by McKelle, Day-Riverside Branch So, you’ve decided you want to try your hand at playing Dungeons and Dragons. You’ve gathered a group of stalwart, adventuring friends, you’ve learned the rules, you have your campaign ready to go… Now what? Now, you build a character. Before you can begin playing D&D, you need to create or select a character as your adventurer. Characters are a combination of game statistics, role playing hooks, and imagination. In D&D a character's class and race drives many of the interactions and decisions made to resolve encounters and combat. If you’re new to character creation, figuring out how to build a first level character can be overwhelming and intimidating. Trying to figure out which stats should be a priority, which skills and spells you should invest in and how to get the numbers on the sheet so you can get playing can be a bit of a juggling act. If building a character from scratch sounds too overwhelming for your first time, there are many fun pre-made character sheets you can use to start out with. But if creating a character sounds like half of the fun, then here’s an easy step by step guide to help you build your own D&D adventurer! Step 1: Choose Race, Class, and Background Choose a Race Race is your character's species. Your character's race helps determine your physical look as well as giving you natural talents. Racial traits include the following: Ability Score Increase, Age, Alignment, Size, Speed, Languages, and Subraces. You can read the first few paragraphs of each race's section to get an idea of what each of them are. Choose one of the following races:
Choose a Class Class is your character's profession, and determines what actions your character can perform. Your character gains some special class features and proficiencies centered around their chosen vocation. You can read the first few paragraphs of each class's section to get an idea of what each of them are. There are 12 basic classes in D&D: barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock and wizard. Reading through all of their entries in the Player’s Handbook is the only way to make sure you won’t have buyer’s remorse. Choose Background Your character also needs a name and personality. Spend a few minutes thinking about the character’s behavior and looks. You will also need to choose a Background for your character. Your character's background is simply your character's history. Where do they come from and what were they doing prior to the game you are about to play. They provide additional proficiencies, languages, and skills. You can read up on the many types of backgrounds here. Step 2: Stat Blocks and Ability Scores Now comes the complicated part. Once you have determined your character’s appearance, personality, and background, you have to figure out how they will interact with dice play. The stat block is the main portion of the sheet that influences the “game” part of the role-playing game. This block consists of your proficiency modifier, your ability scores and modifiers, and your skill modifiers. Each of a creature's abilities has a score, a number that defines the magnitude of that ability. An ability score is not just a measure of innate capabilities, but also encompasses a creature's training and competence in activities related to that ability. Much of what your character does relies on six abilities: Strength, measuring physical power, Dexterity, measuring agility, Constitution, measuring endurance, Intelligence, measuring reasoning and memory, Wisdom, measuring perception and insight, and Charisma, measuring force of personality. You can print and download a free blank character sheet, and then use D&D guides to help you feel out each stat black. Step 3: Review and come together! Go over your character sheet and share it with your campaign team! D&D characters don’t work alone. Each character plays a role within a party, a group of adventurers working together for a common purpose. Talk to your fellow players and your DM to decide whether your characters know one another, how they met, and what sorts of quests the group might undertake. Once you’re all on the same page, then it’s time to have fun and enjoy your adventure! The City Library encourages a respectful and focused dialogue on blog posts. Comments must be reviewed by a blog administrator. User comments represent the views and interpretations of the patron, not necessarily those of The City Library.
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