AD&D is an acronym, which stands for "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons." AD&D is a role-playing game created by TSR. A role playing game is a game where one player, the Dungeon Master, creates a story in a (usually) fantasy/medieval setting, filled with adventure, monsters, and intrigue. Then, other players assume the roles of characters in the story, and control what they say and do. These characters can vary in many ways, including skills, occupation, gender, age, and even species.

For instance, say Joe Blow wanted to create a character to use in the AD&D game. First, he establishes the character's ablility scores, his primary attributes. These are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. To find these attributes, he has to roll some dice (this happens a lot in AD&D, random chance is much of the spirit of the game). He must roll three six-sided dice, to obtain a number from 3 to 18. He will do this for all six ability scores. First, he rolls for Strength. Strength is a measure of how physically strong one is, as well as how much stamina one has. He rolls a total of 12, which means his character is of slightly better than average Strength. Next, he rolls for Dexterity. Dexterity is hand-eye coordination, as well as flexibility and the ability to keep one's balance. He rolls a 17, an exceptional score! This character is able to perform feats of balance and hand-eye coordination which would baffle most people. Such high scores should be prized, as they are usually quite rare. He moves on to Constitution, which measures how tough a character is. This may sound like Strength, but Constitution deals with the ability to withstand shock, and other harmful effects(such as a blow to the head). He rolls an 8, which is a bit below average, so he'll have be careful. Next, he rolls for his Intelligence, the character's raw intellectual ability, his IQ. He rolls a 15. Another good score, which means this character is quick AND smart. Now, he will roll for Wisdom. This also may sound like it is Intelligence, but while Intelligence is "book smarts," Wisdom is common sense, as well as willpower and intuition. He rolls an 11, an essentially average score. Finally he rolls for Charisma, his general appeal, physically and socially. Charisma is the ability to interact with other people, and generally make them like you. He rolls a 16, yet another excellent score. This character is now fleet of foot, sharp of wit, and glib of tongue. Now that he knows his character's attributes, he must choose a race.

Joe Blow can select a character race, which could be human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, gnome, or hobbit. He decides his character will be an elf, which is a magical, long-lived race of people which prides itself on its refinement. Many elves have similar ability scores to his character's but not as extreme. Elves receive a +1 bonus to their Dexterity scores, which puts his at 18. However, they have a -1 penalty to their Constitution scores, dropping Joe's to a mere 7. Next, Joe will determine his character class.

He can choose to be a fighter(a medieval warrior), a priest(a holy person wielding power granted by a deity), a wizard(a worker of arcane magicks), or a thief(an individual who maintains a lifestyle in which he or she obtains income by means of the illicit redistribution of property, monetary or otherwise, and in doing so, is able to remain undistinguished from the rest of the community at large). In other words, a thief steals. Joe decides he wants his character to be a thief, a dashing rogue half-elf who flits through the night with the shadows, and can creep up behind a victim, silent as a feather falling. Joe is beginning to like this character all ready! Now that Joe has the basics of his character worked out, he can get to the details, such as thieving skills, and weapon proficiencies. However, this introduction is designed only to scratch the surface of the AD&D game. If you would like to learn more about AD&D, consult the Player's Handbook, sold by TSR. If your local libraries and bookstores do not have it, then you can obtain ordering information at the TSR homepage, which is at this link.