Noob needs a dungeon guide

Jason

Well, I've never been a board gamer, and I've only once played beer & pretzels D&D. Last night I bought Neverwinter Nights Diamond for my PC on a whim, and didn't realize that it uses D&D 3rd Edition rules. The game is fun, the story is interesting, and I'm progressing, but I'm not really sure how the numerical system works, or where to look for a guide that will dumb it down to a five-minute lesson.

So I'm hoping that somebody out there can give me a quick primer.

Weapons: I'm assuming a 1d8 sword is better than a 1d6 sword? How does the system work from there? Is a 2d6 better than a 1d8? Just explain it in, like, two lines if you can. Please. Pretty please. I've no idea.

HMTKSteve

1d6 = 1 six sided die.
2d6 = 2 six sided dice are rolled

2d6 is better than 1d12 because the range is 2-12 as opposed to 1-12. 2d6 is also a bell curve resulting in mid range numbers (on average) while 1d12 is a flat projection.

Jason

That was the Rosetta Stone I needed. Thanks, Steve. Anybody else play this? A multiplayer session might be fun.

Apreche

Despite D&D not being the best RPG in the universe, every geek should really own a copy of the Player's Handbook. You can get one for under $20, and it's well worth it even if you never play D&D. Don't buy any other books though, unless you plan on playing. Also, if you are cheap you might be able to get an illegal pdf and not pay anything.