I just wanna start DMing a game and I need to buy $150 in books to do so? The fuck.
Edit: Lots of people telling me to play other systems. Here’s what’s up:
- I want to play a 1-on-1 game with my wife
- I’ve never DMed before
- She’s never played a TTRPG, so this would be her introduction
- She’s been reading a lot of fae-related fantasy, which has me thinking she may want to play roleplay heavy with some fae storylines present
- Ideally the system wouldn’t be too crunchy or combat focused
Edit 2: I’ve spoken with her and she actually wants a more modern setting
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No you need to pirate books to do so
I have trouble navigating the PDFs but it’s looking like I don’t have a choice. I don’t have that kind of money.
The physical books can be had on secondhand bookstores for significantly less, albeit they’re still sold for more than they aught to be, usually. Thriftbooks is an online reseller that has them for around $25 USD but local thrift stores and library book sales have them sometimes and will sell them for next to nothing.
There are some inexpensive/free programs/websites that exist to automate and simplify basically everything in the game. IME the only advantages the manuals have over the apps is that the manuals convey the bigger picture of how the game works.
5etools is your friend
Hasbro gotta make that $$$
Just steal them, pdfs aren’t hard to find.
Pick a different system, or download copies and have them printed, or just print the key pages, or look for used copies. Also 5e.tools is a great resource
Eclipse Phase is available free because the designers are all filthy anarchists.
Yeah but then you gotta play Eclipse Phase.
Love the setting, the system is pretty janky (I have not read 2e)
Supposedly 2e is significantly more playable. I think there’s also a powered by the apocalypse version.
Also presumably if TheDoctor is looking at D&D they’re interested in fantasy adventure and not like, hard-ish scifi intrigue
I’m not personally opposed to sci-fi, but my wife has been reading a lot of fantasy the past year or so so that’s probably what I’m gonna go with.
It’s very, very, similar to GURPS Transhuman Space - mainly adding Cortical Stacks from Altered Carbon, spessmagic, and an apocalypse.
There wouldn’t be many problems just running the setting with THS.
To your points, D&D would be a terrible choice.
- It’s balanced around a party of 4-6
- It has almost no advice of how to run it
- It’s incredibly combat-focused, with balance assuming you’ll get into 6+ fights per in-game day
Glad to hear you’re going with something else, good luck!
I’d have to look when I get home, but I’ve got a fair amount of 5th edition books I’d be willing to let go for not much more than shipping costs…
Feel free to DM me!
Do not let WotC trick you into thinking you need to pay them 150 bucks to start a game.
One, sail the high seas if you really wanna play D&D 5th edition (or whatever new edition they come out with).
Secondly, consider other systems. Depending on what exactly you wanna get from D&D (solving problems in a fantasy setting, character customization, playing in a particular setting, character drama in a fantasy setting, battles with cool powers, a sense of progressing from a nobody to a hero, feeling like a hero from day 1, etc) there is probably a better system for that than 5e and the majority of them don’t require more than 2, or often even just 1 book. Plus several that have 2 only charge for digital versions of the GM book.
Fate is a simple system, not very combat focused, and everything should be available here https://fate-srd.com/fate-core/basics
shakes fist at funny dice
(fate is fine)
(this makes me want to write a system again, though I tend towards wargames as far as rules go)
Oh, consider dungeon world. It’s a simpler system that lends itself to fail forward, and the basic moves/character sheets are all available for download for free.
Looking at this now. The mechanics look simpler for sure. I’m playing a game just me and my wife and she’s never played a tabletop rpg before, so that might be a good call.
Oh if you’ve got a new person then fuck d&d unless they really want to specifically play d&d. If not, there are way better systems for shared storytelling. I introduce people to rpging via dungeon world 10 times out of 10.
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Monster of the Week? Anything Powered by the Apocalypse is going to be much stronger in Game Master support and explanations than D&D. If you want something friendlier there are also games like Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast that has no focus on combat. Wanderhome, as well – albeit that one isn’t modern. You’ve got a lot of options, don’t be fooled by Hasbro!
If you don’t mind using a different system GURPS has a free 32 page lite version of the system that gives you all the basics
As others have said, pirate things. I’d also suggest looking for legally dubious online resources, lots of websites out there that have SRDs and splatbooks laid out in an easier-to-navigate website ways than PDFs.
Basic Fantasy is simple to learn, AND ALL THE BOOKS ARE FREE!!! https://www.basicfantasy.org/
The books are also on amazon at like 6-10 a piece if you’re in the US.
It’s based on the OSR (i.e. Original DnD rules but updated)…
There are places to find the rules online
Though, I am going to be that guy and tell you that Pathfinder 2e has most of its rules online at this website and it’s much better in terms of balance and not being racist
So, when people say use a different system, do you just use a different rulebook for d&d or something?
Dungeons and Dragons is like a specific name-brand RPG product owned by a shitty company called Wizards of the Coast.
Other people and companies make other RPG systems. Pathfinder is probably the biggest and is pretty similar to DnD and has a similar setting. However there’s so many games and settings that you can really find something for anyone. Like giant robots? Magical girls? 80s “kids on bikes” adventures? Post apocalypse wastelands? Vampires and werewolves? Etc - there’s probably a game that would suit your group
Advising Pathfinder is a terrible for new player. Heck, i played and GM’ed dozens of different systems over 30 years and Pathfinder has been one of the most miserable and abysmal experiences for me.
Yeah, generally they’re playing another D&D-style game, or more rarely a game that’s an entirely different genre. Game like Pathfinder (2e is the big internet favorite atm) and OSR games are designed to be basically the same niche genre of “dungeon-crawling, combat-centric high fantasy” but with different rules. Other games like Dungeon World use the same setting concept but the rules are more narrative-focused with less emphasis on hours-long combats on a grid. Further afield are generic systems like FATE, GURPS, Savage Worlds, etc which are flexible and can be used to play whatever genre you want, so they can be D&D-fantasy or cyberpunk, superheroes, historical fantasy, “action movies”, etc (though most of these tend to be best at one or a few things). Or you can just play something totally different like Lancer, a game set in the space communist future where you fight slavers and fascist remnants in giant mechs, or Thirsty Sword Lesbians, which I know very little about except that the name is funny and that it is very queer.
Personally I use GURPS, because it does a lot of things I like and because it can be used to run different genres with minimal effort. Things like extreme customizability, crunchy combat that actually has multiple options worth choosing that aren’t just ‘spam attacks’, no HP bloat, point-buy characters with no classes (unless you want them), I could go on.
I loved GURPS. My brother and I played all the time. Also want to shout out Kevin Crawford’s Stars without Number if you’re looking for a scifi game. He has a free to download basic version, which is fully playable, and a paid version which has some optional rules and tools…
I prefer Basic fantasy for fantasy gaming but Worlds Without Number is also a great option (again free and premium versions)…
