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7 D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only. |
RICHARD WHITTERS |
Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters |
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 imagina- tion. You choose a race (such as human or halfling) and a class (such as fighter or wizard). You also invent ... |
Do you want your character to be the toughest adventurer at the table? Consider the fighter class. If you don’t know where else to begin, take a look at the illustrations in this book to see what catches your interest. Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, making decisions that reflect the cha... |
1. Choose a Race |
Every character belongs to a race, one of the many in- telligent humanoid species in the D&D world. The most common player character races are dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans. Some races also have subraces, such as mountain dwarf or wood elf. Chapter 2 provides more information about these races. The race you cho... |
2). For example, the racial traits of lightfoot halflings make them exceptional rogues, and high elves tend to be powerful wizards. Sometimes playing against type can be fun, too. |
Halfling paladins and mountain dwarf wizards, for exam- ple, can be unusual but memorable characters. Your race also increases one or more of your ability scores, which you determine in step 3. Note these in- creases and remember to apply them later. Record the traits granted by your race on your character sheet. Be su... |
2. Choose a Class |
Every adventurer is a member of a class. Class broadly describes a character’s vocation, what special talents he or she possesses, and the tactics he or she is most likely to employ when exploring a dungeon, fighting monsters, or engaging in a tense negotiation. The character classes are described in chapter 3. Your ch... |
A 1st-level character is inexperienced in the adventuring world, although he or she might have been a soldier or a pirate and done dangerous things before. Starting off at 1st level marks your character’s en- try into the adventuring life. If you’re already familiar with the game, or if you are joining an existing D&D ... |
Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters 8 D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only. |
At 1st level, your character has 1 Hit Die, and the die type is determined by your class. You start with hit points equal to the highest roll of that die, as indicated in your class description. (You also add your Constitution mod- ifier, which you’ll determine in step 3.) This is also your hit point maximum. Record yo... |
Proficiency Bonus The table that appears in your class description shows your proficiency bonus, which is +2 for a 1st-level character. Your proficiency bonus applies to many of the numbers you’ll be recording on your character sheet: • Attack rolls using weapons you’re proficient with • Attack rolls with spells you ca... |
tools in chapter 5.) Your background gives you additional skill and tool proficiencies, and some races give you more proficiencies. Be sure to note all of these proficiencies, as well as your proficiency bonus, on your character sheet. Your proficiency bonus can’t be added to a single die roll or other number more tha... |
Step 2 Bob imagines Bruenor charging into battle with an axe, one horn on his helmet broken off. He makes Bruenor a fighter and notes the fighter’s proficiencies and 1st-level class features on his character sheet. As a 1st-level fighter, Bruenor has 1 Hit Die—a d10— and starts with hit points equal to 10 + his Constit... |
Quick Build |
Each class description in chapter 3 includes a section offering suggestions to quickly build a character of that class, including how to assign your highest ability scores, a background suitable to the class, and starting spells. |
3. Determine Ability Scores |
Much of what your character does in the game depends on his or her six abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitu- tion, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each ability has a score, which is a number you record on your char- acter sheet. The six abilities and their use in the game are de- scribed in chapter 7. The Abili... |
Roll four 6-sided dice and record the total of the highest three dice on a piece of scratch paper. Do this five more times, so that you have six numbers. If you want to save time or don’t like the idea of randomly determining ability scores, you can use the following scores instead: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Now take your... |
To determine an ability modifier without consulting the table, subtract 10 from the ability score and then divide the result by 2 (round down). Write the modifier next to each of your scores. Building Bruenor, Step 3 Bob decides to use the standard set of scores (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) for Bruenor’s abilities. Since he... |
Ability Scores and Modifiers |
Score 1 2–3 4–5 6–7 8–9 10–11 12–13 14–15 |
Modifier −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 +0 +1 +2 |
Score 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 24–25 26–27 28–29 30 |
Modifier +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 |
Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters 9 D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only. |
Ability Score Summary Strength Measures: Natural athleticism, bodily power Important for: Fighter Racial Increases: Mountain dwarf (+2) Human (+1) |
Dexterity Measures: Physical agility, reflexes, balance, poise Important for: Rogue Racial Increases: Elf (+2) Human (+1) Halfling (+2) |
Constitution Measures: Health, stamina, vital force Important for: Everyone Racial Increases: Dwarf (+2) Stout halfling (+1) Human (+1) |
Intelligence Measures: Mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill Important for: Wizard Racial Increases: High elf (+1) Human (+1) |
Wisdom Measures: Awareness, intuition, insight Important for: Cleric Racial Increases: Hill dwarf (+1) Human (+1) Wood elf (+1) |
Charisma Measures: Confidence, eloquence, leadership Important for: Leaders and diplomatic characters Racial Increases: Lightfoot halfling (+1) Human (+1) |
Variant: Customizing Ability Scores At your Dungeon Master’s option, you can use this vari- ant for determining your ability scores. The method described here allows you to build a character with a set of ability scores you choose individually. You have 27 points to spend on your ability scores. The cost of each score ... |
Ability Score Point Cost |
Score 8 9 10 11 |
Cost 0 1 2 3 |
Score 12 13 14 15 |
Cost 4 5 7 9 |
4. Describe Your Character |
Once you know the basic game aspects of your character, it’s time to flesh him or her out as a person. Your charac- ter needs a name. Spend a few minutes thinking about what he or she looks like and how he or she behaves in general terms. Using the information in chapter 4, you can flesh out your character’s physical a... |
A background gives your character a background feature (a general benefit) and proficiency in two skills, and it might also give you additional languages or proficiency with certain kinds of tools. Record this information, along with the personality information you develop, on your character sheet. Your Character’s Abi... |
A charac- ter with low Constitution might be sickly or frail. A character with high Intelligence might be highly inquisitive and studious, while a character with low Intel- ligence might speak simply or easily forget details. A character with high Wisdom has good judgment, em- pathy, and a general awareness of what’s g... |
Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters 10 D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only. |
Building Bruenor, Step 4 Bob fills in some of Bruenor’s basic details: his name, his sex (male), his height and weight, and his alignment (law- ful good). His high Strength and Constitution suggest a healthy, athletic body, and his low Intelligence suggests a degree of forgetfulness. Bob decides that Bruenor comes from... |
Bob has a pretty clear picture of Bruenor’s personality in mind, so he skips the personality traits suggested in the folk hero background, noting instead that Bruenor is a caring, sensitive dwarf who genuinely loves his friends and allies, but he hides this soft heart behind a gruff, snarling demeanor. He chooses the i... |
5. Choose Equipment |
Your class and background determine your character’s starting equipment, including weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear. Record this equipment on your character sheet. All such items are detailed in chapter 5, “Equipment.“ Instead of taking the gear given to you by your class and background, you can purchase your... |
Chapter 7 has more information on carrying capacity. Armor Class Your Armor Class (AC) represents how well your character avoids being wounded in battle. Things that contribute to your AC include the armor you wear, the shield you carry, and your Dexterity modifier. Not all characters wear armor or carry shields, howev... |
Your character needs to be proficient with armor and shields to wear and use them effectively, and your armor and shield proficiencies are determined by your class. There are drawbacks to wearing armor or carrying a shield if you lack the required proficiency, as explained in chapter 5. Some spells and class features g... |
Building Bruenor, Step 5 Bob writes down the starting equipment from the fighter class and the folk hero background. His starting equip- ment includes chain mail and a shield, which combine to give Bruenor an Armor Class of 18. For Bruenor’s weapons, Bob chooses a battleaxe and two handaxes. His battleaxe is a melee we... |
6. Come Together |
Most D&D characters don’t work alone. Each charac- ter plays a role within a party, a group of adventurers working together for a common purpose. Teamwork and cooperation greatly improve your party’s chances to survive the many perils in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons. Talk to your fellow players and your DM to de- c... |
Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters 11 D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only. |
Beyond 1st Level |
As your character goes on adventures and overcomes challenges, he or she gains experience, represented by experience points. A character who reaches a specified experience point total advances in capability. This ad- vancement is called gaining a level. When your character gains a level, his or her class often grants a... |
Alternatively, you can use the fixed value shown in your class entry, which is the average result of the die roll (rounded up). When your Constitution modifier increases by 1, your hit point maximum increases by 1 for each level you have attained. For example, when Bruenor reaches 8th level as a fighter, he increases h... |
Tiers of Play |
The shading in the Character Advancement table shows the four tiers of play. The tiers don’t have any rules associated with them; they are a general description of how the play experience changes as characters gain levels. |
In the first tier (levels 1–4), characters are effectively apprentice adventurers. They are learning the features that define them as members of particular classes, in- cluding the major choices that flavor their class features as they advance (such as a wizard’s Arcane Tradition or a fighter’s Martial Archetype). |
The threats they face are rel- atively minor, usually posing a danger to local farmsteads or villages. In the second tier (levels 5–10), characters come into their own. Many spellcasters gain access to 3rd-level spells at the start of this tier, crossing a new threshold of magical power with spells such as fireball and... |
At 11th level, many spellcasters gain access to 6th-level spells, some of which create effects previously impossible for player characters to achieve. Other charac- ters gain features that allow them to make more attacks or do more impressive things with those attacks. These mighty adventurers often confront threats to... |
Character Advancement |
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