Basic Dungeons and Dragons 5e v0.1: Let's Journey Down the Rabbit Hole Together

On July 8, 2014 Wizards of the Coast released the free version of the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons (click on either of these links for a Printer Friendly Version or Standard Version of the rules). This was a big moment for many in the role-playing community - not just because it was a major move by the largest force in the hobby but because it represented the final product that more than 175,000 playtesters had been involved in making for the last two years. The release of the Basic Rules also meant that all of us who had been playing the game during that time were no longer bound by the non-disclosure agreement and were finally able to publicly talk about it.

I begun running this version of the game recently (see the This Will End Well series for more) but I noticed that there are lots of gaps in my knowledge of the rules. Some of these are due to the new editions terminology and concepts that differ from past versions; while others are caused by my own lack of knowledge regarding this system's game mechanics. These miscues have created bad judgement calls in my games and I don't like that one bit.

So I've decided to run a series on the Basic version of the game discussing it in detail in an effort to better understand how to play this game. The goal is to create a companion series to the actual game that will help new players to the system gain mastery over it. I hope that it will be as useful for some of you reading this as it will be for me. Now without any further discussion, let's get this journey down the rabbit hole underway.

Panel from Wormy by Dave Trampier

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Basic Dungeons & Dragons 5e v0.1

 Introduction: Let's Journey Down the Rabbit Hole Together

Part 1 (pgs. Cover - 2): Learning About Role-Playing Games

Part 2 (2 - 5): Worlds of Adventure

Part 3 (6 - 9): Building a Character the Easy Way
Part 4 (pg. 10): The Problem with Experience