Oh, DnD. Age cannot wither, nor customs stale its infinite variety. As games go, it's the only one that really lets you do whatever. Video games may try and emulate the freedom offered by them, but few get close — except Tyranny. From its inception in the 1970s until today, it's gone through five editions and inspired countless other RPGs. 🏅It's also moved about in our culture too: from a bit of deep nerdery to being simply another popular pastime. It's easy to understand why. At its core, it's a social experience, another thing for friends to do when they get together. Add to this its literally infinite possibilities for s꧃etting, characters, actions, and more, and the reasons for its spread become clear.
However, it can be a slightly confusing game for newcomers. Over the years, its accumulated countless rules, traits, feats, classes, races, and more. This is only one side of the story. There's also the question of etiquette. That's what we're going to deal with here. How should a good player, and indeed, a good DM, behave? What is verboten, and what wꦕill inspire your group to play again and again? In this list, we've pulled together a selectꦡion of some of the most salient advice for players both new and old. Whether you're a grognard who's run countless campaigns or just dipping your toes into the beautiful and oddly kobold-infested waters of pen and paper RPGs, read on, and you'll find a good set of guidelines.
30 Breaking The World 🐷 ෴
This is a particular problem for first timers, and first-tim🃏ers of a particular type. See, tabletop RPGs offer unparalleled freedom. You can do whatever you can in the real world. If you want to slap your quest giver in the face, you can. That doesn’t mean you should. Trying to break the world just to be “interesting” isn’t interesting at all, you’re just being annoying to your fellow players and the DM. If they’ve put tꦍogether an interesting world and questline for you, don’t try and break it for the sake of randomness.
29 🤪 Listen To The DM 𝓀
A key part of DnD is being a good listener. No one wants to have to consistently repeat themselves because someone isn’t listening to what they’re saying. Actively listen, especially to the DM, and know when it’s your time to 🍎speak before you do it, don’t just blindly interrupt. 🐼Sure, if people are drinking or whatnot, there will be times where you do it accidentally, but again, just be respectful. If someone is telling a story they’ve put time and effort into, they want to know that you’re actually paying attention.
28 𓄧Make A Well-Rounded Character
This is SO important when you’re playing with a new g🌼roup. When you’re creating your character, make one that will be fun to play with, and fun for the rest of the group. Don’t make a jokey character, because the odds are, unless you’re a professional comedian, it’s going to be very one-note. The same rule applies with evil characters – don’t make a character who’s going to work against the party when you don’t know them that well. Leave that until you get to know the group, and these characters won’t drive them insane.
27 🌃 Bring Food Or Drinks 🌊
If you were going to a party at a friend’s house, the odds are that you’d take food or some drink, right? That’s just good etiquette. The same rule applies with DnD. It’s likely that you’re going to be sat around with these guys and girls for a good long time, so bring some snacks or refreshment. It’ll go down an absolute treat, and keep your group happy, plus it’ll show th🐲at you’re a cool person to play with. Don’t just show up and eat other people’s food.
26 Understand That The DM Knows Morꦫe Than You
The DM♍ is the one who’s crafted this world, quest, NPCs, monsters, everything. They know far more than you do if you’ve just encountered them. If you’re preparing to take a certain course of action, and they ask you if you’re absolutely sure you want to do this, be aware that it’ll probably have bad consequences. Feel free to ask them what the repercussions of failure could be! They want you to enjoy the game, and should be happy to tell you.
25 Use Your Creativity 🏅
Like I said earlier, DnD and other tabletop games offer complete freedom. If you can think it, and it obeys the ruꩵles of the world, you can do it. Don’t just take the first course of action that occurs to you. Consider arranging an ambush rather than attacking those bandits head on, or scaling buildings to seek an entrance or get a better view. The game is there for you to have fun with! Think about what you can do, and experiment! That’s one of the things that’s given DnD its sustained populariﷺty.
24 Understand Your Stats 🃏
DnD can be super confusing if you’re new. The range of stats, traits, feats, etc, are dizzying. That beingౠ said, try your best to understand what each stat means for you before you play. You can ask as many questions as you want, but don’t go asking a hundred questions on the same stat just because you couldn’t be bothered to do some preparation. Oh, and don’t worry if you make mistakes. No one’s going to judge you, we’ve all been new once.
23 🐭 Put ♍Your Phone Away
This goes hand in hand with listening and respect, but🐲 it’s important enough to merit its own entry. Some groups have a ඣ“no phones” rule, but even if yours doesn’t, keep it in your pocket. You know how it can be, you mean to take your phone out for a few brief moments and before you know it, you’re missing crucial info and find yourself in a situation you know virtually nothing about. Plus it’s just rude. Keep it in your pocket, those messages can wait.
22 𓃲 Let People Have🔥 Their Moment
It’s natu𒁃ral that to you, your character is the most important person in the game, but that’s not the same for everyone. If someone else takes the lead, or is doing something heroic (or indeed, villainous), don’t steal their spotlight so your character can do it instead. You’re not the main character in a Bethesda RPG. You’re just another person in this huge world,🐠 and need to know when it’s not your moment, just as much as when it is.
21 Don’🐎t Touch Other Players’ Dice
This might seem like a super minor infraction, but you’d be surprised. Some people get super attached to their dice, and if you go around grabbing them without their permission, they’ll get angry. It’s fair enough really: you wouldn’t go around grabbing other people’s property in any other situat🍸ion, and you shouldn’t do it here either. Use your own dice, and if you really want to use someone else’s, ask them! They’ll likely let you, but they want you to be respectful enough to ask.