Hello adventurers, welcome to The Fantasy Forge. Making a Dungeons and Dragons character from scratch can feel like a daunting task, especially if it’s your first time.
There’s so much on the sheet, how does it make sense for anyone!? But don’t worry, we are going to give you the A-Z of making your own D&D character. Don’t go anywhere!
BEFORE YOU START...
When creating your character, there’s a few things you need first before you start anywhere else. Now for me, the best way to start any character is to ignore all the stats and information, and think about them.
What are they like? What’s their name or nickname? And what did they do for a living before we meet them in the first session? What are their fears, desires, and what makes them special?
This is all important because it’s easier to create a character you like and fit the background and stats and race and class into the story rather than force a story into the stats. If that makes sense.
For instance: I have a character I’ve always wanted to create. His name is Edmund, and he’s someone who spent his entire lifetime in the big city. He’s young, maybe 16 or 17, and he comes from poverty, actually living on the street. But what makes him special is that he has always been able to do some crazy magic, never truly knowing how to control it. He uses these magical abilities to steal and make a living on the streets. That’s the story I like, I come up with it first, and then I dive into the creation side.
So how do I fit this Edmund, into the stats? Well first I think about his name and background. I know his name is Edmund, maybe he doesn’t even have a last name that he knows of, so he goes by Edmund the Nameless, or people just call him Eddie. Maybe in your world there’s a name that orphans take in the same way that Snow or Sand is taken in the Game of Thrones series, that’s entirely up to you.
But I write his name at the top, Edmund the Nameless.
THE CHARACTER'S BACKGROUND
Now thinking about his character, his background kind of makes itself. He’s an orphan, and he’s a bit of a troublemaker. This means that after reading through the backgrounds, the ones I like the most, are Urchin, or Criminal.
Now since I don’t necessarily see Edmund as someone who actively breaks the law and is really just trying to do what he needs to in order to survive, I’m going to pick the Urchin background.
Now with that said, I know his name, where he’s from, and what he did for the last 15 or so years growing up alone. Now we want to think about how this affects him. We’re not gonna dive into the stats because you want to create a character that will allow you to fully jump into them, you’ll know their story, their fears and hopes.
It’s important when it comes to playing D&D as roleplaying is a big part of the game. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to play them.
So we’re going to lay out his personality. He’s quiet, cocky, uneducated but likes to pretend he knows things. These are all things that we can add. Flesh this part out, so you know how to play them when the time comes.
BUILDING THE CHARACTER'S PERSONA
Ideals and Bonds can be confusing for some as they seem similar. The best way to describe it is that the ideals are what your character believes, and the bonds are what they feel connected to.
So in this instance, I think that because he has grown up on the streets, his ideals will be that, “if I ever meet someone who needs help, I will do anything to ensure that they have what they need to survive, no matter what.” And this can be simply because he’s a character that knows what it’s like to have nothing, and wants to help as many people as he can to avoid falling into that. Or I can go the complete opposite, and say that his ideals are “Everyone needs to fend for themselves, just like I did.” Right?
These are two opposite ways to see things that will change the way your character reacts to things. Now for the bonds, maybe he’s really connected to the streets. So for his bonds, “I’d rather stay a night in an alley where I’m comfortable, than in a fluffy bed in a mansion where I don’t belong.”
Or maybe his bond is “I treasure the only piece of my family that I have, this notebook that they left me.” That notebook can then become a pivotal part of his back story or it can be something else.
Flaws tie right into this. How do his bonds and flaws affect him? If he wants to help people maybe his flaw is “I’ll jump to save anyone without thinking it through first.” Or on the opposite end of the spectrum it could be “I never had anyone, so I trust no one but myself.” These are two different compelling flaws that will drastically change his character so it’s good to think this through and how this affects his personality.
PICKING A RACE AND CLASS
Once you have an idea of their history, background, personality and flaws and what is important to them, now you can start thinking about their race and class. Edmund is a half-elf who was cast out for being neither human nor elf. He was unwanted, or maybe that’s just what he thinks.
Either way, I know I want him to be a Half-Elf. On top of that, for his class, because he grew up on the streets as an urchin, stealing to survive, maybe he developed a decent skill as a pickpocket and so for him, I’d like to make him a Rogue.
So I have Edmund the Nameless, a half-elf kid who grew up as an urchin and is just about to begin his journey in this adventure as a rogue. The classes, backgrounds, and race will affect his stats.
PICKING YOUR STATS
So now we can choose one of two ways to do this. You can roll your Stats if your DM is okay with that, or you can use the Point Buy system. When rolling, take 4d6 and roll them. Take the lowest number away. Now add what remains and that’s your first roll. You will do this 5 more times.
Once you have 6 numbers, these will be your stats and you can now plug them in where you wish. The point buy system uses a chart that’s found in the Player’s Handbook that shows how many points each stat number costs. You have 27 points to spend, across 6 stats.
And you can see in the chart that if you wanted all your stats to be 15, that would be 9 points for each, which goes way over the 27 points you have. A good array to choose from is the Standard array, which uses 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8 as your stats to plug in wherever you’d like.
RACIAL TRAITS AND MODIFIERS
Now because Edmund is a Half-Elf, I can check his race in the Player’s Handbook and see that he gains a +2 to Charisma, and a +1 to any other two scores I like. These boosts to scores are determined by their race and change for each one. For example, a human gains a +1 to every stat. But they also lose out on some of the cooler features of being a half-elf or what have you.
So I can make a note that I gain a +2 to Charisma, and since he’s a rogue, I’m going to want him to be nimble and dexterous, so I’ll add 1 to Dex. For my last +1 I think it would make sense that he was a little wiser since he grew up on the streets, so I’ll add it to his wisdom.
Now looking at the stats, I’m going to plug in the 15 into dex, the 14 to his wisdom, the 13 to constitution, 12 to his strength, 10 to his charisma, and it would make sense that with no formal education, intelligence would be his weakest stats. Now I did this without thinking about how these skills are going to affect his overall stats.
Now you can easily do this thinking only about the stats. This is called min-maxing and is certainly a way to play because for some people making your character as strong as possible is a sort of puzzle, but for me personally, I like to think about the character deeply and add stats accordingly, even if it means going contrary to suggestions. For example, a clumsy rogue with low dex would be an interesting character.
CLASS STATS AND MODIFIERS
Once I’ve added all of the stats, I increase the ones that get their bonus, and now the numbers are all plugged in. The Urchin background and the Rogue background each tell me what my skills are. In addition to that, being a half-elf gives me the Skill Versatility feature, which allows me to pick an additional 2.
So I have 4 choices from the Rogue, Sleight of Hand and Stealth are automatically chosen for me based on being an Urchin which means I can pick any other 6 that I want now. I thought about it long and hard and decided that from the list, the ones that make sense would be acrobatics, deception, insight, and persuasion.
He’s a cocky kid with a little attitude and gives off sort of the con-artist vibes. Now thanks to the half elf I choose any other two that I want, so I chose arcana and perception. I chose arcana because remember, Edmund can do some magic and I think an arcane rogue trickster would be a great subclass so I’m going into this knowing that he’s got a little talent for magic.
CHARACTER FEATURES
Now the class, background and race have given me some features. These are special bonuses for the choices I made, so I’m going to go ahead and add those here. These are Darkvision and Fey Ancestry from the Half-Elf side, Expertise, Thieves Cant and Sneak Attack from the Rogue, and as an Urchin I gain the City Secrets feature. As I level up I know I’ll unlock more and more features.
As a half elf, I know that my speed is 30 since it tells me in the Players Handbook. My hit points are also laid out for me very clearly. As a rogue I get 8 plus my con which in this case is 13 or +1.
This is chosen by a table in the handbook. Remember that the big number, for me the 13, is the Ability Score, but the bonus I get to my rolls is the Ability Modifier. You can find this info in the PHB which shows a chart with what ability modifier goes to which number. I can see that a 13 is a +1 so any time I roll a Constitution roll of any kind, I’ll be adding at least a 1. So 8 plus 1, I have a total HP of 9.
In addition, I know that my Hit Dice are 1d8 per level, as it says on the Rogue page in the PHB. That means that at level 1, I have 1d8 hit dice. Without going too much into hit dice, they are dice that you can roll when your character rests, and whatever you get on the dice, you add to your health. Think of it like a moment that your character can patch themselves up. But once you use them, you don’t get them back until you sleep.
Continuing on, I know that my Dexterity is a 16 which, again looking at the table, is a +3, so my initiative is a +3. If your Dex was a +1 or a +4 then that’s what it would be instead. Initiative is always going to match your Dex ability modifier.
CHARACTER SKILLS
Now your class, race, and background gave you those cool skills to choose from. Well now is when you put those to use. You want to look at the left side boxes on your sheet and bubble in the ones you chose.
At 1st level the starting bonus is a +2 , but it goes up the higher level you are so if you are joining a game at higher level, make sure to reference the chart in the Player’s Handbook.
So great, the Proficiency Bonus is a +2 for me, now what? Well what that means is that whatever is bubbled in, we are going to add a +2 to that, but more on that in a moment
So very simply, I will take a look at all the stats I have chosen and add their corresponding modifier. So first we see on the list at the top are the saving throws.
These are determined by your class. For the rogue, I know that my two saving throws are Dex and Intelligence, so I’ll bubble both of those in. I see that my Dex is a +3, and my intelligence is a -1 because it’s only an 8. So I will now add the proficiency bonus of +2 because I’m proficient in these right? If it’s bubbled in, that means I am proficient.
All that really means is that I have spent enough time working on these particular areas of my abilities and as such, I gain a small bonus to what I can do. So I will add 2 and 3 to my Dex, making it a +5 and with my intelligence at a negative, I’m adding a plus 2 to a -1 which makes it an even 1.
I’m going to go down to my skills and do the same. You can see that next to the skill name, it tells you what ability it uses. Acrobatics is Dex, Animal Handling is Wisdom, Arcana is Intelligence and so on.
Remember, you’re going to add the ability score modifier to the stats with the corresponding stat, AND only IF I am proficient will I also add the bonus of 2. So for all the ones that are bubbled in, I will add the +2 because Edmund has spent a lot of years pick-pocketing and doing strange magic and being aware of his surroundings so he’s proficient in perception and stealth and sleight of hand and a few others.
BUT, with no formal training in school, his intelligence is low so his Nature and Religion skills do NOT get the +2 proficiency bonus. I hope that makes sense.
So I’ll go down the list, add the scores that are appropriate, adding the bonus that needs to be added and boom, at the end, you have a bunch of pluses, maybe a couple of minuses, and a handful of bubbled in stats that are probably 2 or 3 points higher than the others. It’s easy to make a mistake on this part so just remember that the bonus ONLY gets added if you have that stat bubbled in.
After that, I’ll add my tool and language proficiency to the list in the bottom left as well. I know as a rogue I’ll get my thieves tools, so I’ll add those under tools.
As a half elf it states that I can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice. So I can look at a list and choose accordingly, I went ahead and chose dwarvish. Also remember that I got Thieves Cant as a feature at level 1, a special language that only thieves know, so I’ll add that as well.
I will also have various proficiencies with other items. For me as a rogue that will be Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords, and as an urchin I also gain the Disguise kit, and thieves' tools. Now remember just because I have proficiency WITH the items does not mean I automatically own them. What I own is explained in the equipment of each class or background.
CHARACTER STARTING EQUIPMENT
Speaking of which, I gained some basic equipment from my background and class. As a rogue I gain:
(a) a rapier or (b) a shortsword
(a) a shortbow and quiver of 20 arrows or (b) a shortsword
(a) a burglar’s pack, (b) a dungeoneer’s pack, or (c) an explorer’s pack
Leather armor, two daggers, and thieves’ tools
I went ahead and chose the shortsword, the bow and arrows, and the burglar's pack since I doubt that a kid from the city street did much dungeon diving or exploring. On top of that I also get two daggers, some thieves' tools and my leather armor.
From my urchin class I also get a belt pouch with 10 gold, some common clothes that I’ll keep rolled up in my backpack, and a token to remember my parents.
STARTING WEALTH
Now if your DM allows it, you can choose to roll for your wealth instead but remember that that means you will have a lot of gold to start with, but you’ll have to buy your own armor and equipment which can get expensive. Different backgrounds have different wealth starting points so make sure to look in the PHB for that chart as well.
Now that you have your equipment, your sheet is almost done. Your Armor Class or AC is determined by your armor. Just find it in the book, and for me, the leather armor states very clearly, it’s worth 10 gold pieces, and makes my AC equal to 11 plus my Dexterity modifier which is a 3. So that means 11+3 making my AC a humble 14. This will go up as I gain better armor and items but for now, 14 will do.
My shortsword and bow each have their own bonuses as well.
My shortbow uses my Dex to make the attack since it’s a ranged weapon, and my shortswords would normally use strength since it’s about the power of the swing, however luckily for me, the shortsword has a “Light” property which means I can use either my dex OR my Strength.
Since Dexterity is my strength I will be opting for that. Note that not all weapons have the light property and each weapon is different, allowing you to use them in various ways.
So since I am proficient with these weapons as it shows in my Rogue class, I know that I will be automatically adding a +2 to whatever other bonuses I get. In this case, I have a +3 to dex for the shortsword for being a light weapon, and my bow uses my dex automatically since that’s how ranged weapons work, so I know that both my bow and my shortsword will be adding a +3 from dex, and a +2 from my proficiency, so when I roll to attack I will be adding a total attack bonus of +5 to each.
The damage type is explained for each weapon in the weapons list of the Player’s Handbook. It’s also important to note that while you don’t add your proficiency to damage, you will be adding your modifier. So in this case for example, my bow will do 1d6 piercing, and an additional +3 damage from my dex. My shortsword will deal 1d6 slashing, and +3 from my dexterity.
PASSIVE PERCEPTION
Your passive perception or passive wisdom is determined simply. Look at your perception in the list of skills and whatever that is, you’ll add it to 10. In this instance I know that my Wisdom is a 14, which is a +2, and since I am proficient, I’ll add an additional 2 from the proficiency bonus, bringing it to a +4 as it shows here.
So my Passive Wisdom will be 10 +4 so 14. This skill is important because it determines how easily someone can sneak up on you, or how much you notice when you’re not looking.
SPELLS AND SPELL SAVE DC
The last thing you want to add is your spells and spell save DC which is determined according to your class. Now, I know that Edmund is only Level 1, so he does not have access to spells quite yet, but at level 3 I know that he would gain a bonus to his attacks of +2 from the proficiency, and plus his intelligence, a -1, for a total of 1.
So each spell that requires it would use a bonus of +1. The spell save DC here is determined by the class as well, which states in the book that for an arcane trickster rogue it is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier, so in this case it is 8 + 2 + (-1) for a total of 9. But honestly, spells are confusing so take all of this with a grain of salt because I will be talking about spells and their rules in another video.
AND THE BEST PART...CHARACTER TRINKETS
And the last and final thing to talk about is trinkets. With your DM, roll a d100 to determine what special trinket your character gets, some of these are fun, usually just for flavor and don't add much to the actual gameplay but are still fun, especially since it’s randomly chosen.
I know this seemed like a lot, but I promise the more characters you make, the easier it becomes, and luckily there are programs like DND Beyond and Roll20 that do a lot of the math for you already.
Hopefully this helped a little about creating a fully fleshed out character.
The absolute best thing about D&D is that you truly have so much to pick from, it’s possible to make 100 characters and make each of them unique. I know I’m not the only one addicted to making characters...
As always, Forge on, adventurers, and we'll see you next time...
Comentarios