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13 months ago ::
May 30, 2012 - 10:49AM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 30, 2012
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I already read the New to D&D topic and well I am going to get the RED BOX, I am really new too D&D but my SON and I are interesting to start learning to play and I think is a great opportunity instead of going to the path of an online MMO, with him.
I have not found a close D&D community from where I live so I just want some pointers on what to get for now, I know I need to get the RED BOX as a start but any recommendation that I can buy will be welcome since I am buying online and I rather get them too.
Also I am reading as far as I can tell and I assume since I will probably be playing most of the time with my Kid , I assume I can be the DM and also a Hero, but I guess I need the red box to start, eventually I hope my kid can get his frienda hooked into it but well as a start I want to learn it so I know how to explain to the rest.
Again any pointers on what to get besides the red box will be welcome.
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13 months ago ::
May 30, 2012 - 12:38PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jun 13, 2010
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The Red Box is a great choice to start 4E D&D. The Dm´s books explain the basic rules in a simple efficient way. There is a player’s book that guides you trough a pseudo adventure to let you know which kind of character your players would like to play. Notice that the players book is not an adventure itself, it´s just an introduction to understand what are the classes, it might be a little misleading to think that it´s an actual adventure if you never played it before.
A suggest you read the Dms book and use the adventure in it for the first time. Also if you guys never played the game, I suggest that you look to someone who knows it a play as a player before you DM, and try to get a few kids besides your own.
The rules provided and the adventure as well is more focused on combat encounters. The tactical part of the game is extremely highlighted in the books, but there must be lots of room for role play and improvisation, it´s not supposed to be only a miniatures/strategy game. That´s why it´s important that you play in someone´s table before you start out, to get the Role playing aspect of the game, and make sure it prevails in the table.
After the red Box you can move the "DMs Kit", along with either "Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms", "Heroes of the Fallen lands", or both for character creation. It´s very easy for younger kids, because it doesn´t have too many choices, and booth books display the most iconic character classes and races. The Rules Compendium is where you find all the Rules you need, along with the Dm´s kit it has all you need to DM. When you finish with the adventure provided in the Dm´s kit, you might want to get the "Monster Vault", to have a larger selection of monsters for your new adventures, as you might want to try creating a few adventures yourself.
I guess with these 4 or 5 books you can play all the way from level 1 to Epic tier without trouble. It´s a pretty solid game, if you have any trouble with it, ask in the forums or look for players. Have fun! =)
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13 months ago ::
May 30, 2012 - 2:11PM
#3
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Date Joined:
May 30, 2012
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I will try and get me more kids  but well if not I will have to be the DM and a character too, so the RED BOX includes a DM book too or should i buy the DM's kit and one of the heroes of"? So basically if I get the: RED BOX DM's kit "Heroes of forgotten kingdoms: Rules Compendium Monster Vaul. will I be all set. I see good prices in amazon, so with that I am set for a long time i assume.
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13 months ago ::
May 30, 2012 - 9:35PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2011
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I recently got into D&D myself and am supposed to be DMing my first game this Sunday.
I sold off most of my Magic the Gather cards a while back and in doing so got a pile of 4e books as part of the deal.
Here is what I got, and am VERY happy with:
DMG 1 & 2
PHB 1 & 2
Adventurer's Vaults 1 &2
Ebberon and Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings and Players Guides.
Monster Vault
Players Hand Book 1 and 2 should be one book in my opinion. They go together very well, and PHB 1 is mising core races and classes, so it feels incomplete to me without PHB 2, which was by design. Even in a pod cast WotC reps talked about how that was doneintensinally, so at least they didn't try and hide that fact.
DMG 1 is filled with tons of great info, and DMG 2 builds on that, offers great advice, and updates skill challenges.
The Monter Vault gives you TONS of monters to play with and tokens to represent them and a bonus adventure for characters of level 4 or 5 +
4e is designed for a party of at least 4 players and ideally 5, although you can scale it down to one or two PCs. The DMG 1 gives you TONS of great info on how to build andscale enoucters up and down as needed.
Amazon has great prices!
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13 months ago ::
May 30, 2012 - 10:45PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2011
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From DMG 1, Page 31:
=======================================
Group Size
This book provides rules and guidelines for running
a group of four to six player characters. If your group
varies from that size, you have some specific issues to
deal with.
Scaling
The general encounter-building rules scale easily
to larger or smaller parties. If you have only three
player characters, use three monsters of their level as
the baseline encounter. If you have seven, use seven
monsters. You should still try for a balance among the
different monster roles (see page 54).
Smaller Than Four
Small groups can’t cover the four basic character roles.
If you have only three player characters, you can do
without a controller or a striker at the cost of a little
damage output. It’s hard to play an effective game with
only two player characters, but you can do it. A striker
with a leader is probably the best. It pairs high damage
output with a tough character who can keep the pair
alive. If you’re running a game for only a single player
character, a defender or leader is best—staying alive
is the most important consideration. See “Building a
Party,” page 10, for more information on character
roles and how to adjust for missing roles.
========================================
I hope that helps as well.
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13 months ago ::
May 31, 2012 - 6:51AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Jun 13, 2010
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I will try and get me more kids but well if not I will have to be the DM and a character too, so the RED BOX includes a DM book too or should i buy the DM's kit and one of the heroes of"?
So basically if I get the:
RED BOX
DM's kit
"Heroes of forgotten kingdoms:
Rules Compendium
Monster Vaul.
will I be all set.
I see good prices in amazon, so with that I am set for a long time i assume.
If you get the Red Box first it has all you need to start out right away, including a Dm´s book. After you play with it for a while, you can move to the other books. In case you buy just one of the heroes books, make sure you buy Heroes of Fallen Lands first, because the most iconic classes/races , (like Fighter Wizard, Cleric, Rogue and Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling) are there. Heroes of Forgotten kingdoms have other classes/ races options, like Druids, Rangers, Paladins and warlocks.
Yes, if you get this package you are good to go, you can play for a long time with this set of books.
But go slowly, get the red box first and then build form it. Good Gaming! =)
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13 months ago ::
May 31, 2012 - 7:01AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jun 13, 2010
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Oh, btw, the boxed sets suggest, Red Box, Dm´s kit and Monsters Vault, all contain tokens that replaces miniatures, along with sets of maps for use with the adventures. All that is contained in the boxes, what is very handy, so you don´t need to worry about buying lot of miniatures. All monsters in MV have their own tokens and stuff.
Then when you finish using the adventures provided in the box (that’s just the beginning of a characters’ career) you might want to try your hand creating your own adventures, and then you might want to buy some extra Tiles Sets. There are many available, like Dungeon Master Tiles Set, the Dungeon, the city and the Wilderness. With those sets you can create your own terrain for the encounters you design.
Cheers.
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13 months ago ::
May 31, 2012 - 8:49AM
#8
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Date Joined:
May 30, 2012
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thanks, well I got all the books call me crazy the total was like buying two new video games for a console so it is cheap. I just will start with the red box and once i get a grasp of it I will move to the other books, I need to digest it first and then explain it to my kid and possible friends. I been playing for a while the boardgame Castle Ravenloft with my kid and we love it, I guess I can use some of the minature figures there too, I am still planning on getting the other boardgames , wrath ashardalon and also legend of drizzit . Becasue meanwhile i learn D&D I can still have fun with my kid with the boardgame since the adventures are fast, they kind of fill like a small intro to D&D, and since the DM is really the boardgame it kinds of gets us ready for at least getting familiar with the classes, monsters etc etc. Unless they are totally different from D&D 4th. Maybe I can also use the tiles from the board games to create the scenarios too.
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13 months ago ::
May 31, 2012 - 2:16PM
#9
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You'll definitely pick the rules up faster having played Castle Ravenloft. I'd suggest getting a DDI sub, even if it's just for a month. Being able to use the character builder to create initial characters will make things a lot easier for you.
If it ends up being just the two of you for your early sessions, use a monster stat block for any companion (instead of a full PC). Something like a pet warhound or a little pseudodragon works well; it doesn't need to be a humanoid.
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13 months ago ::
May 31, 2012 - 2:29PM
#10
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Date Joined:
May 30, 2012
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Thank you , DDI i assume is Dungeon and Dragons Insider correct?
Now I have a question I see that there is also D&D next which I assume it will be the 5th edition, if I start with 4th would it be like going to a void once D&D next gets out or stuff from the 4th edition will be portable?
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