Table of Contents
General Gameplay
What is Dungeons and Dragons?
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop roleplaying game where players create characters and embark on adventures in a fantasy world, guided by a Dungeon Master (DM). The game combines storytelling, strategy, and dice-based mechanics to resolve actions and outcomes. Players work together to explore, solve puzzles, battle monsters, and progress through an evolving narrative, all while developing their characters through experience and imagination. It's a collaborative experience that allows for endless creativity and shared storytelling.
Dungeons & Dragons is more than just a game—it's a shared, collaborative storytelling experience where imagination knows no bounds. Each session unfolds like a chapter or episode in an epic saga, with the player's choices shaping the course of the adventures. The Dungeon Master crafts or borrows the world, bringing to life its characters, dangers, and mysteries, while the players breathe life into their heroes, each with unique abilities, backstories, personalities and quirks. Whether delving into ancient ruins, negotiating with powerful Liches, or unraveling intricate political intrigues, Dungeons and Dragons offers a rich tapestry of experiences where camaraderie and creativity means survival. It's a journey where every roll of the dice can lead to triumph or disaster, making every moment unpredictable and thrilling.
The Role of the Dungeon Master
The Dungeon Master acts as referee, enforcer of the rules, and storyteller. They describe the world your character inhabits, as well as the events that take place in it. Combined with several available resources, the Dungeon Master can often present visual and audible aids to assist in the storytelling experience and emotional investment in the characters - good Dungeon Masters know how to invoke an emotional response! Dungeon Masters (Often simply referred to as "DMs") will also likely use additional resources, such as world and area maps, hand-drawn diagrams, miniatures, and even props!
In addition to their role as the game's narrator and rule enforcer, a skilled Dungeon Master weaves together the threads of the players' actions to create a living, breathing world. They adapt to the unpredictable nature of player decisions, improvising and adjusting the story to maintain a seamless and engaging experience. Through vivid descriptions and well-timed reveals, they can evoke a sense of wonder, fear, joy, or sorrow, making the game an emotionally rich experience. The best DMs foster a collaborative environment where the players feel like their actions truly matter, guiding the story while encouraging creativity and ensuring that every session is memorable.
The Role of the Player
During gameplay, scenarios and roleplaying opportunities for your character will occur. Immerse yourself into your character - make narrative choices you think they'd make, acting out their mannerisms! All you have to do is make decisions for yourself, interact with the world and the people in it, and assist the members of your party in overcoming challenges and obstacles throughout the story - at its core, Dungeons and Dragons is a team-based roleplaying game, with each player needing to rely on the skills of their party members - and vice versa - in order to survive.
Make sure to follow any "House Rules" your DM might have in place, as they usually dictate some type of expected conduct during the game. If you have any questions or concerns during gameplay, bring them up privately with your Dungeon Master, and try to avoid disrupting gameplay if you can help it.
Sequence of Play
Basic gameplay flow can be summarized into several small steps:
Your Dungeon Master describes the scenes, events, and environments the characters are in. These descriptions usually include considerable detail to help the player "paint a mental picture" without the use of visual aids.
Along with your party members, your character(s) collectively choose a course of action based on the information provided. You will roleplay - or "act" - out the scene as though you were that character.
When an action requires the use of dice (DM discretion), relevant dice are rolled, with the result compared to a target number, known as a Difficulty Check (DC). Abilities your characters have can be applied to modify the result of the role. The number and type of dice used by DnD 5e are located in the right sidebar.
The Dungeon Master uses narrative to describe what happens as a result of the die roll (Cycling back to step 1). Depending on whether your roll meets the target DC, you either succeed or fail at your attempted action.
Example of Play
Dungeon Master (DM): The air in the ancient crypt is thick with dust, and the flickering light from your torches casts long, eerie shadows on the walls. Ahead, you see a heavy stone door, slightly ajar, with a faint blue glow seeping through the crack. You hear the distant sound of chanting in a language you don't understand, echoing through the dark corridor. What do you do?
Player 1: I cautiously approach the door and try to peer inside, holding my axe at the ready. I want to see if I can identify where the chanting is coming from.
DM: Alright, give me a Perception check.
(Player rolls a d20.)
Player 1: I rolled a 15, plus my Perception modifier of 2—that’s a 17.
DM: With a 17, you carefully peek through the crack and see a large chamber beyond. The blue glow is coming from a circle of runes etched into the floor, and in the center, a robed figure is kneeling, chanting in a low, ominous voice. Surrounding him are four skeletons, armed with rusted swords, standing guard. They haven't noticed you yet. What do you want to do?
Notice how the gameplay is cyclical - the DM presents a scenario and you act according to your wishes as that character. Rolls may or may not be applied to all situations.
The Basics
Character Abilities
During all of your experiences with DnD 5e, you will be called upon to roll a d20 (a 20-sided die, "Icosahedron"), combining the result of your roll with any modifiers that are drawn directly from your character's ability scores. The ability score used is determined by what you wish to accomplish! The six Core Abilities are listed below, along with what actions they may govern or what Classes use them as their primary Ability.
Strength
The Strength ability governs any action that requires raw, physical capability, such as holding a door shut against an enemy, scaling a cliff, or lifting a boulder off the ground. Fighters and Barbarians utilize Strength to be effective in Combat.
Dexterity
The Dexterity ability governs any action that involves having to be agile, balanced, reactive, or poised. Such actions may include walking a tightrope, dodging a Fireball, or catching a comrade before they fall. Monks and Rogues utilize Dexterity to maneuver swiftly in Combat.
Constitution
The Constitution ability governs any action that involves having endurance, vitality, or health. Actions that involve Constitution may include resisting a poison's effects, postponing the onset of inebriation, or running long distances to catch your prey. Barbarians, Fighters, and Clerics utilize Constitution to remain hardy and tough for the most difficult of combats.
IMPORTANT: A higher Constitution results in having higher Hit Point totals.
Intelligence
The Intelligence ability governs any action that invokes the need for mental acuity, memory recall, or analytical skill. Actions that involve Intelligence might be recalling a conversation overheard in a bar a month back, or committing a treasure map to memory. Wizards utilize Intelligence to power their spells and Arcane capabilities.
Wisdom
The Wisdom ability governs any action that involves intuition and your perceptiveness of the world around you. Actions that involve Wisdom might be peering into someone's motives or actions, spotting a hidden detail about your environment, or concocting a poultice for a wound. Clerics and Druids rely on Wisdom to fuel their powers of Nature and the Divine.
Charisma
The Charisma ability governs any action that requires forcing your willpower onto others. Actions that involve Charisma might be attempting to charm a guard into letting you enter a restricted area, performing a musical number to sway the hearts of patrons, or resisting the lure of a silver-tongued conversationalist. Paladins, Bards, and Sorcerers utilize Charisma to fuel their powers of will.
Ability Checks
An ability check comes into play when your Dungeon Master deems it necessary, which is when your character takes an action that has a certain degree of failure. As the book states, "when an outcome is uncertain, the dice determine the results" (please refer to the House Rules for clarification on this).
When making an Ability Check, your result is compared to a Difficulty Class (very commonly referred to as "DC" by the DM), which is a static number corresponding to a degree of difficulty. You must meet or exceed this static number to succeed in your chosen task. The tiers of difficulty - as well as examples of such difficulty - are listed below:
Task Difficulty | DC | Example |
|---|---|---|
Very Easy | 5 | Spotting a lit torch in a dark room, recalling the name of a local Inn |
Easy | 10 | Climbing a tree with plenty of branches for footholds |
Medium | 15 | Swimming across a calm river, picking a simple lock |
Hard | 20 | Tracking a party of Goblins through dense woods |
Very Hard | 25 | Spotting a hidden assassin in the crowd, climbing a sheer cliff |
Nearly Impossible | 30 | Lifting a portcullis gate single-handedly |
When the Dungeon Master calls for an Ability Check, it will be associated with the action you are trying to take. When you make an Ability Check you will:
Roll a d20
Add your relevant Ability Score Modifier to the result.
If an Ability Check is a bit more focused in its intent, the DM may call for a relevant Skill Check instead...
Skill Checks
Much like abilities, your character has a set of skills that set them apart from other characters, all of which are drawn from your character's core Ability Scores - the higher an ability score that governs a skill, the greater your affinity for that particular skill. Listed below are the many skills found in DnD 5e, as well as the abilities that govern them:
Strength | Athletics |
|---|---|
Dexterity | Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth |
Constitution | None |
Intelligence | Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, Religion |
Wisdom | Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival |
Charisma | Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion |
When the Dungeon Master calls for a Skill Check, they will specify what skill you are using and (usually) why you are using it. If you are attempting to sneak through a graveyard infested with Ghouls, the DM may call for a Stealth Check, for example. When making a Skill Check you will:
Roll a d20
Add your Skill Modifier to the roll (this number is drawn from your core Ability Score and your Proficiency Bonus, if applicable)
Some Skill Checks require proficiency, in which case, you will add your Proficiency Bonus to your roll.
Tool Checks
Much like Skill checks, your character may have an affinity with a certain kind of tool or supply kit. These tools fulfil many different purposes, often falling within the bounds of Crafting items, but some tools are utilitarian, such as Thieves' Tools. Though the way in which you use the tools will vary, the game mechanics behind them remain the same - all they do is allow you to add your proficiency modifier to your roll result when making a Tool check.
When making a Tool Check, the Ability Score used can vary, as using toolsets don't necessarily fall under a particular Skill. For example, the DM may call upon you to roll a Strength Check to sculpt a statue from stone using Mason's Tools.
You will need to possess a particular toolset to craft certain items; i.e. Carpenter's Tools for building houses, and Alchemist's Supplies for brewing potions.
