DnD 101/How to Make a Character

note: please stop me at any point for questions or clarification

Character

Dungeons & Dragons is all about the characters. All of the rules in DnD center around what
characters can do and how they can affect the world around them.

note: I will be making a character as we go through this explanation, with your input. If you
want you can make a character along with me, but that character doesn’t have to be the one
you play as in our campaign. You can make a different one to use in the campaign.

Background

The background is where each character’s life began. It explains what their life was like before
they became an adventurer, and any skills or knowledge that they might’ve kept from their
childhood. It also gives a good starting point to build the character as a person.

There are thirteen backgrounds to choose from. If none of them feel quite right, there is an
option to make a custom background.

Each background comes with a few proficiencies, which are a big stat/rules thing in DnD.
When a character has a proficiency, it means they’re extra good at that thing, whether it’s a
skill, a language, or a set of tools. When a character uses that thing in the game, they get a
bonus to the roll they make.

note: The examples I give in the descriptions are not the only options, just a way to get you
thinking about what a character with that background could be.

- Acolyte

- The character spent their life serving some kind of divine figure or figures. Could be a
priest at a temple, the leader of a cult, or a member of an occult organization.

- Charlatan

- The character knows how to figure people out and can use that knowledge. Could be a
con artist, a trickster on the street, or a seller of dubious items.

- Criminal

- The character has a history of breaking the law and knows how to navigate the criminal
world. Could be a pickpocket, a fence, or a smuggler.

- Entertainer

- The character works well in front of an audience. Could be an actor, a musician, or a poet.

- Folk Hero

- The character is destined for greatness and has been a champion to people already.
Could be the defender of a village, someone who stood up to a tyrant, or a hero who killed
a threatening monster.

- Guild Artisan

- The character is skilled in a particular field and is well-established in merchant society.

Could be a jeweler, a weaver, or alchemist.

- Hermit

- The character lived in seclusion for a long period of their life. Could be part of a
monastery, a member of a closed-off cult, or a loner.

- Noble

- The character comes from an influential family and understands power and wealth. Could
be the heir to a throne, a simple landowner, or an aristocrat.

- Outlander

- The character grew up in the wild and understands more about nature than anyone who
grew up in a city. Could be an explorer, a recluse, or a marauder.

- Sage

- The character spent a lot of time researching and have become an expert in their fields of
study. Could be a scribe, a librarian, or an astronomer.

- Sailor

- The character sailed on a ship for many years. Could be a captain, a regular sailor, or a
pirate.

- Solider

- The character has known war for most of their life. Could be a mercenary, a member of a
militia, or in a national army.

- Urchin

- The character grew up on the streets, poor and alone. Could be an orphan, an abandoned
child, or a runaway.

Abilities

All characters have six abilities that represent areas of different skill. They also have a score for
each ability that measures how good they are at that ability.

Each ability has specific skills and a saving throw associated with it. Some of the other abilities
are also involved in other things, like hit points or armor class.

Abilities also are the foundation of most of the rolls made in DnD. The score for that ability
determines the modifier for it, which is what’s added to dice rolls. The d20 is used for rolling
mainly attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.

Strength

measures natural athleticism, bodily power

ex. lifting a heavy object or jumping really high

- saving throw

- someone trying to knock an opponent over

- athletics

- moving other objects

- weapon attacks

- attacks made with a physical weapon

- melee

- swords, axes, hammers

- can only hit things within their reach, which is normally 5ft

- ranged

- longbow, throwing axes, crossbow

- each weapon has a regular range and a long range

Dexterity

measures physical agility, reflexes, balance, poise

ex. walking a tightrope, parkour, pickpocketing

- saving throw

- rolling out of the way of a falling stalactite

- sleight of hand

- pickpocketing someone

- acrobatics

- moving their own body

- stealth

- sneaking around in the dark

- initiative

- what determines the turn order during battles

- armor class

- determines how hard it is to hit someone

- weapon attacks

- attacks made with a physical weapon

- melee

- swords, axes, hammers

- can only hit things within their reach, which is normally 5ft

- ranged

- longbow, throwing axes, crossbow

- each weapon has a regular range and a long range

Constitution

measures health, stamina, and vital force

ex. hit points, running endurance, resisting poisons

- saving throw

- resisting poison damage

- hit points

- determines how much health the character has

Intelligence

measures mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill

ex. remembering facts, battle strategy, solving a puzzle

- saving throw

- resisting spell effects

- religion

- connecting with a deity

- nature

- finding a specific plant

- arcana

- knowing what spell someone cast

- investigation

- putting together evidence

- history

- recalling facts about a historical figure

- spell attacks

- attacks made with a spell

- ranged

- most are ranged and have a specific range

- melee

- not common

- follow the same reach rule as melee weapon attacks

- area of effect spells

- spells that affect a specific area and trigger a saving throw

Wisdom

measures awareness, intuition, insight

ex. figuring out if someone is lying, understanding the world

- saving throw

- resisting spell effects; resisting being tricked into doing something you wouldn't normally
do; force of will

- insight

- determining someone's motivation

- medicine

- figuring out a medical condition

- perception

- seeing a person hiding

- survival

- tracking someone through wilderness

- animal handling

- getting an animal mount to listen

- spell attacks

- attacks made with a spell

- ranged

- most are ranged and have a specific range

- melee

- not common

- follow the same reach rule as melee weapon attacks

- area of effect spells

- spells that affect a specific area and trigger a saving throw

Charisma

measures confidence, eloquence, leadership

ex. giving inspiring speeches, making connections, wowing a crowd

- saving throw

- resisting spell effects; resisting physical alteration of the world; force of personality

- intimidation

- scaring someone into doing something

- persuasion

- convincing someone to let you in to an exclusive party

- performance

- successfully playing an instrument for a crowd

- deception

- disguising as a different person

- spell attacks

- attacks made with a spell

- ranged

- most are ranged and have a specific range

- melee

- not common

- follow the same reach rule as melee weapon attacks

- area of effect spells

- spells that affect a specific area and trigger a saving throw

These six abilities are the foundation of most of the rolls made in DnD. The score for that ability
determines the modifier for it, which is what’s added to dice rolls. The d20 is used for rolling
mainly attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Proficiencies, which we brought up with
backgrounds, give the character the ability to add their proficiency bonus to rolls made with the
thing they’re proficient with. So if a character has proficiency in deception, they’ll add their
Charisma modifier as well as their proficiency bonus to the result of the dice roll. All of the other
dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12) are used for rolling damage (which lowers hit points) and
healing (which raises hit points).

Species

Called "race" in the official rules, but we’re going to use "species" because it’s more accurate.

Species determines the kind of creature the character is. It gives guidelines for what the
character should look like, how fast they move, and any natural abilities they have.

There are 44 possible species to be in DnD. Only seven are included on the web, but most of
them are here. There are some that I didn’t include in this list, so if none of these are what
you’re looking for, we can look at those or figure out a custom species that works for you.

- Dragonborn

- humanoid dragons

- Dwarf

- hardy bearded folk about 4ft tall

- Elf

- magical people who live for a long time

- Gnome

- small, elvish like people

- Half-Elf

- human and elf

- Halfling

- similar size as gnomes, more similar to humans or dwarves

- Half-Orc

- human and orc

- Human

- a human

- Tiefling

- a person with demonic ancestry

- Leonin

- lion humanoid

- Satyr

- humanoid people with goat legs

- Aarakocra

- bird humanoid

- Genasi

- a person with the power of an element in their blood

- Goliath

- tall and buff

- Aasimar

- a person with celestial ancestry

- Firbolg

- sort of animal like with fur and pointed ears

- Goblin

- short with pointed ears

- Kenku

- bird humanoid without wings

- Lizardfolk

- lizard humanoid

- Orc

- tall and buff with tusks

- Tabaxi

- cat humanoid

- Tortle

- turtle humanoid

- Changeling

- people who can change their physical appearance at will

- Shifter

- humanoids with a bestial aspect

- Warforged

- people made of wood and metal that have hearts

Class

Class describes the skillset that the character has. They use this skillset in combat or in social
situations, and spend time improving their skills.

- Artificer

- master of invention

- Bard

- musical magician

- Barbarian

- fierce warriors that can enter a rage during combat

- Cleric

- divine champion

- Druid

- uses the power of nature

- Fighter

- master of martial combat

- Monk

- master of martial arts

- Paladin

- holy warrior with a sacred oath

- Rogue

- uses stealth and trickery

- Ranger

- a warrior for nature

- Sorcerer

- spellcaster with inherent magic

- Wizard

- scholarly spellcaster

- Warlock

- spellcaster that got magic from a deal with an extraplanar being