I've never actually played a game of Dungeons and Dragons before. However, watching some people play online has got me interested in the game and gotten me interested in getting a group together. While I have a vague understanding of the game mechanics, there are some tidbits of info I have picked up from watching games and doing some cursory reading through gamebooks and forums.
1. Never make your character out to be the baddest dude in the realm
A lot of players might be tempted to make their character into some bad mofo who has become a legend in his or her own time. Tempting as it may be, do not do this. As your attacks depend on dice rolls, the instant you paint your character as some unbeatable legend, you will botch your first few efforts and look like a doofus. Sometimes the dice may allow your character to live up to the legend, but more often than not, he or she will miss. As such, it's better not to draw attention to yourself.
2. Doors are just as challenging as high level dragons
Having a hard time coming up with a good encounter for your party? Don't worry, just throw a locked door in front of them and the party will find itself helpless.
Locked doors need a surprisingly high roll in order to get through. Often times, your thief or rogue (if you have one) will be able to pick the lock, but other times he or she won't. If that happens, you need to find a new way to break through the door because the thief won't be able to simply try again unless you somehow change the circumstances.
3. DMing is freaking hard
As something of a D&D newb, I don't know how well I'd act as DM (Dungeon Master) at this point. I would like to try it at some later point, but it's a pretty daunting task.
You not only have to come up with an ongoing narrative, you have to find quests that can bolster that plot and encounters that keep the players involved.
The most daunting task of all is trying to let your story flow while also allowing for the actions of the players themselves. Depending on what they do, your planned plot outline can completely derail and you will have to find a way to improvise either a new story arc entirely or a way to get the players back on track without it seeming like your forcing them to go where you want them.
4. Five to six players is the ideal party size
When finding people to join your D&D group, you will want about 5-6 people (not including the DM). Anything larger than that and the combat becomes unwieldy and tedious. More importantly, the more people who play, the more schedules you have to work around, making it far less likely that you will get to play on a regular basis.
5. There are some who take the game way too seriously
With every edition comes a faction of players who find the new material to be a betrayal of everything D&D stands for. This is most common with AD&D players as they were none too fond of third edition nor fourth edition, not to mention the latest Essentials line. As I haven't played the game in any iteration, I find it hard to believe that the later editions are that bad (on the contrary, from what I've seen of 4E/Essentials, it's quite good) but it's the internet and some geeks take their fandom too seriously. While I would suggest checking the game out, it is something to be aware of before going in.
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