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

Recommended Ages: 10+
Length of a Game: 3 hrs+
Number of Players: 4-6 recommended

The original Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was released by Gary Gygax in January 1974 (DMsGuild.com) and has slowly gained traction despite stigma of it’s players and content. Since that time there have been 6 editions that have attempted to improve gameplay and enhance the storytelling story with a number of board games and electronics games spun off from it’s titles.

Character Sheet — Example of a form-fillable character sheet available from the Dungeons and Dragons website

Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) that uses dice of different sizes called polyhedral dice along with paper and pencils to tell a story of heroism, villany, good, evil, and explore a fantasy world limited only by the imagination of the players. If you want to play in a post-apocalyptic world, a fantastical world of high magic, or a space-age adventure – Dungeons and Dragons is there for you!

The Fifth Edition (5e) is the newest edition released in December 2014 (Wizards of the Coast) and simplifies the most recent rules, makes less rules, and puts storytelling back in the hands of the group.

Characters are generally made in advance and can be as complex or simple as you want to play. Of the players, one is called the Dungeon Master or DM. This player is responsible for coordinating the group, telling the story, and running all the characters that the rest of the players (hereafter called PCs) run. The rules for this game are simple to learn, especially if you have a more experienced DM playing as it’s their role to adjudicate successes and parse requests into game mechanics.

Character heights — A selection from Sage Advice showcasing the different relative heights of the D&D races. Artwork by A.G.H.

There are a number of published adventures that the company, Wizards of the Coast, produces available for purchase. Alternatively, you can make up a story using the Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Monster Manual. Players need access to a Player’s Handbook to create characters though there are a lot of free resources online through the D&D System Resource Document (SRD).

I am an avid D&D player and DM as I love helping players discover and explore new worlds while improving the players’ lives. D&D has been suggested to contribute to stronger communication skills, teamwork, puzzle solving, strategy, and perseverance. There is a meme that has circulated around indicating that if you get your kids into gaming, they don’t have money for drugs. I’d continue that the friendships and community that develop from this game are meaningful and help develop healthy relationships.

If you’re interested in playing, free groups can be found at organized events, or through websites like Meetup. As Where2Game continues to grow, we will make an easy way to find groups for every gaming community in Canada.

For more information, contact your local gaming venue or feel free to reach out to Where2Game.

Tag: D&D

Making an Awesome D&D Character: Step 1

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