I just bought the game yesterday and started playing for the first time. I have all the expansions up to Mists of Pandaria included by default. What I can't understand is whether things are different for me right from the get-go because of events in the expansion packs.  For example, a certain town called Auberdine was supposed to be a questing location for my night elf druid character, but for me that town is destroyed as a result of events from Cataclysm and I instead quest at a nearby town on the coast named Lor'danel.  I am playing basically the same quests, regardless of the superficial changes, right? Given that I have not "experienced" the plot of the expansions yet, it is confusing that I can see their effects already on the world, because I'm not there yet in the story.  Also, this also means that, in this case, there is literally no way now for me to ever experience the original Auberdine, the way it was before the expansions, right? I, and every other new person will always be sent to that other town instead.  How this works out in World of Warcraft is confusing to me and I was hoping someone can offer some perspective.
3262
I'm just starting WoW for the first time...  My question:  Is the storyline and quests that I'm doing the same as what players did when the game started (in 2002 or whatever)?  Or have events happened in the game that have progressed the entire timeline/story of the game for new players?
101512
I have run a couple of campaigns with a few of my friends, and these people are genuinely interested in Dungeons &amp; Dragons.   However, no matter what I do, they will not focus on the story, instead treating it like some sort of slaughter-fest. They do not really kill everything that moves, which is good, but they miss nearly everything in the game because they just fail to interact with it. The only way we have completed campaigns is through me pretty much telling them OOC what to do and where, because they are that lost.  Now, I have read  but it does not seem to answer my problem, as I am posing no challenge nor puzzle. They just fail to pick it up. I am the GM and I have tried to help them in every way I can imagine, but it just does not seem to work. I do not think it is me being a bad GM, because I have played with other groups and that went just fine.  Short of telling them "There is a quest here, you should go here and talk to Joe there" what could I do?   For some possibly helpful information, or to just save time, I have tried having NPCs talk to them and hint at so-and-so having a job for them, I have tried having them find letters with a name on it and a note with the start of a quest on it, and they just shrugged and left. I cannot make it any more obvious, and it is starting to affect gameplay, as we are playing one of the official campaigns, with just a little bit of homebrew added (just a bunch of other quests that add some extra leveling up opportunities and loot opportunities).  It's not that we haven't talked about what kind of game we're playing We have actually held several "session 0's" and we do talk about story. We hold an end session around 10 minutes to the end of our game time, and we talk about each other's expectations. One PC is borderline murder-hobo, and he does express his interest to pretty much kill the biggest, baddest thing around. The character is also extremely touchy in game, and will blow up at the slightest insult. However, thankfully, that is only the PC, not the player, and we do all realise that it is just a game. One of the other players just seems... not really willing to contribute to the betterment of the group. We are a band of 4 people.  Short of railroading them, what can I do to get them to focus on the story and pick up on story hooks?  Answers should demonstrate experience or citations per  and not just be unsubstantiated opinion.  What have you done or seen done to address this issue?
92515
There is already a question and good answer in place about dropping quests:   But Hearthstone has added new  and I'm not certain whether to drop them.  If I were to drop a 50 gold quests is it more likely that I would get a quest worth less gold, or more gold/a pack?
2124
Is it possible for both sides of an encounter to be surprised and if so what would happen? This is a hypothetical idea I just came up with but it made me wonder what would happen. Would the surprise for all intents and purposes cancel each other out as nobody can act on their first turn or is there some other way for things to play out. If you can provide an example in your answer so I can better understand it.
4953
This Q&amp;A refers to a rule that was in use for AL from 2015-2020. See . This Q&amp;A has therefore been locked against new interactions. Always check your campaign documentation for applicable options and rules.  In many places I see referenced a &quot;+1 rule&quot; for characters legal in Adventurer's League play. What does this mean?
122979
The game is released for a few days now. I have heard that you can turn into thoses beasts. I have a few questions about that   How do you turn into werewolf/vampire ? On the chat people said they can bite others but who bite them first? How long does the effect last ? Are there any cons ? Maybe if your are a vampire you take damage from the sun like in older Elder Scrolls ?
30778
In the Starter set and Basic Rules, it mentions "character", "non-player character", "player character", "monster", "creature", and maybe other terms I've missed.  Which of these terms are interchangeable?   Some examples from the Basic Rules PDF:   Page 105: Conditions Appendix refers only to creatures. Chapter 11: all spell descriptions refer to creatures, but occasionally other terms such as humanoids.
104584
I'm playing LMoP with my friends and while I read the adventure I notice there are multiple opportunities to join different factions, so I wonder what happens if a character has an alignment compatible to multiple factions? Can he join all of them? I'm aware that you can gain renown only for one faction at time and if you decide to gain renown on another faction, the one you switch from will go to 0 renown, but it doesn't look like it's harmful to just join several and then decide where to rank or at least I haven't found anything in the rules that would prohibit this.  Am I making any sense here? Thanks
51010
Is there a significant storyline that progresses from the first game to the third game? Such a story line would cause a player who started with the first game to be incredibly confused, and causing the games to be linked in order. The alternative is that they are all based in the same world, and there are certain parallels I will miss not having played the other games, the latter I can live with, the former, not so much.
20013
I'm a little bit confused with the whole spell system and additions to them. If I pick for instance Tempest Domain Spell, are the spells additional to the other ones? (2 at level 1) So do that make it 3 spells? Does the domain add slots too?  And also, I've read about people choosing multiple domains, is that possible?
53226
One of the players in my campaign has created a Half-Elf Ranger and picked The Underdark as his preferred terrain. We are busy fleshing out his background and he is an escaped slave of the Drow. Can he be the bastard child of a human slave and a Drow master? Or should we rather decide he is a captured half-elf?  The campaign is set in the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realms and I am interested in whether there is anything in the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide or other published 5th edition material that makes reference to Half-Drow characters and if it does whether there is any game affect to this ancestry.
71233
I'm no gamer at all, so this could be like a very silly, basic question for you guys. The thing is that I always read about "Dungeons and Dragons" game (not the video game, but the normal game to play with friends that are actually gathered together). And I would like to know how to play it.  I've read that it is a book (or several ones, which is more confusing for me to understand), but I've read somewhere that it can be played as a normal "table" game, with a board, and pieces, and somewhat weird dice (or sets of dice).  Is it like a normal game, where you pull the stuff out of a box and start to play?  I don't know if any of you watch the show "The Big Bang Theory", but I think they have played the game in a recent episode, and it looks just like a regular game.  I've Googled it for more information, but I haven't found anything as basic as I need, because I've never played a role game (except in a video game).  I just want to learn how to play, so I can get my friends into it to play it each time we get together.
51493
I've asked several questions about 4th Edition D&amp;D because I may be able to start a game. However, I'd need to purchase (some) materials. I am aware of the 4 book set (core) and the expected Essentials Red Box.  So now I need to know: presumably buying either the 4 book set or essentials will be enough to get my game on. Would there be something 'lacking' though? Would I be missing character types, for instance, as I've seen that the splatbook strategy is still in effect?  I'm an experienced player and GM and plenty creative, so many holes I'd be able to fill in myself. I just don't want to get sucked into too much financial impact.
7469
I went to do  quest where you need to get Eldergleam Sap. The pilgrim (Maurice Jondrelle) died in a fight on the way there so I was forced to battle with the Spriggans.   They were beating me, so I decided to just book it, hoping Faendal would follow me. I noticed a while later he was gone but didn't think anything of it.   Anyway, he didn't show up and I killed the dragon, getting Lydia to join me, when I asked her to she said it looks like someones already in my group, so I looked for Faendal, finally found him back at his house after I broke in and slept in his bed.  However, he isn't in my party and when I ask him to follow me he says I've already got someone with me. I think the game still thinks Faendal is following me because I never told him to stay put, or go our own ways.  I've even tried killing Faendal, paying my fine, then getting Lydia. But she still thinks someone is with me. When I talk to Faendal, the only option I have is to improve my archery or have him follow me.  How can I unlock my follower slot so Faendal (or someone else) can join me again?
95210
In the Player's Handbook, it is pretty clear that reactions normally interrupt the thing that they are reacting to.    Xanathar's Guide to Everything, however, has explicitly changed all reactions to occurring after their triggers have finished resolving unless the ability specifies otherwise, and is reliant on that implicit assumption for several reaction abilities already.  This leads to contradictory interpretations of reactions that take implicit timing. How should this be resolved?   I'm particularly interested in how to resolve this in Adventurers League games, where players show up with perfectly legal characters reasonably expecting their abilities to work either way on account of owning or not owning XGE.
84652
Me and my group just finished the essentials red box, and are looking at moving to the full 4e game. I'm doing some preliminary reading of the books and one thing is confusing me a little.  The characters from the red box are up to level 2 now, and I don't know where I'd find the information on what EXP they level up at. Furthering that, whilst I've found (in the PHB) how many hit points a class would gain at a certain level, I can't find where it says what amount should be added to other attributes, like perception, dexterity, etc.  Many on forums say move to Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms, but the same character classes (Cleric, Warrior, etc.) don't reappear in that book - it just adds some new ones.  Which book would I find this information in? Or am I just missing it?  TL;DR: Where do I find attribute increases for classes by level &amp; where do I find leveling up EXP?  Thanks in advance, Joe
83731
I play D&amp;D 5e and sometimes come here with questions. But sometimes I see things referenced here as sources that I don't have or aren't aware of....  Which are the "official rules" for D&amp;D 5e, and where do I find them?