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Apr 20, 2012 -- 2:31PM, Adamrp wrote:

So I've become interested in D&D and had a question regarding the character you create for playing.  Do you continue playing this character through all future games, or do you just use the same one throughout a single campaingn. Or do you have to use a new character with each game/campaign you start?

This is all very variable, so treat my answers as "it's usually like this, but it might be different"!

You usually play the same character as long as the game remains the same "campaign". Exceptions would be if the character dies (and his companions don't get him raised from the dead), or if you just get fed up with a character and want to switch.

If you start a new campaign, it's usual to create new characters. This is far fom universal, though; if you get a steady gaming group and all become long term friends (or maybe were friends before you started gaming together), you might decide to do anything that interested you. Sometimes you might say "remember that old campaign with such-and-such characters? Let's play them in a new campaign!" There is nothing to stop you doing that, if that's what you want to do!

Finally, a word about "organised play". The Encounters seasons I think generally assume you create a new character for each season, but the "Living" games are more like a huge, ongoing "campaign". You have to keep records of what your character gets (which have to be signed off by accredited DMs and so on), but there you can take the same character along to other sessions run by other DMs in the "Living" game system and run them there.

Apr 20, 2012 -- 2:31PM, Adamrp wrote:

If you play the same character, do you also get to keep newly discovered weapons/gold etc that you can bring to other games?

If you can keep the character, then, generally, yes. So, if you are in the same "campaign" (including moving between DMs in a "Living" campaign), then you can keep the treasure and purchases from one session to the next.

The only real "golden rule" is to speak to the DM before the game starts. He or she will be able to tell you what the "table rules" are for what you are about to do.

Apr 26, 2012 -- 5:54PM, Rario wrote:

Is there anything else we need? do we need more players?

Nope - you have everything you need to start with!

A few suggestions:

- Make sure to go to the "Rules Updates" part of the Wizards of the Coast website and download the latest updates. They are free to download, and you might find some differences between the books that you have confusing if, for example, you don't realise that the Players' Handbook has been updated so the rules in the PHB and the Rules Compendium are a bit different. The Updates should make clear what the current rule should be.

- If you are using published adventures (and you will find a freely downloadable copy of "The Keep on the Shadowfell" on the WotC website here, to add to what comes with the DM's box and the Monster Vault) your DM will probably want to "scale" the encounters to the small number of players. Playing with two players and a DM is quite possible, but the published adventures assume a party of 5 characters. Your best bet, here, is to scale the encounters so that only 40% of the experience point worth of monsters are present. This way, the player characters won't get mobbed so hard!

- It's probably an idea to choose player character classes carefully. With a five character party you have some "leeway", but with only two it's possible to get a bit out of balance. Two Wizard characters, for example, may struggle to overcome all the challenges they meet. A Defender (Fighter or Paladin) and either a Controller (Wizard) or Striker (Rogue, Ranger or Warlock) would probably work fine. Leaders (Clerics and Warlords) generally need more characters as allies to be fully effective, but a multiclass into one of these might work well.

In general, though, take it easy and try to really grok the rules as you use them, and you should be fine and will find that it gets easier and easier until you are forgetting the real world and just having a rollicking good time!