The Basics of D&D

Each game of D&D takes place in a fantasy world where there are certain playable creatures with different inherent abilities called racial features, nodding to the unspoken evolution of that race's adaptation to the environment. 

Each race carries with it a certain bonus to specific ability scores and general abilities that aid them in survival. For example, gnomes are small, nimble and love to tinker with various hard sciences, so to represent this, they are given a bonus to their intelligence and dexterity scores. Dwarves, on the other hand, are used to rough conditions, and are given a bonus to their Constitution (dictates how many total Hit Points you have) as well as another, depending on the specific sub-race (hill dwarves get a bonus to wisdom whereas mountain dwarves have additional strength). Dwarves also have a racial feature making them more resilient against the effects of poison. 

Classes represent the profession or specific skills and trades picked up by the character in the years prior to their adventure. 

For example, after being in their country's military for nigh on 20 years, the soldier finds himself craving adventure and puts his skills with a sword to work hunting for ancient secrets or to find the answer to a deeply troubling question. 

Each profession carries with it a certain skill improvement and knowledge of certain weapons or abilities. 

There are six ability scores - Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma - that determine a character's success at certain actions. 

The average non-adventurer would have an equivalent score of 10 in each of these, but characters are those who have undergone training to increase certain abilities to specialize in specific actions (for example, strength dictates how well you attack with longswords or axes, so a soldier would naturally have a higher strength score whereas a scholarly wizard would have a higher intelligence). 

Because the average ability score of non-adventurers would be 10, there's a progressively increasing bonus called a modifier that changes as the total ability score diverges from that average. This modifier changes at a ratio of 1:2 as it moves away from 10. 

As the name suggests, the modifier is the bonus added to the results of the d20 roll and, in some situations, the damage output as well. 

Additionally, as a character progresses and gains levels, they have what's called a Proficiency Bonus which is added or used in various scenarios (skills and attacks with weapons or magics you are proficient with).  At first level, characters have a +2 bonus, gaining an additional +1 at lvl5, lvl9, lvl13 and lvl17.

To give a summary, if a soldier were to have a strength of 18 (+4 modifier) at 7th level (+3 proficiency bonus) and they make a longsword attack, rolling a 15 on their d20 attack roll, they would add their +4 and their +3 to the attack roll, bringing the total to 22 "to hit". 

In a scenario given before, a soldier rolled a 22 (after all applied bonuses) in an attack against their enemy. Depending on the armor, awareness, surroundings and even visibility, the difficulty to getting hit by an attack is shown as a simple number called the Armor Class. In order to be hit, an attack number after bonuses has to meet or exceed that armor class. 

For example, if the soldier attacks a goblin with an armor class of 22, the soldier would hit. If the goblin had something that increased their armor class by 1pt, the attack would miss. 

The most common way to increase armor class is to wear certain types of flexible and mobile armor while increasing the dexterity of the character, but other things such as ducking behind cover or even wearing certain non-armor magic items would also give the character bonuses to AC. 

Dexterity affects a character's ability to move quickly and dodge, allowing them to avoid many attacks, similar to how a pro fighter will dance and dodge to avoid getting hit. 

Each ability score determines the general fitness of various aspects of the character, but depending on your background, you might have specialized in certain skills. For example, a thief would naturally be more agile and stealthy than a gladiator, who themselves would be more purely athletic. 

Save Throws are a special circumstance where a character's training combines with reflex and gives them a boost in certain scenarios. Going back to our thief and gladiator, if an assassin throws a knife with intent to kill, our thief would be better suited to jump out of the way, being more dexterous. Conversely, if they were falling and needed their gladiator friend to catch them with raw muscle, they would find them much more capable than if their roles were reversed. 

A Difficulty Class is a minimum threshold d20 result needed to succeed in either threat reaction scenarios or when attempting to perform a certain action other than standard attacks. In response to the DC, a player will be asked to combine the results of a d20 and a specific bonus, either a saving throw or a skill bonus, to see if they meet or exceed the DC. Proficiency in a skill or save throw allows them to add both the associated ability score modifier and their proficiency bonus. In some circumstances, "expertise" allows them to add their proficiency bonus twice. 

Let's say a thief has a 17 DEX (dexterity) score, are proficient in DEX save throws and are level 6. They would have a +3 modifier and +2 proficiency bonus. While slinking through the shadows of an ancient temple, they unknowingly trigger a spike trap and need to dodge to the side, the DC - difficulty class - would determine how quickly they have to react. In this case, the DC would be shown as a DEX Save DC 15. If they roll an 11 on the d20 and add their combined +5 from the save throw, they would avoid taking the full damage of the trap. 

Some spells require their intended target to make a Spell Saving Throw. The DC is set by the level of the spellcaster (how powerful they are), their spellcasting ability score (wizards use Intelligence while sorcerers use Charisma) and any bonuses from magic items or effects. It's usually 8 + Proficiency bonus + Spellcasting ability modifier (lvl6 wizard with intelligence of 18 would have a DC of 8+2+4 = 14).

Each round of combat represents 6 seconds of out-of-combat time. As such, unless affected by something, each character has four different standard options they can do in any order, each having their own sub-options. For a complete list, we would suggest looking at the Basic Rules source book from D&D Beyond above. 

Action - The main thing a character does for that turn. They could take the attack action (some classes allow the character to make two attacks when they take the attack action), cast a spell (separate from attack), or activate some ability. There are a few other situational options, but this is a general list of available actions.

Bonus Action - Unlike the name may suggest, a character cannot do one of the above again as a bonus action unless they have a class or racial feature that allows them to do so. Think of the bonus action as a quick, almost afterthought-like action. A few examples would be casting a spell a casting time of a bonus action (such as the Misty Step spell) or making an attack with a weapon in the non-dominant hand. Some features require a bonus action to activate, such as the Second Wind feature of a fighter (allows them to regain a few hit points). 

Movement - Depending on the race of a character, they may have more or less movement speed due to their body composition. Gnomes naturally have shorter legs and move a shorter distance than a centaur. Gameplay is laid out somewhat like a chessboard with dedicated squares or spaces typically representing 5ft increments. Movement Speed refers to how many feet you can travel on your turn. 

Reaction - The Reaction is unique in that it can take place on your turn, but is more often than not used on another's turn in response to something happening to them or their allies. An example of a reaction would be an attack of opportunity where an enemy turns their attention away from a character (usually in the form leaving their immediate vicinity), allowing the character to try an attack. 

Often, when attempting to make an attack or complete a certain action, your DM will say you have advantage on the roll, meaning you roll a d20 twice and take the higher outcome. 

Contrastingly, you may have disadvantage, meaning you do the same, but take the lower result. 

This represents a few things story-wise. If you have advantage, it shows that you've prepared ahead of time for this, or that this particular scenario is familiar. On the other hand, disadvantage may be that the scenario is completely foreign and there's no prior experience to draw upon. 

In rare situations, here at Xtreme Advantage, James will give our character "extreme advantage,"  being where a d20 would be rolled three times instead of twice. This represents a scenario that is almost routine for the character or when the character has expert, supernatural guidance on the action. 

Because this is a unique rule to our DM, we've decided to make this our podcast name. 

During gameplay, a character might encounter a scenario that harms them indirectly. For example, if the characters are crawling through a dark dungeon and an enemy causes an immensely bright light to suddenly erupt, they would be blinded if they failed the resulting save throw. This is just one of many different conditions that might effect characters during gameplay. Some conditions are more life-threatening than others.

On the d20, the highest and lowest numbers represent the best and worst possible outcomes, respectively, when pursuing a course of action. 

Depending on the scenario, a natural "nat" 20 (also known as a critical success or "crit") may have different benefits.

Initiative - The first attack in combat made by that character is made with advantage. This does not guarantee the character will go first in the order, but it gives a bonus to their gameplay. 

Combat - The attack hits automatically and there is a damage boost (DMs each have unique rules about the damage boost). Our DM makes it so our attack has potential for double the damage, rolling the normal damage dice twice. For example, a longsword deals 1d8+Strength Modifier. That said, if the weapon is magical dealing an extra 1d6 fire damage, and the character has a modifier of +4, that would be a potential total of 36 damage ((8+4+6)x2), but would average to 18 damage.

Save Throws - This varies by DM, but here it grants a +5 bonus to the roll (25 before any bonuses).

Skill Checks - Automatically succeeds the check.

Just as a Nat 20  or a "Crit" would yield the most favorable realistic outcome, a Nat 1 would give the worst realistic result. 

Just as with the 20, a 1 yields other side effects depending on the context. 

Initiative - The first attack in combat made by that character is made with disadvantage. This does not guarantee the character will go last in the order, but it imposes a penalty to their gameplay.

Combat - The attack automatically misses and, depending on the immediate surroundings of the attacker, they may accidentally harm their companions or their weapon might slip from their hands. 

Save Throws - Varied by DM. Some DMs will impose extra damage while others only count it as a failure. Depending on the scenario, our DM will impose disadvantage on certain aspects of our gameplay, but its mostly randomized. 

Skill Checks - Depending on the scenario, this may result in combat or damage to the character. Either way, the check is automatically failed and the character is barred from trying again. It may be that they miserably failed a Perception check to see if they were being watched and are now unwaveringly convinced that they've eluded their follower, or it could be that the mechanism within the lock they were trying to pick broke, making the closed container fully inaccessible unless broken.