How to Learn How to Read Dnd 5e
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How to Read Your D&D Books
past Mike on 15 April 2019
"A listen needs books like a sword needs a whetstone."
- Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones
Over the past year, this topic has shown up in lots of other articles here at Sly Flourish and many of my DM tips on Twitter likewise. For some, this seems completely obvious. For others, it can come as a surprise. This big tip?
Read the books.
One might exist surprised past the fact that some haven't read their D&D books all the way through. I admit, only recently have I finished reading them all the way through. That is not something I'1000 proud of.
This isn't a tip just for new DMs. This is a tip for all of us. New or old. DMs or players. All of us can draw a neat deal out of this game if we accept the time to dig into our D&D books and enjoy what they take to offer.
New DMs, Read the Starter Gear up Books
If yous're new to D&D, starting time with the D&D Starter Set. The D&D Starter Fix is the best fashion to get into D&D for a low cost and begin to digest what D&D has to offering. Instead of all of a sudden finding yourself with over a thousand pages of material from the Thespian's Handbook, Dungeon Primary's Guide, and Monster Manual, the Starter Set comes with merely two books. A principal rulebook and the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver. Information technology also includes a set of pregen characters which means yous don't have to suddenly know every ability of every race and grade plant in the Player's Handbook.
The value of the Starter Set cannot be overstated. The adventure, as written, is awesome, but it besides includes a keen set of monsters that you can use for your own low-level adventures. The maps in Phandelver as well span the range of maps you might drop into your own campaigns including a brigand lair, goblin caves, ruined castle, ruined hamlet, and dwarven mines. These maps are reskinnable for your own adventures as you need them.
Considering the Starter Set books are relatively slim, information technology won't take you forever to read them and understand how D&D works. Thus, when you begin, offset with these books before trying to tackle the total set of cadre books.
A Reading List for Dungeon Masters
As you become more than experienced, or if you are experienced already, it's time to go into the cadre books. While it's definitely worthwhile to read all three books cover to cover, y'all tin can triage your reading to the parts of highest direct value while running your games. Hither's a reading listing:
Player'south Handbook. Read the intro, capacity seven, eight, 9, x, and the appendicies. Y'all tin can skip over the chapters on races, classes, backgrounds, equipment, customization options, and spells for at present. They're definitely worth reading but your players tin also dig into these chapters and tell you what you need to know to run a game. Once again, you'll want to read these eventually.
Dungeon Main'due south Guide. You'll want to give this whole volume a solid skim read. Yous might non have to read it cover to cover right away just yous should at least know what yous have in your hands. In that location'due south tons of fantastic stuff in this book but it does you lot no good if yous don't know that yous have it. When you tin, read it through. This is also a book worth re-reading every year or and so to remind yourself what is in it. Many times yous might call up of an option or sub-system for running your game but to find that it'south already in the DMG.
Monster Manual. This book is also worth reading all the way through but you can focus primiarly on monsters you're probable to utilise in your campaign. Commencement with depression challenge monsters and work your way upward to the ones likely to show up in hereafter adventures. The monster book is packed with crawly gamble and campaign hooks so worry less almost the stat blocks and more than on the lore of monsters. Nosotros can come up with hundreds of entrada ideas from this book solitary.
Volo'due south Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen'south Tome of Foes. When you're able, read these all the fashion through too. Like the Monster Manual, they're packed with gamble and campaign ideas. Unlike the Monster Manual they spend lots of time focused on specific monsters like hags, mind flayers, beholders, and githyanki. Read them. Relish them. Allow them seep into your DM's mind castle.
Xanathar'due south Guide to Everything. Like the DMG, this book is packed with great ideas for DMs, both from a mechanics standpoint and from the lore of the game. In an episode of Dragon Talk, Jeremy Crawford mentioned that the design of spells in Xanathar's (and those in the Player's Handbook likewise) are designed not simply to give toys to players only for the DM to weave into the story. Spells like Druid'southward Grove and Mighty Fortress are as interesting to witness from powerful NPCs as they are when cast by a player character.
Read Published Adventures
If you lot're running one of the published D&D adventures (Curse of Strahd and Tomb of Anything are my two favorites) information technology helps significantly to read through these adventures cover to cover earlier we run them. Reading the total take a chance means knowing which secrets and clues to put in front of the players from session to session. It ways knowing how to tie the adventures together. It helps inspire you lot to hack it yourself into the adventure you want it to be for yous and your group.
Information technology takes fourth dimension to read through a full published hazard but the return is worth the attempt.
A Reading List for Players
If y'all're playing D&D but yous're not the DM, you're reading list isn't equally big simply tin still give y'all a slap-up deal of enjoyment out of the game if you accept the time.
Player's Handbook. Read the affiliate on your race and your class. Read the spells your course has admission to for level 1 and the next couple of levels in a higher place your current level. Take note of spell components and describe them when you're playing your character.
If your race is ane of the races from Volo'southward Guide or Mordenkainen's, it'southward worth digging deep into your race'south background and history. Learning how the elves are connected to Corellon or how the halflings see their gods every bit extended family members with legendary exploits tin can enrich your character to the full.
Players probable spend a lot of their time focused on the mechanics of their course but getting into the story and lore of their race, class, and background can make the whole game much more enjoyable.
Read to Inspire, Not to Memorize
When we're digging into these books, our goal isn't to memorize every single rule in them. Our goal is to permit the worlds of D&D flow over and through united states of america so we can driblet into information technology when we're running the game. That sounds pretty hippy but it works. The more than nosotros digest this game and the worlds it encapsulates, the easier information technology is to help usa improvise when we're running our game and our ability to improvise may very well exist the well-nigh important skill DMs can take.
Fifty-fifty if information technology doesn't aid us memorize every aspect of the game, reading through the books will allow united states of america know what's there so we know what we have and where to detect information technology when we need it during the game.
We don't read these books to memorize them. Nosotros read them to let them inspire us.
Read On the Go
Finding big solid blocks of time in our days is, for many of us, quite difficult. Being able to sit on our nice burrow with good lighting and read our books for a solid hour may be impossible for a lot of us. Nevertheless, as busy as we are, nosotros discover time to surf through Facebook or go enraged by the news or become lost in true cat mischief on Reddit. With D&D Beyond it'south merely as piece of cake to read a chip of our core books as it is to read annihilation else on the web. Having the core books on our phones ways nosotros tin read part of it whenever we have gratuitous moment. Go on your current book in your browser window and maybe skip the social media for a chip while you lot read upward on Merfolk. Every monster description is about as long as a Facebook post already and so it'due south non a stretch to read one monster block at a time all throughout the day.
Know the Rules Before You Break the Rules
We DMs are oftentimes a super-creative bunch. D&D becomes our outlet to share the stories we've had bottled up in our heads all our lives. We're also probable to have a unlike game in our caput than the ones in the books then we immediately desire to start tweaking and twisting and cutting and pasting all sorts of new house rules. I see this come up often on Facebook: "What if we got rid of charisma scores?" or "I'grand going to completely redo the fighter class" and the similar.
This isn't inherently bad but nosotros should be cautious until we really know what we're talking well-nigh. Of course, in our ain games, we can experiment however we want but it helps if we actually know the rules before we pause the rules. Earlier you get-go rebuilding your own fantastic 5e game, maybe read what the designers have put in in that location already.
The Hardest Step for the Lazy Dungeon Master
Nosotros're all about cut corners here on Sly Flourish to become the nearly value out of our game for the least endeavor. Value, return over effort, is our ultimate goal. Reading over a thousand pages of rules isn't effortless. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work. Hopefully this article gave you an thought where to kickoff. Every bit much time equally it takes, the value we gain by reading these books is well worth the effort. For that reason, reading the books is a cadre staple for the mode of the Lazy Dungeon Master.
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