Building Your D&D Character Is Easy With This DIY Guide
So you wanna play Dungeons & Dragons, huh?
Maybe you’ve been watching a little too much Stranger Things and got inspired by their epic D&D sessions. Maybe you saw Honor Among Thieves and thought, “I could do it better.” Maybe there’s a half-elf hottie rolling the 20-sided die with your friends every Saturday and you just GOTTA get some character-on-character interaction with them. Whatever the reason, I won’t judge. All I have to say is, “welcome to the club, nerd!” You are among friends.
Disclaimer: this article is going to be referencing the fifth and most recent edition (5e) of D&D. If you wanna know how to make a character in D&D version 2 or something else from several years ago, too bad. I never played it.
Choose your species
There are so many species to choose from! Humans (boring), Elves (better), Dwarves (lit), Tieflings (omg so cool), hot snake people! Bird people! Giant elephant people! Anthropomorphic pandas! Semi-celestial beings! Nasty little bog-monsters! You name it, D&D has got it. Each species has its own unique traits and abilities that can greatly influence your character’s statistics and playstyle, so think about what kind of player you want to be when you choose. Wanna shoot fire? The devil-blooded Tieflings have a natural affinity. Wanna eat up damage for breakfast as a battle-axe-wielding barbarian? Maybe don’t be a halfling. Or do. That sounds hilarious.
(Note: species are referred to as “races” in D&D materials up to 5e.)
Select your class
Magical Wizards! Cunning Rogues! Nature-loving Druids! Holy warrior Paladins! That one healer guy! Your character’s class represents their profession/area of expertise and shapes their abilities, skills, and combat style. You wanna run up to people and punch them in the face? Be a Barbarian! You wanna hide in the shadows and assassinate people? Be a Rogue! You wanna shoot people with a bow from far away? Be a Ranger! You want that half-elf hottie to REALLY love you? Be a healing Cleric and tend to their wounds. What’s sexier than that?
Determine your ability scores
Strength, dexterity, wisdom, charisma—you can have it all! (Even if you don’t have any of those traits in real life.) Ability scores define your character’s physical and mental attributes. Are you smart? Are you strong? Are you good with your hands? Are you inexplicably hot? This is all governed by ability scores. You can determine ability scores in a few ways, but the easiest is by rolling a D20. You gotta roll for each of your attributes, and then add modifiers based on your character’s species and class. We’ll cover modifiers in a minute.
Choose a background
Now that you’ve determined WHAT you are, you need to find out WHO you are. What’s your name? Where did you come from? How old are you? Were you literally just born yesterday? Don’t worry, you don’t have to come up with this ENTIRELY by yourself. D&D 5e offers a wide variety of background templates that you can build on, and which also determine your starting gear and money. Maybe you were a hardened Criminal, but now you found God(s) and you’re on a Paladin quest of redemption. Maybe you were a wealthy Noble who became bored of living in a gilded cage and wants to study the mysteries of magic. Maybe you were once a star Actor whose career got all washed up but now you’re making your glorious Bard comeback! So many options.
Determine ability modifiers
Based on your character’s species and ability scores, you must now calculate the ability modifiers. These modifiers represent the bonuses or penalties applied to rolls related to each attribute. Ability modifiers help determine the success of your actions: Did you land that attack on the goblin? Did you fall for that evil lich’s trap? Did you score with that hottie at the tavern? Ability modifiers add numerical value to your base ability score. For instance, an Elven Ranger will have an added bonus to their Dexterity ability modifier because Elves and Rangers are naturally dextrous.
Select skills and proficiencies
Skills and proficiencies represent areas in which your character excels. They provide bonuses when attempting related tasks and can significantly impact your character’s effectiveness in specific scenarios. Your class and background determine which skills and tools your character is proficient in. For instance, your Rogue class will allow you to be more proficient in Stealth than the lumbering Barbarian in your party. Your Wizard studies will make you more knowledgable about Arcana and History. Your fine-tuned Ranger spidey-senses will help your Perception, and you may notice things that others do not.
Determine your hit points
Hit points represent your character’s health and resilience. They determine how much damage your character can withstand before … well, dying. Your class choice dictates the dice used for calculating your hit points. If you’re a Paladin, hooray! You’ll be swimming in hit points! If you’re a Wizard, you best stay far away where no one can stab your tender frame. If you’re hit, don’t worry! You can roll your hit dice during short rests to recover hit points. Just rub some dirt on it! You’ll be fine!
Customize your appearance and personality
Do you have blue hair? One eye? A belly button ring? Are you cantankerous? Sweet? Lecherous? Are you all of the above? Yay! You’ve made a specific character! Are you daunted by the idea of making up a living, breathing person with a rich inner life in the span of a few minutes? D&D can help! You can reference the 5e guide, which will give you ideas for your Ideals (what you believe in), your Bonds (what and who you love), and your Flaws (what you suck at—emotionally, that is).
Double-check everything!
This is a lot of information, and I know you probably missed SOMETHING. Go back over your character sheet and make sure all of your ability scores and modifiers are correct. You don’t want to slow the party down re-rolling for Charisma when everyone wants to adventure. Then your real-life Charisma will be zero.
Choose your alignment
You probably have a sense of who you are and how you act already, but your alignment can help contextualize your personality as it relates to the world around you. In short, your alignment is your moral compass and worldview. Are you a Lawful Good stick-in-the-mud who always plays by the rules? Are you a Chaotic Neutral loose cannon who is always looking out for yourself? Or are you a Neutral Evil little creepazoid who isn’t evil all the time but won’t say no to the opportunity should it fall into your disturbed little lap?
LEVEL UP!
As you progress through the game and overcome challenges, your character will gain experience points These points can be earned from killing monsters or completing narrative arcs. Accumulating enough XP allows your character to level up and become more powerful. Leveling up will give you additional hit points, new abilities, spells, and other cool stuff. You might be a puny level 3 now, but someday you’ll be a god-eating level 20 force of destruction.
(featured image: Wizards of the Coast)
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
