DM's, What are your Do's and Dont's for New Players? #1

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D&D players, what way did you use a "useless" spell in a good way? #2
D&D Players, What was your best "Wait...what?!" moment?
What's the biggest mind-f**k you've seen during a DND campaign?
What's your worst loot stories?
What's the saddest death that you have ever encountered while playing D&D?
What's the funniest way you spoiled a important plot element in your campaign?
DND players, what was your funniest “rolled a 1” moment?
DMs, What is a plotline you've always wanted to run?
Ever had another PC kill your character?
DND Players, What is the coolest character you have ever played?
DND players, what was your funniest “nat 20” moment? (r/askreddit)
DND players, what’s your best Stories of Rope? (r/dndstories)
D&D Players, what's the most screwed up thing you've ever done in a game?
What's the worst TPK you've experienced?
D&D Players, what's the most screwed up thing you've ever done in a game?
DND Nope Moments #1
What’s your best Tarrasque story?
What's the funniest thing PC's latched onto?
What is the most unexpected damage you've ever done as a PC or DM?
What is the smallest way your DM has driven home how "evil" a villain is?

[jolteon]

This is more for the DM:

If the new player (whether brand new or new to a multi-session campaign) is enjoying their character, don’t force a TPK because 1-2 other players dislike their characters. It can make the new player be afraid to make a character they’ll get attached to and become a more bland player. I dealt with this with my first real campaign and it made it hard for me to make characters I like for a while because of the fear of a tpk to appease others.

[Raziel]

As it was once said: expecting your D&D session to be like Critical Role is like expecting your sex life to be like porn.

[edamommy]

Don't overthink spell slots! I see a lot of new players rarely touch their levelled spells and stick to cantrips from fear of running out. It's an easy way to lose interest in your PC

[kairos]

One thing I disagree with: established characters are a fantastic way for new players to start. It can really get a player who isn't familiar with roleplay a good place to start. The issue is when people expect their character to do/get things EXACTLY like the established character or when the player expects everyone else to know who their character is and for them to act accordingly. If they keep these things in check, I think starting as a character they know from something they like is actually great.

[sarahcoleman]

Listening to these reminds me of the two times I was introduced to DnD. Yes, I was introduced twice. Because, as you'll see, the first time was wrong.

My first DM was a narcissist, like clinically. Mentally and emotionally manipulative, and abusive.
1 - He told me what kind of character "would be best" for me; a halfling rogue/thief. Irl, I was a goody-two-shoes church girl, and no, that doesn't mean I had some repressed desire to be "the bad girl".
2 - He never let us know any of the rules and discouraged us from looking them up, because "I'm making my own world, so it'll just confuse you." Mostly so that when he changed up the rules we didn't protest too much.
3 - He had decided what direction he wanted our characters to take and pushed us toward it. Like, retrospectively, I'm pretty sure he was pushing my rogue to be a follower/minion of Loth and wanted me to betray the party/client.
4 - If we weren't headed in the direction he wanted us to go he would throw impossible obstacles in our path. Oh, you don't want to go to this Doom Tower of Evil? You want to explore the abandoned city? I'm sorry, you only have two paths, the Tower or this courtyard where a level 17 Minotaur is roaming. Are you sure you want to stay out here and chance being attacked by that Minotaur?

It was almost 10 years later before I tried DnD again. My second set of DMs, yes, there are two who share the role, one prepping a campaign while the other one runs theirs. They followed pretty much all the "dos" on this video.
- Talking to the party about what kind of campaign we ALL want to run. When I discovered one campaign we were trying out would involve slavery (Viking based) and I expressed discomfort with that, they were like "that's legit" and we started something new.
- DM sat down with me to figure out my first character, optimizing it so that I wouldn't have a crappy character and could enjoy the game. She turned out to be a badass Tank who could smash through walls and race dragons.
- They continue to be patient and help me to remember how certain mechanics work. (like I can't seem to wrap my head around the spell system, and I forget how my paladin spells work.)
- They let me develop my character how I feel comfortable, which is to let it develop organically as the campaign progresses. Like my current character, a Noble Dragonborn Paladin was going to be an elegant lady who smashed things for the Good of the People. I ended up being Scorpia from Netflix's She-ra, a bonafide Her-bo.
- They're down for the Rule of Cool, but you still have to roll to see if it works. They don't try to cheat the rules because they want this or that to happen.

I've been playing with this group for probably 10 years and 8 campaigns and they are my best friends. I'm glad I gave DnD a second shot.

[BlackAssassin]

This is one I personally go by.

DO NOT make a character based off you. You can make a character based off what you like and want but don't base it off you. D&D can be a pretty unforgiving game at times and even if your DM isn't trying to get you killed there's still a possibility. If a character based of you dies...it's going to be a lot harder to process.

On the topic of character death:
When you suffer character death for the first time it's ok to be frustrated, it's ok to cry. Just don't take it out on the table or the DM. Everyone has suffered this at some point and they know the pain. If you need to step away just let someone know and do so. It can be hard, but that doesn't mean you're alone in the pain.

[sniclops]

Some good tips for creating your character
DO
- Make a character that you would be comfortable playing as. Don't feel like you have to be forced to play one thing or another. (However, it is always good to have a balance of players (DPS, tank, healers) if you are in a combat-heavy campaign with tough monsters)
- Add some bits of backstory to your character, but also leave some room to be flexible in your storytelling. I have seen many examples of players trying to cram every bit of their backstory into a campaign that just doesn't quite work for them, and it can lead to a lack of realism in their roleplay. Instead, add a few things here and there and let the story flow from there. Many fantastic D&D players (such as Critical Role, Dimension 20, etc.) have even stated in tweets and interviews that most of their backstory gets added in as the result of an unscripted joke or conversation that happened in the middle of a session.
- Speak to your DM about any ideas or themes they may want to see in the story. Speak to your fellow players and see if you can confidently weave your backstory into some of theirs (Players who are native to the location you start at could be close friends or bitter rivals, a player could stumble upon another player lost in the woods and take them under their wing as a fellow traveler, etc.). Just don't try to be too invasive, of course. Discuss with the other players if they're cool with it.
- *TAKE. NOTES.* Is is important to keep a notepad on you at all times to record things. Locations, NPCs, any information that your character would know about the world around them. This helps preventing the common issue of everyone forgetting everything.

DON'T
- Make a combat coward. Your flaws that you play out in roleplaying should be separate from your combat effectiveness. Don't make a character that will sit in a corner during combat and do jack squat other than cry about wanting to be home again. It's a major issue in parts of the community, and it can lead to a quick TPK. No matter what, in combat, you should be using all your spells/attacks that you have. Heck, even if you're a pacifist, you can just grapple the creature and let one of your teammates finish the job. *Make yourself useful.* On the other side of the spectrum, also try to avoid making a murder hobo. Don't just go around killing everything that moves. D&D is a story with consequences, it's not a simple video game.
- Be afraid to try something new. As the video stated, casters and martials are two very different fighting styles, and both have their perks and disadvantages. Don't be overwhelmed by having to keep a spell list. Playing something like a Cleric or a Paladin will give you the simplicity of the martial classes, while also letting you dip your toes into spellcasting by giving you a couple abilities.

And of course, as always, have fun! Not every campaign will work out the way you hoped for, but that's just D&D for you. Everyone is still trying to learn new things, and everyone had to start at the beginning. Don't feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the scale of D&D. You will get the hang of it surprisingly quickly.

[paulbarnett]

(As DM) Do: Ask for clarification and feel free to debate with a ruling you disagree with.
Don't: Continue arguing and tell the DM why you're rolling after the dice is in your hand. No you can't tell the other players everything about this town you just stepped foot into the first time because you rolled a 'nat 20'.

[fetteraga]

Critical role and like: you have a professional DM, running a group of handpicked, professional voice actors. All of which get a paycheck for showing up to the session.

Average PUG: a guy who had less than 2 hours to prep an adventure, a group of friends, and the occasional extra recruited from the local gamestore. Half of which can't make it this week.

[_Spex_]

Here's a good do: Be creative with what you do. Think outside the box! Play with more brain than brawn! Even take risks! Good DMs love you playing smart

[Ailieorz]

DO: Be bold, speak up and have a go
DON'T: worry about doing the 'wrong' thing, wrong does not exist in D&D. The best story moments often come from things not going right or to plan

[eros]

A lot of good advice in this vid. Mine will repeat many of them.

Players
Do take notes.
Do ask about the lore if its a homebrew world, DMs love it.
Do read what your character can do, it will help you roleplay, bonus if you act in lore how your character can do that, example Wizard just doesnt jot down two new spells he has been practicing them to try to learn them during his level.
Do speak with the other players to bond as a party
Always have a motivation for why your character is adventuring.

Dont interrupt other players RPing if you can.
Dont show up late.
Dont muderhobo.


DMs
Do not get discouraged if players quit. It is normal for people to come and go until you have a good player group.
Do keep a document with all your ideas on it. i use OneNote (Dont split your notes amoungst multiple programs if you can avoid it.)
Do have Overarching quests, main quests, personalized player quests and side quests.
Do keep a list of common names for inevitable improv.

Dont homebrew your first session. I mean it. It is tempting and you have so many good ideas thats great, write them down and save them for the next campaign. run a module. even a short one. it is a way for you to hone your skills and see things you might have overlooked.
Dont give up.

[gluttonusrex]

As a new player who haven't played yet, I really like this series

[midjelly]

Allow for interesting backstories. I almost stopped playing cause my one dm refused to let me play a racist character. I had an elf who hated dwarves and the dwarf in our party tried killing the elf constantly. Meanwhile my elf dudnt hate the dwarf but just wanted nothing to do with him but pledged to not push any views and work with them. That was a weakness I wanted my elf to work through but the dwarf was kinda fitting into the stereotype of a dwarf and tried forcing him to stop being racist. You dont just pull a gun on someone who's racist.

[kaseymathew]

It's not my first character, but I'm playing with my first sorcerer. Here's a little tip I've come up with for it: add page numbers in your spell list so you can look up exactly what each spell does.

[khaicoleman]

Got to the video before the notification popped up on my phone. Get rekt YouTube

[mahalamiller]

I have three Do's that I give to new players:
1. This is a cooperative game. Please make sure your character works well with a group. It's more fun for you and everyone else if you all work together.
2. Adventuring is a business. You're going to get hired by people. Please be hirable. There's wiggle room of course, but attacking or insulting questgivers is a surefire way not to get the adventure.
3. Build a character that is mentally stable enough to handle the rigors of adventuring. Adventurers see some weird or awful stuff. If the character constantly has to be picked up by the teammates and talked into the job it's less fun for everyone.

[legendsofabhaile]

Man D&D Is therapy and I'll die on that hill.

[admpandora]

I'm actually curious what it'd be like playing a character that keeps saying "I'm not EVER goin' on no adventure. I'm just going to ask the wizard over there what it'll take to fix the farmhand's broken leg." and ends up on an epic quest while denying that any quest was ever undertaken.

[cosmoniums]

I would like to actually refute the point at 3:47. Dnd has been shown to actually work similar to therapy, due to it being a safe place where you can be and potentially work out issues with the help of those you trust. But this approach is best left until you have a good grasp of the group and know everyone else is on board.