this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2026
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General Discussion
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Holy fuck I need to take out an entire weekend to learn this.
It's more like you need to play a couple sessions with people explaining your options every step of the way, mostly in battle, until you can start playing a basic character on your own, then branch out from there.
My first character was "guy with bow." I don't remember his name because it wasn't important - if we were in combat, I shot my bow. Anywhere else I stood around waiting for combat to start so I could shoot my bow. Eventually I got a handle on my skills, and I figured out what types of shots to make when, but for a good long time it was just 'I shoot my bow."
Once I got a good understanding of how combat worked, and I had watched my new party members handle some of the out-of-battle stuff, I got better at thinking of new ways to play my character, and sussing out how much I could step away from the rules as written to do things that would make sense for my character.
I remember the first time I decided to shoot down a chandelier on the enemy instead of just shooting them directly. The DM rewarded my ingenuity by pinning the enemy down under the chandelier, allowing us to finish him off quickly. That was when I first started really thinking in terms of what I could do, rather than what I'm allowed to do, the way video games taught me.
Nowadays all my characters are varied and unique, with interesting backstories and a mix of in-battle and out-of-battle skills, and I do my best to play then as real people rather than bundles of stats, but that would've been way too much for me as a newbie, so it was better that I just focus on getting the combat down at first.
All of this was facilitated by a good party and a patient DM, though. When starting out, your first priority is to find a group that you mesh will with, and who are willing to help explain the basics until you're ready. Finding such a group is invaluable for a new roleplayer, and I wish you good luck finding yours!
I’ve honestly never read the whole thing. Not even 10% of it. I just use it to reference things. The creating a character is the most useful part and you’ll keep coming back to reference it as you level. The rest, just trust your DM to know the rules.