Tips and tricks to playing D&D

What's so brilliant about this games is that it's less about rules and more about using your imagination and driving the world with your input into it. D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) requires role-playing and being put in all kinds of situations and combats that you will play out based on your characteristics and your other companions too.

So how can there be any tips to a role playing game? Well, the main tip would be just to throw yourself into the experience and if something goes wrong because of a misjudgement, the better and more enriched a story will unfold to you. It's important to understand though that there are some lores and rules that help the game run smoothly and that players and dungeon masters agree with how some scenes play out. Players and DMs alike should learn these to take full advantage of the game to get the best outcomes but let's start with the basics to get you into your first campaign.

Deciding your character

When deciding which character you want to play as, you'll need to consider some characteristics and trades. These come in the forms of;

• Class - This represents your characters profession or their role. Examples include a Ranger who is good with a bow and tends to be proficient with nature checks. Another example is a Rouge who tend to be assassins or spies. They are for the players who like to surprise or sneak past foes and are good with dexterity checks.

• Race - What species you are can also help with your kind of play and go hand in hand with Class (if you want it to). A Half-Orc for example tends to be a Barbarian or Warrior due to their size and usual backgrounds in domination and combat. A Race can also mean you know more languages or have a proficiency in dark spaces, each with some different skills to others.

• Background - although backgrounds don't tend to have that much to do with rules, ways of combat or problem solving, they can be important to the role you play. Most Dark Elves tend to be on the side of Chaotic Evils and can be a disruption to your party. Or they may be a more Lawful Evil and instead of disrupt their party, use them for their own higher gains.

Rules of Adventuring

There are also rules to abide by when travelling through the lands created for your party. Most of these will be set out by the DM as the environment and what's in it will be determined by their plans for you. But there are other things that must be considered from the rule book as well.

One of the main rules in D&D taking rests, as most people would usually like a sit down after escaping a cave of giant spiders. A short rest is around a couple of hours for players to stop and collect themselves usually after a fight or between a long journey. In this time your character can recover some of their health equal by rolling as many levels they have achieved with their hit dice die type. A long rest allows a character to fully recover all their health but the DM must agree or give you the option to take this long of a rest as it can last no less than 8 hours.

In 2024, the newest Players Handbook was released and it is a must have if you want to be ready for what your DM throws at you next...