Dungeons and Dragons: Welcome to the Party (Part 3)

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That Dragon is a real jerk...

Publisher Wizards of the Coast

Stars You!

Things You Might Like

• Fight monsters!
• Crafting new worlds out of thin air
• Battle Math
• Relatively easy to pick up
• Infinite replayability

Things You Might Not Like

• Math? Really?
• All the minis

Conclusion
Dungeons and Dragons is the quintessential roleplaying experience. If you’ve played any role playing game ever, you can thank the eternal Gary Gygax. The latest version is accessible to just about anyone and is a total blast.

4 out of 5 Dragons in Dungeons

Josh Robinson

***

You slowly depress the small black squares upon which are inscribed the familiar arcane runes. With a mighty blow to the ‘Enter’ square, the spell is complete and the magic screen displays your favorite reviews page…

Welcome, once again, to the Bullet Reviews’ series on Dungeons and Dragons (DnD)! We’re all impressed that you’ve made it this far. I thought we’d lose you in the previous article when I mentioned how much money this stuff costs. But you stuck it out. Good on you!

So now we come to perhaps the most entertaining aspects of the DnD: Combat. That’s right, all of your smooth-talking Diplomacy rolls and nimble-handed Thievery checks take a back seat once the gloves come off. Or, are put on. It really depends on if your character wears gloves or not. I’ll leave that to you. Regardless, it’s time to throw down.

Now, combat in Dungeons and Dragons can be pretty complicated, so don’t expect to get the full details here. Your Player’s Handbook (as well as the Dungeon Master’s Guide) will provide more than enough information on these areas. Let’s touch on the basics, though: Dice Rolls, Actions, and Attacks.

When you enter a combat scenario, the first thing you will usually do is roll for Initiative. This roll is equivalent to your character’s willingness to ‘get this party started’ and beat the crap out of someone/thing/tentacled-monster. Your Initiative is based on two things: your D20 roll and your Initiative modifier. Like almost all dice rolls in DnD, your character is affected by more than just chance. After rolling your d20, you will add your Initiative modifier to it to get your Initiative for the encounter (one single battle). All party members, and the monsters, do this and that gives you the combat order for the encounter. There are a few things that can modify this, but let’s not get into that right now.

Now that you’ve successfully waited for your turn (good job!) it’s time to act. There are three actions that comprise your turn. They are, in no particular order: Move, Minor Action, Standard Action. Movement is straightforward enough. Your character has a Speed score and you can move that many squares in any direction. Think about the Queen in a game of chess. Minor actions are quick little things you do in combat like drinking a potion. Sometimes, attacks and spells (like the Cleric’s Healing Word) are minor actions, too. Lastly, there’s your Standard action. This is the big one. You can kick off a Spell, perform a check (like Perception or Nature), swing your sword, or do any one of a myriad of other things. Most attacks are going to be Standard actions.

Okay, so it’s your turn and you’ve decided to launch a spell at the particularly ugly goblin staring you down in the Cave of Infinite Whatever. First thing’s first, tell everyone who you are attacking. Next, choose your attack. Let’s say Lightning Bolt for this demonstration. You say, in whatever manner you choose, ‘I cast Lightning Bolt at the Goblin’. Assuming you have line of sight to the goblin, you now roll a D20 to see if you even hit. This is called your Attack Roll. Now, remember that no roll in DnD goes unmodified. In most cases, the formula for attacks looks something like this D20 Roll + Half your Level (always round down in DnD) + Relevant Ability Score Modifier. So, practically, Lightning Bolt would be 15 (my roll) + 3 (Level 7 Character) + 3 (Intelligence Modifier). There are occasionally more modifiers, but these are the basic ones you’ll use every time. But wait, we don’t just roll the dice for no reason. No, there is a number you have to meet or exceed. (I warned you there would be math!)

Different attacks target different defenses. You have four basic defenses: Armor Class (AC), Fortitude, Will, and Reflex. Most Spells target either Will or Reflex. In this case, let’s say it targets Reflex and the Goblin’s Reflex defense is 15. Since my roll exceeds his defense, the attack is successful! Remember, you need to meet or exceed the defense. A 15 would have sufficed here.

Okay, so I’ve called out the Goblin, targeted him for a spell, and managed to land a hit. Now we determine just how badly we’ve shocked him/her/it. Once again, it’s Math to the rescue. The formula for determining damage is as follows: Dice Roll (be sure to check which dice to use) + Bonuses + Ability Score modifier. For example, this spell uses 2d6 to determine damage. So I add 12 (my roll) + 3 (Intelligence Modifier) and do 15 points of damage. Not bad!

An important thing to note is the type of attacks. There are 3 Types :At-Will, Encounter, and Daily. At-Will powers are color-coded green and can be used as often as you like in an Encounter (when appropriate). Encounter powers (Red) can be used once per encounter (usually equivalent to a fight). Daily Powers (Grey) can be used once per in-game day. If your party goes to sleep, etc, your Daily powers are restored.

Congratulations, you’re now ready to play Dungeons and Dragons for reals! Okay, not entirely, you still need at least a Player’s Handbook for yourself and the Monster Manuals (full of monsters, duh) and Dungeon Master’s Guide for your group. Again, share costs. Aside from this series, which ostensibly should teach you the basics, I cannot recommend the Wizards of the Coast website enough. The free content is great, but the paid subscription, DnD Insider, is more than worth the price of admission. $10 per month and you get a web-based Character Builder, access to the Compendium (which has everything DnD ever inside it), and a whole lot of other tools. I use it for all of my games. Okay, the part that sounds like an ad is over. Go out and roll the dice!

If you missed them, read part one and part two.

Pick up the DnD Red Box at Amazon!

Wizards of the Coast website!