ID:183130
 
But do I really have to read a book? I mean, is there any way to pick up on it as you go?

~Kujila
If you play with people who know the rules you can sort of ease your way into it by letting them do all the work for a while.
D20 system ruins DnD. I'm not kidding. If you ever take my advice on anything ever, let it be this time.

Second Edition was the last good DnD edition.
In response to DDSR
I would disagree strongly. Second edition was the pinnacle of old-school - random, confusing, disconnected rules. 3e brought a lot of good things. For example, the changes to multiclassing. And simplifying the way saving throws worked made it a lot easier to adjudicate those random situations that come up that should require a save, but have none listed in the rules.
Most libraries actually have it in stock. If you're a member of a half decent library try looking there!

~Ease~
In response to Jp
Jp wrote:
I would disagree strongly. Second edition was the pinnacle of old-school - random, confusing, disconnected rules. 3e brought a lot of good things. For example, the changes to multiclassing. And simplifying the way saving throws worked made it a lot easier to adjudicate those random situations that come up that should require a save, but have none listed in the rules.

I still think -5 is a kick ass AC.
In response to DDSR
So suddenly ACs go the other way (I believe -5 is equivalent to 25, but I'm not too familiar with 2e). Not really that big an issue. Just simplifies stuff without abstracting any further.

Really, though, it's a bit of a personal taste issue. 3e clearly has a superior ruleset to 2e - but if you prefer the 2e style of rules, or prefer 2e flavour, by all means, go ahead. Nobody's forcing you to upgrade.

And I do prefer pretty much all 2e-based CRPGS to the 3e-based ones. NWN was awful compared to BG2.
In response to Jp
And I do prefer pretty much all 2e-based CRPGS to the 3e-based ones. NWN was awful compared to BG2.

BG2 would've owned, if not for the crappy implantation of semi-realtime combat. A shame. =(
Playing with friends is the best way to learn. I always found the books to be extremely boring. I was pretty good at DnD, though. Then again, my DM wasn't particularly skilled at forming good puzzles and didn't know how to calculate rewards(we would end up with a decent sized boat by the third session almost every time). Also, we rarely got past the third session, mostly out of boredom.
I'd be more than happy to help you out, I've played 3e (the easiest and least confusing to learn, though I did play 1st edition...) for about 6 years, and know the books very well, although I'm creative enough to never have to use the monster manual or copy traps or riddles.
In response to DivineO'peanut
DivineO'peanut wrote:
And I do prefer pretty much all 2e-based CRPGS to the 3e-based ones. NWN was awful compared to BG2.

BG2 would've owned, if not for the crappy implantation of semi-realtime combat. A shame. =(

What on earth are you talking about? The system was genius.
You can pick it up playing, you just won't be nearly as aware or as enlightened as though who read. Not to mention your party will get pissed off at you when you ask over and over again for DC's you should know about your own character's skills.
Kujila, it all depends. The original 1st and 2nd edition rules can be really confusing sometimes and some of the rules simply do not seem to make a lot of sense.

Then you also have Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Me, personally, I enjoy the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons, they removed a lot of garbage and streamlined the whole system. It is a lot easier to work with and it is easier to play.

Reading the book can help, and it can help you get ready for a game, but the best way to learn is to simply play with people. People who are willing to teach you along the way. Be aware though, no matter what the book states, the person hosting the game has rule over anything else. There may be house rules you may be unaware of.

Need an example? in D&D 3rd edition, when you roll a 20, it is considered a "threat". This means that, it is possibility to cause extra damage. Depending on the weapon you have, it will state if it is a 2X or 3X critical (Weapons could have more, I don't know!). When you roll a 20, you have to roll to see if you hit the target each time, if you miss once, you can't go again, so while you have the potential to hit 3 times in the roll, it might NOT happen. The house rules we played with ignored that rule and just automatically gave the player 3 hits in a row, roll the dice 3 times, thats the damage.

Anyways, once you play a game or two, you will be raiding dungeons and quaffing dragons blood with the best of them. If you want to read ahead of time, but don't have the money to back up the books, then I suggest you head over to the D&D website from Wizards of the Coast, you can not only download character sheets, but you can download the lite edition of the players handbook to learn.

Also Kujila, on a side note, one of the classes I have to suggest is a Monk. At the beginning, it can be hard, but around level 6, you really start to tear people apart. By level 12 I was doing like 6 attacks per round, and that isn't even counting multistrike.
In response to Revenant Jesus
Revenant Jesus wrote:
Need an example? in D&D 3rd edition, when you roll a 20, it is considered a "threat". This means that, it is possibility to cause extra damage. Depending on the weapon you have, it will state if it is a 2X or 3X critical (Weapons could have more, I don't know!). When you roll a 20, you have to roll to see if you hit the target each time, if you miss once, you can't go again, so while you have the potential to hit 3 times in the roll, it might NOT happen. The house rules we played with ignored that rule and just automatically gave the player 3 hits in a row, roll the dice 3 times, thats the damage.


Really? We always played it as if you rolled a 20, then you just did double or triple damage. That system is a bit easier. But the enemy could do the same most of the time. Also, if you roll a 1 you tended to do damage to yourself, but this rule was overlooked in dire situations.

But that's house rules for you.