Dungeons and Dragons can seem like a pretty expensive hobby to get into.
Between the core rule books, modules, additional sourcebooks, dice, accessories, minis… The shopping list can add up quick.
But one of the most glorious things about D&D is that, really, all you need is your imagination, some free time, and a friend or three.
Well, all that and a working internet connection.
- See also:
“Sure, that might be the case for vets who know what they’re doing, but I don’t even know where to start!” You might be thinking.
No worries at all, because we (well, technically, Wizards of the Coast) have got you covered on that front.
WotC actually offers the basic Dungeons and Dragons rules for free on their website as a PDF. It may only include a handful of the classes and race options you can play as, but hey, it’s free and covers all that you need to know to get a game of D&D up and running.
A printable character sheet can be found at the back of the PDF for printing, and now all you need is to scrounge up a pencil and you’re good to go.
Oh yeah, dice. I forgot about dice.
And while the satisfying feeling of rolling a physical dice and seeing the big two zero show up top is well worth the, what, $10? that a basic set costs, this article is about doing D&D for FREE and I’m not about to fail you there.
All you need to do is head over to Google and type in 1d20. Seriously. Just do it. A 20-sided die will automatically roll for you, as well as presenting you with a d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12 to use virtually.
What’s even better is that you can change the number of dice rolled, which is especially helpful for when you’re really piling on the damage with say, a Fireball’s 8d6, or the ridiculous damage a Paladin can do on a smite, without having to do all that math yourself.
And that’s honestly all you need.
Either do theater of the mind for combat encounters or use the back of some old wrapping paper and markers as a battlemap. Chess pieces make for great minis in a pinch, but you can use anything from bottle caps to marker lids to represent where everybody is.
Because that’s the great thing about D&D; the only thing it really needs to be played are at least two willing participants, an understanding of the rules, and your imaginations.
Awe. How wholesome.
But for real though you should probably buy like 20 sets of dice and a dice tower and all the books you can get your hands on and why not some spellcards? They’d come in handy. And that new Candlekeep Mysteries book is coming out soon so make sure to snag that and next thing you know you’ve fallen into the D&D spending spiral with the rest of us.
Welcome. We’re happy to have you.
It’s all worth it, we promise.
- See also:
