D&D Basics (Getting started)

The Absolute Basics

First you will want to grab either the Basic rules (Free), the Starter Set (Cheap), or the Players handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Probably Monster Manual

Then you need to have at least a few items

• Dice (Phone apps will work if absolutely necessary, or these)
  
• Paper & Pencil (for notes)
  
• Character Sheet (In the free PDF or an app)
  
  The starter set is nice because it does a bunch of the work for you, it has an easy to follow adventure, pre-made characters, Dice, and rules for the DM and players. And at half the cost of just the players handbook AND including an adventure, it is an incredible value.
  
  Once you finish that then looking at at least a players handbook for the extra races, classes, backgrounds, and other things is a good deal. That should let you run free adventures people have put online.
  
  The DM's guide will let you get deeper into rules and the right way to call them, break them, and make them.
  
  The monster manual can be a great tool to make better encounters.
  
  If you want to run a commercial adventure after the one's included in the starter set, "Tales from the Yawning Portal" includes the Sunless Citidel, considered by many to be an excellent adventure for those new to the game and just recently brought up from 3.5e into 5e
  
  

  Common Tools of the Trade
  

  
  As you start running more complex adventures you are going to want to have a few tools to keep things moving, either as a player or as a DM.
  
  

  As a Player
  

  
  The bare essentials every players should have are listed above, but most players agree having a few extras can make the game run really quick.
  
  

  Spell Cards
  

  
  These cards have all the spells available for specific classes or from specific books on really well organized cards that make it easy to set aside your prepared spells and quickly reference all the core details.
  
  Cleric, Arcane, Ranger, Druid, Bard, Paladin, Martial Powers and Races, Xanathars Guide to Everything
  
  

  Binders & Sheet Protectors
  

  
  Keeping everything neat and organized can be a huge time saver and make it much easier for you to find what you need. Binders can be a great way to keep your notes and other materials organized. In addition many sheet protectors easily erase dry erase markers making it easy to keep track of spells and other changes without ruining character sheets with constant erasing.
  
  

  As a DM
  

  
  DMs have their work cut out for them. But a few simple tools can make the game run smooth and leave everyone having that much more fun.
  
  

  Index Cards
  

  
  A set of index cards can go a long way to speeding up the game. Players can put details on spells or magic items on them. You can prepare loot for the game ahead of time and hand it out allowing players to look over the gear as the game continues. You can also use them to hide portions of a battle map or commerical map to give the effect of fog of war.
  
  

  Game Mats
  

  
  A game mat let's you make single maps by drawing on them with dry erase or wet erase markers. Many are made of vinyl and can last a long time. Normally they will have either 1" squares or hex shapes.
  
  

  Minitures
  

  
  These things can be expensive, but giving your game that 3D upgrade and helping players better manage space in a game can be well worth it. You can use actual miniatures (Like those from Reaper), Create custom ones on Hero's Forge, or even just buy some cheap stand in tokens from Game Mash.
  
  If you just need a cheap way to keep track of positions army men, bottle caps, colored game pieces, and even legos can all play the role.
  
  No matter what you use, you can pick up colored rubber bands to mark status conditions or other information.
  
  

  Where Can I Play?
  

  
  You can find tons of places to play D&D.
  
  

• Get together a gaming group.
  
• Find a Guild or club in your area. Meetup.com,
  
• Most hobby shops and especially comic book and gaming shops offer games, usually Adventure League. WotC offers a tool to find stores here.
  
• /r/lfg can be a great way to find others to play online with.
  
• Play by Mail sites like RPoL allow you to play by forum post.
  
  

  Also:
  

  
  Critical Role - Voice actors playing DnD, Matt Mercer (The DM) is an amazing Dungeon Master and shows how the game should be played.
  
  Matthew Colville - Amazing videos on being a DM, must watch material for every DM. Even when your opinions differ he gives good reasons and great advice.
  
  

  Compendiums
  

  
  These let you ciew all the free open rules (SRD & Basic Rules) for D&D 5e at no cost.
  
  Roll20 Compendium - Has all the open rules for the game, so a good source for monsters, items, spells, etc.
  
  DnDBeyond - A more official source for the content, plus you can buy all the materials released by WotC to use, and has a great character builder.
  
  

  Adventures & Maps
  

  
  DMsGuild - Tons of free and paid adventures and other materials. The quality can be varying, but many are free and that can be great.
  
  /r/dndmaps/ - What more can they say, D&D Maps.
  
  Mike Schley Makes many of the maps for the D&D Adventures.

Here's a list of resources and products that will help you get started with D&D 4th edition.

Free Resources

The quick start rules are free and cover most of what a player needs to know to play the game, plus a few pregenerated characters; it lacks rules for character creation and advancement, and a few other advanced rules and options, but it's a good resource for those who don't yet own the books. Some additional pregens can be found at DungeonMaster.com.

Some other free resources were posted by /u/Dracoprimus, including a bunch of links to free adventures. Another good free adventure is EN World's Island at the Axis of the World, part of their Zeitgeist adventure path.

Kassoon's 4e crib sheet is a handy reference. Sly Flourish has a DM cheat sheet that can also be quite helpful, though you may have trouble making sense of it without access without a core DM resource.

Core Rules & Content

The following items are those you need to play a more robust campaign or adventure (you could technically get by without some of them, but you will be limited). You can save a few bucks by buying used. Ideally, each player (including the DM) should have a copy of a player resource, but in a pinch the players can share one player book for character creation/advancement, and then get by with the quick start rules linked above. Only the DM needs the DM resources.

• Player resource: Heroes of the Fallen Lands (alternatives/supplements: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, the 4e Player's Handbook)
  
• DM resource: The 4e Dungeon Master's Guide (alternative/supplement: the 4e Rules Compendium)
  
• DM resource: The Monster Vault (buy a new or like-new copy so you can be sure you get all of the included components). You could probably get by without a monster resource if you run published adventures that include monster statblocks, as most do, but if you want to roll your own campaign or improvise, a solid monster resource is recommended.
  
  With those three products, you have everything you need to run a level 1-30 campaign.
  
  You should check out the errata and updates for any books you acquire -- especially the older ones, like the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.
  
  D&D Insider & Extras
  
  A D&DI subscription can substitute for the resources mentioned above to a large extent, and supplement them with tons of content, but reading through online glossary entries and a bunch of scattered articles isn't the best way to learn the rules. I would still recommend getting the core books even if your group has a DDI sub, and a DDI subscription is strictly optional.
  
  There are also many source books that I won't mention here, which include additional character options and content for the players and DM: new races, classes, powers, feats, items, monsters, traps, etc. along with accompanying lore. Personally though, in lieu of buying lots of extra source books for extra character options and monsters, I'd get a DDI sub. It gives you virtually everything published in those books, plus useful tools such as the Character Builder and the Monster Builder. The online compendium is also a much quicker and more convenient reference than a stack of books. I would recommend a D&DI subscription for any active DM or heavy player.
  
  Game Aids
  
  The following items are either necessary or very helpful to running a live, in-person game. If playing online, a virtual tabletop can cover these functions. Roll20 is the easiest virtual tabletop to get started with, and it's in active development. MapTool is a somewhat more robust, but many players have technical issues with it, and its pace of development seems to have slowed.
  
  
• Battle mat: A blank, reusable flip-mat, like the Paizo basic flip-mat, plus some dry- or wet-erase markers. This is a good option for drawing up a quick map on the fly.
  
• Alternative battle mat: A gridded easel pad, which you can get at an office supply store for around $17 for 50 sheets (which will last you a good long time), plus crayons, markers, or colored pens/pencils. This is a good option for either preparing detailed maps before the session, or drawing up a quick map mid-session.
  
• Alternative battle mat: Yet another option for battle maps are poster maps and/or dungeon tiles. An even more upscale option are Dwarven Forge products; those utilizing the sturdy "dwarvenite" material are particularly nice. The DM's Craft YouTube channel has a lot of tutorial videos for creating nice-looking but inexpensive environments.
  
• Dice: You'll need enough dice for everyone. Bulk dice like Chessex Pound O' Dice can be a good way to go. In a pinch, you can get by with a single set of dice shared by the group. At minimum you need one each of the following: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20.
  
• Miniatures, tokens or other character markers: The Monster Vault includes some cardboard tokens. You can make your own tokens, use dollar store plastic soldiers, Pathfinder Pawns standup tokens, buy miniatures of a range of qualities and price points (Reaper minis are nice), or buy products that come with miniatures, like Descent and the D&D Adventure System games. The latter two options are standalone D&D-like board games which also include dungeon tiles. Some miniatures come pre-painted, others are unpainted; note that painting unpainted minis isn't as difficult as you might imagine. In a pinch, you can use coins, bottlecaps or anything else that's a suitable size to represent characters and monsters.
  
• Optional: Pipe cleaners, which can be bent into shapes to denote the corners of zones, or cut into pieces which can be bent into small loops, which can then be hung on miniatures to denote status conditions.
  
• Optional: 3x5 index cards can be handy for initiative tracking, passing notes, or creating power cards or monster statblocks.
  
  Products to Avoid
  
  The following are products that I sometimes see recommended (or would recommend myself) but happen to be overpriced or are not worth it for some other reason.
  
  
• The Monster Manual, and other 4e monster resources published before June 2010. The third Monster Manual was released along with updated math to govern monster attack bonuses, defenses, hp and damage, which was used in subsequent publications. In addition to the math updates, WotC got better at overall monster design as the edition matured. Other than the Monster Vault, some good monster resources include the Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale, the Dark Sun Creature Catalog and Monster Manual III.
  
• The "Red Box" Starter Set. While it would be a fair value at its retail price of $20, it seems to be out of print, which means it's selling at inflated prices. The product itself is mediocre. It provides a fast, but not necessarily good introduction to the game.
  
• The DM's Kit. This is actually a fine product, and contains a DM's Book which is a good substitute for the DMG or Rules Compendium. It also includes a very high quality adventure, the Reavers of Harkenwold. In addition, it comes with DM screen, two double-sided poster maps, and some cardboard punch-out tokens, and a small monster book. Unfortunately, the DM's Kit also appears to be out of print, and at the time of this posting is selling for well over $100 used. It's good, but not that good.

>It's possible that it already exists, of course
Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights are both highly regarded video game recreations of the Dungeons and Dragons rule sets, but they are built on 2nd and 3rd editions, respectively. Dungeons and Dragons Online is also built on a somewhat modified version of the 3rd edition rules.

>I'd like it if someone could tell me what version would be the best to make as a game

4th edition, the current edition of Dungeons and Dragons, is probably your best option. It has a very gentle learning curve, and the mechanics are easy to understand. It also lends itself very well to play on a grid due to its emphasis on tactical combat. In my experience (I'm a software developer), portraying the world in a grid makes things super easy.

>I need someone who know the rules of D&D and can explain them to me

You should consider checking out "Dungeons and Dragons Encounters" at your friendly local game store (link has a search box to find your nearest location). They run hour-long weekly sessions, and provide pre-made characters. It's a very easy way to get acquainted with the game, and they always welcome new players.

The game is a bit big for someone to explain via reddit, but if you feel up to it you could pick up a copy of the Player's Handbook or the "Red Box" starter set.

>I'm not sure if it's legal to make it

Provided that you don't actually use any of Wizards of the Coast's intellectual property, you're fine. Things like "Elves", "Dwarves", "Halflings" and other things from classic fantasy are fair game. Specific things like the names of feats and powers might be a little more dangerous. The easy way to get around this is to make users type the names themselves. If your user has to type "Dragonborn" in a field titled "race", no on could blame you for it.

>With this I must say that my skills are limited, and therefor I won't be able to make it 3D, and I'll only be able to implement a limited AI. The game will be playable online with friends.

You may consider just building a "virtual table top." Essentially it's a program that emulates having your game group (3-6 players and a Dungeon Master) at the table. You need a gridded map, dice, icons to represent characters, and a way to handle character sheets.

There are several very good virtual table top programs in existence, but that shouldn't stop you from building one. I've built one myself (entirely in Javascript), and it was an incredibly fun project.

For miniatures, be warned that the Heroclix and Mage Knight minis, while useable, are mostly larger than the 1" standard width (for a medium character or creature) - this is generally not that big of a problem but if you're going with modular terrain it means they may not fit well, especially along with other miniatures beside them.

Ebay is a good choice for miniatures, especially if you have particular needs for certain things - you want that male elf archer in leather armor, or are you looking for a beholder? You can find and get them there. Here's my favorite seller for these things, shipping is definitely reasonable and the choices are expansive:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/auggest?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

Another option to miniatures are tokens, and they are much, much cheaper. These are small cardboard circles that fit a 1" block as standard size (larger creatures will fill more, of course). The best starter set for this for a DM is the Monster Vault, but there are a ton of others as well. I suggest ebay for these for the most part, there are some that sell them by the sheet and others that sell the full boxed sets. You can get these for characters as well as monsters. Here's a link to the Monster Vault so you can see what you get with it:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Vault-Essential-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786956313/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420725056&sr=8-2&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+Tokens

Cheapest and most versatile "professional looking" option for the map / terrain is a chessex battlemat - make sure you have WET ERASE markers, not dry erase and keep it clean between adventures. Below are links to one of their mats (there are other sizes, just search on amazon) and to some excellent markers:
http://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Role-Playing-Play-Mat/dp/B0015IQO2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724703&sr=8-1&keywords=chessex+mat

http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Vis-A-Vis-Markers-Colored-16078/dp/B00006IFGW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724703&sr=8-9&keywords=chessex+mat

Cheapest option for modular-type terrain would be tiles. These are cardboard "grids" that most often have designs on them and come in different sizes. The best starter set out there is the Dungeon Tiles Master Set - The Dungeon. It has a lot of tiles and is pretty versatile, at least for base grid options like dungeons and general floors. There are a ton of other options for them - again I suggest you look on ebay for these because you can often find used ones that are in perfect shape sold as a set, or even individual tiles if there's something in particular you need. This is the link to the aforementioned base set on amazon so you can see what it has:
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724907&sr=8-1&keywords=dungeon+tiles+master+set

If you want to spend more money and go with something much more dynamic, there are 3-d modular sets ranging from paper to near-stone like quality but they can cost a ton. I have a large set of Dungeonstone (www.dungeonstone.com) that I bring out and always get oo's and ahh's. But they're heavy to carry around a lot, especially if I need the whole set. Another option, that's generally slightly more expensive than dungeonstone is Dwarven Forge. You can look them up - but I only mention this in case you decide to spend more money than you want to at this point. :)

Good luck! I hope this helps.

Lots of great advice here. I'll try not to repeat too much.

Regarding your struggle to describe things, have you tried using tables? If I draw a blank on what a room looks like, I grab a list of 20 or 100 room descriptions and roll some dice.

There's a ton of free ones everywhere, and here is a list of all the tables in the DMG. If you want to really break it down, scroll down to "Dressing and Embelishment" here for 100 floors, 100 walls, 100 ceilings, and much much more. Finally, Table Fables has a bunch of good ones in one neat little package. My copy is filled up with tabs and gets used almost every week.


Regarding your players not engaging in RP, I solved this problem in my game by putting them in situations that they had to act their way out of.

For example, I introduced a lodge run by retired adventurers that have valuable information about monster weaknesses and such. They're just a bunch of old dude who want to drink and relive their glory days all day long; so to apply for membership you had to tell a tale of your most glorious adventures. Whomever told the best tale wins! Even if the RP is cringey, most players will come up with some pretty hilarious stuff and everyone will have a good time.

Another idea is to give them a mission where they have to assume a false identity and deceive someone. Or just make them need to persuade somebody. Royalty or nobility work great for this because they don't care about gold and have bodyguards, so they can't be bribed or intimidated; making the party's only option to engage in some RP.

Another good trick too spice up combat a little is to have your monsters say creepy shit during battle. Little things can go a long way to adding some depth or making a generic orc encounter more memorable.

Lastly, check out r/dmacademy. Super supportive community and tons of great advice.

Good luck!

So, as someone who is relatively new to DMing (started just over a year ago), here's what I'd suggest to make sure you keep your cost down, while still having figures you can slowly replace over time:

---

Starting off, you can get a lot of generic "green-army-men" style fantasy figures for relatively cheap.

• Here's some knights
  
• Here's some skeletons
  
• Here's a random assortment of generic fantasy charcters
  
• Here's some undead
  
• Here's some barbarians that also just make decent random warriors
  
  They're not very expensive and what they lack in quality they make up for with quantity.
  
  ---
  
  The next best solution I have for cheap decent figures is for animals. I've been able to find tubes or tubs of a decent selection of cheap, pre-painted figures at just about every Walgreen's or CVS Pharmacy I've been to. I use these guys for animal encounters, pet companions, and they're especially helpful for my druid.
  
  If you can't find them at your local drugstore IRL, there's plenty of selections you can find online.
  
  
• Here's just an example of some of the tubes you can find.
  
  ---
  
  Now, players understand you can't afford unique figures for every encounter. However, I've noticed that the figures you have stand in for whatever they're fighting can sometimes be distracting, or if you have multiple identical figures it can be confusing knowing which one they're targeting in a battle. A great, cheap solution I've found to this is just using multi-colored generic pawn pieces like from the game "Sorry!". The pieces themselves are so nondescript (other than color) that the players have an easier time projecting the combatant you describe onto them, and the various colors make it easier to track what's going on in a battle, both for the players and DM.
  
  If you can't just salvage an old Sorry game you find lying around you can find packs of the pieces or other generic multi-colored pawns online for very cheap.
  
  
• Multi-colored pawns
  
• Meeples
  
• Sorry Pieces
  
  ---
  
  This last suggestion isn't really about where to find cheap figures, but more to address the reason you said you wanted figures in the first place, to "help the immersion".
  
  You may have heard of the website HeroForge before and it's a great tool for D&D players. It allows you to make very customizable figures for your games. Now, the cost of their cheapest figures are still over $30 for a single figure, so definitely not cheap. However, as a DM, I still regularly use it. I use HeroForge to help design notable NPC's or enemies for my campaign, then save the screenshot of them and post the image in our group chat when the character gets introduced. This is very helpful for a lot of reasons: I get a more solid idea of characters that I was designing in my head, it gives the players a visual and helps with the immersion, and when I DO decide to actually order a character (like, for example, a villain or NPC I know will be reoccurring for many sessions) it becomes a MUCH bigger deal and way more intense.
  I also always recommend that PC's at the very least design their figures on HeroForge for the same reasons.
  
  
• Here's some examples of figures I designed and posted used over the past few months without ever having to spend a dime
  
  ---
  
  I hope these were helpful. I'm still in the process of building my figure collection as well and love to share cool tips or resources I have found while doing so.

> 1) what do you recomend to do?

I'd personally start with 5e, because it is a much more simplified system that allows for more aspects of role-playing, which is great for everyone - especially new players.

A nice start for new groups to DnD is a starter set. Here is a link to buy a starter set which comes with a 64-page adventure pre-made module book, a 32-page rule-book for playing characters level 1–5, 5 pregenerated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice. If you are playing 5e, you need the 5e books - the 3.5 books won't work for 5e, they are completely different games due to additional information added over each new edition.

I'd also recommend that you all sit down together in the same room, hook up a computer to a TV in the room, and watch some good DnD games to figure out what role-playing means, how DM's look in action, and how the game runs overall. Shows such as Critical-Role, or Acquisitions Incorporated are amazing.

Here is the playlsit for Critical Role on Youtube:

• Critical Role
  
  Here are the Acquisitions Incorporated games on Youtube:
  
  
• PAX East 2015
  
  
• PAX East 2014
  
  
• PAX Prime 2015
  
  
• PAX Prime 2014
  
  
• PAX Prime 2013
  
  
• PAX Penny Arcade Celebrity Game 2012
  
  
• PAX Penny Arcade Celebrity Game 2011
  
  
• PAX Penny Arcade Celebrity Game 2010
  
  > 2) what dices do we need to get either way?
  
  You each need a 7 set of DnD dice, and DM's do well to have some extra dice for faster group monster rolls. Plenty of bulk dice sellers on Amazon:
  
  
• Wiz Dice
  
  
• Dave's Dice
  
  
• Easy Roller Dice
  
  > 3) do we need to get board/minutures?
  
  You can if you want, it's a nice visual aid. I'd recommend to use a large table to play around, and then buy some battle mats which can be written on with wet erase markers. Mineratures are all over the place for sale, so just google them. Or if you don't want to spend a ton of money on physical maps, you could use a virutal set-up in an IRL game, like my party does. You can use Roll20 which hosts privtae game rooms with virtual tabletops on which you draw maps into and insert images. Plug a laptop into a huge TV, and boom, you have a giant virtual battle-mat to use during the game!
  
  Tons of other info on the sidebar of this subreddit, or just search the subreddit for other "starting DnD" posts, because there are a ton of them with good info.
  
  

I have found that the [Pathfinder Bestiary Box] (https://www.amazon.com/Paizo-Publishng-Inc-Pathfinder-Pawns/dp/1601255616) offers great value for monster miniatures.

It might be worthwhile to spend a little more on player miniatures, as they are used more frequently. Reaper and some other sites offer a pretty good selection. (Players often buy these for themselves)

A battle mat is a great investment, although you can also use paper.

Sound like you already have the core rule books.

The rest of the game comes from the mental creativity of the players and the DM. Don't worry too much about the physical supplies. You could spend $10,000 and still run a terrible game. You could have nothing but pencil and paper and run an amazing game. I recommend that you just dive in and start playing. Not everything will be perfect, but you will figure things out as they come up.

I fully expect to hear about the flourishing Jeddah D&D scene in the coming months. Good luck and happy gaming.

Some folks will recommend, eBay and similar but I really don't want to get into that. If you do, good luck. I'll point you to some new products instead of used items.

Though not the best deal per figure, the easiest way to get pre-painted figures are from the official D&D and Pathfinder blind boxes. Each ranges from $15 to $17 and each has one "Large" (or "Huge" in the case of the D&D Giants boxes) figure and three "medium" or smaller figs. Overall the painting quality is satisfactory, but not as good as if you painted them by hand with basic wash techniques.

If you want specific single figures, the Reaper Bones figures are competitively priced. Paizo and Wizards both liscence official painted and unpainted figures through Wizkids. Though they are slightly more expensive than Reaper Bones, they also have ones that match the exact appearance of official creatures.

If you want the cheapest price per figure, check out the MtG Arena of the Planewalkers board games (there are currently two plus one expansion released). The figures in here are mostly unpainted but they are lower quality molds than the other things I'm linking here and the bases are larger than 1" diameter. I think they're 1.25".

The Dungeons and Dragons board games are $40-70 depending on the seller and they have official sized unpainted figures. Each has a variety of 40 to 45 figures that are probably 75% medium sized creatures and the rest large, plus some have a single huge sized boss creature. There are currently four of the ones with co-op dungeon delves which also include nice dungeon tiles, plus the latest Assault of the Giants which has "Large" sized giant figures, but is not a dungeon delve and so it has a regular game board that's a map of the sword coast rather than dungeon tiles. The ones I recommend you check out are Wrath of Ashardalon, Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Ravenloft, and The Legend of Drizzt.

The Descent series of board games has really nice detailed figures that look more ferocious than most of the monsters included above. The fit on a 1" grid and the games include 1" grid dungeon tiles too, but they are more expensive than the above D&D board games for a similar concept game with fewer total figures.

D&D Attack Wing figures were very expensive at MSRP because each pack had lots of extra cards, tiles, and tokens for the attack wing game. However, they are as nicely painted as the D&D blind boxes (the chromatic dragons are particularly nice) and the price is falling because they are going out of production and some places are clearing out their inventory -- so keep an eye out. The sets with ground units have standard 1" bases but flying units like dragons have clear bases that do not fit a 1" grid nicely.

The Dungeons and Dragons "Dungeon Command" series of games have somewhat recently gone out of production, but the pre-painted figures were of standard quality for D&D figures and they had large dungeon tiles in each box. They are at the point where they have been out of production long enough that the price has started to rise on amazon and the like, but you might be able to fine them for cheap at smaller retailers and second hand.

2E books are treasures--you are smart to hold on to them.

For the 3E and 4E stuff you are planning on getting rid of, best thing is to ask if there is a kid in your extended family who might want the collection.

You could check to see if amazon offers trade-in value for them. Like here https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-3-5-Players-Handbook/dp/0786962461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483034452&sr=1-1&keywords=Player%27s+handbook+3.5

You see they are offering $13 on an Amazon gift card. It is easy, you just put them in a box and send them in in one large trade-in batch. The book will find its way to someone who needs it eventually, because it still has value.

Many don't offer trade-in, like the 3.0 core rules, but that's because the used market is selling them for a couple of bucks. Nothing to do about that, WOTC's plan was to obsolete some books to resell core line, and they did a good job. There are simply too many in the market for the demand, and it isn't going to pick up for those editions. Probably best to just throw them out--it's sad, but you will probably spend more of your time and gas trying to get them somewhere than they will ever be worth. Content yourself with knowing that there are many, many more copies of them out there than will ever be used.

I personally would go wih Amazon trade-in over eBay selling because it is hassle free, but it all depends on how much you value your time. I would also figure most libraries would determine that since there is a newer edition out, and this is outside their core line anyway, they wouldn't be likely to keep it. Amazon trade-in is just a hassle free way of getting it out into the marketplace, increasing supply for those who want them.

But certainly keep your 2E stuff, unless passing it on to someone you know will love it. It connects and is compatible with 20 years of AD&D material across 10 campaign settings, and is the last of the Gygax style old-school RPGs, so it is something that can never be replaced by the new stuff.

I've got a binder and a small notebook. The binder has all the "ready to go" adventure stuff in it. The notebook contains all the "on the fly" stuff that happens mid-game. I make up NPC extras on the fly, so I jot them down here. Crap my players ask me that I didn't think of til just that moment gets added here too. Until recently, I also used it for initiative tracking (I've just gone magnetic wet-erase strips).

My "on the fly" stuff is later transcribed into my Google Docs if I feel it won't come up again for a bit. If it's super central/important to the current D&D adventure, I'll put it in the binder too, otherwise, I can always flip back a page on my notebook.

I use Google Docs cause it's in the cloud and I can very quickly pull it up on my phone if I need to.

I also have:

• Table Fables book for fast and funny random generation. I seriously recommend this book, it's awesome (and I'm not being paid to advertise it).
  
  
• Mini's for the whole adventure area they're currently in (whether plastic, metal, or paper)
  
  
• I use Pathfinder loot cards for the "cool" loot as giveaways to the players. I either handwrite or print out/cut/glue the stats to the back of the card.
  
  
• All my physical D&D books are also in PDF format on my Google Drive. Carrying a ton of books around is no fun, I take the DMG with me and that's it. At least 50% of my players have their PHB with them if it's really needed. If I need something else, it's on my Drive, grab phone, look up, done.
  
  
• An email draft that I update with how the story progresses. When a current adventure arch of the campaign ends, I email this out to the players as a recap along with how much downtime I'm giving them to do as they please before the next adventure sets in.
  
  
• A messenger bag dedicated to all things D&D that I haul to the game. That way I don't have to empty and refill it between games. Things that need to stay in the bag, stay in the bag in one location.
  
  
  
  Oh, my binder contains the following:
  
  
• Print outs of the monsters for the whole adventure. I'm a graphic designer, so I use InDesign to layout clips of the Monster Manual together on multiple pages to condense the info I need down.
  
  
• Print out of the general adventure/campaign and mini maps (these have enough white space on the pages that I can jot down notes specific to one particular area.
  
  
• A sheet or two of the "cool" treasure I plan on handing out. I mix custom items with WotC items, so having them all listed out together helps me a lot.
  
  
• An excerpt from Volo's Guide to the North for the area since the game I'm currently running is in the Sword Coast region. If I was running a homebrew world, this would be replaced with my own similar notes about the general area and population, etc.
  

Table Fables 1 and Table Fables 2 are a couple pretty awesome books for worldbuilding inspiration. Volume 1 has a bunch of tables with inspiration for loot, magical items, tavern names, festivals and celebrations, etc. Even menu inspiration for what's being served in that tavern you just had to name. Volume 2 has a lot more general world inspiration- villain motives, quests and plot hooks, etc. Kind of like a big collection of writing prompts to get a story moving. They aren't edition-specific or game-specific, so if your friend GMs other fantasy-type games, these would still be relevant.

TL;DR If you want large, vinyl, hexes, and wet erase: look to Chessex. If you want large-ish, laminated, no hexes, and dry erase: look to Pathfinder. I'd say measure your game space first.

The mat you're most likely talking about is the Chessex MEGAMAT.($30) This is by and large the most popular battlemat on the market. It's vinyl, rectangular (3' x 4'), hex reversible, quality make, but it's wet erase. (You'll probs need to buy wet erase markers) This is also the mat I have. Here's my brief critique: it is larger than I have ever needed, though I will admit I have sometimes been encouraged by the mat's size to make a larger battlefield. It's so large that it barely fits on the table, giving my players little room for their papers, making it difficult for me as a DM to quickly access all parts of the map, and making transporting it a minor annoyance. The wet erase is only slightly annoying, but if you're going to be doing a lot of erasing, you'll quickly tire of the rags and water. However, it is very high quality, plenty big, and terrific if you have the right space and table to use it.

A very similar mat is the regular Chessex Battlemat($22) It's smaller (2' x 2'), vinyl, square, high quality, hex reversible, and still wet erase. Really again a great mat that's very similar to the MEGAMAT, just a little less. . . MEGA.

Another large vinyl one more similar to the MEGAMAT is the Wiz Dice Battle Mat.($32) It shares all the same qualities of the MEGAMAT, but owners have claimed that is does not erase quite as nicely. However, it is a clean white mat, rather than the sort of textured beige of the Chessex mats.

Finally, the most viable dry erase mats are the Evolve Skins battlemats($28) which come in white or beige, are not hex reversible, are laminated, are 3' x 2', and seem to not be entirely dry erase. A better choice would probably be the laminated, 2' x 2.5', dry erase, not hex reversible, Pathfinder battlemats.($13)

I'd recommend measuring your game space, prioritizing what you think are the most important qualities, and then comparing these options that I have presented.

Yes and Sly Flourish spends a great deal of time talking about this in his excellent book, The Lazy Dungeon Master.

The problem is if I spend 5 hours designing something that I love dearly and want to spring on my players, by the gods, they are going to go through it and ... that is railroading. Sly talks about how to spend those 5 hours smartly and prep for adventures that are flexible for you and the players and comfortable and enjoyable for you.

Needs? Dice and the PHB.

Wants? Lots of generators, luckily some great ones have been appearing on the app stores for mobile.
I personally love random tables, Table Fables is a great little book I picked up not long ago.
and if you are playing online, pyromancers is a great dungeon creators tool.

The Core books with the alternate cover. It is a little expensive but boy, they look gorgeous!

Metallic dice, they're so nice and make a nice noise when they land

Giant d20. The numbers aren't balanced, but it is a nice way to decorate something with sweet D&D ref

Make your party minis in Hero Forge!

the core rulebook is on Amazon for ~$10 used. That is a good starting point for you guys as well. There are no starting adventures in that book, but I know that there are lots of free adventures avalible online, Here are some free adventures published by the game makers.

I've run the first adventure on that second link before for my gaming club before. It is solid.

Though their selection of characters is pretty limited, I'm a big fan of World Works' stuff: http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?view=catalog&cat_id=2

Their terrain is just fantastic though.

In addition, Wizards has a pretty nice selection of tiles and tokens that tend to be cheaper and more reusable than maps and miniatures. Here's a few of my favorite sets:

-Dungeon tiles

-Forest tiles

-Massive set of monster and character tokens

-The Red Box contains a decent mix of everything for a pretty affordable price

Hope this helps.

> Or am I supposed to just describe the rooms? If I should describe them, what if a fight occurs?

You can absolutely play without a map, it's called theatre of the mind. Usually, the DM keeps track of locations and the players ask things like "How far is the closest monster" or "Am I close enough to hit Y" and so on. It's a little abstracted, but some people like it more than maps-and-miniatures. Personally, as I use maps with line drawings of the locations, I give way more detail in descriptive words than my map contains.


> . My question is how you usually make maps (mainly for dungeons). All I have access to are A4 sheets of paper and a printer for those sheets. The maximum amount of squares I get on those are 8x11, which means that I'll have to use several sheets of paper even for small dungeons.

Honestly not unusual if you're home-printing. Personally, I use a large battle mat about the same size as my table surface. This mat has allowed me to draw out full dungeons in most cases, but it's also the size of a medium dining room table. I also have a smaller square battle mat in case the dungeon is too large or I want a specific subsection or another place included in the same session. For instance, I'll draw the keep they start in on the small mat, and the dungeon they're traveling to on the large mat. Then, the keep-mat can even be used to obscure areas they haven't seen within the dungeon-mat, at least for a time. Fog of war can be handled by not drawing the full area ahead of time, or using something like paper or towels to physically cover the mat.


For both, I use dry erase markers for a simple outline of dungeons (Crosshatch in between-walls places where there is no space to exist, for clarities sake), and might include some basic fluff like rock piles, stalagtites/mites, etc. I also have a bunch of clay and cardboard miniature set pieces I use to accent the maps - barrels, fires, rocks, fountains, statues, etc. These bits are my own make, so there's some time involved, but you can buy premade miniature items to use as well, or just forgo the accents entirely. It's not necessary, I just like it.

My setup looks like this, all-told. (Was before I got the big mat, so this is just the smaller one). This one mat contained an entire wing of a 3-part dungeon, enough for a session and a half or so. The next section was a large labyrinth and is why I now own a larger mat.


> they also includd things only the DM is supposed to read anyway, like Trap Locations or Secrets.

Often there are two maps - a DM version and a clean Player version. Alternatively, googling 'placename dungeon map' will usually find you plenty of cleaned up or player-made versions of maps, sometimes better than what's in the actual module.

> To my knowledge, you always need a map for a fight,

As I said earlier, nope. It's easiest for at least the DM to have a map to mark things on themselves, but you can in fact go 100% mapless, and it works just fine. Just have to be used to it, pretty much. If you're not providing a map for your players, as a new DM I'd say keep your own printed map and some little markers like pennies or dimes to track locations so you can be ready with information. Even just some gridlined paper you can draw out as you go is plenty for your own tracking purposes.

I use a Chessex Play Mat for the bulk of my encounters. It works well for quickly drawing out a smaller dungeon or combat encounter. It's about 20x25 squares.

If I need additional space or need to be creative with my level design, I use Gaming Paper. The grid dimensions are 1 inch squares, so it works perfectly with the play mat. Also the gaming paper is durable enough to use repeatedly if you have a few encounters in the same kind of area, like homes/taverns. You could also glue the gaming paper to something like foam board, and create your own dungeon tiles for cheap.

You can get the mat, a roll of gaming paper, and a set of wet erase markers for around $30 USD.

Hopefully that helps!

There's a 2007 book called The Grand History of the Realms

I haven't seen it myself, but it sounds like it should be a pretty good primer on historical events in/around Faerun. It's not a direct sourcebook, but again sounds like it's full of well organized information for the entirety of the campaign setting through the years.

The best help I've had are from Matthew Colville's Running the Game playlist, which has been incredibly helpful, and also Sly Flourish's Lazy Dungeon Master

But don't feel like you have to listen to all the videos or read/listen to the whole book. Just make sure you prepare enough for the first session which is usually 3 encounters or so and some RP scenes like introducing the player characters. Also, remember the phrase "What do you do?", it's a good prompt to show that you want player input. I like to print all of the monster stat blocks that I could need for that session into one or two convenient pages and have the notes or pages of the adventure I'm running in a binder. Once you have one session you'll have experience to build and reflect on. As long as you keep trying to get better, it's hard to be terrible.

chessex has cheap factory 2nd mats available - usually they have some wobbly lines in the corner or slight discoloration, not a big problem if you are trying to get the most for your money.
those arent dry-erase but are made of vinyl and meant for water-soluble pens. on the plus side a vinyl map will stay in good condition for a long time. on the negative side, if you are clumsy like me using a wet sponge to clear the map at your gaming table might get messy.

i use the [paizo basic mat](http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip- Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319810922&sr=8-5) myself. it is basically laminated thick paper (so if you have someone who works at a place that does lamination for example, you might be able to make your own for even less money), works great using dry-erase markers to write and paper towels to remove writing. i love that its double-sided; on one side i draw the battlefield for the big setpiece fight of the adventure (usually those awesome fights involve more interesting terrain features etc so its good to take my time with it) and use the other side for all the other maps we might need during the session.

If you are interested, check out the preview pages, for example on amazon

The main advice I got from it is spending preparation time on the most important/immediate parts of your adventure while staying flexible (consider 3 possible paths the adventure could continue on). There's some more advice on how to improve your game or make your life as a DM easier, often giving simple tools for it (at least simple steps you could follow to achieve it). The table of contents (shown in the preview on amazon) should give you a good idea on what's included.

I can not check your playlist since I have no spotify account. But here is some of my favorite battle music.

Epic Endboss fights:
Diablo III ~ Reaper of Souls OST - Urzael
Diablo III ~ Reaper of Souls OST - Sehyen Ehvis
Thy Light - The Bridge

If your players are no fans of Naruto, some of the battle songs work surprisingly well:
Kokuten
Kakuzu
Midaregami

Matthew Pablo has some great stuff. Some of my favourite tracks:
Theme of Agrual
The Dark Amulet
The last Encounter
Heroic Demise
Vilified
ArcLight

If you like to go the epic metal direction I can recommend Eldamar and Dreams of Nature. It is bandcamp, so you can listen in to every song and decide if you like it; no idea if the stuff is onspotify:
https://eldamar.bandcamp.com/album/eldamar-dreams-of-nature
https://eldamar.bandcamp.com/album/the-force-of-the-ancient-land
https://eldamar-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/a-dark-forgotten-past

If you like Dungeon Synth, I can recommend Lord Lovidicus, especially some Stuff on Book of Lore - Vol. I


Other stuff to check out:
Incompetech (Royalty Free Music)
In Uchronia
The DnD Soundtrack by Midnight Syndicate - Amazon Link

I buy painted so I just get singles from ebay. The Dungeon Command boxes from amazon are also pretty good value too.

If you want unpainted then Otherworld Miniatures look good to me. You can also get the big boxed D&D board games like the base one, Ravenloft, Legend of Drizzt...etc which are relatively cheap for how many minis you get.

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Roller-Dice-Polyhedral-Dungeons/dp/B00L2N1OVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459210069&sr=8-1&keywords=105+dice

15 full sets of dice, best deal around plus you get a free dice bag which is pretty cool and itself worth ~10$

There are exactly those. You have the Dungeon tile sets and also the Pathfinder Flip mats. The flipmats work just the same for DnD incase you're worried, they're all just one inch squares.

I have bought a couple sets of each and I would suggest investing in the flip mats if you're going to go that route. Take up less space (so easier to store), you can just keep one or two in your bag to bust out at a moment's notice if your players go full steam off the rails. Also I have found the flip-mats at my local brick-and-mortar store before for the same price as Amazon, so I would suggest looking there as well. The tiles are better specifically for dungeons though because you can lay down the tiles as your players explore, allowing you to set the mood a bit better.

That said, I am definitely going to print out OP's tiles and laminate them to add to my flip mats that stay in DnD bag. This sort of thing is what I was looking for before I started to invest in pre-printed things.

Hope this helps anyone looking.

I bought one of these D&D boardgames just for the minis....theres probably a cheaper option but I was happy with what I got. Able to make like 7 or 8 heroes and then some monsters. I think there are two other games very similar so you can check them out to see what they got and if it suits your needs.

http://smile.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Legend-Drizzt-Board/dp/0786958731/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1VR6XPG41K5E1F2BCQ48

Thats nice, but a chessex battlemap is durable and amazing. Not even that expensive. They last years and are well worth the investment. Mine is 10 years old and I'm pretty sure I'll get another decade out of it at least.

If you want to premap out rooms ahead of time instead of drawing on the spot? Get something like this. It's 50 sheets of 24x37, that's a lot of rooms/hallways/buildings to map out. If you do a lot of DMing then they even come in a 4 pack.

Think that is overpriced? Get a roll. The grid isn't exactly an inch, but it's close enough. We're gaming, not trying to land on the moon. It's 34" by 200 feet. That's enough for entire campaigns.

Is 200 feet too much investment for you? 8 bucks gets you 12 feet, that's twice the length of typical wrapping paper (I seem to find 6 feet the norm). Hell, they threw the word "gaming" into the name and seem to have forgotten the 200% price mark up that normally accompanies the term.

Wrapping paper has to be the single most ridiculous way to do D&D. They don't all have grids, and the price is not great. Maybe if it goes on some sort of supersale and you can ensure that it has grids on the other side, go for it, but there's just better sources of grids available out there.

>2.Graph paper: I can just take it with me and thats that. I'm having issues finding large size paper that doesn't have small squares. Also I'm not happy with the idea the party will see the entire map at once.

Is this for a world map or a dungeon/etc? For a dungeon you have your smaller reference map then something like a laminated battlemap and just drawn on that with dry erase markers. Or make your players draw it out and if they aren't accurate ... well... just adds some interesting wrinkles to the adventure. If you go this route I recommend getting a piece of Lexan from Home Depot and put it over the map and draw on that instead. Dry Erase cleans super easy off the Lexan where with the battle maps over time the surface breaks down and it gets dirty and hard to clean.

Well there is miniatures like what Reaper makes that are the standard but alot of people have had luck with finding what is suppose to be like kids toys miniatures and using them as they're exactly getting used in anything that might make them get crushed or broken allowing them to be used and are cheap enough to buy and are usually in bulk.

ebay is a very popular for lots but you don't just get to pick and choose. I recommend looking through walmart or target through the kids isle for like a bucket of miniatures.

https://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-36-Piece-Guardian-Knights-Action/dp/B000YA7FS6/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_21_lp_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FYQSR8BGZ73A86QMY4WE

This is what i am talking about, simple knight minis for about 7 bucks but you get a bunch.

So here's a little list for you.

1. download the basic rules. They're free and you'll be able to see if this is something you want to get into (although I highly recommend you do since it's a lot of fun).
   
2. After you read through basic rules and decided you want to DM get the starter set. It is definitely worth the money since you get a well written introductory adventure (for example all the formatting of dnd adventure books is explained) and a set of dice in a neat box that you can use to store your notes.
   
   

• If you're not into being a dm get the player's guide and later xanathar's guide.
  
• If you want to dm, get the player's handbook and monster manual. Dungeon master's guide is less mandatory since nowadays you can find a billion videos on how to run the game and homebrew your world but it is by no means a bad purchase since it has a ton of stuff inside like ~70 pages of magic items or a lot tables for generating encounters, npcs and a ton of variant rules.
  
• Some other non book things you'll find useful as a dm are the dm screen with a cheat sheet (something like this), either buy the official one or go diy route , a 1 inch (~2,4cm) combat grid (the gaming paper works great since you don't have to take care of it) and if you don't have one yet, a printer (for printing out enemy tokens for the encounters, handouts for players and so on) and a few notebooks for notes.

A bit off topic, but seeing someone who uses erases/rewrites stuff on their character sheet makes me cringe now after I swapped to the below setup.

Brother, buy yourself some cardstock and some sheet protectors and either wet-erase markers with some spray OR dry-erase markers.

Write everything really nice and neat, only write on the sheet when it's a more permanent use, and everything that can change during a session is written on the sheet protector with the marker. I prefer the wet-erase because I can pack up the character sheet between sessions and nothing gets erased, but that's really personal preference.

There is! Grand History of the Realms at least thats the historic stuff. Faiths and pantheons have all the deities. And theres elminster's forgotten realms for other random stuff.

Disclaimer i only own faiths and pantheons but ive heard good things about grand history.

I recently started a campaign and bought a sack of cheap, plastic minis to get our group started. Here's what I found on Amazon: 36 pieces for $7 and they fit my 1"x1" grid maps very well. Link

These are just knights of varying types, but there's enough there for my four PCs (bows for rangers, swords for melee types) and they can tell them apart.

In a pinch they make good stand-ins for monsters too. If you trawl through Amazon, there's plenty of "50 piece plastic skeletons" lots for under $10. They are the quality of little green army men, but they do the job well at a bargain-basement price.

I recommend The World's Largest Dungeon. Conveniently, it's designed to take a full party from 1-20+. Good luck.

This seems like a great idea, any you would recommend to start? I'm thinking about these:

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Legend-Drizzt-Board/dp/0786958731/ref=pd_sim_21_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0786958731&pd_rd_r=T2SA7PY953N0B7VZ00TJ&pd_rd_w=3bmil&pd_rd_wg=U8IoC&psc=1&refRID=T2SA7PY953N0B7VZ00TJ

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Assault-Giants-Standard/dp/B01IDYGXZK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

and maybe this:

https://www.amazon.com/Icons-Realms-Monster-Menagerie-Booster/dp/B01DYGL39I/ref=pd_sim_21_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01DYGL39I&pd_rd_r=350YSXQ3VQQQ1E3GH5P1&pd_rd_w=Bg2l0&pd_rd_wg=m0bK1&psc=1&refRID=350YSXQ3VQQQ1E3GH5P1

So there is an "official" soundtrack for the game released in 2003 and composed by "Midnight Syndicate".

While some of the tunes are helpful I prefer to use a bit more pop/nerd-culture music for my games. I'm currently running a group through Green Ronin's "Dirge of the Damned" during which one of the NPCs sings a "haunting melody" at the end of a play so I played this.

From a PC's perspective I love playing actual music as a Bard. A few years ago I played the following for my friends (during the appropriate moments):

• Countersong
  
• Fascinate
  
• Inspire Courage
  
• Inspire Competence
  
• Suggestion
  
  My Bard died shortly after hitting 7 during a desert adventure but before he was devoured by a sandworm my party asked me for some traveling music.

Playing in your own D&D game solo sounds... unproductive. I would rather play a video game or read a book in that case. There are also several board games in the D&D style (such as Gloomhaven and the D&D board games) that allow for solo play. It plays out kind of like a choose your own adventure story.

Here's what I did.

First, go make your spell cards at this site. Print settings can get a bit wonky, but the cards look cool and the spell lists are fairly complete:

http://www.thegm.org/perramsSpellbook.php

Next, shell out for a cool binder. This one is nice:

http://www.zazzle.com/spell_binder_1_5-127723018411879163

Third, buy a load of page protectors:

http://www.amazon.com/25-Ultra-Pro-Protectors-Baseball/dp/B000PWZU4E

I chose to sort my spells by level and by alpha order. It's been effective thus far.

Finally, get a bunch of Vis a Vis Wet Erase Markers:

http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Vis-A-Vis-Markers-Colored-16078/dp/B00006IFGW

When you prepare spells, you just put a dot on the plastic over that spell. Erase it when you cast.

The only pain so far has be re-alphabetizing spells when I learn new ones. Still, that's a small price to pay for having a literal spellbook at your table.

Edit: Oops! Just realized what sub I'm looking at. Ummm... instead of Perram's spell cards, you could use this one:

http://www.dnditalia.it/pcc

Or just buy this malarkey: http://www.amazon.com/Arcane-Power-Wizard-Cards-Accessory/dp/0786953551/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371571218&sr=1-2&keywords=4th+edition+wizard+power+cards

I've found reading books on the subject like the Lazy DM or watching youtube Channels (Matthew Mercer on Geek & Sundry, Matthew Colville, and How to be a Great GM can help.

GameMastery Flip-Mat is a great solution, and they have themed mats as well.

If you want to go a little more sturdy, I went to OfficeMax, got an 18x24 large format print of a 1" grid, then had it mounted on foam board and then laminated. You could potentially get prints on vinyl too.

I agree with this approach, it easier for everyone to remember. I got a big foam d20 in a Loot Crate a while back and use that for inspiration

You're spot on! If I could recommend something to you that my players ended up loving, I use these for combat

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_1?srs=2603813011&ie=UTF8&qid=1498758217&sr=8-1&keywords=tile

They're fun, I have the fields and villages set(I think that's what they're called. There's a very specific tile with a small pond on it and my players insist I set the pond up every time they do combat so that they can throw enemies into the pond upon death.

It looks like all the sets aren't on Amazon but I'm fairly sure they have most of them at Barnes & Noble. That's where I got mine

Depends on how much you want to spend/how fancy you want to start off with. My first set was pulled from a set from Amazon (which is out of stock, but there are lots of others that sell the same thing). My second set was from D20 Collective, which had a nice set of Hedronix dice. My third set was a gift of Kraken Dice, which I am currently using until my new Die Hard Dice set comes in.

​

In short, there are a lot of options.

Just want to add that Easy Roller Dice has some bulk options that I find are better than Chessex' Pound of Dice. Their competing product is at USD24.95 right now. These guarantee 15 complete sets, and it even comes with a rather high quality dice bag. They also have a cheaper option that also comes in a dice bag, but with 6 sets instead of 15.

The dice don't have the most elaborate designs, but my own order of 15 came with 5 marbled sets, 5 clear sets, and 5 regular sets. Quite a bit of variety, and none of the colors repeated.

Amazon has a bunch. My group runs with this one and it's pretty good.

Sometimes with small businesses, it can take 2-3 days to even process an order. Be patient. This place ain't exactly Amazon.

Also, not that it really matters at this point, but I'd be willing to guarantee that Easy Roller gets their stuff from the exact same place as WizDice. The dice look identical. The mats look very similar, aside from the different branding.

Dice

Mat

I usually draw simple maps on grid paper that I bought off of Amazon and draw on them with dry erase markers. I got 2 rolls for I think about $8.

https://www.amazon.com/Gaming-Paper-Roll-Square-Beige/dp/B003G4DLLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496759839&sr=8-1&keywords=rpg+grid+paper

I usually will google image search something I'm looking for, for example "rpg mansion" the "rpg" usually ensures I find something in grid format and I just find what I like best and copy it over loosely. If you have maps in the module you'd like to copy this works too. I also do what you say in "BD's battlemaps" such as a random forest scene that can be reused and players plopped down in different spots for random encounters.

Some people saying do theater of the mind style which is of course an acceptable way of doing it. My advice though, especially for a new DM, would be not to do it this way. My reasoning is while it would cut down on prep time I think it's too much mental work to keep track of during a fight (okay this guy is flying, this enemy is hiding behind a tree twenty feet away, what was that PC doing?) especially as you're still learning the game.

I use Vis-a-vis or Staedtler markers. The most important thing is to clean your mat as soon as you can. Do not leave markers on there over night or they will stain. You can also take some rubbing alcohol to it to make sure you get every last bit off.

This book has some of the best tables in it I've ever used. Other DMs around me borrow it on sessions as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1542678595/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Everyone goes at it differently, but the basics are pretty simple. The most common inch by inch grids (These guys, for example) have a dry erase surface to draw out whatever room/cave/inn people are fighting in.

• From there, each inch is a 5 foot by 5 foot space. A played with a move speed of 30 can move 6 squares. (If they move diagonally, it is generally 15 feet per two squares.)
  
  
• Most creatures have a 5 foot reach (some have more, like 10 feet) for melee weapons. So square to square is usually the fighting range.
  
  
• Some people play with flanking rules (if someone is engaged in the front, an attacker from the back has advantage/+5 to attack...), but thats your call.
  
  
• Spells have tons of different shapes. Right before the spell list in the back of the players handbook, there is a pretty helpful guide on how those all work.
  
  
• The last thing I can think of is creature size. Most creatures are Medium, but a large creature would take up a 10 foot by 10 foot square (So four squares together). The rest of the rules for movement and attack range still apply as normal for them

I feel the same way when I DM and of all the vids / posts / tips etc out there these have probably been the most helpful resources:

https://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-Shea-ebook/dp/B00ADV2H8O/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1539288037&sr=1-3&keywords=lazy+dungeon+master

​

https://www.amazon.com/Return-Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-ebook/dp/B07H51KHWB/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1539288037&sr=1-4&keywords=lazy+dungeon+master

​

At least for me. For instance I was getting lost in NPCs and various other info in the DnD Starter Kit module but those books helped me cut a lot of unneeded things out of the module and create a better experience / NPC's etc.

The books are beautiful too! Dungeons and Dragons RPG: Core Rulebook Gift Set Limited Alternate Covers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HFG969C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wxrACbE0MFZ3Z

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OCYO8XK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$20, heavy duty vinyl, works great!!!

This is $9, looks much nicer, and will hold up much better, plus, it's portable.

GameMastery Flip-Mat: Basic

http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421776638&sr=8-3&keywords=Pathfinder+Flip-Mat%3A+Basic

I just got these in 1 hour ago, and they are fantastic. All complete sets, only slight blemishes on a couple dice. Very worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L2N1OVI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

> I'm pretty sure I have those exact skeleton figurines

I bought a set of 100 not long ago:

https://smile.amazon.com/Piece-Army-Skeleton-Warriors-Ready/dp/B00IDBZPIU/ref=sr_1_1

Well, this is what I bought specifically along with the wet erase markers.

Being able to draw up rooms beforehand or as they explore allows for both pre-planning or totally improvised locations.

10/10 would recommend however I am slowly being seduced by the sexy sirens call of Battle Terrain.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1542678595/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524433086&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tables+fables

I've heard a good idea is to have a list of random names in your notebook, whenever you need to name something just fill in who that name goes to.

Alex - jewellery merchant in yartar
Ben - llama herder by goldenfields
Patricia -

You know, like that

That DM screen is normally only available as part of the limited edition gift set. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-RPG-Rulebook-Alternate/dp/B07HFG969C/ref=pd_sbs_14_5/132-7781302-9702733?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07HFG969C&pd_rd_r=91fd645c-d34b-47b7-9829-df29026a2f32&pd_rd_w=JHeMC&pd_rd_wg=5jq6L&pf_rd_p=588939de-d3f8-42f1-a3d8-d556eae5797d&pf_rd_r=KZWEDGB5JDS3SM0DCZ08&psc=1&refRID=KZWEDGB5JDS3SM0DCZ08

​

If you want just the screen you'll have to look for a third party seller.

Miniatures can get expensive, you'll only be able to get a few dozen high-quality minis in your budget.

I use peg people for my monsters

https://www.amazon.com/Hygloss-Assorted-Decorated-Wooden-People/dp/B0044S1CRE/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1473240398&sr=1-3

In my opinion, the only important miniatures are the ones for your players, otherwise you'll be buying dozens of goblins and skeletons and who knows what. I leave it up to them to acquire minis for their characters, and be sure to warn them that they might die, especially at low level (I wouldnt recommend a player buying a mini until at least level 3, then even if they die later at least it will be a keepsake for the memories. a level 1 death doesn't create many memories)

Another budget idea is to use binder clips and print out pictures of your monsters, like in this picture I found off google http://imgur.com/gallery/gLF1m


I would recommend an erasable battle-grid like

https://www.amazon.com/Chessex-96246-Reversible-Battlemat-1/dp/B00IVF4W0U

for your maps, then you can use wet-erase markers to draw your maps.

I'm not sure amazon is available in your area, but if not hopefully you can find some sort of vynl or plastic mat that you can draw on and make your own grid with a permanent marker.

You mentioned you bought books - that's good, but don't forget about dice! Ideally you want at least one set per player and the DM.

Here are some slightly over-sized foam dice. They may not be big enough for what you need though. Thinkgeek used to carry an even bigger set, but they don't seem to carry it anymore, and I can't find them anywhere. Just be careful, my daughter bit a huge chunk out of the foam d20 we had.

edit: Found them! However, they are only an inch bigger, and they don't include a d6.

Yep, they should have basically the same content, as far as I'm aware. It's just that the one with the simpler cover (this one, I mean) is a recent reprint of the 3.5 PHB.

Anyway. Don't forget that you'll also want a Dungeon Master's Guide as well as a Player's Handbook and Monster Manual. (Or, if you're not planning to be the Dungeon Master yourself, you can skip the MM and just get the PHB.)

Yup. Do you have the Player's Handbook? It will tell you how to create your character and what you should roll. Also, your DM should be able to provide some guidance as well. Ultimately, your DM will hold the final word on what is and is not allowed.

Ahhhhhhh. Right, gotcha. No idea myself. Some pre-made ones out there though.

• Paizo
  
• Crystal Caste
  
• DIY
  
• Chessex
  
  
  Not to knock your chalkboard one. You did a great job and there's something to be said for non-conventional.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planar_Handbook.
It was a bit of an updated (updated from 2e) PHB specifically for planescape adventures, it's got expanded races and information on the default dnd cosmology (I think the greyhawk one, I'm not sure).
You can tell them apart from the covers.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK CORE RULEBOOK I v.3.5.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK CORE RULEBOOK I.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK II called Book 2 David Noonan.
This is the reprint with errata.

if you can find the 3rd edition dnd starter set, one buy is all you need. just use 5e rules. if you want to make your own stuff, this will take care of the exploration and battlefield:

http://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Evidence-Dual-Pad-Quadrille-20-210/dp/B000JCTH2Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1419753721&sr=1-2&keywords=graph+paper

http://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Role-Playing-Play-Mat/dp/B0015IQO2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419753498&sr=8-1&keywords=wet+erase+battlemat

http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Vis-A-Vis-Markers-Colored-16078/dp/B00006IFGW/ref=pd_bxgy_t_img_y

http://www.amazon.com/Marcal-Premium-Recycled-Towels-Inches/dp/B00094EWE2/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1419753532&sr=1-2&keywords=paper+towels

http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-32oz-Heavy-Duty-Spray-Bottle/dp/B005KDIWES/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1419753550&sr=1-1&keywords=spray+bottle

http://www.amazon.com/Paizo-Publishing-Pathfinder-Pawns-Bestiary/dp/B00F9P3I6O/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1419753594&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=pathfinder+pawns

all of that's on amazon, but you can get it other places.

Check out Table Fables. It has a good table to roll from.

Ideally you could have some of those "piece-by-piece" boards that you can use to construct the board as the players go on https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481889882&sr=8-2&keywords=dungeon+set

Those are special editions of the core rule books find them here

I agree with /u/isaacpriestley. Plus here is a roll of grided paper

I would recommend you get one of these Battlemats, which are dry-erase grids you draw dungeons on as you explore them. Don't know if you know about these because you say you're new. I've been trained on these since a wee little boy in 1st edition, and I don't know what I do without them. There are many ways to run a campaign though. This is just my suggestion.

https://www.amazon.com/Chessex-96246-Reversible-Battlemat-1/dp/B00IVF4W0U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1474535992&sr=8-3&keywords=battlemat

Just an FYI to everyone downvoting, The Lazy Dungeon Master is actually a real book outlining a novel approach to planning a D&D campaign based on preparing a platform for improv rather than planning out every encounter and the whole story in advance, rather than just being a sarky comment.

Get some army men-type minis. Amazon has several kinds.
See here:
Fantasy guys

Skeletons:

Knights:

I got a few buckets of plastic toys off amazon that are cheap, are the right sized for a 1 inch grid and can cover a lot of ground.

Monsters:

https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Action-Figure-Bucket-Frankenstein/dp/B00W5WSN5A/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1469651031&sr=8-6&keywords=dnd+mini

Knights, solders, guards

https://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-36-Piece-Guardian-Knights-Action/dp/B000YA7FS6/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JMBZKP2E432YT1YA7WX4

Zombies, skeletons


https://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Action-Figures-Bucket-Zombies/dp/B00KBHVSTY/ref=pd_sim_21_13?ie=UTF8&dpID=51OXKuC6MBL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=P3JXHNFM1GDFBDY967CY

Are the Big Bucket of Zombies figures too tall? I've never used them, but see them recommended from time to time.

Alternative to play mat: https://www.amazon.com/Gaming-Paper-Roll-Square-Beige/dp/B003G4DLLC. Could use just as a base grid for fights or whatever if you don't like the disposable nature. If you want though this also allows you to map out a whole dungeon ahead of time.
All credit for this goes to Matt Colville.

So I would need this,http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Players-Handbook-Heinsoo/dp/0786948671/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344111332&sr=1-1&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+4th+edition, to continue playing after what I bought?

There is, actually, an official D&D soundtrack literally made for that. Also various RPG tracks work fine too as they're designed to not be distracting.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Official-Roleplaying-Soundtrack/dp/B0000BZYIS

The Paizo basic flip-mat is cheaper, two-sided, has fewer folds, so that it lays flatter at the table, has no gaps in the grid, and is better shaped for traditional tables (not so elongated).

I think, in general, reading the settings books should give you enough background - since they usually incorporate much of the history.

One suggestion though is the Grand History of the Realms: https://www.amazon.com/Grand-History-Realms-Forgotten/dp/0786947314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500408654&sr=8-1&keywords=grand+history+of+the+realms

It's pricey currently, but it it is basically a history book of the realms.

Dungeons and Dragons RPG: Core Rulebook Gift Set Limited Alternate Covers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HFG969C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_t5bPDbD43X1T6

There are several mixed sets on Amazon. Just a few:

Monsters
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W5WSN5A/

Fantasy
https://www.amazon.com/TimMee-Legendary-BATTLE-Fantasy-Figures/dp/B00FQIJEO4/

Skeletons
https://www.amazon.com/B00IDBZPIU/

Mythical Warriors
https://www.amazon.com/True-Heroes-Mythical-Warriors-Bucket/dp/B00MW7JH0I/

eBay has a lot too. Search for plastic toy knights, ninjas, monsters, etc. Dollar Stores also carry baggies of cheap toys.

Try http://smile.amazon.com/dp/0786947314 or p266 of the 3E FR book.

have you checked this book out?

BOOK

Just googled the player handbooks for older editions.

3e: $3

3.5e: $19

4e: $14

Both Castle Ravenloft and The Legend of Drizzt include miniatures and have been well-received.

There was a pre-built dungeon named "the worlds Larget dungeon" that did just this.

The World Largest Dungeon Link (amazon)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worlds-Largest-Dungeon-Alderac-Entertainment/dp/1594720290

Only £100

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/23425/Worlds-Largest-Dungeon-The?it=1

$40

Is this the one you're thinking of? https://www.amazon.com/Largest-Dungeon-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/1594720290

Huh. They're $3 USD for a 4-pack on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Official-Roleplaying-Soundtrack/dp/B0000BZYIS/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331564545&sr=1-1

This + www.ambient-mixer.com

I use the Official D&D Soundtrack

There is always the Official Dungeons and Dragons Soundtrack

Link for the foam dice if anyone needs. The 2 6 sided I already had and can't remember where I got.

Learning Resources Jumbo Foam Polyhedral Dice https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IHTZGW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vyZfzbRPZFVMB

https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Jumbo-Foam-Polyhedral/dp/B003IHTZGW/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=foam+dice&qid=1574172811&sr=8-10

These

I expected this link.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IHTZGW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_VrA0Db8WW1VPM. Maybe here. These are foam but are large

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001S6YKOW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_VvA0DbQM50SYX
Or these

https://www.dnddice.com/sets-of-dice/giant-dice-sets/24mm-purple-dice-set-opaque-oversize.html
Or look around on here, these guys may have something

https://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Dungeon-Master-Michael-Shea-ebook/dp/B00ADV2H8O/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=lazy+dm&qid=1549847978&s=gateway&sr=8-3

100 piece skeleton army

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Army-Skeleton-Warriors-Ready/dp/B00IDBZPIU/ref=asc_df_B00IDBZPIU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309913794608&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3679537633159462202&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018951&hvtargid=pla-623502936407&psc=1

​

Cheaper minis

Monsters

Skeleton Warriors

Zombies

100 for $12.99

https://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Action-Figures-Bucket-Zombies/dp/B00KBHVSTY/

If you're looking for affordable, I've got a few suggestions.

Check your local game store if you can. If you don't find them there or aren't near any, Try This Boxed Set or Alternate Covers.

Relevant link so people can see the awesomeness

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-RPG-Rulebook-Alternate/dp/B07HFG969C

I'm going to disagree on your point of editions. 3.5 is still massive, even with Pathfinder eating into it. WotC just recently released a new printing of the PHB, DMG, and MM1. There's many out there who still play this and have a trove of these books. I've played in several groups over the past 5 years, and they all played 3.5*. That said, most 3.5 stuff could probably be covered at the same time as Pathfinder.

^(*And I never sought out any specific system when joining. I've actually been itching to try out Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, the new Marvel RPG, and just the other day backed the kickstarter for "OVA: The Anime RPG". Too bad I only have time to be in one group!)

i am not advertising or promoting the purchase of these products. im only posting these for reference as to what im looking for.

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Army-Skeleton-Warriors-Ready/dp/B00IDBZPIU

https://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-36-Piece-Guardian-Knights-Action/dp/B000YA7FS6/ref=pd_bxgy_21_3?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=HWTHCGF3HXP7BRGX936K&th=1

The last time I did this, I drew the entire map out ahead of time on one of the Paizo flip maps (linked below). Then, for the entire dungeon, I places pieces of printer paper over it and used a little scotch tape to keep it taped down to the mat. This required cutting a lot of the pieces of paper to different sizes to be the exact size of each specific room. It didn't take very long though.

http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371140848&sr=8-2&keywords=gamemastery+flip+map

Again, keep in mind I'm talking about 4e. The Player's Handbooks (1, 2, & 3) are the ones I'd go with, starting with Player's Handbook 1 since it has a lot of general reference on rules and so forth (though some have been changed with errata). Each one has a number of races and classes that you can choose. For PHB1, it has Elves, Eladrin, Dragonborn, Dwarves, Humans, and Half-Elves (I may be missing one) as far as races, and Clerics, Warlords, Wizards, Rogues, Rangers, Warlocks, Fighters, and Paladins as far as classes.

Edit: Link

That is indeed the name

The thing is insane. My group didn't even get through a single floor.

My group had hit the horse latitudes in 2004. We had tried starting The World's Largest Dungeon and that didn't work out to well. We had taken turns DMing sessions, trying to get it back. Nothing was working. I decided to pull out a campaign I had been working on since ~1995 (veteran DMs can attest to this, at one point we have all built a campaign that could have been published as a sourcebook). This thing had encounters, loot, an entire continent worth of locations, NPCs, economy, the works. The dialogue was a little JRPG, but it was all there. I polished it up for 3.5 and got it on the table.

We begin in a seaport on the north west coast of my world, and our party coming together. One of the PCs decided that he would try to join the land's army. Immediate problem: PC is a halfling, the army only recruits nice normal looking humans. PC gets pissed. PC decides to his the army recruiter in the head with a bag...that is filled with 10 vials of acid. Fuck, I thought, then we threw dice. The PC ended up taking splash damage from the acid and passing out. The recruiter on the other hand, took 1d6 impact damage +10d4 acid damage. Didn't turn out too well. The PC ended up in a prison colony with a collar of enfeeblement on. I did give him 4 levels, since I didn't really see that shit coming AT ALL. The game dissolved fully when I told him that he could either wait it out for a rescue, which would be feasible when the rest of the party reached level 5-6, or reroll and find the party later. /game

After that session, the group fell apart.

Another time a few years later, I happened to run through the same precon dungeon (The Scourge of the Howling Horde) with two different parties. The first time, we were the destroyers bringing swift and terrible justice to the horde. The second time, my buddy recruited the goblins as minions and took up residence there.

http://www.amazon.com/Largest-Dungeon-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/1594720290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462159193&sr=1-1&keywords=the+world%27s+largest+dungeon

1,000 pages of sadness for the low low price of $100.