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9 months ago ::
Sep 09, 2012 - 11:44PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Aug 29, 2012
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My wife and I are both very new to D&D. I've played two games, and she joined our group on the second. The guys we were playing with are distinctly not interested in 5e. That's cool, this isn't about edition wars, but to quote Mike Mearls on the Gencon Keynote panel, "... D&D Next, at the end of the day is D&D." I have expectations of things D&D Next based on technology that simply did not exist when even 4e was published, but that is for other threads.
- My wife and I have dice, we do not have token sets or miniatures. No play mats or sets of anything else. There is a "Beginner's Box" offered by 'some other company' on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KPv80QsBfI that looks pretty much like what we would need to really playtest 5e if I got the box and set aside the books. Does that make sense? Is there a WotC version of this? I would prefer to throw money at WotC if that is what will help me get to the point of playtesting 5e, but throwing out the other company's books and using the resources in the box appears the most straightforward way to get token/ miniatures and a battle mat. A 'win' for me is if I knew what used "Beginner's Box" for 3.5e I could purchase off eBay so I would have the 3.5e books plus hardware for the 3.5e group I just started with, but it looks like "Redbox" skipped the 3.5e release. I'm really new at all this, please forgive my ignorance. But if I could buy that other company's Beginner's Box with the 3.5 ruleset, and if the hardware in that "Beginner's Box" was enough for me to go through 5e testing without wondering what to do, I would be very happy. Of course, if anyone has ideas on how I could get just the hardware cheap, that beats searching for freebie tokens and taping together grid paper to make up the Blingdenstone Adventure included in the packet.
- I believe I am up to learning multiple rulesets and that the differences are not so much they would be a problem for me. I'm quite sure the 3.5 guys in the group will prevent me from exercising any 5e rules that do not apply. I don't know how big a deal this will be for my wife, however. Are the differences between the 3.5e and 5e rulesets so different that it would cause problems for someone just learning the game?
- There is a joke that ends with the punchline, "Oh, you can wear whatever you want, 'cause it's just going to be you and me!" Not only are my wife and I both learning the game fresh, at the moment it looks like it will be just the two of us. Would anyone have resources on strategies for a GM running a PC with one other PC? Is it possible for us to run our 'upgraded' Sorc and Druid... no druids yet... Fighter? Is it possible for me to actually have this thing work in a way that we can both learn, enjoy, and help test 5e as n00bs without having more pain than any realistic gain?
Thank you for considering how I can get the hardware resources to participate in this playtest, and what strategy I can use for a "Just you and me" game with my wife.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 6:41AM
#2
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Go here to sign up for playtesting and download the packet.
http://wizards.com/DnD/DnDNext.aspx
Its a bit spare at the moment since this is early testing but I bet the R&D guys would love input from completely fresh/new players.
There is no Beginner's Box or Redbox for Next as its not even close to publication yet.
Hope that helps.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 6:58AM
#3
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Date Joined:
May 31, 2008
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Tokens/minis shouldn't be required for 5e... one of the design goals is that combat can easily be run in a "theater of the mind" style (basically, you imagine what happens). Dunno about the best options if you did want to use them, but the game doesn't require them.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 8:09AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 16, 2008
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You might try looking for a group already playtesting 5e. I know gaming stores usually have at least some idea of how to find a group if there isn't a regular group at the store. You might also look online, though I don't know the best sites for that. This would solve the problem of only having one player. Otherwise I'd suggest letting her run multiple characters at the same time. I know that is usually a bad idea for a first timer, but the way 5e looks right now, I doubt it'd be possible to run with only one character, I'd say you need at least 3 or 4.
As for the differences between editions... It shouldn't cause too many issues. If you're playing a wizard you have some different types of powers. Skills are pretty different, but it won't be hard to tell them apart for right now. Fighters in 5e have some dfferent mechanics, but again it is just reminding yourself what you can and can't do...
I'd make notes on your character sheets, "in 5e I can do this, but in 3.5 I can't" or something simliar just in case you forget. But like you said, your group should help you differentiate.
Hope I helped a little
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 9:06AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Sep 20, 2010
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- My wife and I have dice, we do not have token sets or miniatures. No play mats or sets of anything else. There is a "Beginner's Box" offered by 'some other company' on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KPv80QsBfI
Don't get the 3.75e(as my players call it) box if you are getting DnD 5e. Though since you said your interested in other systems I won't stop you if you want to do that. Its was written for the 3.5e crowd, because it is a continuation of 3rd it adds more classes and tactics than those used in 3.5e.
If you can find a box that gives you miniatures that would be great, dungeon command could help with this since it has minis. DnD Essentials' Red Box uses tokens but it doesn't come with enough to play a long game.
I suggest using dice, we played using dice for the longest time before I bought tokens and a dry erase game board(paizo made it). Dice are just to visualize where everything is. My DM actually uses graph paper, but it takes too long to pass the map around the table so people know where everyone is.
2. Are the differences between the 3.5e and 5e rulesets so different that it would cause problems for someone just learning the game?
Yes, not this is what my friends have said to me, it is not a generalization. They are ticked off about how skill ranks work now, now you can only train skills or up them +1 every 2 levels. They dislike how Wizards can always cast lvl 0 spells. They dislike how feats are now specialties.
They love backgrounds though. And they do like how fragile their characters are.
Ant Farm
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 3:46PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Aug 29, 2012
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Go here to sign up for playtesting and download the packet.
http://wizards.com/DnD/DnDNext.aspx
Its a bit spare at the moment since this is early testing but I bet the R&D guys would love input from completely fresh/new players.
There is no Beginner's Box or Redbox for Next as its not even close to publication yet.
Hope that helps.
Thank you. I already have the test packet, and my wife is signed up. I think that is part of the problem. I have the expectation of playing the game out the way I see it from the Pathfinder's Beginners Box. I do understand DnD Next is not even close to publication, nevermind having a Beginners Box released. I have it in my mind everyone else has all the goodies of minis and a game board, and perhaps that is not the correct approach, but such is my ignorance of how things ought to work vs. my expectations.
@Koga305, I must apologize. I'm a n00b, and I don't have the practical experience of being with gamers that can help wetnurse me towards doing Theater of the Mind. I wish I were in a 5e group that could help, and I can picture things pretty well such as reading a fictional book passage. Unfortunately, I have to side with Dungeon B___tard as he communicates in his video www.youtube.com/watch?v=6znZ3iLiPD4 and for the same reasons. That is also why I hope on the next playtest packet WotC breaks maps out in a way that I can print them out as battle mats and use them, instead of looking at pages with, "What do I do!? WHAT DO I DO!?!?"
@Chaosmancer, thank you for your suggestions. I'm not sure my wife is going to be up to running multiple characters. We are involved in this to spend time together, as well as to get out of the house and spend time with other people, but D&D as a whole is not quite in her interests. Perhaps as we play she may get the bug. At this time, she doesn't have it. So I want to keep her burden down to a minimum both in terms of what she has to learn and in what she has to manage. We both work full-time jobs, and 'fun' that borders on being 'work' is not so much fun. Fortunately for me, I think our group is willing to accept significantly better aspects of 5e play as long as everyone knows in advance and the GM has approved it and it doesn't unbalance play. I'm very interested in 5e's take on Sorcs with a draconic heritage. But I have to get practical experience on how this all works together.
@DontEatRawHagis you have a bold idea I ought to look at. I don't know if Paizo still makes what you said, but I ought to be able to get a small table size plain dry-erase board, score a 1" grid on it, and I can bring it to Game Night or have for my personal use at home. I can see possibilities with a 'homebrew' battle board, and I can use that for 5e testing.
I'm not entirely certain what my 3.5e group is going to do in the long run, though I'm certain they have no interest in 5e. I can see 5e being released as an app with modules people can purchase, so instead of having a heaving bookshelf of rulebooks and suppliments, I can have it all on a tablet with the means to quick search or the ability to purchase race stats not included in my current bundle. I see an app that will allow me to roll & print up character sheets using what modules I've purchased, something like the current Wizard's Adventure Tool stuff does, only on my app and stored off-line where I can't get WiFi. I see a ton of things that 'might be' with 5e and new available tech that were simply not on the table when 4e was published, nevermind the other editions. I want those things.
The trick is in the getting there. Thank you everyone for your input. I'll see how I can wade through this to be able to contribute to the discussion of 5e.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 4:15PM
#7
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You know what I love? How we bicker and fight, but at the end of the day everyone is nice to the new guy  It really shows that there is a good community beneath it all.
My two copper.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 4:45PM
#8
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You know what I love? How we bicker and fight, but at the end of the day everyone is nice to the new guy It really shows that there is a good community beneath it all.
We don't want to scare the fresh meat, errr... I mean nice new people, away. 
If your looking for a mat or game board to use, any of the D&D map token, things, I forget what they are called and minis can work well for anything. Or go to www.chessex.com/ these guys are the be all and end all of dice but have things like mats. I've been using mine since 2nd editions.
Also, if you want nice minatures, and enjoy painting them, try out www.reapermini.com/, the Dark Legends miniatures. They have great stuff, personally I like Bobby Jackson and Sandra Garrity's stuff the best.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 5:56PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2012
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If you insist on miniatures and maps, you can buy any number of paper miniatures and battle maps from existing companies for relatively cheap, including Paizo, but certainly not limited to them. You certainly don't need them. Hell, that's mostly limited to D&D and it's spin-offs - play a game of most other RPG's and you'll likely not have miniatures at all as most RPG's don't encourage their use. Now, if you do buy other companies minatures and maps, obviously, they will not be specifically for the Caves of Chaos adventure, but you can improvise it - and pardon my boldness and bluntness, but that seems to be your problem here. You feel uncomfortable improvising things. You don't need a 5E group to teach you that, you just need to do it. The more you improvise, like all other skills, the better you get at it. As for it just being you and your wife, and her not being into it, again pardon my boldness/bluntness, but in my experience with female gamers you have one of two situations with female gamers - either the girls want exactly what the guys want out of the D&D experience and actually resent you trying to customize it to a female viewpoint, or you've got the more social gamer on your hands and you're simply mistaking that for "female gamer syndrome"(TM).  What that means is that there are some gamers out there that don't want to murder everyone they meet and take their stuff, it's not a female thing, it's a personality thing, so try adding more social interation (roleplay, less roll-play) to your game and that may rectify everything. If not, she's just likely not one of the few people on the planet that actually enjoy roleplaying games - and that's ok too, it's a niche hobby after all. If she doesn't like it, well she just needs to find her own hobby to indulge in while you indulge in yours.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 10, 2012 - 5:59PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Apr 23, 2005
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First: I think in many ways Theater of the Mind is easier, given a system that supports it. 5e seems to be just such a system. 3e and 4e most definitely are not, maps are pretty much required. At the other extreme is 13th Age (tip: They're having a Kickstarter right now, and if you pledge $50, even if you subsequently cancel your pledge, you get a copy of the beta rules. They're very interesting, I'd almost say required reading for evaluating Next). If you're planning on playing 3e/4e/Pathfinder, the Flip-Mat and a pack of wet-erase pens is definitely a worthwhile investment. Minis, however, are expensive and totally optional. Use dice for enemies--I bought a few packs of d6's from the Dollar Tree to get six each of six colors; by turning each one to a different number I can track 36 individual monsters, which is hard to do with minis. Colored pipe cleaners, cut and made into 1" diameter rings, are great for noting conditions. For PC's or the occasional important NPC or boss, my tip is to find art similar to your character, or use HeroMachine or screenshots from any appropriate video game with customizable characters. Print them out in 1" wide strips with two printouts attached vertically, head to head, with 1" margins below the feet on each side. Fold in half, then fold the margins inward. Tape the margins together so the whole thing makes a triangle when you view it from the side. Then tape a weight (quarters work well) to the base so it stays standing up. Edit: Oh yeah, you had other questions. I wouldn't try to learn two editions at once, it will get confusing. I get confused and I've had years to get used to all the differences. As for one-on-one DMing, I recommend the "Kandi and Pepper" sections of this thread: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
"Edison didn't succeed the first time he invented Benjamin Franklin, either." Albert the Alligator, Walt Kelly's Pogo Sunday BookThe Core Coliseum: test out your 4e builds and fight to the death.
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