D&D with High School Students S01E01 - DnD, Dungeons & Dragons, newbies

Okay we're in! Players welcome to the world of  Dungeons and Dragons! We'll be playing 5th edition   Dungeons & Dragons today. Now how many of you  have ever played Dungeons & Dragons? No? Good.    So I've been playing since I was a small child.  I am gonna teach you in like less than a half an hour   how to play - we'll be PLAYING Dungeons  and Dragon's in a half an hour or my name isn't Bill Allan. Now the first thing that you're gonna learn about  Dungeons and Dragons is a lot of the things that   you know from video games and movies come from  this right or from books okay so the first thing   that we start off with is race now there are a  lot of races that you could choose from this is   the players handbook so it gives you basic races  okay I'm just gonna give you a rundown so we have   dwarves right if you've ever seen Lord of the  Rings dwarves they're stout II they're hearty   they're they're strong yes maybe Brian I don't  know well hold on we'll come back to Brian then   there's elves okay elves are like humans but they  have pointed ears they could see in the dark they   have a slightly different way of looking at the  world there may be some times we think of them as   being more connected to nature okay then there's  halflings they are really small like hobbits don't   say that Brian is a halfling he's not he's a  he's a human he's just shorter then there's humans   we'll get back to them in a second you pretty much  know what they are then there's Dragonborn right   so Dragonborn are humanoid dragon kind of people  right Dragonborn can also be viewed in some ways   because of their draconic their dragon nature they  could sometimes have a different approach maybe   sometimes we view them as being like slightly  less emotional more like logic almost like if   you ever if you're a Star Trek fan or view over  watch Star Trek like the Vulcan kind of approach   or the Klingon kind of approach like might be I  don't know so anyway they're here's some receipts   from something that I bought gnomes gnomes are  kind of like Kathleen's smaller people they could   be kind of tricky and stealthy sometimes well  there's that Dragonborn aren't there big half   elves half elves are half human half elf okay so  if you're not quite sure if you want to be a human   or an elf maybe you pick it half elf they have  attributes of both races okay sort of half orc   okay now works are typically considered monsters  they're humanoids but they're you know barbaric   and they're typically considered evil well half  works are generally like a hybrid between an orc   and a human so born out of the coupling of a human  and an orc some people think that's gross I don't   know so half-orcs are pretty strong male or female  they're usually very buff but a lot of times   they face social difficulties as you would expect  because they're half work which is a despised race   then there's tea flings tea flames basically are  humanoid but they have a lot of features of demons   or maybe devils I can't remember but basically  kind of imagine like if you had a little bit of   devil blood in you demon blood double doves blood  it's that's a tea flame right so each of these   races has different things to bring to the table  but then you have a class and a class in this game   is kind of like what your character does right  so there's barbarians you figure out what that   is right really good fighters but they're kind  of more primitive they don't use like armor they   rely on their skill in battle and like their kind  of approach to living like a rough kind of rigid   lifestyle then there's bards bards are musicians  performers right but they have magic infused in   their abilities right so it's not just like I  want to play you a song or sing you a song or do   something like they actually can kind of do magic  while they're doing their bard powers so kind of a   cool and they have a lot of different skills and  knowledge --is cuz bards are people who collect   skills and knowledge is Right clerics I think I  explained that to you that's their like the holy   people like they have their they're like magic  users but they use divine magic in other words   they pray to a god that God grants them powers  because of their faith and their God okay and   they could fight they could wear armor but they're  not fighter fighters like they're their primary   purposes and fighters but then we have druids  which are also magic users but they draw their   power from nature right so nature grants them  power their abilities come from cast spells and   it - to have powers that comes from nature then  you have fighters which is exactly how it sounds   these are your classic whether it's a knight or  an archer a fighter is a person who has trained   in martial combat right whatever weapon you choose  you get armor no armor it's up to you there's a   lot of different ways to build a fighter okay you  might just be like a master with just knives or   axe sword spear bows and arrows crossbows whatever  fighters fight monk it's kind of what you think it   would be it's somebody who uses their mind they're  cheap our right to exercise their abilities right   they have certain abilities and they're exactly  what you would think a monk would be like they   they have martial-arts powers their ability to  do damage just with their bare hands is can be   lethal then you have a paladin paladin's are holy  fighters right so they're like fighters but they   also like a clear they draw their power from a god  so they're not as powerful with magic as a cleric   is but they could fight a ranger as a fighter  who kind of like is like a fighter and a druid   combined they have a little bit of magic they know  the outdoors really well and a ranger can track   things right they're like really good at tracking  and survival yes Rangers are also good fighters   they could fight with two weapons they could fight  with a weapon and a shield or they could fight   with a bow their archers too so they're they're  really good at those things next is a rogue and   a rogue is kind of a jack-of-all-trades it's a  skill master it's a sneaky this is your sneaky   guy right your thief your your assassin that's  like a rogue right so they could fight but they're   not fully armored so if they get surrounded by a  bunch of people they're probably screwed but if   they have a chance to sneak up and kill someone  they're really good right they're also good at   like picking locks and like disarming traps and  those kind of sneaky stealthy things and they're   good at stealing things usually to sorcerers  warlocks and wizards all right a sorcerer is   a magic user who draws their power from within  right some people believe that they're they're   touched by draconic blood like they have a little  bit of dragon blood in them and they they draw   their power from within and they cast awesome  spells then there's warlocks warlocks get their   power by making a pact with something or someone  right so think of it as like almost like a witch   like a warlock could be somebody who draws their  power from making a pact with a powerful demon   Lord right doesn't necessarily have to be an evil  but they get their power by making a pact they're   granted powers but in return they owe their soul  to whatever pact they made right then a wizard a   wizard is the classic wizard idea like you cast a  spell with a flourish over your hand and magical   words or you read it out of your book right  wizards are like the classic arcane you know   Harry pop thing Harry Potter or think like Gandalf  from Lord of the Rings like a wizard that kind of   a wizard you study you memorize spells and then  you weave powerful essence into your magic okay   so those are your classes now to simplify things  we're gonna play a starter game in my world yeah   I'm gonna make you all make humans cooper's like  that sucks I wanted to be a dragon yeah I did all   right there's a reason for it in my setting in  my world setting I make everybody play humans   there are other races but I start everybody  off as humans and then I let your character   come to life through your class choices and  your background choices okay so when you make   a character you have to pick a race you have to  pick a class and then on your character sheet   you guys will see how there's like on this panel  right here there's strength dexterity Constitution   intelligence wisdom and charisma these are your  primary attributes right and they're pretty much   what you think they would be strength is your  physical strength dexterity is like how fast   or agile or dexterous you are Constitution is how  much endurance do you have how much pain can you   suffer right how long can you hold your breath  all those things our Constitution intelligence   is literally your intellect your logic wisdom is  how where you are of the world around you how wise   you are how perceptive you are and charisma is  like the force of your personality right so if   you're a leader you typically have good charisma  if you're like a monk or a cleric or anyone who   kind of do like draws or power from their insight  you would be more inclined towards wisdom right   Wizards might need intelligence if you're a  fighter you're going for strength dexterity   Constitution those kind of things okay so we  previously did a little test run with this and   at that time I just told you you were but out now  I'm gonna kind of let you have a choice okay so I   want you to think I'm gonna make this the choice  easier first you're gonna be a human so on the   top of your character sheet you'll see class level  background player name race under race just right   human under player name right your first name do  have to so your your character's name is this big   space over in the upper left corner so Yuri might  be your character's name yeah alright so you come   up with a character name and it could be anything  I have a last name sure Jerry do you want to name   your character Carl yeah now it's not uncommon  in Dungeons and Dragons for people to play a   character who is totally different from themselves  like I've played in games where like a boy has   played a female character or a female player you  know character has played a boy doesn't mean it   doesn't matter it's a game so you could play  whatever you want so the next thing is gonna   be what class are you right now Cooper in the last  like you know a little run through that we did I   think you were I was a ranger right do you like  that you like that idea yes I do okay so you're   gonna write underclass you're gonna write Ranger  Rory I think we had you as a fighter I think you   should be a rogue this time because I think we  need someone to pick the locks and stuff like   that I think max was the rogen Rory was the  fighter yeah it's up to you yeah now a rope   can fight too you could build a badass rogue who  could also fight yeah I'll be a rogue alright so   right down rogue Heather you had been a druid do  you want to stay with that sure okay so you're a   druid Brian sorcerer yeah okay Brian like that  sorcerer alright good so that made things easy   now in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition there's  a way for you to pick out the points that you   want to do that that's called a point by system  so it basically means that you have a pool of   points you can add them to the ability scores  and there's all these rules for that but I grew   up in a world where he rolls dice and fate random  chance determined your character now Cooper you   say you because in truth it could be dangerous  you might roll really crappy roles like like   one two one four you're screwed right but you  also might roll like sixes and fives and have   really high numbers is it like so it's up to a six  where the that's not so I want to show you there's   a couple different ways people do on the the dice  rolling thing in a lot of different ways okay so   what we do for my game is because I make all of  you humans it kind of limits you right because   you don't get to choose all the classes but the  benefit in my game of setting is that I let you   roll for six sided dice and you pick the best  three but I also let you reroll ones so the odds   are using my system for character roles you are  gonna have really high rolls and that's typically   called heroic roles and the reason why I give you  that is because I'm limiting your race option to   human to start with okay so as an example I would  roll this that's a dope roll actually so six five   three and two I'm gonna take the best three out  of those rolls 6 + 5 is 11 plus 3 is 14 14 is   exceptionally good right so we're gonna go around  and people are gonna roll now if I had rule the   one here's five five for irie roll this one so  now it's five five five see 15 okay so Heather   there's four dice for you now we could we could  sit and watch each other roll but what I'm gonna   have you do is you're gonna roll and you're gonna  don't write it into the boxes just write it along   the side on the right side in the margin to  whatever your role is write that down okay so   we're gonna do two people at a time because I have  to witness your rules and make sure you're you're   doing your stuff right okay how'd it go okay so  for five and two that's 11 so write down 11 on   the side Cooper go Cooper with the mic drop 15  good good start roll then write that on the side look at Brian Brian with straight threes  Brian that's a nine all right so Rory you   rolled to one's a six and A four now we roll  those ones worried this could be huge right   yeah okay five four six that's awesome fifteen  all right pass the dice to your partners you're   both got 15 yep you got to do you have to  add a total of six rolls cuz there's six   attributes Wow Heather with a powerhouse  15 there you go Go coop Cooper with the   6 5 2 with a 1 no that was a 1 we roll this 6  5 2 and 5/16 good pass them down all right go   Brian reroll those ones bright so you got  a 4 4 and 2 ones nice Brian 14 all right   Rory we roll those once Wow Rory's like God  the one we rollin master in six four three we roll the one there you go 14 good solid  go ahead Goku yeah Heather with a powerful   11 still above average Cooper coming in with  the 15 again very very solid interesting all   right Brian 13 that's good Rory with his first  no one's with a modest 11 that's good how many   up are we up to now 3 good go we roll the 1  for 3 there you go Heather so 12 coop that   is the saddest roll you can that's a 9 that's  alright 9 is only slightly below ever okay go   Brian I am coming in with was that 12 Rory  coming up where you roll the 1 this could be   big we're not so that's an 11 that's an 11 all  right Heather you're up Heather 14 nice thumbs   back re-roll the 1 coop 6 4 2 6 16 Cooper  clocking in another 16 that's that's heavy   alright Brian we roll that one that slipped away  you got it four three two Rory we roll that one   that can be huge all right so Brian you got a  10 right there Rory's got a solid 16 Heather   reroll the one that's a Cooper River whole three  ones Jesus Oh another Wow six six four that's a   success eighteen eighteen huge Cooper you're a  beast oh yeah all right Brian reclaim that dice you might have to crawl under the table for that  so 13 there you go 13 okay so here pass those dice   to Brian Brian Heather see if you can find that  last red dice there it is all right Brian roll   the big dice let's see if that helps your scores  at all hey not bad look at that Cooper's dice are   lucky you got a 14 all right pass the dice this  way so everybody rolled and he actually despite   you know what you might think all of you rolled  really well because you know remember that like   average is 10 so how many of your rolls are above  10 look at your rolls yeah literally all of them   except right so basically all of your characters  are gonna be above average no matter where you're   at okay now where do you place those numbers it  depends on what class you are okay so for a ranger   for example Cooper yeah you have an eighteen and  two 16s you have a lot of choices and two 15s good   Christ that's just that's beast man that is beast  so when you make a human one of the advantages of   a human because humans can't see in the dark like  an elf or a dwarf and because they don't have any   other bonuses that help them racially when you  make a human every one of your scores goes up by   one so when you place your scores you add one to  that for the final score right so what that means   is this that 18 becomes a 19 those 16s become  seven those 15s become 16s that nine becomes a   temp and if we were to play another race like  different category or difference guys will be   it would be totally different right so if if I let  you let's say play your Dragonborn your Dragonborn   instead of giving you a plus one to all of  your roles your Dragonborn would get a plus   two to strength and a plus one to charisma your  strength would be twenty it's so beast alright so   so here's what we're gonna do I'm gonna tell you  what stats are important to your class okay so   we'll go around worry you're making a rope right  what's your highest roll 16 okay so you're sixteen   and then do you have any 15s in there yeah okay  you're gonna want to put your 16 into dexterity   so 16 and plus one cuz you're a human makes it 17  so put 17 in the big box in your dexterity okay so   and then put a little line just one line through  the 16 on the right so that we know we used it   okay Cooper a ranger it depends on what kind of  fighting you want to do now if you want to be a   shooting bows kind of Ranger right yeah then you  want your highest in dexterity kind of like Rory   so you're gonna put your 18 into dexterity and  it's gonna be a 19 so right 19 in the box and   cross out your 18 just put a line through it so  we know what used it okay Heather druids focus   their power through their wisdom so your wisdoms  gonna be important what's your highest role so put   that as a 16 into your wisdom because it gets  a plus-one Brian sorcerers use their charisma   the force of their personality their will over  magic so your charisma is got what's your highest   role so put the 14 it's gonna be as a 15 in your  charisma okay so and then draw a little line for   your 14 all right your next step is also kind  of important so Rangers need decent wisdom if   you want to track you need to be perceptive here  and fortunately for you you have solid roles so   one of your six teens should go into wisdom and  that's actually going to be a 77 six or eight is   seventeen for wisdom cross out a sixteen Rory you  are a rogue depending on what kind of role you are   you might want to fight with weapons like this or  you might want to shoot a bow and arrow weapons I   got the book I got the book you want to go with  the standing weapons because these guys can't   fight ok so you already have a solid dexterity  which means if you use lightweight weapons that   have the finesse attribute you don't need a lot  of strength but what everybody needs to survive   in combat is a good Constitution because if you  get stabbed yourself too many times you die so   what's your next highest role so make that a 16  in constitution what is it like what does constant   Constitution is it adds to your hit points that's  how much damage you could take before you die it's   also things like how long you can hold your breath  how long you could be out in like cold weather   before you get exhausted that kind of stuff right  Constitution is important we'll get back to you   all right your next step druids don't wear a lot  of armor so you probably need a decent dexterity   just so that you could avoid people in combat so  that 14 make it a 15 and put that in your decks   what are you at what's your next highest role 14  yeah same thing with you buddy so I would put a   14 in your decks too so that you could get some  some armor class bonus and that 14 becomes a 15   okay all right coop what I'm thinking is no one's  strong here no one's strong enough okay I forgot   you got to be the man all right well I'm gonna  give you a bit of advice your next highest rule   is a 16 right yep so you could put that into  your Constitution as a 17 so you're gonna have   a lot of hit points right do that what about what  else physical strength yeah well put your 15 into   that and that becomes a 16 and a 16 and a 17 point  wise are about the same so that would be a 17 this   is a 16 so I do that right now put houses a 16 and  then what's your last stat you got a 9 and a 15 I   like so your intelligence is about knowledge right  you don't need a lot of knowledge you're not using   like your knowledge of history or anything so you  could probably make your lowest at that 10 your   intelligence and that's still average mmm-hmm  which leaves a 15 to become a 16 for charisma   that is very charismatic that means like you you  have the ability to influence people and persuade   them to do things that you need them to do it's a  leadership trait all right Rory what's your next   dance 14 and 13 okay you probably want that 14  to go into your strength to be a 15 the 13 to go   into intelligence to be a 14 and then what's left  I have to 11 yeah so those are both 1212 charisma   12 intelligence you guys are a fairly charismatic  party so far all right Heather what do we got left okay so you could put that 10 into strength  because you're not a fighting kind of person   that becomes an 11 the 11 I would put into Chris  yeah and then the 12 becomes what a 13 where's   your Constitution how many things do you have left  yeah but what are those numbers though 11 and 12   so put the 12 and Constitution it doesn't really  matter that becomes a 13 yeah okay so underneath   each of those stats that you have is a little  circle right you see that on your sheet that's   gonna be your bonus okay so if you have a if  you have a 10 or an 11 it's a bonus of 0 so   just write a 0 if you have a 10 or 11 if you have  a 12 or 13 it's a plus 1 so look on your sheet you   have a 10 so write a zero in that little circle  underneath it if you have an 11 10 or 11 sorry   10 or 11 is a is a plus 0 a 12 or 13 is a plus 1  so right plus 1 in there a 14 or a 15 is plus 2 16 or 17 is a +3 18 or 19 is a +4 now where  those pluses come in is kind of important ok   those affect your abilities with certain skills or  proficiencies which we'll get to in a second and   they also affect how you do with certain things  like combat and your hip points ok all right so   we're gonna run through how to fill in the rest of  that stuff so your first let's see Heather you're   you're gonna be up first so a couple things with  the druid the first thing is at level 1 you get   one d8 hit points plus your constitution modifier  now at first level I let everybody have the max   because if I had you roll one d8 if I had you  roll your hip points for example and you roll   the two that would suck that means like somebody  with like a knife could kill you in one hit okay   so at the first level I always let you max it  out so you have eight what's your Constitution   bonus one okay so you have nine hit points so up  there do you see where that that says hit point   maximum yeah right down nine it says current hit  points and then there's in gray it says hip going   maximum all right so that's just Heather that's  drew it okay there's a savings throw box to the   right of your dexterity you see that there's  little dots next to each of those I want you   to fill in the dots Heather this is again only  Heather for intelligence and wisdom that means   you have a bonus a proficient see bonus when it  comes to intelligence and wisdom saving throws   and I'll explain what that means under you're  proficient see bonus right down plus two that's   not their proficiency bonus plus two and actually  everybody can write down plus two for proficiency   bonus because you're all starting off at first  level okay Heather druids have certain skills   one of those is the ability to use an herbalism  kit so in your bottom left corner here it should   say other proficiencies write down herbalism  kit that's herb h.e.r.b.i.e lis m kit you   also have skills okay you get to choose to their  Zarkana animal handling insight medicine nature   perception religion and survival what's your  wisdom you probably have the highest wisdom so   perception needs to be one of yours so on this  list or your proficiency z' find perception and   put a fill in the circle next to it now when you  have a proficiency bonus in something it means you   add your +2 and the appropriate skill so next  to perception see how in parentheses what does   it say whiz so what's your wisdom bonus yeah so  yeah your total is 5 it's plus 2 plus 3 is plus   5 so right down plus 5 okay perceptions crucial  because it's your ability to spot things another   thing you might want to take would be either  nature or survival or insight insight is to   kind of tell whether people are lying survival's  your basic ability to survive in in the outdoors   nature is your knowledge of nature plants and  animals now there's not a good I mean there's a   good chance that he might take nature and survival  because he's a ranger he has similar overlapping   skills so maybe because you have a high wisdom you  would take although he does too so either one of   you might be good with that but here's here's  the thing when you make a D&D party sometimes   it's good to plan ahead so that you don't have  the same skills you know because then you're   like we can only do this so why don't we make  an agreement you you might choose perception   she might choose perception but both of you don't  need survival because if you're working together   he could help with survival and maybe you help  with nature or insight right so let me see if a   ranger a ranger Cooper might have a lot of the  same skills to choose from but he might choose   different things too so as a ranger he gets  to choose from basically almost all the same   skill sets that you get to choose from and he is  three so Cooper would probably but you also want   to be stealthy don't you yeah okay so why don't  you let Heather handle the perception and insight   stuff so why don't you take insight as your second  one and it's gonna be the same bonus because you   have a strong wisdom okay so that handles your  your skills okay you're gonna start off with some   basic equipment alright and we'll get to that in  a second so you get a weapon which will write that   down in a minute you get leather armor you get an  explorer's pack and you get your druidic focus and   you also get some spells we'll get to that in a  second Brian your character is a sorcerer yeah   yep so we're gonna we're gonna build you out  real quick and then we'll come to this side of   the table and by the way once your characters are  made the game flies like this is the most kind of   boring part because you have to kind of go through  this so Brian sorcerers have a little bit less hit   points so they start off with a six so what's your  Constitution okay so you have a plus one bonus   right so you have a total of seven hit points  that you're gonna write into that box Heather   you can show them where that is okay so Brian  your your saving throws which is to the right   of your dexterity in that box you're gonna pencil  in the circles for Constitution and charisma and   what that means is your those are your saving  throw abilities okay now you get skills Brian   that are a little bit different because you're  a sorcerer you would have knowledge in Arcana   so what's your intelligence 14 okay so that gives  you a bonus of two so go ahead and circle in the   dot next to you Arcana on your proficient C's and  that would be a total of +4 and your second one   I'm gonna suggest well you have several options  but you have a high charisma right yeah okay so   you might want to choose either deception which  is like kind of your ability to lie to people   and have them believe you or persuasion which is  your ability to like persuade people to do what   you want nicely without lying I feel like where I  should go for deception he's kind of he's a rogue   yes right as a high charisma so he could he could  choose either direction what do you think safe or   sweet okay so persuasion so that is your charisma  bonus plus your your proficiency bonus right   what's your charisma bonus plus T okay so you have  a total of four on that okay all right and like   Heather you are a spellcaster but you don't have  any armor you're gonna rely mostly on your spell's   for attacks and things all right so Brian you  get a couple other things like smells but we're   gonna come back to you you start off with ten hit  points what's your Constitution bonus it is plus   three so you start out with 13 hip points write  that on that line right there hit point maximum   13 that's pretty beefy you're receiving throws our  strength and dexterity so put a black dot next to   strength and dexterity you get three skills so  probably perception that's to spot things self   to sneak around and survival to survive out  in the wilderness so you're gonna put a dot   next to each of those three things perception  perception is itself medical reception and then   stealth still and then survival okay so the add  up on that is this see how it says perception   and then in parentheses wisdom so you take that  plus three plus your plus two and that's plus five what's your next one stealth stealth that's  your beefiest stamp right you got a plus four   so that's plus more plus two that's a plus six  that's huge and same what's survival wisdom okay   so bet your back to plus five okay so there you  go that's your skills now typically the funny   thing is is all of you guys kind of are light  armored people so you want to be able to move   around easily and get around and you use very  light armor we'll get to that and your weapon   choice did you decide that you wanted to do  more of animos okay so we'll get you equipped   in a second alright so the bells about to  ring so we we've constructed most of your   characters what I'm gonna do is collect your  character sheets now and I will write in so   that we're ready for tomorrow I'm gonna write in  all the equipment that you need right so tomorrow   you'll have your armor your weapons and your  spell's and I'll briefly go over how all that   stuff works and then we will start playing the  game alright so stay tuned and join us tomorrow   for our first adventures in lions dungeon  that's so stupid I've gone with a good name

Channel: Bill Allan

Views: 1,177,275

Keywords: Dungeons, and, Dragons, D&D, DM, Dungeonmaster, RPG, DnD, newbies, dungeonsanddragons, highschool, students, DnDwithHighSchoolStudents, D&D with High School Students, dungeons and dragons, dungeons \& dragons, dungeons and dragons gameplay, d\&d gameplay, dnd stories, actual play, game play, bill allan, dungeons & dragons, critical role, dnd 5e, dnd gameplay, d&d gameplay, dungeons \\& dragons, dungeon master, high school dnd campaign, high school students play dnd

Id: 52NJTUDokyk

Length: 34min 45sec (2085 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 18 2017