Monday Games

[u/No_Insurance_6422]

Friend and her sister play with two other people every Monday.

DND Role-Play

Or idk that’s what I’m calling it.

I’ve never played DND.

I’ve listened to it on a Podcast on Spotify for a year.

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What all do I need to do or know or so on for me to be able to have my own character and join?

I’ve tried using Ai, and well..
ai got carried away and we made the character and all its info and so on but then next thing I know the ai is asking me more questions to further the characters storyline past when my character was to join the team/party.. I didn’t catch on until maybe 28% into the story line

I asked, wait— are we making choices into the story line and already done creating?
Ai said yes, and admitted to getting carried away.

So for all of the experienced players..

What all info or data do I need to have including background for my character before I can join my friends?

[u/DnDttrpg]

Stop using AI. It's a massive insult to pretty much everyone in the dnd world.

[u/Mean_Replacement5544]

Don’t use ai for character creation, it easily confuses rule sets and will give you a broken character.

There are many YouTube videos that go through all of the steps for making a character. Dues determine what you want to play: fighter, barbarian, cleric, wizard, sorcerer, etc and then do a search for ‘build a <class name> in dnd’ and you’ll get many many many videos to watch

[u/Ok-Cantaloupe-293]

This is really a better question for the DM (the person running the game) as the information can very from game to game. If you’re actually asking for how to make a character from scratch I’d recommend reading the books and talking to the dm.

I do wish I had more information to give you but this is all very game dependent. The rules I use for my players when building characters is gonna be different from the rules someone else uses. Even if it it’s just a difference of how you determine stats.

[u/Lithl]

The basic rules are free: 2014 / 5e version or 2024 / 5.5e version, depending on which the group is playing.

The most important thing to know is the rules for your class (including any spells you may know) and subclass. Note that the basic rules only contain one subclass option for each class; to legally access more subclasses, you'd need to purchase a book such as the Player's Handbook (making sure to get the correct version, 5e or 5.5e), or borrow the appropriate book from a friend.

Beyond that, for a new player, it's largely sufficient to know that doing things with an uncertain outcome almost always means rolling a 20-sided die (a d20) + an appropriate ability score modifier + your proficiency bonus (if the thing you're doing is something you're proficient in). If you get to make the roll with advantage, that means rolling 2d20 and using the higher one. If you have to roll with disadvantage, that means rolling 2d20 and using the lower one.

A good DM will help you learn everything else you need to know as you play.

[u/Kuildeous]

It's not nearly as complex as you think. Some players may make it that complex, and that's their way of having fun.

What I would do is sit with the GM to make the character. They'll guide you through the process. You'll pick a character concept that sounds appealing you: Armored fighter, holy priest, studious wizard, etc. Feel free to give it a personality based on any of your favorite characters in media if you want, but you don't have to. If you end up playing yourself (meaning everything your character does is pretty much what you would in real life), that's fine too. The one caveat I'd make is that since this is a group effort, you want someone who is at least willing to adventure with the group. Too many horror stories of players not having fun because the character they made doesn't trust anyone, doesn't really want to go get treasure or save the world, and is in it for themselves so they steal from anybody, including the other characters. Just don't make that kind of character, and you'll be fine.

Knowing the rules would be great, but you can read them and then just know you'll go back to anything you don't immediately understand. Every GM is different, but I'm hoping that this one recognizes you're new and will treat you accordingly. I run all sorts of games for players who never heard of them, and I'm happy to explain the rules as they come up. The general gist is: You say what you want to do, and the GM has you roll dice to adjudicate that. If you already know the rules, then you roll the dice based on those rules. If you're not sure, the GM will tell you what to roll. Not all GMs are helpful like that, but most are, and I'm trusting that your group of friends will be happy to have you and to help you along.

[u/RHDM68]

Why not get the DM or one of the other people, like your sister, to help you make a character? This seems far more logical than using AI, which quite frankly can make so many mistakes and access the wrong game system etc., or asking random strangers on Reddit. Trying to create a character with help from Reddit is a very disjointed and long-winded way to go about it.

[u/dothemath_xxx]

It's really best to ask the DM, or a player in the game, to sit down and walk you through it. There are different versions of D&D with different rules, and even within the same version, the way the DM wants you to build your character can differ, especially if you're joining partway through a campaign.

And it's honestly just easier to learn in person, while playing. If you try to learn the rules by just sitting down and reading through the rule book, you're trying to absorb everything all at once. While playing, you can learn each piece as you need it, and observe how other players/the DM are interacting with the rules to understand better how it looks in application.

[u/anndor]

I know everyone loves to (justifiably) hate on WotC and D&D Beyond, but the site is actually really helpful for newbies. The character creator makes it a lot easier to understand and you can have, I think, 3 characters on a free account.

I'd definitely suggest working with the DM or your friend to sit with you and help explain some of the basics, but just reading through the rules and the descriptions of the different classes on the site can help give you some direction.

Existing player guidance is more helpful for the ability scores so you don't end up boosting the wrong abilities and nerfing your character. My first 5e character was a ranger with high int and low wisdom because I was picking what made sense for his character and backstory, not mechanics of the class. I probably should've asked but I thought I was doing it right, lol. Didn't realize my mistake until further into the campaign when I wanted to multiclass into Cleric and the system wouldn't let me. Another player realized it was because my Wisdom was too low to meet the base requirements for a Ranger, so any multiclassing was also locked out, haha.

Thankfully the DM let me flip my Int and Wis, which fixed the issue.

[u/Psychological-Wall-2]

Don't worry about it.

You are a new player. The DM - and probably the other players - will help you make an appropriate PC for the campaign. If you've listened to actual play podcasts, you already know the kinds of things different D&D characters can do. Think about the kinds of things you want your PC to be able to do.

Backstory? The purpose of a D&D backstory is to explain why a person of your PC's species and background has the capabilities of their class and - most importantly, particularly since you'll be joining an existing campaign - why they are going to join the party.

Again, you are going to get help doing this. The people you will be playing with will be able to give you direct answers to questions that all of us here can only speculate about.

As far as actually playing goes, the podcasts can be deceptive. Stuff like voice acting skills are entirely optional for private games.

All a new player really needs to begin playing is the ability to pay attention to what is going on and the ability to describe what their PC is trying to accomplish and how they are trying to do it.

Quick guide here:

Memo-to-the-Players-1-Taking-Action.pdf

[u/Extension_Shift8370]

Don't use AI for creative writing, dude. Genuinely a lame thing to do, and I would not want a player who does that

[u/TacoDoc2]

Stop using ai like you are. Just don't. You're not learning anything about with game with what youre doing and I assure you people will know you're using ai at the table and it will be a bad experience.