How to Play the Dungeons & Dragons Board Game

Creating Characters

• 1

  Roll three six-sided dice and total the results. Repeat this six times to determine your character's ability scores. Once the numbers ranging 3 to 18 have been totaled designate each total to one of the following; strength, dexterity, constitution, wisdom, intelligence and charisma. Each of these ability scores will help determine the core strengths of your character and help dictate what they are capable of within the game. Low scores below 10 generally mean your character is inept in a field while scores above 10 show excellence.

• 2

  Look through the Player's Handbook and decide which of the game's fictional races your character will be. There are many to choose from, including Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Dwarf, Orc and more. This decision will go on to shape much of your character's story through the game and affect how other characters perceive yours.

• 3

  Select a class or profession for your character. This will provide your character with a unique set of skills that will allow them to contribute to the group in a meaningful way. Your character can be anything from a brave fighter, to a crafty wizard. What you choose will determine what your character will be able to do once the game starts

• 4

  Decide what skills and feats your character will be able to use with the skill points provided by the selected class. These will dictate what basic abilities your character will excel at and include mostly mundane activities like jumping, climbing or swimming. Skill points can also be used to add new languages to your character's vocabulary.

• 5

  Repeat this process for each of the players. It is important to consider each others' characters to keep a balance of strengths and weaknesses while playing the game.

Running an Adventure

• 6

  Select one player to act as the Dungeon Master. This person will be in charge of telling the story of the game and creating the situations players must react to. This player will portray all of the monsters, shop vendors and other non-player characters within the game. Their goal is to provide a fun and engaging experience that lets all players use their unique skills to help the game progress.

• 7

  Develop a situation in which the players need to complete a quest. This could be as simple as rescuing someone from a group of bandits to something as complex as uniting warring kingdoms to destroy a common enemy. The scope of the situation should be in-line with player experience and character ability.

• 8

  Create obstacles and challenges for the players to overcome. This could be traps or puzzles, but it can also be combat against monsters. The Monster Manual provides statistics and rules for playing a wide variety of creatures that can challenge the players.

• 9

  Provide a reward for players who complete objectives and challenges. In addition to in-game rewards like treasure and equipment, players should also receive experience points that allow their characters to grow and improve. Details for quantity and frequency are available in the Dungeon Master's Guide.

• 10

  Repeat steps 1-4 as frequently as players like, there is no end to Dungeons and Dragons as long as the Dungeon Master continues to create new adventures. Many players choose to run a single game per week, sometimes for many years.