Tag: character generation

Making an Awesome D&D Character: Step 3

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Backgrounds & Backstory

A background when talking about D&D 5e is a mechanical term that describes what your character was doing before they took on their adventuring class. They are one of my favourite parts in the game because they can add so much flavour to your character with minimal effort. For example, you may be a fighter, but perhaps instead of being a soldier, you were guild artisan who is showcasing their wares. Instead of a wizard, you take the noble background and you are now a court wizard. It makes filling out a full character and their motivations so much easier.

A backstory on the other hand is the narrative account of how your character transitions from their background to their class. It also can detail any facet of your character’s life  you want to include like family, friends, enemies, romantic partners, magical events that happened, expeditions you may have gone on, etc. The only limit is your creativity and the amount of time you can put into it.

See below for some backgrounds that may suit what you have in mind.

Resource for Backgrounds:

  • Backgrounds from the D&D 5e Wikia
  • Player’s Handbook

Resource for Backstory:

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Making An Awesome D&D Character: Step 2

Table of Contents

Races

There are a three schools of thought when it comes to picking a race. You can pick the one that fits the flavour of your character, one that gives you the best mechanics in-game, and or a race have that has never been done before. Each of these have their merits. It comes down to play style and what’s important to you when you play. For example if your play style needs your character to be optimized for the best playing, then you may be best choosing a race that makes the most mechanical sense. If that’s less important, and story is more important, I’d recommend choosing flavour over mechanics.

Whether you’ve picked your class or need some help with races, you’ve come to the right place. Races in D&D can be overwhelming due to sheer number of Wizards of the Coast published races. Below, I will break down the ones in the System Resource Document (SRD), but will also list others and where to find my information on them.

Race Name Mechanics Typical Lore Examples
Dwarf Darkvision

+2 Constitution and +1 Wisdom

Resistant to poison and poison damage

Automatically knows some Dwarven weapons such as battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer

Gains proficinecy with Stonecunning to recognize origin or stonework.

Some varieties such as the Hill Dwarf gain extra HP every level.

 Known as stout and steady people, the dwarves are generally a lawful, well-ordered society with a sense of fair play and the benefits of society being just. Glimi from Lord of the Rings
Thorin Oakenshield from The HobbitBinwin Bronzebottom from Acquisitions Incorporated
Elf Can see in the dark 60 ft as dim light
+2 Dexterity and +1 IntelligenceProficiency in PerceptionThey don’t sleep and their minds are trained against charms.

Knows how to use swords, bows, and a little bit of magic.

 Elves are known for their love of freedom, their long lives, and their love of freedom, and self-expression. They value others freedoms as well. Legolas from The Lord of the Rings
Keyleth from Critial Role
Elves from the Elder Scrolls franchise
Halfling Fast and friendly: +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma.

Can reroll natural 1s

Harder to be frightened

Can move through the space of any creature that is a size larger than theirs

Can hide behind creatures larger than themselves

 Halflings are about half the size of a human, but are often seen as a friendly and kind-hearted race. They are known for their honour to tradition, their enjoyment of life, and community. Frodo, Sam, and other Hobbits from Tolkien’s fantasy books
Willow from the movie with the same nameAcorn from The 13th Kingdom
Human Generalists: they gain +1 to every ability I believe you’re very well acquainted with this race Think of any heroic human on Earth
Dragonborn Strong and forceful, they gain +2 to Strength and +1 to Charisma

Gain access to breath weapon and damage resistance determined by colour of dragon

 Dragonborn are dragon-like humanoids who often see the world in extremes. Similar to Argonians in the Elder Scrolls franchise
Gnome +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Constitution

Darkvision

Better at resisting mind-affecting magics

Can tinker to create various toys and tools

 The gnomes are a fun-loving, mischievous race who value freedom as much as the elves do. They are connected with the forest or mountains they call home and often spend time tricking outsiders with fantastic illusions or working on new inventions to keep their minds active. The Earthmen from The Chronicles of Narnia
Dobby and Critter from the Harry Potter series
Gnomeo from Gnomeo and Juliette
Half-Elf +2 Charisma and +1 to another ability of your choice

Darkvision

Can’t be put to sleep by magic and has advantage against being charmed

Gains proficiency in two additional skills

 The union of an elf and a human or another half-elf, the half-elves fit in everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They are charismatic and skillful, but are not as long-lived as elves, and don’t quite fit in with humans. Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI
Tanis Half-Elven from Dragonlance
Gardic from The Lady of the Lake
Half-Orc +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution

Darkvision

Proficiency in Intimidation

When you’re reduced to 0 hit points, you can drop to 1 hp instead once a long rest

When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you deal one dice additional damage

 The progeny of an orc and a human or a half-orc and a human, half-orcs are large, imposing humanoids with features that resemble an orc: notably skin and tusks. In orc culture, they are often seen as puny and weak while in human culture they are less trusted or even feared for their bloodline. As such, they have to work harder to be trusted and are often given more dangerous tasks. Harruq from the Weight of Blood
Agronak gro-Malog from Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Nicolas Jakoby in Bright
Tiefling Intelligence +1 and Charisma +2

Darkvision

Resistance to fire

You know spells due to your infernal legacy

 Either through the pairing of another tiefling or due to an infernal pact with a devil, Tieflings are often depicted with horns and a tail. Because they are so visibly entwined with evil, they are often avoided in social situations. Balthazar from Constantine

Crowley from Supernatural

Jester from Critical Role

For more options or information, check out the following resources below:

  • Player’s Handbook
  • Dungeon Master’s Guide
  • Elemental Evil Player’s Guide
  • Volo’s Guide to Monsters
  • Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
  • Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
  • Southlands Heroes
  • Planeshift: Zendikar

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Making an Awesome D&D Character: Step 1

Table of Contents

Classes

So you have a rough idea of what you want to play. What fits best with what you want to play?

Here’s a brief summary of each of the classes in D&D. These classes flow over into other fantasy role-playing (RPGs) games and can be used to extrapolate for other systems.

Barbarian

A hardy and strong class that focuses into bringing itself into a rage that makes the character even harder to kill.

Claim to Fame: Able to take a lot of hits and deal some good damage.
Primary Class Ability: Rage

Bard

This versatile class is built around being able to do pretty much everything from combat, to spell-casting, and skill challenges. You’ve usually got what your group needs in a situation. If not, you can perform an oratory or sing a song to inspire them to greatness.

Claim to Fame: Jack-of-all-trades.
Primary Class Ability: Bardic Inspiration

Cleric

Being the mouth of a deity is no easy feat, but the cleric manages to do it with poise and grace. The pantheons in D&D lore are rich and detailed, but your character has chosen to devote themselves to one and spread their word across your DM’s campaign.

Claim to Fame:C omes in many different fervent flavours.
Primary Class Ability: Divine magic, and abilities granted by the deity.

Druid

While clerics are the instrument of a deity, druids often worship nature and protect it. The ability to turn into animals and cast spells certainly helps keep the baddies away.

Claim to Fame: can turn into beasts and cast divine magic.
Primary Class Ability: Wildshape and divine magic.

Fighter

Whether you’re a protector, a strategist, an archer, or want an occasional boost to your protective abilities, fighter could be the way you want to go. Fighters are known for their ability to solve issues by hitting things, but they are less known for their different fighting styles that you can customize your martial character into a sharpshooting crossbowman, or great sword wielding tactician.

Claim to Fame: Hitting things is pretty effective. |
Primary Class Ability: Action Surge

Monk

Whether you’re going for a boxer or a kung-fu martial artist, monks are wise and fast characters who use unarmed attacks and monk weapons in combat.

Claim to Fame: unarmed attacks are more effective with these characters.
Primary Class Ability: Ki abilities

Paladin

While clerics may be the mouth of a deity, paladins are their hands. Paladins are a mix of fighter and cleric so they come with the ability to shine in combat and have some divine spell-casting ability.

Claim to Fame: They can release a powerful blast of energy upon a hit in combat and are charismatic out of combat.
Primary Class Ability: Divine Smite

Ranger

Tracking through different terrains, favoured enemies to hunt and destroy, and maybe even making a few woodland friends along the way. Meet the Ranger. The ranger is a mix of a druid and a fighter and so has access to a few nature spells, and can also hold up in combat.

Claim to Fame: Getting the right favoured enemy or terrain really makes for happy group.
Primary Class Ability: Favoured Terrain & Enemy

Rogue

Typically known for their sneaking abilities and the sheer number of skills they gain, they are the only class that starts with a starting proficiency in thieves’ tools. Truly this class is too varied to really put into words.

Claim to Fame: High amount of skills and an excellent scout (until they get caught).
Primary Class Ability: Sneak Attack

Sorcerer

Sorcerers gain magic inherently through the magic within their bloodline. This magic becomes more and more powerful as you progress through the class with the ability to even twist the magic to suit your whims.

Claim to Fame: Able to take spells and change them to their benefit.
Primary Class Ability: Metamagic

Wizard

While sorcerers gain use of magic through force of personality, wizards use their intellect to study one of the nine schools of magic.

Claim to Fame: The Swiss Army knife of spellcasters.
Primary Class Ability: Arcane magic

Warlock

Warlocks get their spell-casting and abilities due to a pact with a powerful entity such as a demon or an arch-fey.

Claim to Fame: one of a kind spell-caster with easy backstory elements.
Primary Class Ability: Eldritch Invocations

For more information on classes, see below:

  • Player’s Handbook
  • D&D Basic Rules
  • Xanathar’s Guide to Everything for advanced level 3 class options
  • Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

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Making an Awesome D&D Character: Step 0

Table of Contents

Collect Information

One of the best ways to start a character is to find an idea of what you want to build. Many characters can be created using a basic concept or even a cool picture or video you saw online. Inspiration is everywhere! You may find that you don’t know how to put into words what you’re looking to do. That is okay. This process is designed to help flush out your understanding of some basic Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition rules and concepts so that you can build a character you can be proud to bring to the table.

A great resource to use if you’re stuck is your Dungeon Master (DM). They are there to help tell the story of your adventurer. They also know rules, concepts, and can act as a sounding board for ideas. It’s also important to discuss character creation with your DM since they may have ideas on races or classes that aren’t allowed, starting power level, and other advanced rules that may change what you want to play. For example, if you’re playing in a world where magic is outlawed and punishable by death, you need to consider whether playing a spell-casting class such as a wizard or a sorcerer is worth the concern of always looking over your shoulder in game.

Some things to ask your DM:

  • What level are we starting at?
  • How are we generating ability scores?
  • Are any classes or races restricted?
  • Is there anything I need to know about the world during character creation?

The DM will likely give out this information already, but if not, it may have just slipped their mind in the excitement of getting a game running.

If you’re following along through the process, it’s a good idea to put your name in the Player Name section and to write how many experience points you are starting with should your DM decides to use that system. Experience points (xp) are used to determine progression through your class. Progressing through a class determines a number of class features such as how many hits you can take in a fight (hit points or HP), special abilities or spells, and when you can increase your ability scores (more on this later).

Resources to Help:

  • Where2Game’s Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Character Sheet Helper
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Player’s Handbook

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