Suggestions for New (and not-so-new) Players

Hi, everyone. Character knowledge, tactics, and cooperation are especially important in D&D 4e, but it can be very easy to feel lost or confused about how to help one's teammates or keep the game running smoothly. With that in mind, here are several tips from our experienced players and DMs to give you an idea of what is helpful and what is not. Before the Game: Check your macros: make sure your macros are correct. Really. Double-check, then check again. Use "/talktomyself" to test each of your macros. Make sure your attack rolls use the right modifiers, that Effects and Hit and Miss effects are accurate to the compendium entry, are perfectly clear to someone who may not have seen your character before , AND that the macros do not take up the whole chat bar . Double check to make sure that all your Attributes (AC, HP, Surge Value, etc.) are up-to-date and accurate as well! Really. Check before every game. Look over your myth-weavers sheet: Re-familiarize yourself with your powers and abilities. Think about what situations each power could be useful in. Look for any racial or class features or item powers that you often forget about. Look at what skills your character(s) excel in. Be ready to play that character, both mechanically and in personality. Leave your myth-weavers sheet open for reference during the game. Open any programs you might need: This includes opening an UPDATED DISCORD . Make sure that your microphone works and that you have headphones so you don't echo into your microphone. Make sure that you are able to get into the game chat and that you can hear and be heard by others. If you like to have the compendium open during games, do that too. During the Game: Don't talk over other players or the DM! : Wait until they are done speaking before saying what you have to say. DMs try to be conscious of when people want to talk and allowing people to say things, but if someone is talking and you want the DM to know you want to talk before everyone continues, feel free to send a /w gm "hey I want to do something before we move on." Mute yourself when you are not actively talking: nobody wants to hear your friends, your mom, your little brother, or the TV in the background. We especially do not want to hear your eating or typing. Mute your microphone. Unmute when you have something to say, then mute when you're done. PAY ATTENTION!: If you decide to play D&D, then you should be ready to play D&D. You should not be distracted by playing video games or watching TV or reading a book. Obviously we understand that people will get up to get snacks or drinks or go to the bathroom, and that's fine. But if you are going to commit to being in the game, you need to actually BE IN THE GAME. In combat: Don't talk when it's someone else's turn : unless you are reminding someone of a bonus or status effect or taking an immediate action, you should NOT be talking out of turn. If you have something to contribute to the group, then: Coordinate with other players in the chat : you can send whispers to individual players with something like "/w Bryan hey can you move into flanking" or just type in a message to the whole group with a suggestion for tactics. This is not always necessary, but occasionally helpful to coordinate your efforts. Think about what you are going to do ahead of time: The situation is constantly changing, but you should always have a rough idea of what you want to do on your turn well before it is your turn. Within five seconds of the DM saying your character's name, you should be ready to act. Use other people's turns to pay attention to what is happening and think about what you want to do. Think about STRATEGY!: There are many things you can do that will make combat go easier for your whole team (and the DM!) if you look for them Focus Fire! : (or as Aaron would say, "FFFFFS"). In general, 5 half-dead guys will do the same amount of damage (or more) as five fully-alive guys, so when possible, work with your teammates on taking out a couple of people first, often starting with the one who is the most dangerous (either in damage or debilitating effects). Pay attention and keep an eye out for these opportunities. Choose powers wisely: Think about which of your powers could do the most good, whether blasting a whole bunch of minions would be better than a single-target attack or whether you should try to throw some controlling effects on the Big Bad. Think about what each of your allies' strengths are and try to free them up to focus on what they're best at. Look for opportunities to help teammates!: If you are a melee character (or melee-friendly), look for chances to provide flanking for teammates. If you're a leader, keep an eye on everyone's HP and decide how many heals you might need to dish out, and to whom. Strikers: if you have an attack-granting leader in your party, try to position yourselves in such a way that they can use you! If you do massive amounts of damage, don't go after minions. Defenders: put yourself between the enemy and your squishy allies. Even if your marking is limited, do what you can to body-block. tl;dr: WORK TOGETHER: Every character has different strengths. A character that tries to do everything is almost invariably not good at anything. Coordinate with your party and use everyone to the best of their ability. If you follow these rules for courtesy and strategy, you'll find that games will run much more smoothly.