Help Help Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help Help Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
mogstray
01-01-04, 03:02 PM :confused: Im confused by character creation plz help explain
:confused:

:invasion: thx in advance
Eldren
01-01-04, 03:30 PM *ahem* Wow, this one is gonna take some judicious posting...

First off, do you have a Dungeon Master already? In other words, are you part of a campaign that's about to start, and the person who's running the game has asked you to create a new character? If so, find out which stat rolling method the DM wants you to use.

However, we'll assume the standard of 4d6 drop the lowest.

Roll 4 6-sided dice (those are the ones that look like "normal" dice). Each time you roll those, total the dice up after you've dropped the lowest die (for example, if you roll a 1, 4, 3, and 2, you'd drop the 1, so your roll would total 9) and write down that number. Do this six times.

Figure out which character class you want to play. Read the description from the Player's Handbook to find out which stats are relevant and most important to the character (for example, as a Sorceror you'd want a high Charisma, as a Rogue you'd want a high Dexterity, etc.). Put the highest of the 6 numbers you rolled into the appropriate stat.

From there, think in your mind about what kind of character you want. Don't think in terms of game mechanics, think in terms of who this character is. Do you want someone who's strong and healthy more than intelligent and wise? Then you'd put your next two highest stats in Strength and Constitution. Do you want someone who's really likable and very smart? Then you'd put your next two highest stats in Charisma and Intelligence.

Once you have those six stats assigned, look at which kind of die you'd roll for hit points for the class you selected. At 1st level, you start off with the maximum hit points, plus the modifier for your Constitution bonus. The modifiers for the stats can be found on page 8 of either the 3.0 or 3.5 Player's Handbook (if you aren't sure which version you have, look on the cover; if it says "Core Rulebook I", then you have the 3.0 PHB, if it says "Core Rulebook I v 3.5" then you have the latest version, 3.5). For example, if you have a Constitution modifier of +3 and you're playing a Fighter, you're going to start off with 13 hit points at 1st level.

Write down the Base Attack Bonus appropriate to your class at 1st level (this can be found in the class description in the Player's Handbook) in the proper box on your character sheet (if you don't have a character sheet, download one from Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons site, which can be found here (http://www.wizards.com/dnd), and put all the proper information in the correct boxes.

If you selected a race other than human (the races allowed from the Player's Handbook are elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, half-elf and half-orc, as well as, obviously, human), make sure you adjust your ability scores (your stats) properly. Every race that isn't human has some kind of ability score adjustment except for the half-elf. Certain races "do better" at certain classes than others, so they have what's called a "preferred class", but this only comes into play when you're multiclassing, which we won't get into right now.

Write down your saving throw base numbers for your class and level in the appropriate boxes on your character sheet. Put your appropriate ability score modifiers in the saving throw area as indicated by the sheet. Total those numbers up and write down the totals in the proper boxes on the sheet. These are your 1st level saving throw bonuses. You're going to need them, as they're going to get used quite a bit, particularly once someone starts lobbing spells at you.

From this, you have your class, race, stats, hit points and saving throws. Now you need to pick your feats. If you're human, you receive two feats at 1st level. If you're a human Fighter, you'll receive three feats at 1st level, although the third feat has to be chosen from a specific list in the Fighter's class description in the Player's Handbook. Otherwise, if you're either a different race or not a Fighter, you're going to start off with one feat. Pick it from the feats chapter in the Player's Handbook (that chapter is on page 87 of the 3.5 Player's Handbook; I'm going to assume you're using that version now, so if you have the 3.0 version, page number references are going to be slightly different in some cases). Choose a feat that gives your character an ability that makes sense for both their class and the personality you've chosen for them. In other words, it makes no sense to give a Wizards "Power Attack", because they so rarely get involved in melee attack; they can't use the feat at 1st level anyway, because they don't have a high enough Base Attack Bonus to make use of it.

After you've chosen your feat(s), you then get down to assigning skill points. Look in your class description in the Player's Handbook. It'll tell you how many skill points your class receives. At 1st level, you're going to get a number, to which you add your Intelligence stat modifier, and then you're going to multiply that by 4 to get your total 1st level skill points. If you're human, add 4 to this number after you've already multiplied. This is another one of those human racial bonuses, since they don't get the cool powers or ability adjustments that the other races do. If you aren't human, you just have the number without the +4 (i.e., you have # + Int mod x 4). Look at your class description, as that will tell you which skills are class skills for you, which skills are cross-class skills, and which skills you can't have at all (this is mostly for Rogues, as I think they're the only class that has a couple skills which no other class can take). If you're choosing a class skill, then the number of points you spend on the skill is the number of ranks. You can't have more ranks in a skill than your character level +3, so at 1st level, you're not going to have more than 4 ranks in a skill.

For cross-class skills, you can have half that amount, so that every two skill points you spend equals one total rank.

Now you've got a bare-bones character, with stats, hit points, saving throws, class, level, feats, and skills. From here, you're going to have to have someone sit down with you with the Player's Handbook, because you need to purchase your starting equipment. The amount of starting cash your character has is listed on page 111 of the Player's Handbook. Once you have your equipment purchased (clothing, weapons, adventuring gear, etc.), then your character is ready to start adventuring! Have fun, and welcome to the game.
horse
01-01-04, 04:15 PM first of all, clarify. what part(s) of character creation confuses you? second, ask your DM.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
mogstray 01-01-04, 03:02 PM	:confused: Im confused by character creation plz help explain :confused: :invasion: thx in advance
Eldren 01-01-04, 03:30 PM	ahem Wow, this one is gonna take some judicious posting... First off, do you have a Dungeon Master already? In other words, are you part of a campaign that's about to start, and the person who's running the game has asked you to create a new character? If so, find out which stat rolling method the DM wants you to use. However, we'll assume the standard of 4d6 drop the lowest. Roll 4 6-sided dice (those are the ones that look like "normal" dice). Each time you roll those, total the dice up after you've dropped the lowest die (for example, if you roll a 1, 4, 3, and 2, you'd drop the 1, so your roll would total 9) and write down that number. Do this six times. Figure out which character class you want to play. Read the description from the Player's Handbook to find out which stats are relevant and most important to the character (for example, as a Sorceror you'd want a high Charisma, as a Rogue you'd want a high Dexterity, etc.). Put the highest of the 6 numbers you rolled into the appropriate stat. From there, think in your mind about what kind of character you want. Don't think in terms of game mechanics, think in terms of who this character is. Do you want someone who's strong and healthy more than intelligent and wise? Then you'd put your next two highest stats in Strength and Constitution. Do you want someone who's really likable and very smart? Then you'd put your next two highest stats in Charisma and Intelligence. Once you have those six stats assigned, look at which kind of die you'd roll for hit points for the class you selected. At 1st level, you start off with the maximum hit points, plus the modifier for your Constitution bonus. The modifiers for the stats can be found on page 8 of either the 3.0 or 3.5 Player's Handbook (if you aren't sure which version you have, look on the cover; if it says "Core Rulebook I", then you have the 3.0 PHB, if it says "Core Rulebook I v 3.5" then you have the latest version, 3.5). For example, if you have a Constitution modifier of +3 and you're playing a Fighter, you're going to start off with 13 hit points at 1st level. Write down the Base Attack Bonus appropriate to your class at 1st level (this can be found in the class description in the Player's Handbook) in the proper box on your character sheet (if you don't have a character sheet, download one from Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons site, which can be found here (http://www.wizards.com/dnd), and put all the proper information in the correct boxes. If you selected a race other than human (the races allowed from the Player's Handbook are elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, half-elf and half-orc, as well as, obviously, human), make sure you adjust your ability scores (your stats) properly. Every race that isn't human has some kind of ability score adjustment except for the half-elf. Certain races "do better" at certain classes than others, so they have what's called a "preferred class", but this only comes into play when you're multiclassing, which we won't get into right now. Write down your saving throw base numbers for your class and level in the appropriate boxes on your character sheet. Put your appropriate ability score modifiers in the saving throw area as indicated by the sheet. Total those numbers up and write down the totals in the proper boxes on the sheet. These are your 1st level saving throw bonuses. You're going to need them, as they're going to get used quite a bit, particularly once someone starts lobbing spells at you. From this, you have your class, race, stats, hit points and saving throws. Now you need to pick your feats. If you're human, you receive two feats at 1st level. If you're a human Fighter, you'll receive three feats at 1st level, although the third feat has to be chosen from a specific list in the Fighter's class description in the Player's Handbook. Otherwise, if you're either a different race or not a Fighter, you're going to start off with one feat. Pick it from the feats chapter in the Player's Handbook (that chapter is on page 87 of the 3.5 Player's Handbook; I'm going to assume you're using that version now, so if you have the 3.0 version, page number references are going to be slightly different in some cases). Choose a feat that gives your character an ability that makes sense for both their class and the personality you've chosen for them. In other words, it makes no sense to give a Wizards "Power Attack", because they so rarely get involved in melee attack; they can't use the feat at 1st level anyway, because they don't have a high enough Base Attack Bonus to make use of it. After you've chosen your feat(s), you then get down to assigning skill points. Look in your class description in the Player's Handbook. It'll tell you how many skill points your class receives. At 1st level, you're going to get a number, to which you add your Intelligence stat modifier, and then you're going to multiply that by 4 to get your total 1st level skill points. If you're human, add 4 to this number after you've already multiplied. This is another one of those human racial bonuses, since they don't get the cool powers or ability adjustments that the other races do. If you aren't human, you just have the number without the +4 (i.e., you have # + Int mod x 4). Look at your class description, as that will tell you which skills are class skills for you, which skills are cross-class skills, and which skills you can't have at all (this is mostly for Rogues, as I think they're the only class that has a couple skills which no other class can take). If you're choosing a class skill, then the number of points you spend on the skill is the number of ranks. You can't have more ranks in a skill than your character level +3, so at 1st level, you're not going to have more than 4 ranks in a skill. For cross-class skills, you can have half that amount, so that every two skill points you spend equals one total rank. Now you've got a bare-bones character, with stats, hit points, saving throws, class, level, feats, and skills. From here, you're going to have to have someone sit down with you with the Player's Handbook, because you need to purchase your starting equipment. The amount of starting cash your character has is listed on page 111 of the Player's Handbook. Once you have your equipment purchased (clothing, weapons, adventuring gear, etc.), then your character is ready to start adventuring! Have fun, and welcome to the game.
horse 01-01-04, 04:15 PM	first of all, clarify. what part(s) of character creation confuses you? second, ask your DM.