New to D&D, Got the 4th Edition Starter Set, Anyone willing to Skype with me and help me understand some stuff?

I just went through the playthrough and I got stuck on some stuff. I was wondering if someone was willing to skype with me and I show what the book is saying and you guys can help me. Unless you have the book yourself then that'll help out more. But either way, I want to understand this better but it's just a bit confusing with how the Player's Book is written.

What, exactly, has you confused? 4e is pretty precise overall, as far as these things go. (And hey, maybe someone else will have the same problem as you in the future, and resolving it here in the open will help them, too.)

I'm following the Rogue storyline and later on, it tells me about the insight, perception on the character sheet but assumes I know it's stats. It also says your Fortitude is 10+ the greater of your strength and Con modifers, but no where through the walkthrough, did it ever tell me the modifiers. I told me what those stats were but not modifiers. Heck, I don't know any of the modifers except the Dex. That's where I stopped because I was way to confused. Same thing happened with the HP. There was that part where a goblin attacked me, I dodged it. Then later it says the Healing Surge is 1/4 of your HP or something like that but...what the heck is my hp? I had to go back and it's revealed only if the Goblin was able to attack you. Even after all that, when it says later, what you should have written down on your character sheet, it says HP (If you don't know your HP, go to section 11) and that's where it'll tell me. That was about section 40ish. Then how was I supposed to figure out the Healing Surge if it tells me way down the line, if I didn't know my HP, go to section 11. The Book should've told me to go to section 11 during the healing surge section. Not assume I know it because the other paths followed it. So that's why I need someone to help me via webcam where they can see it or if they had the same book, I can talk to them and they can explain it as we go through the walkthrough. I'm still new and if people give me tips, it's still confusing as ever. I posted on Reddit and someone gave me tips about my problem. Here's what they put that I was still confused about. You can calculate the modifier according to this formula: M = (S/2) - 5 where M is the modifier and S is the score. Basically 10-11 is average and has 0 modifier, 12-13 has +1, 14-15 +2 and so on. 9-8 has -1 and you really shouldn't have anything lower than that. Seeing that, I got more confused about it.

None of what you're describing sounds familiar to me. Are you reading some sort of promotional material, or something? Insight and Perception are both skills (and both are based on your Wisdom ability). Your bonus to Insight/Perception skill checks (roll d20 and add your modifier) is your (Wisdom modifier) + (1/2 of your level round down) + (5 if you have the skill trained). Some characters may also get additional bonuses from features, powers, feats, or items. Insight and Perception are also special in that they have "passive" values, which are equivalent to rolling a 10 on the d20 (so, 10+WIS+1/2Lvl+Trained). Your Fortitude defense is 10 + (1/2 your level round down) + (greater of STR or CON modifiers). There are classes, feats, and items which can increase this as well. All magical Neck slot items (cloaks, amulets, etc.) grant a bonus to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses. Reflex and Will defenses behave in the same way, using the other four abilities. You seem to understand how ability modifiers are derived, although I usually see it as (Ability - 10) / 2 rather than (Ability / 2) - 5. 8-9 is a -1 modifier, 10-11 is 0, 12-13 is 1, 14-15 is 2, 16-17 is 3, 18-19 is 4, and 20 is 5. You can't go above 20 at character creation (18 plus a racial bonus), although you can get a total of +8 more from levels 4 through 28 (for a modifier increase of 4). A Rogue's HP at level 1 is 12+(Constitution). That's your full Constitution ability, not the CON modifier. Each level after that, you gain 5 HP. So, if you had 10 Constitution, your level 1 HP would be 22; since your healing surge value is 1/4 of your maximum HP, your surge value would be 5. A Rogue also has 6+CON modifier healing surges he can use each day, so that Constitution-10 Rogue would have 6 surges. Once per encounter, while you are bloodied (at or below 1/2 HP), you can use a Standard action to take a Second Wind: you spend a healing surge and get +2 to all of your defenses for a turn. During a short rest (a few minutes of in-game time between encounters), you can spend healing surges as much as you please to heal up. Outside of short rests and Second Wind, you can't spend healing surges without a power or item instructing you to do so. (You heal to full and regain all of your surges after an extended rest.)

Just had a skype session with somebody from here and he was able to get me through some of the stuff. There's a few stuff the book doesn't show such as the wisdom ability, wisdom modifier, or explain the second wind and etc. But for now, I have an idea of how this works and planning on getting the essentials to get a better unstanding.

Aw man, I had this set and it confused me so much more than it did help! Your better off buying the 3 core book set, but I would be glad to explain if you wish!

Is it worth starting to play 3.5 or 4th edition with 5th edition releasing in the July or August timeframe? I want to start playing but I'm a beginner and don't want to buy all the info for 4th edition only to turn around and have to get 5th in a few months.

Chad H. said: Is it worth starting to play 3.5 or 4th edition with 5th edition releasing in the July or August timeframe? I want to start playing but I'm a beginner and don't want to buy all the info for 4th edition only to turn around and have to get 5th in a few months. None of the D&D systems are the same. 3.5 and 4e basics may be the same but the combat and most things have changed a lot(not player 5th edition so can’t comment on that). So it would be better for you to maybe obtain the 3rd and 4th edition core rule books(there are also a lot of one shots to introduce players to D&D that go through character creation etc and basic material is sometimes provided) and have a read to see which you prefer you can also obtain the 5 th edition beta online. There is also pathfinder that I linked below(it is free). Pathfinder is basically 3rd edition but more simplified and balanced. Everyone has their own opinion on which edition of D&D is the best my personal opinion I won’t state for the fact these types of conversation can get into huge arguments but your best just to read them and maybe get into a one shot and make up your own mind. <a href="http://www.d20pfsrd.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.d20pfsrd.com/</a>

Chad H. said: Is it worth starting to play 3.5 or 4th edition with 5th edition releasing in the July or August timeframe? I want to start playing but I'm a beginner and don't want to buy all the info for 4th edition only to turn around and have to get 5th in a few months. That's only a question you can answer unfortunately. I am part of a group on Roll20 that uses the 1974 version of D&D's rules (OD&D) for the game and know of another group that uses the 1981 version (B/X) and there are most certainly a lot more groups out there for 1st edition AD&D, 2nd Edition and 3.0. Regardless of edition, you're going to find a group dedicated to that particular version despite how old it is. That being said, you might not need to buy anything. Between the various free SRDs available online and GMs who are used to players not owning the rule books, you can get started for free. Have you considered looking for a group that welcomes beginners and explaining your situation?

The good news is that even though all the editions are different enough from each other to be looked at as distinct games rather than expansions upon the previous edition, once you get the basics of D&D down (AC, attack rolls, damage rolls, etc.) you can play any edition without ever getting too lost!

Cupcake said: The good news is that even though all the editions are different enough from each other to be looked at as distinct games rather than expansions upon the previous edition, once you get the basics of D&D down (AC, attack rolls, damage rolls, etc.) you can play any edition without ever getting too lost! Except THAC0. Nobody gets that &$#@. =P

The majority of content in this thread is off-topic for our site. We only permit discussion that is specific to Roll20 (which you can read about in our Code of Conduct ). Since this is a general RPG question, you'd be better served posting it on a general RPG site, like reddit.com/r/rpg.