaches around. If you aren't looking to go pro, then at least play magic daily and purposefully. Doing Momir dailies is not going to help you (very much).

  7. Pick a competitive deck. It doesn't have to be the best, but as long as it's competitive, then stick with a deck, learn the ins and outs and become an expert.


    Anyway, even if you don't play chess, I highly recommend that book. It will make you better at games in general.
u/Remorc89 · 4 pointsr/Dungeons_and_Dragons

The best way to learn is to get a group and start playing! But I assume you want some more meaningful information than that...

You can purchase and look through the players handbook (PHB). It has everything from character creation to combat rules, traveling on mounts to buying gear, and everything in between. Most groups expect you to have one of these, but it might not be worth the cost until you decide you want to get into D&D. You can pick one up at one of the links below.

Alternatively, you can pick up the starter set. It is much cheaper and has a subset of the rules in the PHB. It also comes with an adventure and material for the dungeon master (DM). I have also provided a like to it before as well.

As for finding a group, there are lots of options. I would say it is probably easier to find a group online, but much more rewarding to find one in person.

For online play, you can check out roll20.net. You can probably find a game there pretty easily, although most groups will expect you to have a copy of the PHB.

As for finding a group locally, you should check out your friendly local game store (FLGS). Most that I have seen run the D&D Adventurers League (DDAL). I provided a link below that will explain the DDAL better than I can.

I know you said you aren't very social, but I wanted to throw out the option that you could create your own group! Find a few friends that are interested as well, grab a campaign or create one, and start a group! If you decide to start a group though, expect to be the DM. But that shouldn't scare you. Matt Colville has done some excellent YouTube videos about DM'ing and how it shouldn't be scary. You can do it!

If you have any questions you are not comfortable asking reddit, feel free to pm me!

PHB: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786965606/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479532434&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=phb+5e&dpPl=1&dpID=510Cy8v8H3L&ref=plSrch

Starters set: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786965592/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479532513&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=d%26d+starter+set&dpPl=1&dpID=51Ykm93n8ML&ref=plSrch

DDAL: http://dndadventurersleague.org/start-here/

u/Ryngard · 4 pointsr/DnD

I HIGHLY recommend you purchase the D&D 5e Starter Set and run that. It is $12 on Amazon and if you dislike D&D then you aren't out anything.
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412630328&sr=8-1&keywords=D%26D+starter+set

I HIGHLY recommend you play 5e. 3.5e was a great edition but it is dated and the sheer volume of rules supplements (some of which are hard to find) are overwhelming. By the end it was out of control. It really isn't a new players w/ new DM system to be honest (HUGE fan of 3.5e, prefer 5e).

You DO need a DM. The role of the DM is different and more involved than the players'. You have to plan the adventure (in case of the Starter Set you should read the adventure and rules booklet cover to cover). You generally are the one players look to for rules clarifications and teaching. Its a very rewarding responsibility. Remember, you are not playing AGAINST the players. It isn't DM vs Players. You are facilitating their adventure and working with them to craft a fun story balanced with fair rules arbitration (and gnarly combat!).

Again, get the Starter Set. If that goes well, get the Player's Handbook (I suggest 2-3 copies to share, or have everyone get a copy) and the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure. Run those. If that works well enough to continue, then invest in the Monster Manual (and the Dungeon Master's Guide will be published by then) and go crazy!!!

I have run LONGTERM campaigns in every D&D edition and have had just as successful games with and without the grid/map. You do NOT need it. It can be helpful, especially for visual players, but I find it also really slows down the adventure. Detailed notes to backup detailed descriptions with a focus on "close enough, keep the game moving" is far more fun and engaging than spending 30 minutes to map out the most optimal movement for one round of combat. In 5e most combats are like 15 minutes or less, in D&D 3.5e for instance we've had 4 hour battles and it was just annoying.

But to each their own. You can also sketch on paper/graph paper and go from there.

Start CHEAP, don't invest in hundreds of dollars of stuff without knowing if you like it. Remember the starter set is $12 and the Basic D&D rules are free. :)

u/MyMindIsWhereILive · 5 pointsr/chess

When people first learn chess, they only learn the basic rules of the game. There is little positional or tactical understanding... (As it should be) There are many ways to get better at chess but all of them require work.

Some great players like Capablanca, insisted on learning the fundamental endings first. The problem is that, even if you know how to win with an extra pawn, you might not have the positional/tactical understanding to get to that pawn-up ending. So, I have found that you have to do a little bit of everything. I learned some endings, I learned some tactics and combinations, I learned some openings and so on.


I suggest that you study whatever is giving you the MOST problems first. Once you have taken steps to minimize and/or eliminate that problem, other problems will come up. Do the same and invest some time trying to get better in that area. Repeat until you get better. it is a simple concept but hard to do in practice.

Chess has a rich history. It is wonderful that we have access to the games of the past and all of its analysis. I recommend that you do not re-invent the wheel and that you read some books. The following should be helpful:

u/dougiefresh1233 · 5 pointsr/DungeonsAndDragons

First off you'll need to pick an edition you want to play. Most people reccomend 5th edition (also called 5e) to beginners since it is the simplest to learn and has the most support online.


Then you'll need to learn the rules. There's a free basic rulebook that you could start with if you don't want to spend money, or you could shell out $30 for the Player's Handbook for the complete set of rules. The only thing the basic rule book doesn't have is a few of the player races and classes so you won't miss out on too much if you go the cheap route. Don't worry about knowing all of the rules but read the book over once and then read over your class abilities a couple times so you know them well.


You'll also need a set of dice. If you for some reason have a bunch of dice laying around, a complete set consist of dice of the following side counts: 20, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4. You'll also need a percentage die also but you can also just use your d10 for that. If you don't have loose dice laying around then you can buy a set from Amazon or your local game store. You can also just use an online dice roller if you're concerned about money but physically rolling them is more fun and dice are cheap.

You can also buy the DnD starter set which comes with a basic rule book, a set of dice, and a book for a pretty good tutorial adventure that you could play with friends.


Speaking of friends, you'll need a group to play with. You can convince a group of 4 or 5 friends to play if you have them or you can play with strangers. A good place to meet strangers is on /r/lfg where you could either find a local or online game, or you could trot down to the local game shop which will probably have a weekly dnd night that welcomes beginners.

If you need help understanding the rules or making a character you can ask here or on /r/dnd /r/dndnext or /r/dnd5th

Good luck getting started, you'll have a lot of fun.

u/RaunchySlappy · 2 pointsr/boardgames

Thanks for the great question! I'll answer the way my mother always answer my long emails...

  • Background? My background is in actually more on the visual creative side rather than the game design side! I graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration. My thesis project was to create and illustrate an entire game on my own ("Landfall" mentioned in a couple other places in this thread). Of course I ended up focusing on (and enjoying more) designing the gameplay and player experience aspects of the game.
  • Motivation? I really just want to design games and have people play them! If I'm lucky I'll break even on this project, haha. I've tried to keep everything as minimal and efficient as possible, to get the game to the people is my only real intent. It is incredibly satisfying when demoing the game to watch people truly enjoying something I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into.
  • What resources did you seek/find? I am lucky enough to have a fantastic day job to afford to keep the lights on (and the 3D printer running), and have done lots, and lots, and lots, and loooots of research. The thing they don't tell you is that when you want to get your game published through KS, its like getting a third whole new job (in addition to my day job and my board game design job). It is so in depth you can practically major in crowdfunding. I read a ton of stuff from Jamey Stegmaier, have been reading this book andthis book, and have done lots and lots of trial and error.
  • Which resources were most helpful to you? Probably the 3D printer was one of my best investments as a tabletop game designer. It reaaaaally helps immerse the player (and myself) in the game I am creating if I can basically instantly create whatever components I want. (I purchased this affordable 3D printer and have had great success with it)
  • What approach worked for you personally, and how is it different from other boardgame designers? This is a really good question. Board game designing isn't typically something that becomes someone's full time job. Each person who has made the leap usually starts somewhere vastly different from game designing, and I believe that gives each designer a very unique perspective to their games and the way they go about creating them. For me, those things are mostly visually creative-related. At work I do illustration, graphic design, photography, videography, video editing etc etc. So making a decent looking prototype is something that I was able to do (mostly) on my own, and similarly making a nice game trailer and digital ads was relatively easy for me. While I had the visual components down, I differ from other designers who have different characteristics that they bring into play like business experience, industry contacts, an in depth understanding of Kickstarter (I am pretty familiar with KS, have backed a few things, but I am by no means a superbacker myself).
  • The biggest challenge you are proud to have overcome? Even though my campaign isn't at its goal just yet, I am proud at the amount of people I have been able to spark some interest and connection with through my game when starting basically from scratch. They say to have a successful campaign you need to have at least 10,000 emails when you launch, I had about 150 (I lucked out when my game trailer ended up blowing up on Reddit about a week before launch). It was very hot in that pigeon suit I wore for 4 days straight at PAX East promoting Crumbs, and it was exhausting taking a 5 day trip to NYC and demoing the game every day, but it was so worth it. This is my first game, and for someone starting with a near zero fanbase, I am proud my game has been able to touch this many people to begin with.
u/Kingshrink · 15 pointsr/chess

I don't know your level, but if you're a novice (as it sounds like you are) here's my advice:

  • Plan to play one long game per day. Find out the time controls you will be playing in, and create those challenges on Lichess or chess.com. I would suggest filtering the games to your rating +100. Don't waste time playing much weaker opponents or much stronger.

  • Find a coach/friend that is at least >500 rating points above you. Hell you can probably find one for free here that would find this challenge fun. Spend some time going over your games with them, or just playing while talking through games.

    As for the specific parts of the game, here are my suggestions. in order of importance:

    Endgames: Learn to your level, then practice them on Chesstempo/friend/computer.

  • I strongly suggest Silman's Complete Endgame Course and learn to where it get's complicated. You should be able to get through the first 3 parts.
  • Create an account on Chesstempo and do the endgame training. It's unlimited for the Gold plan which is cheap.
  • Keep in mind, when up in material, trade. I have been told countless times by computer analysis that trading pieces (especially queens) was not the best move, but when I was up a few pawns or the exchange, getting pieces off the board made the win so much clearer.

    Tactics: It's tactics all the way down!

  • I strongly suggest Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics or Bain's Tactics for Students. You need to be familiar with the motifs
  • Get a ChessTempo membership, and do tactics. The price of membership gives you all the analysis lines of all the wrong moves.
  • Do both Blitz tactics and Standard tactics. You want the pattern recognition of lots of blitz tactics, but also the practice of calculating more difficult problems


    Openings: Play with the same openings. Don't spend too long on each, but maybe watch a few videos to get the ideas behind them.

  • White: 1.e4. These are more tactical in nature, and you should be playing them because you will be working on tactics. Your goal is to survive the opening without being down material, severely behind in development, compromising your king, or completely screwing up your pawn structure. Anyone at your level that memorizes deeper into black's responses to e4 is just memorizing lines and will soon be in a complex position (perhaps up half a pawn) but unable to hold that advantage when the tactics take over. Have something for 1...c5 (and I'd look at both the Najdorf and the Dragon, but again, don't memorize, just get a flavor), 1...e5 (I'd suggest the Ruy Lopez. And look at the Philidor, but it's pretty quiet), 1.e6 (the exchange is easy to play), and 1.c6 (again exchange is easy).
  • Black against 1.e4: Pick one of the above and play it exclusively. I suggest 1.e5 to start, but I also like 1...c5 and 1...c6.
  • Black against 1.d4: 1...d5. No need to get fancy. Both the QGA and QGD set up good play. 1...Nf3 is more useful, since you can play the QGD, Grunfeld, or KID, but since you aren't building a tournament repertoire, just survive the opening with a classical queenside response.
  • Black against anything else: Build a strong pawn center, get developed, get castled, and don't chase the enemy. And give an extra second to think about your opponents position. If they used a non-traditional opening, they are probably doing something wrong, but rushing will help them justify things like developing their queen to early or pushing all their pawns.

    Thought process:

  • Have fun
  • Utilize all your time. Hopefully you've been practicing at that time control as I said above)
  • Breathe. Sometimes just close your eyes, take a deep breath, assess where you think you are, and come up with a plan
  • Have a plan, always.

    That's all I got for now. Good luck!

u/Gamegeneral · 6 pointsr/DungeonsAndDragons

I play 5th edition and all advice is for that edition. 5E is pretty wallet friendly if you don't get it all at once. Here's a bunch of stuff you can look at to help your decision, though not all of it is mandatory.

  • Number one, the cheapest, is to simply review the (somewhat limited, I'll admit) materials available on Wizards of the coast and start from there.

  • Second is available in the form of the 5th edition starter set. I own one of these and it comes with everything you need for a game with a group of friends. A criticism I have of it though, is that experienced players will probably destroy the module included with it. I'd just forego this option entirely if you plan to buy any other materials, but it's a very low risk purchase.

  • Third is just a player's handbook, which you really should own regardless of anything . The 5th Edition PHB has enough material to easily homebrew your own campaign with, but it will definitely leave you wishing you had more to work off of.

  • Fourth is any of the several available modules for the game out right now. Having only played Hoard of the Dragon queen (And it's direct follow up, Rise of Tiamat), I can say that with the exception of a long, slightly boring segment in the middle, it's a solid adventure all the way through for the players.

  • Fifth is the supplemental Dungeon master's Guide and Monster Manual, additional resources to help you craft better campaigns, but unnecessary until later. The monster manual should definitely be the first of the two purchases, in my opinion. I wouldn't even recommend the sword coast adventurer's guide unless you plan to specifically adventure in Faerun.

    So now that books are out of the way, let's talk figurines. You really don't need them, because ANYTHING can represent things on a board. But they're a fun thing to collect and use. BUT they are a great and fun thing to have. What we do at my table is have everyone acquire their own. I like to buy from Reaper Miniatures, but local comic book and hobby shops might have them as well. Make sure you have bases that are less than an inch wide (A square inch works best), because if you're using miniatures, then you're using a battle grid.

    Speaking of battle grids, they're also not entirely necessary, but they definitely help. This is a very reliable one if you take care of it and don't crease it too much. But the fun thing is, if you have a printer, you can print your own Battle Maps! Just set it to print a grid set to 1-inch increments and have as big or as small as a battle mat as you need. 5E technically uses a hex grid for outdoor maps, but we've always ignored that at our games.

    As for dice, I think it's the players responsibility to acquire their own dice, but on the off chance you just want to buy the things for everyone, I find a lot of enjoyment in picking through a Chessex Pound-o-Dice, or a Wiz Dice 100+ pack just so everyone has some. Plus, you never know when you'll suddenly need 20d6 for maximum fall damage!

    Other than that, just have pencils, paper, and a good way to keep notes handy and you're set.

    This is far from a comprehensive guide, and probably the worst thing you could do is buy everything or nothing right at the start. Consider asking friends or checking libraries for these books (And secondhand bookshops near you!) to save a penny or two.

    So, in summary, if I were starting out DMing and buying anything, it would be a player's handbook, a set of dice, and if I weren't confident in my ability to homebrew, I'd buy a module or a dungeon master's guide. But you can go further or less far if you like.
u/AdmiralCrackbar · 2 pointsr/tabletop

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.

u/OneCritWonder · 10 pointsr/DnD

Keep the 4e stuff on the shelf for now. Figure whether you want to sell it later but maybe you'll super dig D&D once you get into it and really want more books on your shelf to be part of your Totally Awesome Collection ^TM

The reason why you're holding on to them is because you don't need to sell them to get into 5e. You can play D&D as soon as you want without spending a dime:

    • -

      But even so, D&D 5th Edition is streamlined and easy to learn and there are tons of people willing to help teach you. Its not a game you need to sit and read the rules from cover to cover before playing, you can very much sit down to a table as totally fresh and learn by playing--I teach people this way all the time.

      Consider checking out your local gaming store and see if they do any tutorials, have Organized Play, or know of groups looking for any members.

      You can also use these resources:

      > If you're looking to play in person:

      > Check in with your local gaming store.

      >
      Local board game/RPG Facebook Groups

      > Local board game/RPG Meetup Groups

      >
      Post in the subreddit for your town / area

      > Search /r/LFG for posts or make one.


      >
      LFG tools on Obsidian Portal and PenAndPaperGames
      > Sites like FindGamers, NearbyGamers, GamerSeekingGamer

      >
      Check WarHorn for local postings

      > If you're looking to play online:

      > /r/LFG and /r/Roll20LFG

      >
      Roll20's game finder and LFG forums

      > Fantasy Grounds has a LFG Forum

      >
      Play via Tabletop Simulator

      > * RPG Discord servers: Dungeons & Downvotes, Pair O' Dice, etc...

    • -

      If you end up just reading up on the rules and wanting to start your own group. I highly recommend the Starter Set.

      It's $15 on Amazon, has the core rules, a set of dice, premade characters, and an adventure that will last you a half dozen sessions or so. It's a great place to start--go figure--and is designed for brand new players and brand new DMs. The adventure is laid out in a way that introduces concepts as you go along rather than expecting you to know everything up front.

      The premade characters are big because you want to get straight to the playing not sit there explaining character creation to a brand new player. Without the context of how things are used, its just a wall of data and memorization... which isn't fun.

      You can always bring custom characters in once the group gets to town or something if people want, and now they'll kinda know the ropes.

    • -

      If you decide D&D is the hobby for you, your first purchase goal should be the Player's Handbook. Its the core rulebook with all of the default character options, spells, etc.
u/fredemu · 1 pointr/DungeonsAndDragons

The "editions" are basically just reissues of the game idea, updated with new rules and such.

The board games are something else entirely - they use some of the same style and use some familiar terms, but Temple of Elemental Evil is to D&D what Monopoly is to real estate management, if that makes sense. If you and your friends enjoy playing lots of different board games, you'll have fun with the D&D ones too. If you want to play a game where you build up characters and a storyline long-term while doing your hacking and slashing (and casting and burning), you'll want the proper game.

The Starter Set is the best place to start. It contains the basic rules, which are also available online, as well as a fantastic adventure to play through, some dice, and so on -- and it's less than $20 USD. The best thing you can do is read through that yourself and decide if it's something you and your friends would like to play.

There's also the recently-released SRD which contains more classes and options. The Starter Set is everything you need to get started - this just gives you more than basic classes.

Finally, if you do decide to play, you ideally want to pick up the other books - the "Player's Handbook", "Monster Manual", and "Dungeon Master's Guide" (all of which you can find easily on amazon or at your friendly local game store). You can also pick up extra dice, figures that you can use to play on a grid, and so on and so on.

But start simple, look at the rules linked above, and you should get a feel for how it all works.

u/DragonVariation · 7 pointsr/chess

The general consensus for novice chess players is to do a few things:

  • Play as much as possible (the slower the time control, the better) and analyze those games.
  • Study tactics (Hammer single motif tactics into your brain first. Over & over & over... Then you can move on to combinations.).
  • Develop your pieces using opening guidelines, rather than in-depth study/memorization-without-knowledge of openings.

    ---

    So let's look at each of those items quickly.

    Playing as much as possible.

    If you can't play OTB, you still have a billion options. Here are some online options:

  • chess.com
  • lichess.org
  • chess24.com

    Don't have wifi and still need a game? There are plenty of apps for your phone/tablet:

  • Play Magnus
  • DroidFish
  • Mobiala
  • SCID on the Go
  • Shredder

    Analyzing your games.

    This is crucial. When you are done with your games, go over them and analyze the moves yourself. Where did you/your opponent go wrong? What did you do right? Did you miss tactics or mates? Did your opponent play an opening you were unfamiliar with? Did you reach an uncomfortable endgame and not know how to proceed? If your opponent played the same moves again in a different game, what would you do differently? Answering questions like these on your own will help you in future games.

    After your initial analysis, you can then show it to a stronger player (you can submit your games to this subreddit to get criticisms, if you provide your initial analysis along with the PGN) and/or using a program to run a deeper analysis for you. Lichess provides free computer analysis on their site and I also made a quickie SCID/Stockfish tutorial a while back if you want more control over the depth of analysis.

    Studying tactics.

    "Tactics is almost undoubtedly the most productive single area that beginners and intermediates can study to improve their game - the more practice, the better." -- Dan Heisman (PDF)

    There are a ton of places to study tactics online and you should make use of them.

    Chess Tempo seems to be the gold standard when it comes to online tactics training. I would start with their standard set (Which means that time isn't a factor. You can stare at a board forever until you find the tactic, and the time won't affect your rating.) at first, but eventually play the other sets as well. I do a mix of each of them every day. Don't make it homework though, or you'll burn out, and chess will feel like a chore.

    Don't forget to make use of their endgame trainer. After the first 20, you can only do 2 per day, and I recommend making it a top priority. Studying endgames, even for just a few minutes per day, will be very beneficial to your play.

    Chess.com also has a tactics trainer, and for free users you get 5 tactics per day. At the very least, do the 5 chess.com tactics and the Chess Tempo endgames. You can find time for this every day, I assure you.

    As a side note, this isn't really tactics but lots of people like this Lichess Coordinates Trainer for learning the names of the squares. If you do this once a day, for both black & white, it will take you about 1 minute. Easy.

    Developing your pieces in the opening.

    Read Dan Heisman's Beginner Guidelines, which I copied into this thread. At this stage, you don't need to study opening lines. However, whenever you read a point in the opening that you are unfamiliar with, you should look it up in an opening book, database, or online to find the common moves in that position. This will help you spot errors in your play and will set you up for success when you play that line in the future.

    ---

    There are a ton of other resources that you should look into.

    For videos, I would recommend these channels:

  • Kingscrusher
  • ChessNetwork
  • St. Louis Chess Club (Their beginner level lectures should be on your must watch list.)
  • ChessExplained
  • Greg Shahade

    As for books, the ones that seem to be promoted for you level the most are:

  • Logical Chess: Move By Move - Irving Chernev
  • Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
  • The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess - Patrick Wolff
  • Everyone's Second Chess Book - Dan Heisman

    There are a bunch of great chess columns out there, but I suggest starting with ChessCafe.com, and specifically Dan Heisman's Novice Nook.

    ---

    Well fuck. I thought I was just typing out something quick, but I turned it into a novel. Sorry about that.

    Time to eat some pumpkin bread and watch Sunday Night Football!
u/TheMaskedTom · 7 pointsr/DnD

Yeah, as others have said, for beginners do try out the D&D 5e Starter Set.

It has enough rules for the small premade adventure they give you to start up, the small adventure itself (which is no small thing for a beginner Dungeon Master), a few pregenerated characters and a set of dice.

You could add to that a few miniatures (or just use paper tokens) and an extra set of dice.


The Starter Set goes to level 5 only (out of 20 max). If you like it, then go ahead and buy the Holy Trinity of D&D Books:

  • the Player's Manual, which is a complete* set of all official possibilities about character creation and playing. You don't all need one for playing, but it's easier that way. Sharing is also good, that said.
  • The Dungeon Master's Guide, which is a book made to help the Dungeon Master create his adventures and make the game enjoyable. Only one is required, really.
  • The Monster Manual, which containes a lot of premade monsters which are very helpful for DMs.


    The other books, such as Curse of Strahd, Out of the Abyss or Tales from the Yawning Portal, are simply adventures that you can buy if you don't want to make your own. They are fun to play and way less of a hassle to DMs... but after a while most will like to make their own stories.

    On another note... While obviously I can't recommend that both because supporting creators is important and because of subreddit rules, you can find pdfs of all those books online, if you don't want to spend the money. Or simply because Ctrl-F is better than manually searching.


    *They have added a few more options is some adventures or the Sword Coast Adventure Guide, and there are some unofficial elements that are being tested in the Unearthed Arcana, but trust me with the core books you have enough to play with for a while.
u/TenThousandKobolds · 1 pointr/DnD

The Basic Rules are available for free online- that should give you a start until you're able to get more resources. For dice, there are phone apps and online dice rollers available for free (not as satisfying as actually rolling, but it'll work).

Balancing for 2 PCs might be difficult, but it's possible. Best case would be if you can find 1-2 more people interested. Otherwise, perhaps they could each have 2 characters? It might be a bit more difficult to learn at first, but if you take it slow and everyone helps each other, it could work.

Matt Colville has a good series on YouTube about learning to DM. If you want a shorter adventure to start out and get the feel of playing, he has a video where he creates a small dungeon called the Delian Tomb. It's a great small introductory dungeon and he walks you through the creation so you can run it as-is or create your own spin on it. A lot of new DMs have run that dungeon with their groups.

I haven't run any of the published adventures, so unfortunately I can't give you advice there if you're looking for something that lasts several levels. I have heard very good things about the Starter Set (on Amazon for $10 right now), which comes with the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters (you don't have to use them if you don't want), and a starter adventure that takes characters from level 1-5. It's recommended for a group with 3-5 players plus the DM, so you may want to try getting another friend involved.

Best of luck!

u/CambrianExplosives · 22 pointsr/dndnext

Okay, so there's a bit to parse here.

First of all the version of the game you linked is the starter set for the 5th edition rules, the newest ruleset. It comes with copies of the Basic Rules for 5th edition, which you also linked. What I mean by Basic Rules is that they use the same basic ideas and mechanics that the full ruleset has, but they are truncated to make learning the system easier.

I don't think it would be particularly useful to go through point by point on everything that has changed since the 80s. I assume you played AD&D 1st or 2nd edition. Since then there have been a 3rd and 4th edition that changed and rechanged things so going through it all would make things more confusing honestly. I think the easiest way is to just dive into those basic rules.

However, since that doesn't answer your question, I will give you a couple things. First of all the core of the game is the same. You pick a race/class, the ability scores are all the same, you roll a d20 and add modifiers to it. One of the only major changes since AD&D is the addition of skills. While AD&D had non-combat skills it wasn't until later that they formalized a skill system. Every character now picks a certain number of skills that they are good at.

The other major change is that it is a lot easier to learn which is why I say you should really just dive into it. There are no longer a ton of charts to consult depending on what class you chose. No THAC0 to calculate, no different amounts of experience to level up, etc. Everything is far more streamlined today to make learning how to play much easier. Bigger numbers are better for everything (No more Armor Class going down), and its designed to be more approachable.

Again, the starter set you linked is really the best entry to the game. It comes with a starter adventure which can serve as a tutorial. It comes with basic rules for characters that limit the options so you can get used to the basic concepts. If you keep going from there then the full ruleset will provide more options to use.

If you have any questions while exploring those rules this is generally a very welcoming place so you can likely find more answers as you run into them.

Good luck and I hope you and your kids enjoy the game.

u/baktrax · 2 pointsr/DnD
  1. I highly recommend 5th edition (the newest one). It's a great edition for new players to get into. They did a lot to streamline it and try to make it lighter on the mechanics, which makes it easier to learn and get into as a new player, and since it's the current edition, lots of people are playing it and it'll be a lot easier to get help/advice if you run into trouble.

  2. Do you mean like warlock patrons? With a lot of stuff in D&D, you'll find that it's really only as important as you make it. In some games, a warlock's patron might be extremely important to the game, while in another game it might never even be mentioned. It really just depends on what you want to do. But I don't know if that's what you're referring it. It certainly doesn't have to be an important aspect of the game if you don't want it to.

  3. In my opinion, there are really three options you can go with. (1) You could download the basic rules for players and dungeon masters for free from the wizards of the coast website. They're basic and don't include everything, but it's a free way to try out D&D without sinking a lot of money in it in case it turns out that it's not for you. (2) Or you could get the 5th edition starter set. It's pretty cheap (if you're in the US, at least), and it includes everything you need to play right out the box (the basic rules, pre-generated characters, dice, and an adventure designed for new DMs and new players). The benefit of the 5th edition starter set is that it comes with an adventure, so you can start playing right away and see if D&D is for you without having to figure out how to make your own adventure. (3) Or you can buy the Player's Handbook. This includes all of the rules for 5th edition and the basic/core character options. It's a great place to start, but it is the most expensive option. If you keep playing D&D, you're going to want to get it eventually anyway, but the downside of jumping right to it is that it can be a little overwhelming at first. It also doesn't come with an adventure, so you'd have to figure that part out for yourself (by buying a separate adventure, creating one yourself, or finding one online).

  4. It really varies. There are pre-made ones that wizards of the coast publishes, and there are pre-made ones that fans create and make available online. But tons of people make their own campaigns and adventures from scratch, so it's definitely acceptable to make your own.

  5. The 5e Player's Handbook has the core classes and races for 5th edition. Other editions had tons of other resources, but in 5th edition, they really tried to streamline everything. There are other options floating around (online and in other published books), but the Player's Handbook is really where the main stuff is and where you should start before worrying about the other options. The Player's Handbook, for example, has everything you need to make a Life Domain Cleric and it includes several other domains for clerics. There is other stuff available, but honestly, focus on the things in the Player's Handbook first, and after you've tried that out, then figure out how to get a hold of the other options.
u/digitallyApocalyptic · 5 pointsr/DnD

The most recent edition, and arguably the most accessible, is fifth edition, or 5e for short. There's also 1e, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, Pathfinder, and 4e, but most people play 5e and it's probably the easiest for beginners.

Start off by going to this link here to get a copy of the Basic Rules. These are available to download, free of charge, and will allow you to get acquainted with the basic game mechanics. Most of the mechanics revolve around polyhedral dice; you've got 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 20-sided, plus another one called percentile dice (or d% for short) that is like a 10-sided die, but with 10, 20, 30 on it instead of 1, 2, 3, and allows for rolling numbers 1-100 when used with a standard 10-sided. Dice are abbreviated with the notation XdY; 3d6 would denote 3 six-sided dice, 6d10 would denote 6 ten-sided dice, 8d4 would denote 8 four-sided dice, etc.

Basic rules will also allow you to create a character if you'd like to try out the process before spending any money. Your character will be fairly cookie-cutter; you get four different races, four different classes, and four different backgrounds to choose from, along with a limited spell list and so on, but if you'd just like to get a feel for the process it's a pretty good way of doing so. The first chapter of the rules takes you through the character creation process step-by-step, and if you read through the basic rules in order, you'll probably be able to create a character. You can also snag free character sheet downloads here in either a format that you can print or one that you can edit in Adobe Reader.

If you're looking to find a group, I've heard /r/lfg mentioned a lot. Most people that want to play online use a site called Roll20, which is free and accessible. There's some other sites in the sidebar of /r/dnd that you could use. If you have some friends interested in the hobby, you could look at picking up the starter set on Amazon, which contains a premade adventure, some premade characters, and a dice set. Once you get more into things, you should look at picking up a Player's Handbook for more choices when creating a character.

u/RedS5 · 6 pointsr/DnD

It's not often that I see someone that would fully benefit from the Sword Coast Adventure Guide, but you fit the bill perfectly. Especially since you want to run a homebrew moving forward.

That being said, it is 30 bucks, so I understand if you don't want to purchase it - so I'll do my best for you.

First, it's a good idea to read over the Sword Coast and Northern Sword Coast to get an idea of the area you'll likely run the immediate portion of your continuing campaign. There are three major cities that are worth knowing about: Neverwinter, Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. Any of these three are a suitable setting for a big-city game.

The setting as a whole lends itself to a 'straight down the middle' feel when it comes to magic. It exists, is used commonly enough that adventurers will come across it - but not so much that the default setting has magical street-lamps and stuff like that. Magical items (at least in 5e) are rare and very prized by those who own them. The magic setting is perfect for whatever you want to do because it's so 'down the middle'. If you want a low-magic campaign it's easy to adjust - and the same goes for a high-fantasy concept.

The area is a melting pot of the core races minus the Drow and Dragonborn, although the latter would be more common than the former. Humans still dominate the coastal cities, but the other races are represented well.

Truly, the Sword Coast Adventure Guide will be your best resource if you're going to create a homebrew in this area and are unfamiliar with the region. Failing that, there are numerous online resources to familiarize yourself with the area. A simple Google search will point you in the right direction.

u/koga305 · 1 pointr/stevenuniverse

Aw, no! Sad to see the results of both fights from yesterday. Every song at this point is great, but I really liked both I Am Lapis Lazuli and Sugalite Returns.

As for today's battles, both could go either way. I voted Lion's Ocean over Opal because I'm still a little salty about Amalgam, but it could go either way. And though both are great, I'm Still Here is simply more emotional than Alone Together.

Question of the Day: It's pretty well known, but maybe not to this audience - Dungeons & Dragons. If you like games like Skyrim or Dragon Age, D&D is pretty much the progenitor of all computer RPGs. However, it's a quite different experience sitting around a table with your friends. There's an actual person, the Dungeon Master, managing the game rules and world, so you'll often end up with a unique story that incorporates whatever characters you and your friends have created. The Fifth Edition of D&D was recently released and it's great, with fairly straightforward rules and a cheap entry point. The Starter Set is $13 on Amazon (includes rules, premade characters, a great starter adventure, and dice), and the Basic Rules are free to download if you just want to take a look.

u/mpo7 · 170 pointsr/iamverysmart

I play chess. My USCF rating is currently 2123... And I thought the sphere chess looked absolutely retarded at first too.

>Nah, I feel you should start from openings.

You shouldn't. Opening theory is quite dense and heavily influenced by computer analysis. You benefit more from trying to understand what you are trying to achieve, rather than trying to simply memorize some openings.

Logical Chess: Move by Move is a great book for anyone that has mastered the basics but is looking to learn more. You will pick up some opening knowledge along the way, learn how openings give rise to specific kinds of middle-games. And you will come across some endgames (although endgame basics are absent).

If you wish to seriously improve there are 3 parts:

  • Understanding the reasons behind moves in the opening of a game - decisions regarding pawn structure are especially significant as these will determine the nature of the battle to come in the middle-game. For this - annotates games (like those in Logical Chess) are beneficial. Specific opening books are also useful but only after you've got a feel for what kind of middle-games you like (because then you know what kinds of openings to pick!). Other game collections (there are tons of great ones): Botvinnik: One Hundred Selected Games and for the more advanced Zurich 1953
  • Tactics. Chess, like other things, has a large component of pattern recognition. Solving tactical problems from workbooks (there are hundreds of these, so I will recommend 2: Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games and 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations
  • Endgames. Endgames are the most math-like in terms of study. You learn basic endgames (K+P vs lone K, K+R+P vs K+R, etc...). Once you have the basics, you can 'solve' more complicated positions by trading down (reducing them) to basic endings. Know nothing about endings? Here is one place to start: Pandolfini's Endgame Course. Dvoretsky's endgame books are also excellent.


    There is quite a lot of chess literature. If you enjoy chess and wish to study and improve there are plenty of ways to do that. If competing in tournaments interests you check out the United States Chess Federation if you are in the states. If you are abroad, check out FIDE. And of course there are online options such as chess.com, the Internet Chess Club, etc...

    Sorry... bit of an enthusiast :)
u/SoupOfTomato · 3 pointsr/boardgames

If you have a friendly local game store (FLGS) near you, they likely have it as well as the right dice. With any luck, they'd even have staff that are knowledgeable enough to help further.

If you don't, there's several online outlets, with amazon being the most obvious. Internet stores tend to have the advantage of a significant discount, but of course require waiting for the things to ship and arrive.

The absolute simplest way to get into it would be purchasing the Starter Set. It comes with simplified rules, one set of dice, and an adventure you can run.

If you enjoy that, or are just absolutely certain you will like the game and want to go ahead and get it all, there is the Player's Handbook. That is the only essential, but you will want sooner than later the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual.

As for dice, there are tons of ways to go about that. There are phone apps that can do the job cheaper, which you can find with a quick search. Most groups I think will find they prefer using physical dice. It's more expensive but also just that much more fun.

The correct type of dice come at a variety of costs and qualities, but the only necessity is that you have all 7 types of dice available. That is, you want a 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, 20-sided, and percentile die.

Chessex is the most popular dice company and has an absolute ton of varieties. Here's just one example and luckily it is standard to sell all the necessary dice in sets together.

There are also various bulk sets which make up in volume what they lack in choice, and are good for getting started.

Last but not least, you'll need friends willing to play with you. But that's true of any tabletop game.

That was longer than I anticipated, but I promise it's not too hard. There's a bit of a learning curve with any game, but RPGs are a lot of fun once you get comfortable with them.

u/SargeantSasquatch · 6 pointsr/DungeonsAndDragons

Grab the 5th edition starter set, it will have a book for your DM on how to run the adventure, 5 pre-made characters so you can just get right into playing, and a set of dice.

Heads up. Like 2 minutes in everyone is going to realize they want their own set of dice rather than sharing one set as a group. They range from $5 to $15. Grab 'em before you start playing.

I'd also recommend getting a DM Screen for multiple benefits. On the inside are quick formulas and name/quest/monster tables and hints for the DM to use. The other benefit is the players can't see what the DM rolls.

The DM's #1 job is to make sure people have the most fun they possibly can. So if he rolls something that would wreck your party, and decides that wouldn't be very fun, he can fudge the roll to something else, and since the DM is rolling behind a screen, the players are none the wiser.

Almost every group starts out rotating the role of DM because everyone wants to have a character. This isn't the wrong way of doing it, but every group eventually comes to the realization that they're better off if one person is the full-time DM.

Here are some good rules of thumb for DMing.

Make sure whoever is DMing is up to the task and understands their job is to maximize the amount of fun for everyone else, not necessarily themselves. A good DM will find enjoyment in his players having fun. He will challenge them, not punish them.

It is not PCs vs DM. To liken it to Skyrim, it's 3-5 Dovakhiin traveling together, and the DM is Skyrim. He is the world and all it's inhabitants. The world isn't out to get you, but if you make poor decisions there will be consequences.

----

>These games take like a week or so to finish.

It took us like 5 or 6 sessions that were 3-4 hours each to get through the adventure in this pack, and we only had 3 players.

The game never really finishes. It's like Skyrim, completing an adventure doesn't end the game, you just move on to the next one.

----

Check out /r/DnD, it's way more active. And for the whoever DMs /r/behindthescreen and /r/loremasters are helpful.

u/angel14995 · 12 pointsr/dndnext

So for 5e there are a couple of things you can look at getting:

  • Basic Rules: Look at the section for "Free Basic Rules". These PDFs are basically what you need to start playing D&D. The D&D 5e Player's Basic Rules has information about the basics of the game for players. It's got 4 races (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Human) and 4 classes (Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard) and one "subclass" for each class (Life Domain Cleric, Champion Fighter, Thief Rogue, and School of Evocation Wizard). Items, customization, character building, and the general "here's how you play!" are included in this document. Great resource for a simple lookup if you want to introduce someone to the game, since the characters you can build out of it are generally solid characters. The D&D 5e Dungeon Master's Basic Rules is the starting point for your DM. For the most part is bunch of creature/enemy stat blocks with explanations on how to balance encounters to the players' levels, as well as a quick off-hand on how to generate magic items. DMs are the creative source of the campaign, so there isn't much required to actually build a simple campaign.
  • Dungeons & Dragons 5e Starter Set: This is the most basic form of the game you can get with most things included. Looks like it's $13 on Amazon right now, which is pretty good. The box set comes with a 32-page player guide (mini Player's Handbook), a 64-page Dungeon Master's guide (mini Dungeon Master's Guide/Monster Manual), a couple of pre-generated characters, and a few dice. It's good for getting into 5e if you've never played before since the rules are greatly reduced down to levels 1-6 and there are only 8 classes. Most of the content is the same stuff you can find in the Basic Rules, minus the story that comes with the Starter Set. If someone gets this, everyone else can download/print the Basic Rules and should be good. Most of the content is all about how to play the characters that are in the starter set, not about character generation and the like, so make sure to look at the Basic Rules if you want to play a Halfling Fighter for example. See this comment for more explanation.
  • Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons 5e): This is the core of most of your games of 5e at this point. This has all of the basic necessities, like character classes, character races, items, spells, feats, etc. This is exactly what you need if you are a player, since this and some imagination allows you to build some pretty fun characters. If you end up playing 5e a lot, I'd recommend that everyone have somewhat regular access to a PHB, considering that 90% of the characters you make will come in most part from this books.
  • Monster Manual: This is where you'll find the largest collection of all of the "basic" monsters that you can meet in a game of D&D. Enemies in general are in this book, and there is a lot of good explanation into the monsters, their stats, their decision routes, etc. This is super helpful since you can basically do whatever you want with this book and make some awesome fights. Find an enemy you like, but it's too high level? Nerf it somehow, and have your players fight it. I'm actually planning on setting a dragon with her wings clipped and her firebreathing removed, give them a fight, and see how they react.
  • Dungeon Master's Guide: This is basically world building, combat building, enemy building, item building... basically, if it's not covered in the PHB or MM, the creation of object X or something similar will be in the DMG. It's there for the DMs to be able to balance items or enemies against certain requirements, since there is a lot to take into account. Helpful for the DM who doesn't have as much experience.

    So the Basic Rules help out a lot, the Starter Set is basically a physical copy of the basic rules (plus some), and then the core 3 books in order of (my personal opinion of) usefulness are PHB > MM > DMG. I'd say you probably want at least everyone to have a PHB, or access if you guys continue to play.

    Aside from that, most of the other 5e stuff you can pick up from wizards are modules. Modules are pre-created campaigns that have quests, items, locations, enemies (number, size, etc.) already pre-designed for you. Each of the following books has some sort of extra character information (like more subclasses, new races, etc.), but nothing is absolutely required. Generally if one person wants to play something (say, an Half-Elf Bladesinger Wizard) they should pick up the book to help build their character and to provide the GM with references to how the character works, but it's not necessary.

  • Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat are two halves to the same campaign aimed at stopping the biggest baddest dragon of them all, the five-headed chromatic dragon Tiamat.
  • Princes of the Apocalypse is a cool campaign all about cults related to the 4 elements (Air, Water, Earth, Fire) trying to be bad. Pretty well designed, I'm currently running this with my group. They seem to be liking it a lot, but then again, I'm throwing a lot of other things in with it.
  • Out of the Abyss is a campaign set in the Underdark. it sounds really cool, but I haven't looked into it much.
  • Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide isn't a campaign but rather a campaign setting book. It's useful for reading up on how the Sword Coast in Forgotten Realms (the "main" D&D world) works. It's interesting.

    If you need any other help, please feel free to ask!
u/TolOfGreatness · 6 pointsr/chess

You've got to get yourself some good books and devour them. I have unconventional advice, but if whatever you've been doing isn't working, give it a shot.

My beginners routine
---

  • Do 10 tactics puzzles a day (use a free chesstempo account)

  • Get your hands on a copy of Silman's Amateur's Mind [Go through the book cover to cover] I usually follow along with a program instead of a real board b/c I can log in variations and whatnot.

  • Play one 15-minute game a day, if you can't find people who want 15-minutes, go to something like 10minutes or 10min+2seconds. Then, analyze your game. If you go to lichess you can make a free account and they have computer analysis. If you're playing on chess.com you can just take the pgn (game notation) and put it into the lichess computer and they'll analyze it for you. You can move the pieces around and bounce some ideas off the computer on there as well.

  • Develop an opening repertoire. This is not supposed to be the way a grandmaster does it.... not yet. You need to play the same thing because you can't learn and figure out mistakes if you're always switching openings, because the positions you get change too much. If you're playing random openings you'll get: Isolated queen pawn positions, French structure positions, caro-kann positions, central pawn structure vs c5/e5 pawn pushes, fianchetto positions that require h4-5-6 to attack etc.

    You need a consistent motif; so, if you want to play 1.e4 try to stick to that. For black choose 2 defenses: one against 1.e4 and one against 1.d4

    What you need to do here is learn the first few moves of the opening just so you can get yourself inside that structure... maybe the first 5 moves or so. And you're going to feel lost I promise you, but just do it, ok. When you win/lose, whatever, a part of your analysis is going to be to go to www.chessgames.com >set the year to >=2000 or 1980 something like that>set the openings to the opening you played or enter the ECO code>click search and you can watch Grandmasters play your opening. This will give you a good idea of what kind of moves are made and where you play on the board. You may even be able to extract some plans out of it.



  • I'm not a silman salesman but you also need to work on your endgame and I like Silman's Complete endgame course This books is divided by rating, which is really good; i worked up to the A class section and then moved on to Dvoretsky's endgame manual. Dvoretsky's is a dictionary though, and you definitely don't want that now.

u/nosreiphaik · 1 pointr/DnD
  1. PRebuilds are fine for first timers if you have them, and the players like them. Let them build their own from what's available in the PHB otherwise. For their very first time, I wouldn't let them get too buckwild with options and homebrew stuff, but if you're comfortable with it, go nuts.
  2. If you want to spend some money, run Lost Mines of Phandelver. If you wanna do it for free, Matt Colville has a pretty quick and easy dungeon for you here.
  3. If you get the starter set, you'll have an adventure, rules, premade characcter sheets, all you'll really need is some dice and pencils. Otherwise, you might wanna pick up a copy of the Player's Handbook. Wizards has the basic rules of play free online.
  4. Don't get too deep into lore and backstories and all the miscellania until you're all feeling comfy and have the hang of all this. This hobby can be expensive and it's not for everyone, so don't feel pressured to pour yourself into it right off the bat. A simple one-shot adventure with a few pre-made characters is a great way to dip your toes in the water and learn the ins & outs of 5e.

    Have some pizza and snacks and visit for the first hour of your session before getting the adventure going! You'll get a lot of socializing done and everyone will be more comfortable and focused. Most of all, keep it loose and fun!
u/LaericMortovus · 7 pointsr/DnD

Use the sidebar and the links the previous comments have provided. They'll be very helpful. The Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual are about $30 each. This can seem like a lot, but they are so useful, and basically a necessity. Also, a couple sets of dice is important of course.

I started playing as a DM. I wanted to play, and none of my friends were as passionate about it, so I stepped up. It was fun to learn as I went, but a bit daunting at times. I've found great inspiration and information from the PAX streams of Acquisitions Inc and podcasts like The Adventure Zone and Nerd Poker. Also, the webcomic Darths & Droids has helpful & humorous information below each page. It helped me understand what DMing is like by "playing through" a story I was already very familiar with. Don't feel like you need a pre-made story either. We've been playing about 18 months now without ever opening one of the WotC campaign books. I primarily get my inspiration from movies, TV, comics, etc and just adapt the pilfered story to a fantasy setting.

Just jump in with both feet, and roll with it.

u/Kalahan7 · 4 pointsr/boardgames

What /u/ShadowSpectre47 said is good advice. That being said I haven't played a Dungeon Crawl boardgame that truly had an interesting story. Some games create a good story trough the game itself like Lord of the Rings LCG but as an RPG player I haven't seen a dungeon game that blew me away.

I don't know if you tried the "real thing" before but if not I urge you to check out the D&D Starter Set. It seems to offer what you want but just isn't a board game and at $13 it's dirt cheap.

The starter set offers everything you need to entertain a group for 10 hours (all the rules, character sheets, dice, and a complete non-linear adventure). It's for 3-6 players including one Dungeon Master.

It's comprehensive and easy to play. Players can start playing withing 5 minutes but the Dungeon Master must be willing to read through the campaign an the basic rules. The only downside is that it comes with only pre-generated characters. To generate your own characters you need the D&D Player's Handbook which is obviously more expensive.

If you want a full tabletop RPG for free there's a great option available for players new to RPGs and more experienced. Dungeon World is entirely free online.

In many ways it's a much simpler system than D&D and more in-line with what players that have never played an RPG before think an RPG like D&D will play like.

You do need to get your own dice and have a DM that is willing to create an adventure. The D&D Starter Set is definitely easier to get those first sessions started.

u/MCJennings · 1 pointr/dndnext

I would suggest the essentials kits of Ice Spire Peak or Lost Mines of Phandelver - though probably the former over the latter.

If you want the full books though, I would suggest DNDbeyond. You'd need a subscription to manage your full party, but that would also be splitting the cost 6 ways, give access to the party entirely all the time, let the DM easily see his player's sheets, and it's very user friendly to certain classes that otherwise are not - such as the druid having to manage wild shape and prepared casting.

My last suggestion is to consider the free Basic Rules to see if it's sufficient for you and if you enjoy using a digital platform. Players can make basic characters this way on dndbeyond for free as well- it'll be restrictive playing free but would be enough to see if they enjoy using the platform. Be sure to use the webpage on whatever device you'd be using in play as well.

u/darksounds · 2 pointsr/DnD

Couple directions you can go. If you want to learn it and get some friends involved at the same time, you can get the 5th Edition Starter Set and run that adventure for your friends. The player's handbook is also a must-own. The dungeon master's guide and monster manual are great, but not mandatory.

If you want to join a game, pick up a player's handbook and a set of dice, hit up r/lfg, local gaming stores, or other places around you. Reading the rules is not 100% mandatory, but it is highly recommended. The PHB alone will be enough to get you 100% ready to play if you read it fully.

5th edition is the easiest to pick up, and has a lot of flexibility, allowing you to make it what you want it to be.

3.5 or pathfinder has a lot more number crunching and a larger focus on designing the mechanics of a character throughout levels. If you love minutiae, planning ahead, and keeping track of lots of data, you might enjoy it quite a lot. I personally love it, but no longer play it, because 5th edition allows me to get my slightly more casual friends to the table for a good time.

u/forgottenduck · 2 pointsr/DnD

Honestly I'd say go with Lost Mines of Phandelver, the starter set adventure. It's not too heavy or loaded with intrigue, the plot hooks are clear, and kids will have no trouble following. Most of the bad guys are goblins and obviously bad people for the majority of the adventure. The adventure is also written with new DMs in mind so it has a lot of helpful info to work with. I would suggest picking up the starter set and reading through the adventure to make sure there's nothing you think is inappropriate and then just run with it. The starter set comes with the basic rules, a set of dice, the adventure, and premade characters. It doesn't give you all the classes and archetypes that the full Player's Handbook does, but it really is everything you need to get started (although it does not come with miniatures or a battle grid, which are not completely necessary). You'll have to be the judge of whether you want to guide your kids through character creation or just go with the premades, but I have heard many people suggest using the premade characters for a first adventure. Maybe though if you're interested in letting them create their own characters you could go to a local game store with them and let them pick out a miniature for their character, most stores carry Reaper Miniatures which are very reasonably priced, though are unpainted.

Your players are your kids and you're their dad, they're probably going to love how you run the adventure even if you stumble through it, but trust me running D&D is easier than you would think. Maybe check out some of Matt Colvile's videos if you want some DM tips, but again with your players being kids I think you could just dive in without much trouble.

The community here is pretty helpful in my experience so if you have additional questions feel free to post a topic, or post in the Weekly Questions thread posted every Monday. Good luck!

u/edderiofer · 2 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Would it not be just as easy to ask /r/chess?

Anyway, in addition to what /u/Dazvac has said, you'll also want to learn about tactics; this is probably the most important part of chess. You can learn about them here and practice them here. Read through the first few pages of each chapter of the former site, then see if you can obtain the answers to the rest of the pages in each chapter. When you're fairly confident with the material in it, then train with the latter site. Don't worry if you fail the first 200 problems or so; you'll soon get to a point where the tactics are at your level (if you create an account).

As for reading material, I would suggest the two books "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" and "Logical Chess Move By Move". You can easily find pirated PDF copies online, but you can also buy them here and here. "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" mainly focuses around checkmating the king; "Logical Chess Move By Move" walks through games explaining EVERY SINGLE MOVE. It's also best if you have a chessboard set up when you read "Logical Chess", as it sometimes lists variations.

So here is, in summary, what the full list is:

  1. Learn the values of each piece (see first table), and make sure you can immediately see the 8 squares a knight can move to from anywhere on the board. Also learn algebraic notation, as that's used almost everywhere now. Finally, make sure you know correctly the rules of pawn promotion, castling, and en passant.

  2. Simple endgames (RQ, RR, Q, R, BB, BN, P). You can easily learn these online with a bit of searching. Recommended reading: "Silman's Complete Endgame Course"

  3. Learn the strengths of each square; most notably the centre, and the weakness of the f-file and h-file pawns.

  4. Learn the opening lines. I'd actually disagree with this; one should learn the general principles of the opening instead; namely:

  5. Control the centre. This means developing knights to the c3 and f3 squares for white, c6 and f6 squares for black, and moving your d- and e- pawns two spaces forwards so as to gain space in the centre.

  6. Develop all your pieces. That is to say, move all of them off the back rank. Start off with your minor pieces (knights and bishops). Leave your queen and rooks until quite a bit later.

  7. Castle your king. This is to make it less susceptible to attacks, which are easier to direct towards the centre.

  8. Open the centre once you have done all this. This is often done by exchanging pawns in the centre.

  9. Tactics, tactics, tactics. Did I mention tactics?

  10. Find some opponents to play with. Stronger opponents will show you your weaknesses, opponents of similar ability will bring you delight when you win, and weaker opponents will give you chances to experiment with different play styles and openings.

  11. Tactics. Seriously, that's how important they are.

  12. When you're up material, don't hesitate to trade away material. It makes the game harder for your opponent to win.

  13. Finally, check out /r/chess; it has a wealth of information.
u/ebrum2010 · 1 pointr/criticalrole

The best advice I can give anyone who doesn't have a group to play with and doesn't have "nerdy" friends is become the DM for 5e and invite your friends to a game. They will most likely say "I don't know how to play", tell them it's fine. It's a game you learn as you go. You as the DM will be making a ton of mistakes early on but everyone will still have fun. Everyone will get better as they go. You want to read the Basic Rules, or the part in the PHB called "running the game". It's the small section in the middle between the race/class options and the spells. I did this very same thing when I first started watching Critical Role (I had played before but not 5e) and now we've been playing since 2015 and the problem I have now is too many people want to play. I currently have a full group of 5 and an extra player who plays the character of whoever doesn't show up. We're at the end of a campaign where it doesn't make sense introducing a new character but they should get to make one soon. 5e is the definitive edition to get new people into the game. If you can get them to show up for the first game, most of them will stick around, and they will be the best advertisements you have for the game since because they may not be "nerdy" they will convince other people more easily to try the game.

I recommend to start buy purchasing the starter set and playing through that (It has the basic rules and it starts easy for DM and gets more complicated as it goes to train you). You don't need anything besides this until you finish the campaign in it if you don't want to. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592/

Optional but recommended, at least once you get your group started:

A copy of the PHB and MM, available from Amazon for less than in stores. https://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606/ https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Core-Rulebook-Wizards/dp/0786965614/
A bag of dice so you have enough to share. I recommend the easy-roller dice bag, it's about $25 on Amazon but they guarantee the dice are not defects which is the case with many of the other big bags of dice. The bag contains 15 full sets of 7 dice in various colors. https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Roller-Dice-Polyhedral-Dungeons/dp/B00L2N1OVI

u/PolarDorsai · 6 pointsr/DnD

DM here.

Firstly, I'm really happy you're taking that leap and have decided to get into D&D. You seem enthusiastic and brave, which is what DM's like to see in players. Here are a few points based on my experiences as both a new player (long ago) and as a DM now.

  • Bring a couple pencils. One to write with and a backup in case it breaks or someone else needs one. By lending one out, you'll make a friend instantly and although most DM's have extras, you'll look like a hero before you even roll your first D20.

  • From what I'm understanding, you haven't made your character yet, correct? If the game starts at 7pm, try to get there at 6pm if possible so you can get your character set up and ready to go. DM's don't mind helping you create one but other players may feel like it's holding things up. Someone else also said it; know your character well. If you have time to build it prior, learn about your characters abilities so you don't sit there looking them up in the middle of combat, adventuring.

  • If you have the money on hand--and it's understandable if you don't--go out and buy the D&D 5th Edition Player's Handbook. It's only $30 on Amazon (FUCK ME! I spent $50 at Barnes & Noble like a sucker haha) but is a must-have tool for ANY player. It's likely others will have them and they should let you borrow one for tonight. If you eventually become a crazy person, like me, you'll want to sit down and read the thing, cover-to-cover.

  • Someone said it already but, know what you want to do or at least have an idea of what you want to do before it's your turn in combat. This is the only time you would be "holding up" the game so it's crucial to keep things moving here. During adventuring, it's not turn-based so you can simply go along for the ride. Since you're new, no one is expecting you to have all the answers or to be the main contributor, however it's good to interact accordingly when the DM calls on you. Quick story...I have a new player in my group and I didn't expect much out of him but there would be times I would go out of my way to include him in the action, so I called on him to interact with an NPC I created. He didn't get into the story or even make an attempt to role play at all. Quiet gamers are fine, but non-participants are no fun.

  • It's been said: ask questions.

  • Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
u/ameoba · 1 pointr/DnD

Find some friends & start a game. You can find free rules for all sorts of RPGs around.

  • Shadowrun Quickstart - not technically D&D but it's based on the standard 6-sided dice you already have around the house (ie - no funny RPG dice needed). It's a combination of elves, dwarves & magic with a dark sci-fi setting. Free basic rules & an included adventure to get you up and running quickly.

  • Dragon Age Quickstart - again, not realy D&D but it gives you everything you need to play a quick game (rules + adventure) and it works with the six-sided dice you already have.

  • Swords & Wizardry Quick Start - S&W is a free clone of the oldest version of D&D. This is a stripped down version of the rules (only 10 pages for the rules) and includes a dungeon for you to explore. You'll need to get a set of 'funny' RPG dice but you can pick them up at your local game store or online (ie - Amazon) for $5-10 a set.

  • Honorable mention goes to Basic Fantasy RPG - another free clone of old-school D&D using simplified new-school rules, this one has tons of adventures & stuff available online. One of the most noteworthy things about it is that PDFs of the rules are free & you can buy all the printed books online at cost. The full rule book & a set of adventures (like "AA1") will cost you less than $20.

    ...and if you're willing to spend a few bucks there's the:

  • Dungeons and Dragons Starter set - It's cheap & it comes with dice, pre-generated characters, printed basic rules & a starting adventure that will probably last you and your friends a few sessions of gameplay.

    You can get more info by reading the the sidebar in /r/dnd and /r/rpg (both have decent "newbie" guides). There's also websites like http://learntabletoprpgs.com/ that have articles targeted at new players.
u/dc_woods · 1 pointr/chess

I've been playing pretty religiously for roughly two years. I'm ~1600 on Chess.com.

ChessTempo is an incredibly valuable resource. With much persistence-- I try to do exercises on there at least an hour a day and sometimes more --my blitz/standard tactics and endgame ratings lie between 1500-1600 and continue to improve. Also, this book did wonders for my play.

In my playing, I've found "jumps" where I leap ~100 rating points which can probably be attributed to new discoveries in my tactical awareness and knowledge of theory (albeit being little in comparison to someone like Zibbit :-).

Obviously awesome people like Zibbit, Kingscrusher, Jerry (ChessNetwork), Christof (ChessExplained) and Greg (Greg Shahade) publish content frequently on YouTube and it's always interesting to revisit some of the material months after viewing as I often see the position more maturely than I had initially.

I hear so much talk from those around my rating of opening repertoire but so little about endgame theory, implications of the position, pawn structure & the notion of majority/minority, and key squares within a particular position -- these are ideas that often the big boys that I just referenced talk about and are ideas that I try to better understand through the analysis of my own games and when I do some "Guess the Move" with GM games. I'm liking the results.

We all were below 1000 at one point... it's about investing time and patience in what gives you the best results in your play. I think the staples of study are tactics and endgame theory but game analysis, best move, "guess the move", opening theory, and all that other fun stuff should be implemented in your study and you should pay close attention to which of those (if not all) are improving your play most.

Good luck.

u/LivingIn3d · 2 pointsr/DungeonsAndDragons

I've found the Tales from the Yawning Portal to be a good book for when you want to do something completely different than what you've done previous and have a short little side adventure. There's 7 different adventures in it with very different settings.

I ran this two different ways. The first was as if the Bartender was telling a story that had happened many years ago. I rolled up a new party that was an appropriate level for the adventure and they got to play completely new characters for that adventure. Once he was done telling the story, the bartender rewarded the characters with some of the loot the story characters had left to him to give to worthy adventurers. I know this won't work for every group, but they were very interested in switching up their characters they'd been playing for years.

The other way I ran it I had the party descend the well in the middle of the bar with their own characters and entered a portal they had discovered down there placing them directly into a story the bartender was telling. It allowed for moments of narration to occur every now and again that the players could hear which was fun:

"Little did the characters realize, but a colourless, odorless gas was spreading into the chamber at an alarming rate."

"We pushed the boulder behind us sealing the entrance!!"

"The heroes had been successful in stopping the gas from entering the chamber! But quickly became light headed as they searched for a way out. It turns out these heroes rely on oxygen to survive, which this chamber was now deprived of." <- Evil I know, but it got a good laugh and they learned that the narrator occasionally "embellished" what actually occurred and wasn't entirely on their side.

I chose an adventure that matched their level and at the end of the adventure, they found the portal to return to the bar with all their loot and XP they found.

u/discosoc · 1 pointr/savageworlds

> I wouldn't call DnD 5th edition rules light though.

It's not "rules light," but has a fairly limited number of mechanics to worry about. There are very few (any?) issues with the rules where stuff isn't intuitive (in contrast to something like 2e, where some checks you wanted to roll high and others you wanted low).

> There's lots of rules, spells and conditions all in 3 books spanning ~900 pages just for the basic game to run.

Nope. All you need is the free PDF to get started. There are a lot of spells, but any individual character doesn't need to worry about most at once, instead just learning about new stuff as it becomes available.

The Dungeon Master's Guide is not at all required to run the game, and actually doesn't cover any required rules. It's most useful section is the Treasure chapter, with everything else being more "conversational" insight, some random generators to help the DM do stuff, etc.. Player's certainly don't need to purchase it.

The Monster Manual is important, but only needed by one person.

> Then you add in Xanathars, Tome of Foes, Volo's guide and that's another ~900 pages and a total investment of like 350$ CAD.

None of those books are at all required, and most are simply filled with useful "fluff" like generating backgrounds, detailed racial information (society of fey creatures, etc), and some optional rules for downtime activities between adventures.

Of those books, only Xanathar's Guide to Everything actually has stuff that you could argue is useful to players in a mechanical way. Fortunately, damn near all of it was previously made available for free in Unearthed Arcana, so if you just need the mechanical player options, you probably don't have to buy the book.

You don't have to spend anywhere close to $350 CAD to run 5e. You're looking at $0 for players to get started, or $57 if they want to buy the PHB at full retail for some reason. You can instead just get it online for about $35.. Even that's only needed if you want the rules for all the subclass specializations -- the core rules free PDF includes everything you need to actually play the game.

> Let's not forget about the work you research and study you have to do to run a module, which could be like another 200-300 pages that you need to know in and out for the game to run smoothly.

Huh? Modules are generally just a single adventure, and certainly not "200-300 pages." If you're talking about a full Adventure Path that spans nearly all the levels, then yeah those are larger. But you're also talking about something like a 1 year or more of actual game play. Furthermore, you don't need to know it in and out "for the game to run smoothly." The GM probably needs to at least skim over each chapter to have a general idea of what's happening, but actual prep time for any given session is no more or less than Savage Worlds. I know because I run both.

u/doublestop · 1 pointr/billiards

I'm pretty fond of The 99 Critical Shots in Pool. It goes into some basics and a ton of shot situations with explanation. It's a great resource, imo, for nearly all levels of play.

For the mental game, I'm a huge fan of Pleasures of Small Motions. It's a deep dive into the mental game and talks about concentration vs focus and helps the reader with some mental exercises. Jury is out in this sub whether it's all that valuable, though I have found it to be a great help to my game. IMO, even at an early stage this book could be useful. Frustration can be a big problem for a beginner trying to get comfortable with the game and having some insight to the mental side can be a benefit.

Welcome to pool! I hope you enjoy playing and fall in love with it like we all have. :)

u/realpudding · 2 pointsr/DnD

TL;DR: start: free basic rules + dice. if you have fun, buy PHB, maybe MM.

as others already have said. the free basic rules http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules are everything you need to play apart of a set of dice. the class and race choices are limited, but the rules are free. with these you can have months over months of fun.

if you want to play good adventure and not create one your own, the stater set is a good product. it comes with a rule booklet, pre-generated charakters, dice and an adventure booklet. https://www.amazon.de/Wizards-Coast-WTCA92160000-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592

if you all have a lot of fun and want to invest, everyone of you can get their own dice set and buy the players handbook https://www.amazon.de/Players-Handbook-Core-Rulebook-Wizards/dp/0786965606/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=N31MKHATXPB3CPYKPTWC

it got everything you need. if you want to buy stuff for the DM, the monster manual is great https://www.amazon.de/Monster-Manual-Core-Rulebook-Wizards/dp/0786965614/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJ9QEP6WN5J2HAPH80X7

I would not buy the dungeon masters guide. I DM myself and have it and I don't use it that often.

as for the levels: 20 is max. if you reach 20 with a character, it's only after 1-2 years of play, maybe longer and then the character is kind of a demigod.

u/EPGelion · 3 pointsr/DungeonsAndDragons

I'm amazed the comments section isn't full immediately...

So! One of the best places to start with D&D if you're coming at it with little to no experience is YouTube. If you've been watching shows like Acquisitions Incorporated, Critical Role, or Force Grey: Giant Hunters, you might already have some idea of what to expect. There are a plethora of other YouTube personalities that are very education and encouragement-driven.

If you're just looking for the best things to buy or download to get started, for D&D specifically, the 5th edition Starter Set is terrific. It's only $20 in-store and provides you with multiple levels of play along with prebuilt characters and a decent-length adventure:

https://amzn.com/0786965592

The official D&D site also has great free material to take your game further without spending any money:

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/trpg-resources

Also, I would recommend starting with pre-written adventures until you get a feel for how to run a game and populate worlds with interesting people. A great site for cheap premade adventures is the DMs Guild (formerly D&D Classics).

http://www.dmsguild.com/

Quick note: assuming you can wrangle a group of friends into playing, if you're the one putting in the most work at the outset you'll almost certainly be the de facto Dungeon Master. Just be ready for players to not put in the effort as much.

u/SargonTheOK · 3 pointsr/rpg

Easiest place to start would be a 5e starter kit. Why? They are cheap entry points to the hobby, they include an adventure module (this is a big deal, it makes the GM’s first go at things much easier), it’s in print, they have shorter manuals to read (which will get you right into playing to see if you like it) and frankly, 5e is a pretty approachable edition and is currently the lingua franca of the broader RPG community.

There are a couple of starter options:

Essentials Kit: the newer version, includes character creation options out of the box. I don’t know much about the included adventure module, but look around and you’re likely to find reviews.

Starter Set: the older one of the 5e starters, but well worth considering. It’s dirt cheap and I’ve heard lots of praise for the supplied adventure module “Lost Mines of Phandelver.” The only downside would be no character creation options out of the box (it comes with pre-gen characters which work fine but aren’t everyone’s thing), but this could be supplemented with the free Basic Rules which would let you generate characters with the “classic” race and class options as well.

If you like it, then consider picking up the core book set (Players Handbook for the big set of character options, DM Guide, and Monster Manual). If you don’t like it, come back to this sub with specifics on what you did and didn’t like: you’ll get hundreds of new suggestions that will point you in the best direction from there. Happy gaming!

u/nerga · 5 pointsr/rpg

This might belong a bit more in /r/boardgames but regardless...

The dnd board games can actually be pretty fun. I like the dungeon delver board games. A good board game you might like if you like these type of games is mageknight that also follows a similar play style (though pseudo random generation with different mechanics) of going through a world and getting stronger.

If you like these board games, but want to delve more into tabletop rpgs look into something like DnD 5th edition or the starter set. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I think the starter set has everything you need for a small adventure, and if you get the basic book you can continue the characters if you want.

I am distinguishing between these rpg/dungeon crawler board games and rpgs. This might confuse you, so I will go more into what's different. In the rpg/dungeon crawler board games there may or may not be a dungeon master (someone who controls the game other than the players), in pen and paper rpgs this sub focuses on most of the time there is a separate player running the game. The main difference though is that a pen and paper rpg relies more on imagination, improvisation, and give much more freedom. In a game as you linked, you typically kill monsters, get some xp, and then just get stronger. You don't have much choice in how your character develops typically. Also the story is usually very linear as well. You progress, you get small tidbits of story, but the main goal is to just complete the dungeons. This is reverse of pen and paper rpgs, classic dnd being the main example. In these you normally focus on the story, the dungeons and fights being the obstacles to that. You also are not focused on a grid the whole time, you can have grid based combat, but there are a lot of "off the grid" moments where the board game variants are typically all on the grid.

They are both fun, are similar and related, but differ in a pretty fundamental way.

u/Shylocv · 11 pointsr/DMAcademy

100% watch the Matt Colville series sticked at the top. The first few walk you through making a simple adventure and the hooks for such but I would recommend (as does he) using a module, in particular, the Starter Set that you can get for about $13.

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468749875&sr=1-1&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+starter+set

The included module The Lost Mine of Phandelver is an excellent starting point. Even if you decide not to run the module itself, the town of Phandalin is an excellent starting town to repurpose and reskin. The easiest way to make content on the fly is have modules and pre-made things like this that you can adapt to your setting.

As far as improvising goes, it takes some time to develop those muscles. When you have a solid outline ready like that in the module, it's easier to improvise because you have context and a backbone to pull from. In that module there is a patrol of Hobgoblins that can appear at a certain point but if your players wander off track or get stuck with what to do, suddenly they hear the unmistakable sounds of a rowdy warband crashing through the woods filled with the whoops and excitement of victory. Never be afraid to move things around. You know the map and where they should be but the players don't. If they miss a big, fun encounter, pivot it around and put it somewhere else.

Nothing I just said isn't covered in Colville's videos, I really recommend them.

u/crunchym8 · 1 pointr/leagueoflegends

It depends on how much you want to get into it. If you and your group can settle down for a few hours and play, then it can be more fun than any board game on the market. However, it has some steep requirements- Namely, the price of the books and learning the rules.

There is a 5th edition starter set on amazon for fairly cheap. Here it is. If you can convince your friends to play and convince another to take the legendarily daunting mantle of "Dungeon Master" (Or become the Dungeon Master yourself) then you can have a lot of fun, and this can let you know if you're gonna enjoy it. It's all you need to play D&D in it's simplest form.

If you like the starter set, the only books you NEED to play the full version of D&D are the Monster Manual and Player's Handbook, just make sure you're getting the ones for 5th edition, because there are multiple iterations from different editions. Dungeon Master's Guide, while not required, can help you in creating an amazing story and campaign that your players will love.

After that, it's just branching out, seeing what you like and don't like about D&D, and learning from others. If you're into it, go to r/DnD - We're a good lot of folk who have numerous tools to help newer players.

u/feasibleTwig · 1 pointr/DungeonsAndDragons

Hi. So I don't really have the time to sit an talk with you (I'm in EU and going to sleep soon). But I'll try to point you in the right direction for information to get started.

So first off, if you really have no idea what D&D is I'd suggest watching some youtube videos. There are videos of people explaining the basic concepts and videos of groups playing which can be quite entertaining and will help you get a grasp of how the game works. In particular I'd recommend the "Acquisitions Incorporated" live shows.

So amusing you now understand the basic idea and want to get a game going with your friends here's what you need. you can get the 5th edition basic rules for free on the D&D website. 5th edition is the latest edition and I'd recommend it for new players. Don't feel like you need to read the entire thing or memorise the rules, just get a feel for it.

For your DM I would personally recommend the 5th edition starter set. It's only 20 bucks (your group could pitch in together making it like 5 each) and is designed specifically for new players and new DMs. It has everything you need to run a game; a story module for the DM to run, a set of dice, several pre-made character sheets for you and the other players to use, and a paper copy of the basic rules. It will be able to explain most of the answers to the questions you have, and if not feel free to come back here and ask more specific questions and I'm sure people will be happy to help.

If you have more questions now feel free to ask me now. Otherwise I hope this was helpful and good luck on your new adventure :)

u/Baby_Griffin · 2 pointsr/DnD

you just fucking decided to get into dnd. and who are these fuckers to tell you when and how to dnd? fck em. this is how you start: buy these. Then go pick up these: Phb it's at the lowest price ever right now, so be quick. and then this (also cheaper right now, you're really lucky) and this (also on sale. man, you are a lucky 3 striker) would be good too. that will give you enough gaming material for everything you need for atleast the next 5 years of dnd. i know its alot of money if you count it up and when you only have highschool-kid-budget especially, but its worth it. you basically keep them forever. if that all is too much, get some dice and the basic rules for the Players and the rules for the Dungeon Master for free.

Now go watch these:

WebDm > more on their channel aswell.

Matt Colville

Matthew Mercer

You should be a party of 4 players and 1 Dm, in the best case. perfect size group. there are bigger and smaller groups but thats a good start for group size in the beginning. since you asked how to play, you will probably be the Dm. thats a good thing.

No group or friends to play with? try online play with roll20.net, fantasy grounds or use the r/lfg subreddit to find people interested to play in your area. just be aware of the typical stranger danger of the internet .

If you need anything else, ask away.

u/TrendingCommenterBot · 1 pointr/TrendingReddits

/r/gametales

✣ Top Posts of All-Time ✣


Tabletop | Video Games | Stories | LARP


✣ Top Posts of Last 30 Days ✣


Tabletop | Video Games | Stories | LARP


About This Subreddit##


Epic sagas, dastardly backstabbing and emergent metagaming. This subreddit is not about describing prescribed game plots. It is a place to recount unexpected, significant, or humorous events that have happened in-game. Creative problem solving. Unexpected interactions. Sweet revenge.

Both computer gaming stories and pen & paper RPG stories are welcome here.

You may also like…###


Tabletop game event stories


4chan's Traditional Games - Some of our top rated tabletop stories are from 4chan

funnydndstories.com - Collection of stories from D&D and roleplaying sessions

/r/DnDGreentext > Great RPG Stories
\> In the greentext style
\> Mostly

Thisisnotatrueending Giant /tg/ archive. (Use the options on the left and tags to search)

/r/rpghorrorstories - Tales of things going terribly wrong around the tabletop

Video game event stories


/r/storiesofwar - Heroic gaming war stories with an emphasis on FPS games

Let's Play Archive - Video game playthroughs in a huge variety of formats and styles

/r/creepygaming - The creepy, unintentional things that can happen in video games

Creative writing


/r/LifeasanNPC - Stories written from the perspective of computer controlled characters

/r/3d6 - Help tabletop gamers to create interesting characters

Reddit-based text adventures


/r/WayfarersPub - Reddit's online tavern for player characters to meet and interact

/r/YouEnterADungeon - Group adventure writing featuring lengthy descriptive posts

/r/textventures - A more concise version of the above. Old school text adventures, against a real person

Rules##


  • Include the game name at the start of your title:

    [EVE Online] One of the biggest scams ever

    [Dwarf Fortress] A dwarf with an agenda

  • It may help readers if you can explain any specialist terminology that is in your story

  • After posting, please flair your post

  • This is a place for readers - TLDRs are discouraged

  • Supportive comments that add nothing to the conversation are encouraged!


    Post and User Flair##


    'Story' flair vs. 'Tabletop' or 'Video Game' flair Most tales explain the game mechanics or refer to the game and players. 'Story' flair is for tales written as a narrative account - if a post reads as if it's from a novel and you cannot tell it's a game, then it's a 'Story'.

    User Flair You may choose a suggested flair or edit your own flair.

    These tabletop RPG tales are great - how do I get into it?##


    Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is a cost-effective introduction to the well-received latest edition of the archetypal RPG (Free PDFs)

    Pathfinder is a modification and extension of D&D 3.5. The Pathfinder Beginner Box is widely regarded as a great RPG introduction.

    If you find it hard to get 3+ people around a table for a session, Roll20 is the place to play online. If you need players to join you there, visit r/roll20lfg


    ★ Weekly Tale Topic ★###

    In the past, we ran a feature asking for suggestions for community contributions around a theme:

    List of Weekly Tale Topics


    *****
    ^(Bot created by /u​ /el_loke - )^Feedback

u/iscariot · 6 pointsr/origami

Really anything will work at first, but it is a lot more rewarding to use decent paper. I've found Tant to be a great compromise between price and quality; here's where I got mine.

As for instructions, it really depends what you're interested in making.

I would recommend YouTube videos since you're just starting out; it will pretty much eliminate the confusion that comes along with diagrams and crease patterns.

Sara Adams has a great channel, as does Jo Nakashima. There are a bunch more, but those two are what I remember off the top of my head.

Just searching around I found one for a hummingbird - I haven't folded it or watched it before, but it looks decent.

I almost exclusively fold tessellations; I'm not sure if that would interest you or not. Shuzo Fujimoto's Hydrangea might be a good place to start. Or Eric Gjerde's Tiled Hexagons, which is a more traditional tessellations, although it isn't diagrammed as well here as in his book (which you should definitely get if you are at all interested in tessellations).

u/Durithill · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Adults are just outdated children.

Firstly, my honest answer. Right now, the thing that would make me the happiest to receive would be this. The story behind this is that the game came out on Tuesday. They announced ahead of time that only 1,000 copies of the limited edition were going to be made, so I stayed up all night in order to buy it when the listing went up. Well it did, I added it to my cart, then I went to hit buy, and it said the item couldn't be shipped to my address (even though it was a legitimate US address) and removed it. Then when I went back to try and buy it again, they were all sold out. Tons of other people also had similar problems, along with problems like not shipping to foreign countries and not limiting it to one per person. The company then basically just said they were sold out, never admitted they fucked up, and were like "Thanks for supporting us! See you next time!" So it was basically just a giant middle finger after spending all the time and effort. I really want the game though, 'cause the series looks interesting and it would be a great way to get into it. Plus the limited edition comes with a case for the PS Vita, which I need since I don't have one. The worst part about the whole thing was that I HAD it, and then they fucked up and took it from me. :\

But I know that's a completely unreasonable item, given the price, lol. So other than that, the item I think would probably make me the happiest would be the D&D Monster Manual. I know it's a pre-order, but I'm pretty excited for it. I've been playing D&D for a looooong time (like 10 years maybe?) and with the newest edition of D&D out now things are starting to get fresh again. Especially after the disaster that was the last edition. I already bought the Player's Handbook, and there's a lot of improvements to the game. It looks like they actually took into mind what all the players wanted with this one, and this edition of D&D will be pretty much the edition for a while instead of being splintered like it had before. So I'm excited to get my hands on the books so I can see and play with all the neat monsters and creatures like dragons and raggamoffyns.

u/Th3bigM00se · 1 pointr/DungeonsAndDragons

The starter set is pretty good to start out with (as advertised). If you enjoy it then I would def say get a copy of the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual. As for figures, there is nothing saying you need figures, a lot of people use paper figures for a while. However if you want actual figures there are a few options. You can always look for what you want on amazon or miniature market, if you are looking for pre-painted, however this can get pretty pricey. Now you can also buy figures unpainted (which is what I do) for pretty cheap. If you leave them unpainted then the cost is really low, however painting figures is another hobby all together and can start to get pricey depending on paints and other supplies.

​

If you don't have a selection of figures yet and need specific things for your game, then Reaper Miniatures is a good place to start. They have a large selection of plastic figures that are pretty cheap plus you can pick and choose what you get. They have metal versions of many of the figures but these are more expensive and probably not worth it if you are just trying out the figure part of the game. Another relatively cheap rout to go for figures is the line of WizKids Unpainted figures. They are more expensive than the Reaper plastic figures however they are a bit higher quality plastic and are monsters straight from the Monster Manual. If you want custom figures than Hero Forge is a great option. However these are pretty pricey for people just stating out as even their cheapest option is still going to run you about $40 USD just for one figure. The other option you have is getting booster packs like this. They come with 4 pre-painted figures but are not a good choice if you need something specific for your current game.

​

I know this was a long post but I hope it answered your questions and gave you a good starting point. If you have any questions let me know. Been playing for about 15 years.

u/DnDYetti · 4 pointsr/DnD

> 1) what do you recomend to do?

I'd personally start with 5e, because it is a much more simplified system that allows for more aspects of role-playing, which is great for everyone - especially new players.

A nice start for new groups to DnD is a starter set. Here is a link to buy a starter set which comes with a 64-page adventure pre-made module book, a 32-page rule-book for playing characters level 1–5, 5 pregenerated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice. If you are playing 5e, you need the 5e books - the 3.5 books won't work for 5e, they are completely different games due to additional information added over each new edition.

I'd also recommend that you all sit down together in the same room, hook up a computer to a TV in the room, and watch some good DnD games to figure out what role-playing means, how DM's look in action, and how the game runs overall. Shows such as Critical-Role, or Acquisitions Incorporated are amazing.

Here is the playlsit for Critical Role on Youtube:

u/nargonian · 1 pointr/DnD

Here is a link one many agree is the best starter set and it is cheap in comparison to many other ones out there.

Besides that, there is The Players Handbook. Which is the only book I would say is a necessity for playing dnd (even being a dm) as it goes over all the rules and mechanics and gives you a lot of classes and races to work with. After that there is Xanathars Guide to Everything and the Monster Manual that are good starts to expanding your knowledge and options when playing or creating a DND world

If you are looking for good things to watch in your free time to improve your knowledge and get new ideas, I like Dungeon Dudes or Critical Role. Both are on Youtube and provide lots of good material to work with.

Then (shameless plug) I actually have a website that does in-depth analysis on many dungeon and dragons items such as mechanics, spells, and races that go into their strengths lore and other stuff. So check it out! It's called wizardofthetavern. If you have any other questions feel free to message me I will be more than happy to help you out!

u/NonWashableGamer · 1 pointr/DnD

Few things you can try -

Check your LGS (Local Game Store) and see if on their events list they have an Adventurer League. My brother in law recently started going with his daughter on a weekly basis and have been having a good time!

Local Game Stores also sometimes have bulletin boards where people will old school place notices if they're trying to put together a group to play at the store or at someones house. Requires a bit of an outgoing and adventurous attitude since you'll be sitting down to play with strangers.

If you don't have a lot of time you can check subreddits like /r/lfg (Looking For Group) as there are people who are regularly trying to put together games. Most these will be online using platforms like Roll20 so its easier to gather a group.

I know it can be daunting but the other option is to grab a Starter Kit which are very affordable compared to the core books but will still allow you and some friends to play!

Sad reality is that games can be hard to find because players far outnumber us DMs. So sometimes the only option new players have to get a group together is to take a stab at being DM. Contrary to what some people think you can start playing with nothing more than the starter kit, some notebooks, writing utensils and, some dice. The kit will give you a module you can run right out of the box. If your spouse is up to trying grab another friend or two give everyone some beer and explore some D&D together! Might not be everyone's bag but it can't hurt to see.

Running your first game seems daunting but like most things it always seems worse than it really is, best part is if you're playing with all new people they know exactly as much as you do, so you'll all be learning together!

Hopefully this helps a little and if you have questions feel free to ask! Always happy to help!

u/Prestidigitationaddi · 2 pointsr/DnD

Let's break it down:

Get your feet wet for (almost) FREE
Basic rules online or to download. Like a mini Player's Handbook but with fewer classes and races.
A character sheet. Or another character sheet.
(not free) A set of dice, pencil, paper.

Ohh, that was fun, I want more!
Player's Handbook
More dice
A miniature of your character

Totally optional for a player:
The Dungeon Master's Guide has a few more options for characters, but is mostly insight into building adventures and campaigns. The Monster Manual is great if you want to learn about what you will face. But don't buy them yet. Go play, have fun, make friends.

And if you win the lottery, buy a Geek Chic table to play on.

u/LBriar · 2 pointsr/rpg

By Starter Kit, I'm guessing you mean this? If so, it's going to have an adventure along with the rules and whatnot, as well as pregenerated characters for you to pick from. The adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, also has lots of advice for whomever's GMing the game. It is, after all, a starter set for them as well :)

For a more complete game, you'll need to drop some doss on the holy trinity - Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual. All in, around $100 new, a bit less used. The PHB is going to outline most of what you need to run the game - character creation (all the options for races and classes and spells and whatnot), the rules for task resolution and combat, equipment, spells, and a lot of miscellaneous bits and bobs. The Monster Manual has a bunch of monsters in it, without which it'd be pretty boring to roam the world. The DMG is sort of a catch-all of everything else - magic items, extra/alternate rules, and a lot of generally helpful advice about things like what to do when the players go off the beaten path and designing worlds and campaigns. While it's helpful, I'd say it's the least crucial of the three to actually playing the game.

There's also a bunch of adventures and campaigns, published by both Wizards of the Coast and third party publishers. You might check some of those at as a good starting point for your adventures. While it's probably not as fun as making everything up yourselves, it'll be handy to play for awhile with the safety net of "here's what comes next" laid out in print.

You might check out Geek & Sundary's Critical Role, which is actual D&D being played by actual overly attractive people in a manner which is both fun and informative. Matthew Colville's channel has a lot of really great advice for people just starting out, especially related to running the game.

Hopefully that answered some of your questions. If you have anything specific, toss it out and I'll see if I can answer it.

u/steeljack · 24 pointsr/videos

I'd start with the most recent edition of D&D. Wizards did a good job streamlining how things work. If you have a group you could convince to play, there's a starter box that you can pick up from most game stores for ~$20 (or amazon for $13, but I'd encourage you to support your local game shop) that contains the basic rules, an adventure book, all the dice you'll need, and five premade characters (though the rule booklet has character creation rules in it if you wanted to roll up your own, iirc). The adventure you get lasts you a few sessions at least (I'd guess around 4 or 5, depending on how focused y'all stay), so you'd be able to get a pretty good idea if a) you actually enjoy tabletop rpg (it's not for everyone, and there's nothing wrong with that) and b) if you like D&D5e's rules

u/kalas_malarious · 7 pointsr/gamedev

Are you looking for how to make games? Not just programming, but actually make them? I have some suggestions, but they often aren't about programming. There is a million books about programming, but finding those that talk about the ideas and ways to successively improve is a better point to start from.

  • The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
  • Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games
  • Kobold Guide to Board Game Design

    Making video games is easy. Put the pitchfork down and let me explain. Anyone can open unity and load some assets and call it a game. Making good games is difficult, and even if you are not looking at card/board games, you should be prepared to test your game on paper. It is easier to make iterative improvement if you can look for mechanical and mathematical issues by scrawling some notes on paper cards.

    For a book that covers both programming and game design, I also suggest this one.

    These books will cover the psychology, the pitfalls, etc that come with making a game. You do not need a class to make a game portfolio. You can often get things done faster by a book, because it's goal is to teach as you read, not set a timer for 15 weeks. It can assume you will do it over 26 weeks or more if the book is huge.

    Anyway, this is a much larger reply than I intended. Hopefully these are informative. If nothing else, they are significantly cheaper than a class.
u/BBQ_HaX0r · 0 pointsr/soccer

That's like saying "I hate multiplication. Remember when all we had to do was add?" New and better stats help us better understand the game around us. It's laughably absurd if you want to discount them and look only at 'fantasy stats' which are incredibly misleading and are situational based more often than not. That's on you. You may not like it, but there are interesting ways to learn about the game and think about the game that provide value.

If you're actually interested in learning I can recommend this book. It's an easy and simple read that will help you better understand the sport you're watching. This book is a little dated, but it's still pretty good and helpful.

u/Heyydin · 2 pointsr/DnD

To my knowledge, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 5e is here for a while. I know there is a new version of Pathfinder in the works but I'm not too sure when.


I'm not sure where you were looking, but for all 3 core books it's not even $90.
r/https://smile.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1540259805&sr=8-3&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+5th+edition&dpID=51Vm6tYknZL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch




Also, for the DM, you would need the DMG first, PHB second, and MM third. Here are my reasons:


DMG - For learning tips on DMing 5e as well as being full of useful info to create adventures, this I would say get first.
PHB - Help see what spells your players have and what each class does. Helpful for you to learn more about 5e.
MM - While an AMAZING resource full of monsters, it can be a lot when you are picking what to initially throw at your characters. You can google most monsters and it'll help split the cost up.


As for that starter set: My players loved it. You, especially for your previous experience, could make the Starter set work for probably a few months. You can also find adventures for free or at low costs on dmsguild.com

u/CarpeCapra · 2 pointsr/chess

Here are some things that many people do to improve:

  • Read books targeted to your level. For beginners, I'd recommend Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move and others like it.
  • Play lots of chess! Any time control is good, but the longer the game, the more you can think, and the better you'll play.
  • Analyze your games - especially your losses. See what kinds of mistakes you're making, and use that to identify where you need more work. Falling for an opening trap? Learn one or two openings as white and as black. Dropping pieces to simple tactics? Do some Puzzle Rush on chess.com.
  • Look at games by top players, especially those that follow openings you play. Try to find annotated games so you have a guide through the complications. This is really helpful for problems like "I don't know how to make a plan in this position"
  • Try to "guess the move" when playing through games of other people. If you don't guess correctly, try to see a) if your move is also good, b) if their move is better, and c) if there is a refutation to your idea.
  • And finally, for many players, it is psychologically difficult to play a worse position or against an opponent to whom you feel like an underdog. Many amateur players, once they've made a small mistake, collapse completely. One of the biggest differences between the good and the great is the tenacity to play any position as best as you can.

    I hope all this helps, and welcome to the chess world!
u/brother_bean · 1 pointr/DnD

I'll make a couple suggestions. The first is this video series. This is a great rundown of the game and how it works and it really helped me understand how to play. It will take you an hour or two to get through the videos but it's so worth it. I would recommend having your players watch the first 10 minute video before they show up for the first session or watch it as a group once you're all together (not the whole series, just the intro video.) This will give them an idea of what D&D is all about and what to expect, at least a little bit.

The second resource I'm going to recommend is the D&D Starter Set. This contains a great first adventure for you to run as a DM, as well as pregenerated characters to use and one set of dice. The adventure that the set comes with is The Lost Mine of Phandelver and it literally walks you through everything as you start to DM. It will tell you what to do and hold your hand as you get off the ground. The first session is sort of a tutorial session for you as DM and for the players.

I'd recommend getting some extra dice for your players as well so everyone can play with their own set. If you watch those videos and start off with the Starter Set you should be good to go.

u/Hornbingle · 2 pointsr/DnD
  1. Learn the rules. Not memorized to the last detail, but enough to know what spells you may know, when to cast them, when to attack, how much damage you do, and so on. There's an official Players' Handbook if you're willing to pay about 30$ for a copy. One of the other players may have one they're willing to share, or another one of your friends. If you don't want to spend the money and you don't have friends with one, there's a free pdf with most of the rules, but it has less variety of characters, races, and classes. The Players' Handbook (often abbreviated to PHB) has all of the canon ones.

  2. Make a character that you like playing as. You can be anything you want to be. ANYTHING. However you want the character to act, that's how they act. How you play one day may be different from another day, but that's all part of your character growing up. Just be sure that your character doesn't have a jarring change all at once. A religious, uptight Paladin doesn't change to a shameless flirt in a day, see what I mean.

  3. You're there to have fun. So are the other people at the table. You want everybody to enjoy themselves so that you can enjoy yourself. It's a game, not the end of the world. Be yourself and watch the fun happen.

    When in doubt, go to Google or YouTube or some place and search "What to know for a new D&D player" or something like that. The Internet is a beautiful place.

    TL;DR: Learn the rules, play a character who you want to play as, and remember that it's just a game.
u/UnfortunateTruths · 2 pointsr/boardgames

If you're interested in D&D, the starter set for the newest edition is a great deal. It's only 15 dollars here on Amazon. It comes with a guide to get you through level 5, a set of dice, pregenerated characters, and a premade adventure for you to run. It's definitely worth a look.

If you're worried about complexity though, my favorite game to pick up and run with newbies is Savage Worlds. It is 9 dollars right now on Amazon for the entire rulebook. You'd just need a set of dice. Its focus is, "Fast, furious, and fun," and it does it pretty well. The best part is that it's only 150 pages or so instead of the hundreds upon hundreds that most people use for D&D.

Either way, I'd encourage dropping by /r/rpg if you're at all interested. The community is super helpful and there are countless RPGs out there that are tons of fun to run and play.

u/TheMarshmallow · 5 pointsr/chess

If you're a beginner My System probably isn't the book you should be reading. Its aimed at much more advanced players (the r/chess faq puts it in the 1800-2000 rating bracket). Thats not to say you wouldn't learn anything, but there are almost certainly much more fundamental errors in your chess play and a lot of things Nimzowitsch will presume you are already familiar with will go over your head.


As for a good book to help, I'd recommend checking out Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev.


Endgame study is good, but I've seen a lot of beginners argue that being good at the endgame doesn't matter so much if the game is practically lost before you get there. Because of that I suggest you start with learning opening principles (control the centre, develop pieces, castling, don't move one piece too many times etc). There's plenty of stuff out there on this; if you really enjoy JBs videos then he talks about common opening mistakes a fair bit in his early "Climbing the Ratings Ladder" series, notably the under 1000 and 1000-1200 videos.

Note I don't recommend studying openings too much at this point, just the opening principles / ideas. Once you're familiar with those, move on to becoming comfortable with some standard endgames ( King+Queen vs King, King + Rook vs King, King + Pawn vs King)

As for watching John's game videos, I argue that if you're enjoying them then it doesn't matter too much if it's not the most efficient use of your time. Chess is about having fun, there's not much point to playing if you don't enjoy it.

Make sure you're focusing on his thought process and reasoning behind making the move rather than what the move actually is. Take time to pause the video in critical situations and think about what move you would make (similar to what Mato Jelic does in his videos) and then resume and see if you're right, or if he plays a different move again focus on his though process and reasoning behind it (i.e. why did you decide not to play that move whilst he did).

The most important thing when you're a beginner is to play lots and analyse your games. Once you know the opening principles and basic endgames, you should be spending most of your time playing and analysing your games (WITHOUT a computer).

u/Bummer420 · 3 pointsr/DnD

I think the starter set would be good. I'm a very new player/DM and it gave me an adventure to run with my friends, who also had no experience playing. It was a lot of fun.

As for the math, it's really not terrible difficult, mainly just simple addition and subtraction, which would be great for the kids IMHO.

I plan on getting my two year old into D&D ASAP personally. It's something that both her mom and I enjoy so it's something she can be involved in, and the math part, as I stated before, is pretty simple. Just have them add the modifiers and you tell them the outcome, there is no need for them to remember everything.

Now, if you're asking which edition to go for, 5e is probably the easiest for new players to understand (also it's the most recent edition, with the DM Guide having come out online only 3 days ago).

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418417769&sr=8-1&keywords=starter+set+dnd

That's the link to buy the starter set on Amazon. It's very fairly priced. Give it a try, I'm sure you and your kids will love it. If not, it'll give you somewhat of a base to build your own world that your kids will love. :)