it takes about 20 hours because of the awsome graphics

Not exactly. I'm using an Intel i3 processor on my HP Pavilon G series. i3 is one of the slowest and my internet connection is slow due to the fact that I downloaded a BUNCH of stuff. It truly takes about 25 minutes. 20 to take it from your browser, and about 5-10 for it to update, download Direct X, etc. He/she who first answered must have been using a HORRIBLE computer. But I do agree with the (awesome) graphics.

The most powerful spell in the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition is the spell "wish". Wish is able to bend reality to the caster's whim. Even though it is very powerful, wish has some limitations.

Yes, as long as the people involved realize and respect that their is no worship or false belief involved; it is strictly an activity that involves fantasy.

Fantasy settings are not necessarily incomptible with Christian beliefs, after all. For example, C.S. Lewis wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia" as a way to convey those beliefs to young people, in the form of a swords-and-sorcery fantasy adventure that would appeal to younger readers. Aslan is, in that setting, quite literally Jesus ... just in a different shape, and bearing a different name.

The same can be done with Dungeons and Dragons, or other fantasy role-playing games. It may take a bit of effort, and a lot of creativity ... but that's what role-playing games are supposed to be about, anyway.

A lot, if you count from the beginning of the game until now. But there are around 55 "Official Books" between version 3.0-3.5 not counting adventures or books specific to a setting. if you were to count setting books and adventures there would be somewhere close to 150. Now that 4th edition has been released, there are 28 books published for 4th ed as of November of last year, not including adventures... there has been at least 1 book and usually 2 books published a month since.

The original creators are Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

The first publisher was "Tactical Studies Rules", which became "TSR Hobbies", in the early 1970's.

The current publisher is "Wizards of the Coast", a subsidiary of Hasbro. They are responsible for creating the Third and Fourth editions of the game (and are presently working on a fifth edition).

the rules of dungeons are complicated and a bit hard to explain so if you want to find them out you should go to your local hobby or book store and buy a players handbook or possibly a dungeon masters guide.

If you just want to know what it is about generally there are some common themes that you need to know about.

Maps - these are controlled by a special person. He or she has the full map in front of them and can see where everything is. The players only have as much information as can be worked out from where they are on their own map. As they move forward they build up a more complete map with every turn by drawing on the new bits and making notes about what is there (like an entrance to a tunnel they are not going down just yet).

Characters - these are chosen by the players and have aptitudes or talents for certain things (like moving quietly, being strong, picking locks and so on). As the game progresses and more and more tasks are undertaken the characters gain more experience and grow in their abilities. Some things will also occur that will damage characters and they may die. This is the excitement of the game.

Chance - the dungeon master or person who controls the game will have set traps and will have decided on the likelihood or chance of the trap going off. So say for instance there is a sleeping dragon there may be a one in 6 chance of waking the dragon - in which case you would have to decide what you are going to do with an awake, angry dragon. Let's say the dungeon master decides that the number 1 is the number that wakes the dragon the six sided die (singular of dice) would be thrown and if it landed on the one then the dragon wakes up. The dice are used throughout the game to decide many of the outcomes such as who will win a fight - even blow by blow damage.

Monsters and villains - the dungeon master will have some bad guys and some monsters scattered about the map. You may be trying to find one super baddie whom you will have to fight or outwit in the course of the game. There are generally points to be earned in tackling these creatures in the appropriate way - not always killing them.

Treasure - There are things to be collected throughout the game. Some things are worth more than others and some things are more valuable to certain characters than others. For instance a lock pick would be very useful to someone who has the skill to pick a lock but not to someone whose skill is hitting things with big weapons.

There is generally gold or jewels that can be collected and these can often be used to buy useful things in towns with shops or from people who come up to you in taverns.

This isn't meant to be very comprehensive but to give a broad overview of what to expect in a game. Try D&D wiki, I learned a ton from there.

It depends on exactly what version of D&D you're playing.

In 3rd or earlier editions of D&D, any caster is going to dominate once you get higher in levels. Fighters and Barbarians will be stronger at the very low levels.

In 4e, there really is no one class that can dominate. Warlords can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of a party, but still needs to use other party members to truly shine. Strikers (Rogues, Sorcerers, Rangers) of course do the most damage and are relatively easy to play, so most people gravitate towards them. But even non striker classes are often only a couple of d6s behind in damage per hit compared to strikers so even there, it's not that great a difference.

If you're talking about the online game, then I hear artificer warforged are pretty nice, being able to do area control, and heal themselves easily.

It can have many dice or a small amount of dice but the main dice in there is the d20 (die 20). The other dice are for damage though. But you need to have a certain amount of dice for players and monsters attacks. Example: someone uses a flaming longsword which say does 1d6+2d8+4 that mean you would roll one six sided die, then roll 2 8 sided dice, then add 4 to it then there's the damage that player or monster strikes with. There are three core handbooks which are the monster manual, the dungeon masters manual, and the players handbook. If you want to know which dice to use for attacks the main 2 you need are the Monster Manual, and the Players Handbook. I hope this helped you

There are no free online books for D&D. However, you can find the 3.5 indexes in PDF format online if you look hard enough. I've had them on my computer for several months. They hold all the information I needed.

Most of the rules in the 3.5 Edition core books are covered in the v 3.5 System Reference Document (SRD), which is available under the Open Gaming License (OGL).

The Risk board game is themed around achieving world domination by conquering other countries in war. Although it's made by Parker Brothers, Risk's serious theme and advanced rules make it more in common with Dungeons and Dragons and other involved, lengthy tabletop games than fun family board games like Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders.

Honestly it depends on the version you want to run. For instance, in AD&D (v2.0) the age recommendation was 10+, but my father has run it with me since I was 8. In versions 3.0 and 3.5, the age recommendation was 12+ (and for good reason; it is ridiculous how flawed that system was). However, in 4e, the age recommendation (13+) is somewhat arbitrary. I have Dungeon Mastered games with my 7, 8, and 12 year old little brothers, and the 7-year-old continues to be the most successful in the group.

Recently, around the Gold Dragon Horde gaming table, we introduced the game to a 5-year-old. In all fairness, he grew up around the table, having been the official dice roller since age 1. If you want to get really serious about the game, though, it does need to be with someone old enough to have at least some basic decision-making skill.

It originated in 1971. I learned to play in '76 and at that point there were only three small pamphlets available. It was 1978 when the first hard cover books came out.

at the Jester's Cap sumwhere in Batavia- i think

A lot of cities have games shops that sell things like comics and D&D books, as well as the miniatures. Most of them sell miniatures individually as well as in booster packs.

There are also several websites where you can shop for minis. My favorite is miniaturemarket. I've bought many minis there, and they always ship quickly and securely. Prices are good, too, and they have a LOT of stuff available.

I have found that Miniature Market doesn't stock as many D&D minis as other online stores do, like DandDMinis (has the most D&D minis and at the cheapest prices, generally, with good S&H and the best photos by far), TrollandToad (good selection), Coolstuffinc (good selection and cheapest shipping), etc. Their prices actually seem to be more expensive too, at MM. ABPrices says they compare all the stores, which they do...but only the stores they allow in. They don't let everyone's store in, so it's not a full representation. You can get awesome deals on eBay and Craigslist and even garage sales, too.

Most published adventures will state the recommend number of players for that particular adventure. The recommended number is usually 4-6. There really is no firm answer. Most Dungeon Masters prefer his/herself plus 3 to 5 players, but there truly is no minimum or maximum. Solo adventures are created for a single player. Most adventuring party's never have more than 6 members.

The factors having the most bearing on how many players should be playing are...

-The difficulty of the adventure.

-The power level of the characters (A couple of higher leveled, well equipped characters can be equal to 6 lower leveled modestly equipped characters.)

-The number of players available to play.

-The preference of the Dungeon Master running the game. (This one is probably the most important.)

Dungeons and dragons is foremost a series of rule systems, and don't have characters as such. However, some of the editions have iconic characters. In 3.5, some of the characters where:

Tordek - dwarven fighter

Regdar - human fighter

Mialee - elven wizard

Nebin - gnomish illusionist

Lidda - halfling rogue

Krusk - half-orc barbarian

One person takes the role of Dungeon Master, the other plays as a character.

The best place to look for D& materials would be your local game shop. Not like GameStop or ones that sell primarily video games, but the shops that specialize in card and tabletop games. These same shops often sell comics as well. You may also find D&D books and boxes at book stores, and stores that sell used games/cds/dvds/books, like V-Stock or Slacker's (if you have those in your region). If all else fails, online shopping on places like Amazon will always get you what you need. Support your local game shop before shopping online!

Millions

Yes, you can use any kind of minis for D&D. However, that rule may have been changed in 4th edition, because it isn't profitable to Wizards of the Coast.

While Dungeons & Dragons shares some characteristics with Alternate Reality Games, it is much better classified as a Tabletop Role-Playing game.

There are firm rules in place for players in Dungeons & Dragons whereas ARGs have loose guidelines for them. ARGs also do not require players to assume alternate identities, or even to roleplay, which is the foundation of any Dungeons & Dragons game.