How to play Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

How to play

Character creation: Choose a class first (twelve of them, from Barbarian to Wizard), then your origin: a background and a species. In the 2024 rules your background, not your species, raises your ability scores. It names three abilities: add 2 to one and 1 to another, or 1 to all three. It also gives you an Origin feat, two skills and a tool. Your species (Aasimar, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goliath, Halfling, Human, Orc or Tiefling) sets your size, Speed and special traits. Set your six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) with the standard array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8, with point buy or with dice, and note each modifier.

Core mechanic: When a result is uncertain, the DM calls for a D20 Test: an ability check, a saving throw or an attack roll. Roll a d20, add the ability modifier, and add your Proficiency Bonus if you are proficient (+2 at level 1, rising to +6). Meet or beat the Difficulty Class (10 is easy, 15 medium, 20 hard) or, for an attack, the target's Armor Class. With Advantage you roll two d20s and keep the higher; with Disadvantage, the lower. A natural 20 on an attack is a Critical Hit, and a natural 1 always misses.

Heroic Inspiration: The DM can award Heroic Inspiration for heroic or entertaining play, and Humans gain it after every Long Rest. Spend it to reroll any die you just rolled. You can hold only one; if you would gain another, give it to a player who has none.

Combat: Everyone rolls Initiative, a Dexterity check, and acts from highest to lowest. On your turn you move up to your Speed and take one action: Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Influence, Magic, Ready, Search, Study or Utilize. You get a Bonus Action only when a feature or spell grants one, and one Reaction, such as an Opportunity Attack, between your turns. Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers and Rogues also use weapon mastery properties such as Topple, Vex and Sap. At 0 Hit Points you fall Unconscious and make a Death Saving Throw at the start of each turn: 10 or higher succeeds. Three successes stabilise you; three failures and you die.

Resting and Exhaustion: A Short Rest (1 hour) lets you spend Hit Point Dice to heal. A Long Rest (8 hours) restores all your Hit Points and Hit Point Dice and removes one level of Exhaustion. Each Exhaustion level takes 2 off every D20 Test and 5 feet off your Speed, and the sixth level kills.

Leveling up: The DM awards Experience Points, and at set totals you gain a level, up to 20. Every class chooses its subclass at level 3, gains the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat at levels 4, 8, 12 and 16 (Fighters and Rogues get extra), and an Epic Boon feat at 19.

Strategy

Pick a class for how you like to play: Match your class to the way you enjoy solving problems rather than to the maths. The rules rate each class's complexity. Fighters and Rogues are rated low and make a gentle start; Barbarians, Clerics, Paladins, Rangers and Wizards are average; Bards, Druids, Monks, Sorcerers and Warlocks ask the most of you. Build around your primary ability: Put your best score in your class's primary ability (Strength for a Barbarian, Dexterity for a Rogue, Wisdom for a Cleric, Intelligence for a Wizard), then pick a background that lists that ability so your +2 lands there. Constitution raises your Hit Points and helps you keep Concentration on a spell when you take damage, so it is rarely wasted. Read your Origin feat: Every background now grants one, and it shapes your first sessions. A Criminal's Alert adds your Proficiency Bonus to Initiative; a Sage or Acolyte gets Magic Initiate, which adds a little spellcasting to any class. Choose the background for its feat and ability scores together, then write the story that fits. Use your weapon mastery: If your class has it, pick weapons for their mastery property as much as their damage. Topple can knock a foe Prone for your allies, Vex sets up your next attack with Advantage, and Sap weakens the enemy's next attack. You can swap one choice after each Long Rest. Think as a party: A group that can fight up close, strike from range, heal, and handle traps and conversations is ready for most things, but talking to each other covers more gaps than a perfect lineup. Help is an action worth taking: it gives an ally Advantage. Pace your resources: Spell slots, Hit Points, Hit Point Dice and many class features return only on a rest, and the DM decides when resting is safe. Don't spend everything in the first fight, and ask for a Short Rest when the story allows one. Play all three pillars: Adventures mix combat, exploration and social interaction. The Influence, Search and Study actions give Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence characters their moments. Describing a clever idea, like climbing the wall or rolling the barrel, is usually more fun than waiting for the perfect mechanical option; the DM will set a fair DC.

Tips

- You don't need to memorise rules: say what your character does, and the DM tells you what to roll, if anything. - Choose a background that lists your class's primary ability, so your +2 goes where you use it most. - Spend Heroic Inspiration rather than hoarding it: you can only ever hold one. - Advantage and Disadvantage don't stack: several sources of either still mean two d20s, and having both cancels them out. - Help costs your action but gives an ally Advantage on an attack against an enemy within 5 feet of you, or on a check with a skill or tool you are proficient in. - At 0 Hit Points, a natural 20 on a Death Saving Throw brings you back with 1 Hit Point; a natural 1 counts as two failures. - Taking damage while you are down counts as a failed Death Saving Throw, or two from a Critical Hit, so heal fallen allies quickly. - Keep a pencil handy: Hit Points, spell slots, Hit Point Dice and Heroic Inspiration change during every session.

What you need to start

A Dungeon Master, a few players, a set of polyhedral dice each (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 and a second d10 for percentile rolls) and a character sheet. The free D&D Beyond Basic Rules cover the 2024 rules, with nine species, all twelve classes and four backgrounds. The full 2024 Player's Handbook adds the Aasimar, twelve more backgrounds and four subclasses per class. The Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set (2025) packages the 2024 rules with three adventures, cards, tokens, dice and poster maps, and is the easiest on-ramp for a new DM.

Session length and campaign scope

Most groups play for a few hours at a time. A one-shot adventure finishes in a single session; a campaign can run from level 1 to level 20 over months or years. The rules describe four tiers of play: levels 1 to 4 face local dangers, 5 to 10 face threats to cities and kingdoms, 11 to 16 confront threats to whole regions, and at 17 to 20 the fate of the world can hang in the balance.

Classes at a glance

Barbarian: a Strength fighter who rages. Bard: a Charisma performer whose magic inspires. Cleric: a Wisdom caster who heals and serves a god. Druid: Wisdom nature magic and Wild Shape. Fighter: the most straightforward weapon master. Monk: unarmed combat with Dexterity and Wisdom. Paladin: armour, Strength and Charisma-driven divine power. Ranger: a Dexterity and Wisdom scout with nature spells. Rogue: skills, stealth and Sneak Attack. Sorcerer: innate Charisma magic. Warlock: magic from an otherworldly patron. Wizard: a scholar who casts from a spellbook.

Try it on Waypoint

You can join a campaign here with a human GM — or let the AI Game Master run the table so your group can jump into an adventure immediately without needing an experienced DM.