Summary

  • Using the Wrong Dice: Difficulty identifying various dice is common among beginners.
  • Not Roleplaying: New players can struggle with roleplaying their characters at first.
  • Miscasting Spells: Understanding spell levels and slots can be confusing for new DND players.

If you're a longtime 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons player, it can be easy to forget just how far you've come as a tabletop gamer. But sometimes, it's important to remember just how many mistakes you might've made as a first-time DND player. However, looking back can sometimes be a bit cringey, especiallﷺy when it comes to making rookie mistakes.

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So, let's indulge the cringe together and take a walk down memory lane. After all, no matter how long𝓡 you've been playing Dungeons & Dragons, you're not too experienced to remember some of these classic beginner mistakes. Here are the biggest mistakes we all made as newbies.

10 Using The Wrong Dice 🐷

Roll A D What?

A group of tieflings play cards in DnD.
Tieflings by Clint Cearley

We've all been there, our first Dungeons & Dragons game. You tell your Dungeon Master you want to try something, and they tell you to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:roll a certain die. You, of course, being a newbie, have to ask♐, 'Wait, what's a d8?'

This can b🉐e embarrassing your first time around, but honestly, we've all done it. It takes a wh🌃ile to memorize which die is which, and there are even some dice that even veterans forget how to use. Don't lie and say you perfectly understand how the d100 works. I sure don't.

9 🍒 Not Roleplaying

Or Not Knowing How To

Two spy NPCs in DND.
Spies by Cyprien Rousson

If you're brand new to tabletop roleplayinꦫg games, it can be a bit of a scary experience. Dungeons & Dragons is great for beginners, but we all remember how strange it can be to try out roleplaying for the very first time, especially if your character is meant to be a bit 'out there' conceptually.

After all, if it's your first time at a D🎐ND table, how are you supposed to know what a dragonborn sounds like as opposed to a dwarf? You might even ask yourself if you should do a voice or not, or if you're even capable. Rest assured that we've all been there, and roleplay is something that comes with experience.

8 Miscasting Spel✅ꦆls

I Cast Fireball At First Level

A bard uses Inspiration on a fellow player character in DND.
Bardic Inspiration via Wizards of the Coast

A lot of other tabletop roleplaying games over the years have tried to simplify the spellcasting system. Daggerheart, for example, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Critical Role's tabletop game, useꦉs a card-based spell system. However, veteran Dungeon Masters know how taxing it can be to try to teach newbies the diff🔯erence between spell levels and spell slots.

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This almost always leads to confusion for new players. Understanding 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:how to cast spells at differ꧋ent levels, all the while keeping track of your spell slots, can prove exhaustive. It happens to t꧙he best of us, even when you become a veteran player.

7 Forgetting Featurܫes 💟

Oh, Right, I Can Fly!

A player character using astral projection over a spelljamming ship in DND 5e.
Astral Projection via Wizards of the Coast

If you're a new player, it can be really easy to forget 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:all your different abilities, particularly as you begin to progress and gain levels and🅷 experience. Some classes, more than others, gain new🌊 abilities almost every level, forcing your character sheet to become four or even five pages long.

When you're a new player, it's easy to forget how al🧸l of these different features work, or even that you have them. As a DM, I once had a player who went an entire campaign without using one of her key cleric features. She told me later she simply forgot that she had it as part of her subclass.

6 Thinking You're Invincible

I Charge Right In!

A player character fights a monster in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage in DND.
Dungeon Combat via Wizards of the Coast

If you're more used to playing video games as opposed to tabletop roleplaying games, it's easy to lull yourself into a false sense of security. After all, you can't really die ꦰin this game, right? Wrong.

New players in Dungeons & Dragons sometimes forget that permadeath is a thing in DND, and you need to watch your step. I, for one, as a new player, found myself charging into combat way too willingly. This led t🔥o me making death saves in m𒊎y very first Dungeons & Dragons game.

5 N🌳ot Taking Notes 🌊

What Happened Last Game?

A magical quill writing by itself in DND.
Magical Quill via Wizards of the Coast

Longtime Dungeons & Dragons players know the importance o♓f good note-taking, particularly if your campaign has a lot of worldbuilding or is lore-heavy. However, new players might not be used to the idea of having to take notes while playing a b🥀oard game.

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When you're a new player, this can lead to a lot of inadvertent frustration as you try to remember where your character left off ꦍlast game. Of course, any good DM worth their salt will help remind you, but it can still be embarrassing to have to ask your DM where on earth the party is, or what goal they're trying to achieve.

4 🌱 ꩲ Using The Wrong Stats

Can You Use Stealth To Seduce?

A band of drow mercenaries in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in DND.
Drow Mercenaries via Wizards of the Coast

Let's face it, Dungeons & Dragons has a lot of different stats to keep track of. While most of these are relatively self-explanatory, it's easy to get confused as a new player. Plus, bec🍨ause there aren't always hard and fast rules for what stats can be used for what aims, it's sometimes common for new players to try to use the wrong stats for the wrong things.

For example, one time, when DM-ing a group of newbies, I had a player ask me if𓆏 they could use their Sleight of Hand skill to scale the face of a cliff. They weren't entirely off the mark, but I had to explain that climbing is more of a Strength-based check, and would require an Athletics check on their end. This is a lot 🌠more common than you might think, so DMs who are preparing to run a game for newbies, beware.

3 ౠ Forgetting To Look For Treasure

Loot, Loot, Loot!

A thief holding a treasure chest and sack of gold runs from a red dragon in Dungeons & Dragons.
A Thief by Billy Christian

Every expert Dungeons & D💟ragons player knows exactly what to do the moment a round of combat is over: loot. Sometimes, it's easy for the party to turn into a cold, bloodlust-ridden group of gravediggers, looti✤ng dead bodies everywhere they go.

However, new players sometimes forget that treasure is also an important mechanic in any Dungeons & Dragons game. We've all had that momen𝄹t as newbies where we finish a round of comba♕t, and look to the DM for what to do next, only to realize that we still have control. So, newer players: don't forget to loot!

2 Not Preparing For Combat 𝔍

Just Cast Mage Armor Real Quick

Two adventurers parley with an owlbear in DND.
Owlbear Parley via Wizards of the Coast

Longtime DND players𒁃 know that good prep is essential for good combat. Making sure you have ammunition slicked with poison, or have any protective spells you might want already up and concentrated on, can make the difference between life and death on the field of battle.

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However, newer players tend to forget that they can take preparation rounds before formally entering Init꧋iative. This is one of the easiest ways to get a TꦆPK early on as a relatively green Dungeons & Dragons party.

1 Playing To Your Weakꦺnesses 🃏

Watch Out, The Wizard's Got An Axe!

A plague infested city in Dungeons & Dragons.
The Plague by Paul Scott Canavan

At the end of the day, in DND, c𝄹ertain classes are always going to be better at certain things. It can be tempting, as a new player, to try to change your character concept midway through a campaign. Of course, you always have multiclassing as an option, but new players tend to try to turn the⛄ir squishy wizards into ruthless barbarians by asking DMs if they can wield swords or other heavy weapons.

This can prove tough to navigate as a DM, as new players sometimes don't know what they want right away at character creation. Plus, we've all been in that situation where we find a super cool magic item, only to discover we can't really use it thanks to our proficiencies or other features. Still, it's fun to so🎃metimes try and fail to do something outside of your character's strengths.

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Your Rating

Original Release Date
1974
Designer
🃏 E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
Player Count
2+