Goblin Forge

The apprentice's handbook

Your first session, no homework

Dungeons & Dragons is telling a story together, with dice. One person, the Game Master, describes the world. Everyone else plays a hero. Listen close, here's all you need to start.

Five steps to game night, says the goblin

  1. 01

    Gather your table

    Three to six friends, some dice (or a dice app), paper for hero sheets and plenty of snacks. Snacks matter. Free ready-made heroes are easy to find online.

  2. 02

    Forge your adventure

    Pick your hours, party level and head count. We goblins scribble the whole story while you put the kettle on.

  3. 03

    Skim, don't study

    Read the Overview, the GM Truth (the secret of what's really going on) and the first scene. Twenty minutes, tops.

  4. 04

    Keep the Quick Reference open

    One page with every name, number and difficulty you'll need. Keep it close.

  5. 05

    Say yes, then roll

    When players try something daft, let them. Ask for a roll against our suggested difficulty and keep the story rolling.

Big words, small explanations

Game Master
The person who runs the game: describes the world, plays the villains and referees the rules. Also called the DM (Dungeon Master).
One-shot
A complete adventure played in a single session, usually one evening. No long campaign needed.
Party level
How experienced the heroes are, from 1 to 20. New group or new characters? Pick level 1–3.
Players
How many people play heroes at the table, not counting the Game Master.
Ruleset
Which edition of the 5th Edition rules you use. 2014 is the classic set; 2024 is the revised one. Either works.
SRD
System Reference Document: the free, openly licensed core rules of 5E. You don't need to buy any books to use it.
DC
Difficulty Class: the number a player must reach on a d20 roll plus bonuses to succeed. 10 is easy, 15 medium, 20 hard.
CR
Challenge Rating: how dangerous a monster is. Roughly, one creature of CR equal to the party level is a fair fight for four heroes.
Initiative
The roll at the start of a fight that decides who acts first.
Stat block
A monster's game card: its health, armour, attacks and special tricks.
Read-aloud
Short boxed text you can read straight to the players to set a scene.
Short rest
A one-hour break where heroes catch their breath and recover some strength.
NPC
Non-player character: anyone in the story the Game Master plays: innkeepers, villains, allies.

Questions at the tavern

Do I need the official books?

Nope. We only use the free SRD rules, so everything you need is in the pages we hand you.

I've never played. Can I still run this?

Course you can. We tell you what to say, what the monsters do, and what happens if the heroes fail, so the game never gets stuck.

How long does forging take?

Usually a few minutes. Close the page if you like. We keep working and leave it in My Adventures for you.

I'm an old hand. Is it too simple for me?

Use Custom Forge to set your own premise, villains, tone and limits. Then fiddle with any page or have us rewrite just the bits you fancy.

Ready to take the chair?

Give us four table details. We will prepare the rest.

Forge an adventure