Dear Video Gamers

Hello there and welcome to your new favourite hobby! There may be some things you’ll need to know before playing.

The first thing you’ll probably notice is that the statistics are very similar to any RPG you’ve played in the past, this is because early RPGs are actually based on previous editions of Dungeon and Dragons! If we take a look at the Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L system we will see many parallels to Fifth Edition D&D. There are only 6 stats in D&D compared to the 7 in the Fallout engine and that is the x factor of Luck. Luck is a difficult thing to quantify and account for in a Tabletop RPG as it affects random loot drops but also critical hits, these are both determined by a d20 roll so the statistic becomes an external force rather than an internal one. The other base statistics are pretty self explanatory and run from 1 to 20 (although through magical means can go up to 30). They form the basis for your character’s skills such as deception, sleight of hand or survival. These are found next to your Stats on your character sheet.

The combat system is a little like the turn-based system you’d find in the Final Fantasy series. Each player acts in initiative order and has a choice from a list of set actions. This is referred to as the action economy and limits what a character can do in the 6 seconds that constitute a round of combat. It differs from turn based RPGs in that you get to decide what you are doing as you are about to do it and therefore react to the state of the battlefield.

There are some problems that occur from people coming from video games to tabletop RPGs however and I’m going to show you some ways to avoid these pitfalls and we are going to start with the mechanics. First off DMs don’t write out dialogue trees! NPCs have an agenda and a motivation so how they interact with you is based on who you are and how you treat them. NPCs aren’t vending machines that if you input the correct stimulus they will give you what you want as they are servicing their own objectives or the DM’s storyline. Have this in mind when you are negotiating quests and returning to claim rewards.

Your actions will have tangible consequences in the game world. Extortion, theft and lying can harm you and your party in unexpected ways. In one of my games a person cast suggestion on the Captain of the Guard and got her to give them her sword. The next time they entered town the Guard Captain demanded the return of her Grandfather’s sword, when my PC refused a confrontation took place where the long arm of the law smashed down on my PC. This town is going to be pretty pivotal to the whole story and now the party is on the bad side of the entire town. This is going to make the social aspect a lot harder for them going forward. This leads to an important truth for everyone: Evil doesn’t mean stupid.

Unless expressed by the DM at the start of the story there is no lead character. This means that even though some parts of the story may focus on individual characters the whole story is about the party. Not everything is for you to react to, there are other players around you with different skills. Just consider that those people are also playing alongside you and have put in the same amount of effort or more into their characters as you have. Also, their effort goes to waste if you talk over them and dictate what tasks they should do. This is a collaborative experience that is to be enjoyed by everyone at the table. Using charisma based checks like deception or persuasion on other player characters is a real faux pas because it takes away a player’s agency, I’ve done this before as a player and I regret it… learn from my mistakes!

An important part of the game is role playing and it will be different from the traditional RPG faire that you are used to. This is because of the nuance that you can achieve, responses and questions aren’t your standard good/neutral/evil you’d see in dialogue trees on Mass Effect. You can really make your character a well-rounded person in the game with a unique perspective and motivation, this is where a lot of the fun can be found. Some of my favourite D&D sessions have included little to no combat in them whatsoever. I part-own and run a bar in Waterdeep at the minute as a PC and I’ve dealt with neighbours, vendors and my fellow PCs in game just talking things through. It is fun to be someone else for a few hours a week and everything that that entails.

Finally: You can’t win Dungeon and Dragons. The game is the journey, not the destination.

I hope this helps you make a smooth transition from Solo RPGs to TTRPGs.

May you roll well!