Introduction to Character Creation

Welcome

Character Sheet

For this game we will be using custom-made Google Sheets documents to allow for both pen-and-paper and digital formats to be available for players.

Key Concepts

Your first step in playing an adventurer in the Dungeons & Dragons game is to imagine and create a character of your own. Your character is a combination of game statistics, roleplaying hooks, and your imagination. You choose a race (such as Human or hobbit) and a class (such as fighter or wizard). You also invent the personality, appearance, and backstory of your character. Once completed, your character serves as your representative in the game, your avatar in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS world. Before you dive into step 1 below, think about the kind of adventurer you want to play. You might be a courageous fighter, a skulking rogue, a fervent bender, or a flamboyant bard. Or you might be more interested in an unconventional character, such as a brawny rogue who likes hand-to-hand combat, or a sharpshooter who picks off enemies from afar. Do you like fantasy fiction featuring dwarves or elves? Try building a character of one of those races. Do you want your character to be the toughest adventurer at the table? Consider a class like barbarian or paladin. If you don't know where else to begin consider existing characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender or Avatar: The Legend of Korra to serve as an inspiration or starting point. Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, making decisions that reflect the character you want. Your conception of your character might evolve with each choice you make. What's important is that you come to the table with a character you're excited to play.

NAME

Names are important. They create an impression and build expectations. A powerful-sounding name, like “Battlehammer,” tells people you’re a capable warrior, while a name such as “Fenius” can sound mysterious or sly. Silly or serious, bubbly or brutal, whatever you choose, make sure it’s something that exemplifies the key traits of your character.

CLASS AND LEVEL

The class you choose for your character is more than a profession—it’s a calling! Your class provides special features that appear on your character sheet. Beginner adventurers start their journey at Level 1 but consult with your DM if more advanced starting levels are allowed. These are the available classes in the current game:

RACE

Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes in the fantasy world. By choosing a character’s race, you gain a unique appearance and interesting abilities. These are the available Races in the current game:

BACKGROUND

Characters are more than their race and class; they’re individuals with their own special stories to be told. You get to decide where your hero comes from and how their experiences have led them to this point. You can choose a character background from the following list, a homebrew one or create your own: Acolyte
Charlatan
Criminal/Spy
Entertainer
Folk Hero
Guild Artisan
Hermit
Noble
Outlander
Sage
Sailor/Pirate
Soldier
Urchin/Beggar

ALIGNMENT

Is your character a thief with a heart of gold, or a law-abiding citizen? A character’s alignment broadly describes your character’s moral and personal attitude. To pick an alignment, consider the duality of "Evil" and "Good" as "Selfish" and "Selfless" in order to create player characters who aren't inherently evil or bad people.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Experience points are what allow you to level up. At the end of every session the DM will distribute Narrative Milestope Experience Points, through which the characters level up.

ABILITY SCORES AND MODIFIERS

Much of what your character does in the game depends on their six main abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. To get these numbers, grab four six-sided dice (d6), roll, and drop the lowest number. Add up the remaining three, and jot that number down on some scratch paper. Do this five more times. Then assign these six numbers to the six ability scores however you like! Alternatively, you can use the Standard Point Array, which uses the following values, before applying any racial or class modifiers:
15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 Your character’s race will also come with additional bonuses for some of these numbers— make sure to add them.

Ability Score Summary

Strength

Measures natural athleticism and bodily power

Dexterity

Measures physical agility, reflexes, balance, poise

Constitution

Measures health, stamina, vital force

Intelligence

Measures mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill

Wisdom

Measures awareness, intuition, insight

Charisma

Measures Confidence, eloquence, leadership

Ability Score Modifiers

To determine your Ability Modifiers (aka, the number you will actually add to your dice rolls) use the following table with your rolled Ability Scores:

SKILLS

Skills are specific capabilities your character has and each skill corresponds with a core ability score. For example, strong characters would be better athletes on the battlefield, while charismatic characters would be better at persuading a foe from attacking in the first place. Next to each skill, write down the ability modifier the skill corresponds to. For the full list of corresponding ability scores and skills, check out the “Using Each Ability” section in Chapter 7 of your Player’s Handbook.

SAVING THROWS

Saving throws, or saves, are a special type of ability check your character makes when trying to resist a spell, trap, poison, disease, or similar threat. To calculate your saving throws, match your ability score modifiers to the corresponding saving throw. Your class will also give you proficiency in a few saving throws—be sure to add your proficiency bonus to those numbers!

PROFICIENCY BONUS

Certain classes and backgrounds give an added boost to certain skills. Your proficiency bonus is a number that tells you just how accomplished your character is with a certain skill. Your proficiency bonus is determined by your character’s level.

PASSIVE WISDOM (PERCEPTION)

As your character explores, there’s a chance they will notice something hidden without knowing to look for it. Your character’s Passive Wisdom, or Passive Perception, determines how naturally observant your character is. Your Passive Wisdom is 10 + your Perception modifier. (Remember to add your Proficiency bonus if you’re proficient in Perception, too!)

OTHER PROFICIENCIES AND Languages

When you choose a background, your character will get the additional skill proficiencies and Languages a character of that background would have. Perhaps your character spent lots of time studying so hard that they picked up two Extra Languages, or spent a lot of time fighting to get even tougher.

EQUIPMENT

Think about what your character brings with them—not only the clothes they wear, the items in their pack, and the weapons they wield, but also the money in their wallets and the mementos they travel with. Your starting equipment is determined by your character’s class and background.

ARMOR CLASS

Your armor class (AC) represents how well your character avoids getting hurt in battle. The higher the AC, the harder they are to hit. Without a shield or armor, your character’s AC is 10 + their Dexterity modifier. If your character wears armor, carries a shield, or both, you can calculate your AC using the “Armor” chart on page 145 of your Player’s Handbook.

INITIATIVE

Initiative is how fast your character springs to action in battle. This number is the same as your Dexterity modifier.

SPEED

Speed is how fast you can travel while adventuring. Are you a Dwarf with short legs? You’ll take a little longer to catch up with taller humans and elves. Your speed is determined by your race.

HIT POINTS AND HIT DICE

Hit points and hit dice determine how tough your character is in combat and other dangerous situations. The number of hit points and hit dice you have is determined by your character’s class and level. See the “Class Feature” section for your character’s class in your Adventurer's Playbook.

DEATH SAVES

If your character reaches 0 hit points, they fall unconscious and begin making rolls called “death saves.” Three successes, and you’re back in the fight! Three failures . . . well, looks like it’s time to make a new character.

INSPIRATION

Certain excellent role-playing is awarded by the GM with an Inspiration Dice. You can acumulate more than one and they disappear at the end of every session. Inspiration means you get to re-roll any d20 of your choice!

ATTACKS AND SPELLCASTING

Your character is in the middle of a brawl—how do they fight back? Look no further than your attacks and spells. The kinds of attacks your character can carry out depend on the weapons you have and the spells you are trained in. Each weapon you have will detail how easily you’ll be able to land a hit, and how much damage you are able to inflict. Go through the “Weapons” section in Chapter 5 of your Player’s Handbook to find these numbers. If your character is able to cast spells, you can list your spells here, too. For example, every character has the same starting attack: an Unarmed Strike, which can be a punch, headbutt, kick, elbow strike, or even a smack with your character’s tail. The Attack Bonus for an Unarmed Strike is your Proficiency Bonus + your Strength modifier. If you successfully hit an Unarmed Strike, the damage you deal is the same number as 1 + your Strength modifier, and the type of damage is “Bludgeoning.”

PERSONALITY TRAITS, IDEALS, BONDS, AND FLAWS

You know what your character can do with weapons and spells—but what kind of person are they deep down? Figuring out your character’s personality will help you bring them to life as you play the game. For more ideas, read Chapter 4, “Personality and Background,” in your Player’s Handbook.

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