Beginner Friendly! No books needed! - Learn to play D&D 5.5e!

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Beginner Friendly! No books needed! - Learn to play D&D 5.5e!

Beyond the Keep on the Borderlands hide the Caves of Chaos! Beginner adventures come to this place to test their might as adventurers!

TYPE

One-Shot

LEVELS

2–3

LANGUAGE

English

EXPERIENCE

Beginner

AGE

All Ages
1 NEEDED TO START
$10.00

/ Session

Details

1 player following this game

Once / Tuesday - 7:00 PM UTC

Oct 6

Session Duration / 3–4 hours

0 / 5 Seats Filled

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This game will begin once 1 player has joined
About the adventure

A Forgotten Realms setting that is great for introducing new players to the 5.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons! There is plenty to explore and get a feel for each class before needing to pick a subclass, or feats that can be daunting for newer players. The Caves of Chaos is a wonderful place to get your adventurer started and to see just how wonderful of a story we can tell with the 5.5E Rules!

Game style

Dungeon Crawl

Roleplay Lite

Game themes

Meet the Game Master

5.0

(7)

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Rule of Cool, Storytelling

Average response time: Under 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

About me

Hello All! I have been playing TTRPGs since 2020 and have recently been running games for the last year or so (Summer of 2025). I have found that creating stories and epic moments with others has given me a joy that is found in few other places. I have played D&D 5e/5.5e, Pathfinder 1e, and D20 Modern. I LOVE to run pre-written modules, but allow the players to make decisions that can bend the stories of the modules and react to the decisions the characters make. One of my favorite things about pre-written modules is that no two tables will have the exact same experience from beginning end! Every table and every group will always make the story their own!

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Character creation

Creating your character

We will do character creation at the beginning of the session. I will send a D&D beyond link that you all can have access to the Digital books if needed. On there I can guide everyone through their character creation & equipment, then we can start adventuring!

The current party

Both new and experienced players are welcome!! If you are looking to get started with D&D5.5e ruleset, or if you are looking for a new class to try, I am happy to have you try it out!

What to expect

Preparing for the session

Please if you are planning on joining, make a Wizards of the Coast account ahead of time so that way you can sign into the link right away! No need to purchase the subscription, I will share everything with you on my end! We will also be communicating through discord (I will send a link to the server an hour before the game starts) and the D&D Maps VTT. So make sure you have those accounts ready to go before the game! Thank you in advance!

What Matthew brings to the table

I typically will run a Rules as Written game. This helps everyone be on the same playing field when going about how the game is played. However, if there is something that a player wants to do that might be stretching the rules just a bit to do something cool with their character, I will usually allow it within reason. I love letting players take sometime to Roleplay and flush out their characters socially(either as a social encounter or just back forth across the table). There is also usually a good amount of combat for those who are less interested in social encounters. I will ask at the beginning for any topics that the game should stay away from (you can message me directly if you don't want to say it out loud to the whole table) and WE as a table will stay away from them. Also, it should be asked what everyone at the table is looking for in the game. If everyone at the table really wants to roleplay and less combat, then the encounters can be tailored that way from my end if that is what everyone will enjoy!

Homebrew rules

Not usually big on homebrew. However, if you have something cool you would like to do with your character the "stretches" the rules a little bit. I am up for talking it out. Though I am ALL FOR re-flavoring a spell or feature to fit the vibe of your character.

Equipment needed to play

Internet

Computer

Microphone

Safety

How Matthew creates a safe table

Just before Character Creation we can have a mini session 0 as a table where every player's "Lines & Veils" are. You do NOT have to say out loud to everyone individually, but you can message me directly and I can make a note of it. If you are not sure what those Lines & Viels are, I will send you a link describing them for you. If there is a topic that comes up during the game that was forgotten about, or that the table needs reminded about. Please use the X, N, and O cards in the chat (again can be messaged to me directly) and i will adress it right there in the moment. This will help ensure that the game is fun and safe for everyone!

Content warnings

Death
Blood
Trauma

Safety tools used

Frequently asked questions