While it’s very good advice to tell a Game Master that they need to read the whole of a rulebook, I find this very hard in practice. To mitigate this, I find a better method to be one of dipping into the book(s) and going to where matters interest me as I learn the game.

I like reading rules but I find it very hard to go through the book in a linear fashion. For example, this morning I was reading the beginning of “Dungeon Fantasy: Monsters” when I noticed something referencing an ability in the main “Dungeon Fantasy: Exploits” book that I didn’t remember. In this instance, flipping to Exploits and reading that bit helped me learn.

While I am aware that this method means that I am likely to miss small details and nuances, I find the best way to learn to be using the rules rather than simply reading them. Making characters has me flipping around learning all the bits I need to build the concept I have in mind. Fighting a combat means I add those rules to my knowledge.

Besides, for me, the enjoyment comes from constructing my own understanding of the game. Experience has taught me that you cannot truly understand a game until you’ve played it a fair bit. I would argue that curiosity combined with exploration of the rules is a far more effective teacher than simply reading.

Game on!