New to D&D?

Here are the top six things you need to know.

1. DICE ROLLS

The main mechanic of the game is the roll of a twenty-sided die (a D20). Twenty is the best a player can do, while one is the worst. Every number in between might indicate a success or a failure depending on the challenge.

2. MODIFIERS

Different characters are better at different things; some are stronger, some are smarter, some are better at sneaking. Characters will add or subtract from their rolls based on how good (or bad) they are at certain skills.

3. CHARACTER SHEETS

This is where all of the information about a character lives. Players will reference their sheet to know what gets added to a dice roll, how likely they are to succeed at a challenge, and how close their character is to dying.

4. DIFFICULTY CLASS

The Difficulty Class (or DC) indicates how difficult a challenge will be. A DC of 5 denotes a very simple task (though not guaranteed) and a DC of 30 is a nearly impossible feat.

5. HIT POINTS

Each character has a different number of hit points (or HP). Characters can lose hit points by taking damage from enemies in combat or failing in-world challenges. Once a character loses all of their hit points, the character runs the risk of dying.

6. ARMOR CLASS

A character’s Armor Class (or AC) indicates how difficult it is to do damage to them. The higher the Armor Class, the safer the Character will be. When an enemy rolls to attack, they are trying to get above a Character’s AC in order to hit them.