Do you want to create a D&D character? Here’s our helpful guide
One thing we all have in common is a vivid & complex story. Studies in neuroscience show that when stories transport us, they can create empathy. Empathy is the sharing of thoughts & feelings, the understanding that others may not see things the way we do. Stories can be used to break down barriers like bias and foster inclusiveness. Many problems rise when we focus too much on the things that divide us.
We learn about the human condition by listening to these stories. They also boost our creativity and problem solving skills. What’s unique about our generations compared to the prior ones, is our campfires may come in the form of intricate board games.
The Dungeons & Dragons game is all about storytelling in worlds of sorcery & swords. Your imagination is like a dinner feast to the game. Not only does it feed the game, it makes the game thrive. It’s about visualizing a diminishing castle inside a forest being colonized by darkness. What challenges would your scene bring to your fantasy adventure? In these worlds, anything is possible. Even the sky won’t be the limit.
You’ll be a god of your very own world which means you could create a D&D character and give them a story like no other.
Creating a character
The first step for your Dungeons & Dragons adventure besides establishing the world you’ll watch over like a god, is to create a character of your own. It’ll be far easier to compose their story when you have their images in mind. Part of what transports us into stories are vivid characters and their settings.
You’ll need a combination of game statistics, our imagination and roleplaying hooks. You’ll invent everything from their race such as human, elf or fairy, class like fighter or wizard. You’ll choose their physical appearance, personality and backstory. We’ve gathered a breakdown to guide you through.
Choose a race
To create any D&D character, you as their god is responsible for giving them a race. Like how we have humans, deer, bears, rabbits, and fish. It’s a part of what makes life interesting. D&D is filled with fascinating humanoid creatures. The most common you’ve probably seen are elves, dwarves, halflings, and fellow humans.
Your character’s race will give rise to certain racial traits such as special senses.
Class
All the D&D adventurers are members of classes. In this case, their class widely describes a character’s special talent & vocation. It’ll tell us the techniques the character is most proficient in when exploring a dungeon or fighting monsters. They’ll gain many advantages based on your choice of class.
Abilities
As different as they may be, the vast majority of what your character will do relies on a few different abilities. You’ll be measuring their physical power and strength. You’ll measure their agility, their reasoning and memory levels, their perceptions and sagacity, charisma and overall constitution.
Character description
Once you familiarize yourself with the basic concepts of Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll need to compose a backstory for your character. On first thought, it may sound irrelevant. We can go through stories from the beginning to the end without ever hearing backstories. But characters imitate people. We all have backstories that sometimes go untold but that never makes them irrelevant.
They explain why we are the way that we are, and your D&D characters will be no different. Sometimes, all we have to do is listen to each other’s stories. Maybe, you’ll make peace in your Dungeons & Dragons world by simply having the characters listen to one another’s stories.
When you create your D&D character stories, you’ll establish a flow. And it’ll feel like the characters have told you to sit down and listen while they tell you their stories. Go with that flow and enjoy your storytelling!
Equipment
Your character’s class & background call for equipment. An example will be your character’s armor used to determine their Armor Class along with their weapons. The weapons they use will determine their attack role values.
You’ll find additional adventure gear through starting equipment.
Let’s mingle!
The late Maya Angelou wrote in a poem “. . . Now if you listen closely, I’ll tell you what I know. Storm clouds are gathering. The wind is gonna blow. The race of man is suffering and I can hear the moan. Cause nobody, but nobody can make it out here alone.”
No matter what, success is never achieved alone. Like us, D&D characters don’t work alone, even if they think they do . . . They don’t. Each character will be a part of a group of adventurers and they’ll work together for a common purpose. Make sure your team members know one another. Create stories on how they met and the kinds of quests your group gravitates towards.
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Do you want to create a D&D character? This guide may just be the only one you’ll ever need. What are some of the cool characters you created? Let us know down below!
