Hello!
A Brief intro.
My name is Phill and I am very new to D&D. I played very briefly at school some 20+ years (my God it really is that long ago) ago and I have just started to play the first edition of AD&D with some people from where I work. I play a Sorcerer in that and spend 90% of the time saying "I fall down" and the rest of the time saying "I cast sleep".
Still, it is awesome fun!
Anyway it is from this I got into D&D properly and found the Penny Arcade podcasts and live videos on Youtube that added fuel to the fire and now there is a new version so I went out and bought the new PHB and my goodness but it is LOVELLY! Such a high quality book it is a complete joy to read. Coming from a very basic understanding of the 1st ed AD&D rules these rules look pretty slick, easy to understand and yet difficult to master. Perfect then!
The depth of options available are also pretty sweet, you can be anything you want and any kind of version of any of the classes you want.
OK enough of an intro onto the question. I decided the best way of understanding the rules in the PHB would be to roll up a character and see how it went. What I am asking for is some advice about whether I did it right or some advice because I am bound to have missed things a more experienced player will spot.
I should say I am not a very 'min/max' kind of player (a new term to me which I hope I have used right!) although the lucky dice rolls ahead might seem to suggest otherwise. I am sure I could have used the rolls to get an insanely powerful fighter or wizard but I don't fancy them to be honest.
Having played a sorcerer to date I really fancy something much less....erm...tricky? I have long thought of playing a Ranger and not being one for role playing Elves (even though the +2 on Dex would have given me a 20!) I went with a Human Ranger and so picked up my dice to roll up the characteristics. At this point let me assure you I did so INFRONT OF WITNESSES! I will go to my grave saying that :P
I rolled 16, 11, 10, 14, 14, 18
The Irony there is I am rather famous for being taught how to roll dice by Jerry Holkins. As in I fail.... a LOT. Usually just before I go unconcious and wake up to find our thief has stolen my money pouch, again.
So, being a human the next thing I did was add the ability score increases, but rather than add one to each I went with the 'Varient Human Traits' and increased two scores by one, add one extra skill and one feat. So the 18 became a 19 and the 16 became a 17. He can speak common and one other language so I picked Elvish (see below). Next I assigned them to my abilities based on the character I have in mind.
To give a brief description: A young human male who is a savant with a Longbow and a loner, loving forests and because of these became a bit of an interesting anomily to some wood elves.
Abilities.
Str 14 (+2)
Dex 19 (+4)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 11
Wis 17 (+3)
Cha 10
For the skill I picked Acrobatics and for the feat I picked Sharpshooter. I could have picked one that bumped his Dex to the 20 but I really like the idea of him being excellent with the Longbow and Acrobatics because I am damn dextrous and have hung out with wood elves, picking up some tricks etc.
Next I picked the Ranger class. So I start with 12 (10, +2 Con) Hit points, I am proficient in light armour, medium armour and shields as well as all simple and martial weapons. I am also proficient at saving throws for Strength and Dexterity.
The three skills I chose are Perception, Animal Handling and Stealth. Perception and Stealth again fit with who he is and the Animal Handling in for his 'loner' and 'stillness' traits. In my mind at least.
Equipment:
I picked Leather armour giving me an AC of 17. Leather armour (11) + Dex (4) + Proficiency (2) = 17
Two short swords. Attack bonus is Dex (4) + Profiecient (2) = +6. Damage 1D6 +6 (again Dex + Proficiency) Piercing.
Longbow. Attack bonus +6, damage 1D8 +6 (as above) Piercing
Explorers Pack.
Favoured Enemy: I picked 2 humanoid species, Orcs and Goblins and picked 'Orc' as the additional language.
Natural Explorer: I picked Forests.
Height and weight I rolled 6' 2" and 174Ibs
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, being one who likes being free etc.
Background: Outlander
Skill proficiencies: Athletics & Survival
Tool proficiencies: Now I picked Artisans Tools, Wood carver. I do not see him with a musical instrument but sitting quietly whittling away...also the tools for that are much cheaper than a musical instrument so I am hoping no one will mind me doing that.
Languages: I chose Dwarvish so we can talk about our hatred of Orcs.
With the equipment this gives me I used the 10GP to add a whetstone, another 20 arrows and a signet ring (from my dead fathers hand).
Personality traits: I went with 'watch over friends' and 'more comfortable around animals'.
Ideal: I went with Nature.
Bond: I went with bringing down terrible wrath on those who destroyed my homeland. Orcs and gobbo's raided and destroyed my home village.
Flaw: I went with ' I remember every insult' etc.
Trinket: I picked an ancient elvish arrow as it seemed to fit. I won it in an archery duel 
Right, so to sum up I have:
AC 17
Initiative +4 (Dex)
12 Hit points
Saving throws:
Str +4 ( strength +2 and Profiecient +2)
Dex +6 ( Dex +4 and Proficient +2)
Con +2
Int +0
Wis +3
Cha +0
Skills:
Acrobatics +6 (dex + Prof)
Animal Handling +5 (Wis + Prof)
Athletics +4 (Str + Prof)
Insight +3 (Wis)
Medicine +3 (Wis)
Perception +5 (Wis + Prof)
Sleight of hand +4 (Dex)
Stealth +6 (Dex + Prof)
Survival +5 (Wis + Prof)
The rest are all +0
How does that look? Did I do it right? Should I have done it different?
Thanks for taking the time to read all that!
Looks ok, but you don't get your Proficency bonus to AC. Armor proficency only prevents you from taking disadvantage on every ability check whilst wearing it.
- No profiency bonus to AC so you got 11(leather armor)+4(Dex = 15
-you do not add profiency on damage so 1d6+4 with your main hand and 1d6 with your off hand
-you don't add your dex bonus on off hand
-you don't add your profiency on damage so only 1d8+4 with your longbow
Looks great! The a few math errors, but those are covered in previous comments.
If this were me, I might consider taking the Medium Armor Master feat, giving you that 17 AC with scale mail, instead of 15 with leather. This will give you a better chance at surviving those tough first 3 levels while still allowing you to be stealthy. Though the ignoring cover aspect from Sharpshooter might come into play a bit more than the range aspect, the -/+ to attack and damage is a bit tricky. Usually low AC monsters at this level also come with low HP, so the risk of not hitting them isn't worth the bonus damage. Now that won't always be the case, but waiting till level 4 to take it, since your stats are already monstrous, won't hurt you any. Of course this is some min/max that won't play into your character concept as a sharpshooting 1st-level Ranger. 
Regardless of the details, you hit the principal right on the head. Creating a rich character with history and a place in the world that you'll hopefully enjoy playing for a long time. Congrats!
Sorxores wrote:
Another option would be to swich his STR and CHA scores, maybe giving the 11 a +1 insted of WIS. This would keep your WIS at a +3 still an only drop your STR by 1. Swich out either Animal Handeling or Athletics for Intimidation. Not many an Orc will have a dry loin cloth in the face of an angry Ranger.
Or you could go the wilderness expert rout. Swap scores around as above, but put the 14 in INT and 10 in CHA. Swap Athletics for Nature and now you'll be able to recall info on your enemies more effectively (advantage with a +4). As well as your knowledge of the Forrest flora and fauna (+6 on Nature checks) are top notch.
So neither are as athletic as your original concept, but bring a bit more flavor while role playing.
Wow, thanks so much for the replies!
I am secretly a bit chuffed I only made a couple of errors
As for your suggestions Danny_Montanny....I have to say I really like your idea for the wilderness expert a lot. So I plan to steal it Thank you!
So with the changes reccommended by the most excellent Danny_Montanny I now have what I think is an excellent well rounded character that while not the biggest hitter should be consistently useful and fun as heck to play around with. Also I think I have a name for him. Llyod Mandrake. Tis an odd name I grant you but I think it could be a cool running gag of him using his nickname (to be decided) and hoping no one will ask for his real name. I don't see why an adventuring hero would have been named as such when he was a baby ;)
The only thing I will change from Danny_Montanny's suggestion is keep the Wis at 17 my thinking being that I could, as I level, manage to boost that to 20 and the spells being cast using my Wis that seems like a good idea...right?
So with the changes I get:
Abilities.
Str 11
Dex 19 (+4)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2)
Wis 17 (+3)
Cha 10
For the skill I picked Acrobatics and for the feat I picked Sharpshooter. I could have picked one that bumped his Dex to the 20 but I really like the idea of him being excellent with the Longbow and Acrobatics because I am damn dextrous and have hung out with wood elves, picking up some tricks etc.
Next I picked the Ranger class. So I start with 12 (10, +2 Con) Hit points, I am proficient in light armour, medium armour and shields as well as all simple and martial weapons. I am also proficient at saving throws for Strength and Dexterity.
The three skills I chose are Perception, Animal Handling and Stealth. Perception and Stealth again fit with who he is and the Animal Handling in for his 'loner' and 'stillness' traits. In my mind at least.
Equipment:
I picked Leather armour giving me an AC of 15. Leather armour (11) + Dex (4) = 15
Short sword (Main hand). Attack bonus is Dex (4) + Profiecient (2) = +6. Damage 1D6 +4 (Dex) Piercing.
Short sword (Off hand) Attack Bonus is +2 (Proficient). Damage 1D6
Longbow. Attack bonus +6, damage 1D8 +4 (Dex) Piercing
Explorers Pack.
Favoured Enemy: I picked 2 humanoid species, Orcs and Goblins and picked 'Orc' as the additional language.
Natural Explorer: I picked Forests.
Height and weight I rolled 6' 2" and 174Ibs
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, being one who likes being free etc.
Background: Outlander
Skill proficiencies: Nature & Survival N.B. I am hoping I can swap this around changing the Athletics skill for the Nature one as my intention is pure fluff related
Tool proficiencies: Now I picked Artisans Tools, Wood carver. I do not see him with a musical instrument but sitting quietly whittling away...also the tools for that are much cheaper than a musical instrument so I am hoping no one will mind me doing that.
Languages: Dwarvish so we can talk about our hatred of Orcs.
With the equipment this gives me I used the 10GP to add a whetstone, another 20 arrows, a dagger and a signet ring (from my dead fathers hand)
Personality traits: I went with 'watch over friends' and 'more comfortable around animals'.
Ideal: I went with Nature.
Bond: I went with bringing down terrible wrath on those who destroyed my homeland. Orcs and gobbo's raided and destroyed my home village.
Flaw: I went with ' I remember every insult' etc.
Trinket: I picked an ancient elvish arrow as it seemed to fit. I won it in an archery duel
Right, so to sum up I have:
AC 15
Initiative +4 (Dex)
12 Hit points
Saving throws:
Str +2 (Profiecient +2)
Dex +6 ( Dex +4 and Proficient +2)
Con +2
Int +2
Wis +3
Cha +0
Skills:
Acrobatics +6 (dex + Prof)
Animal Handling +5 (Wis + Prof)
Arcana +2 (Int) *edit
History +2 (Int)
Insight +3 (Wis)
Investigation +2 (Int)
Medicine +3 (Wis)
Nature +4 (Int + Prof)
Perception +5 (Wis + Prof)
Religion +2 (Int)
Sleight of hand +4 (Dex)
Stealth +6 (Dex + Prof)
Survival +5 (Wis + Prof)
The rest are all +0
So now I have a cool character to play..I just need some kind of nick name to go with him. Again, any tips, hints, nickname ideas, points where I have gone wrong all welcome
Thanks again for the help I am really grateful
Arcana would get +2.
Keeping the Wis is sound. At level 4 you can Dex cap and put 1 into Wis so your attack spells (if there are any, haven't really looked) will be at a +6 to hit and spell DC will be 14. Not too shabby. At 8 I would definitely look into a feat, though. Possibly Skulker if you scout a lot. Crossbow Expert if you want a bit more damage and not take disadvantage in melee range. Toughness is good if you get into a lot of fights. Alert is a solid choice always. Observant would also be a nice option.
How about "Round Ear" or "Roundy" as a nickname. The Elves would tease him about this incessantly.
Danny_Montanny wrote:
Hello again,
So I changed his Personality traits to get a more rounded character that was less 'I left home as a poor child after orks killed my family and village' which is a bit obvious and dull and went with 'Wanderlust drove me from home' and manners and money mean nothing to me. Ideal stays as Nature but Bond changed to 'An injury to my wilderness home is an injury to me' with the flaw becoming 'don't expect me to save those who can't save themselves'. I feel that is a 'Nature' point of view.
Anyway, I am working on the levelling up feats/bumps at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th and so I am looking for a bit of advice.
4th. 1 point in Dex and 1 in Wis. This will get me to 20 Dex and the bump to 18 Wis both of which give me a +1 to each ability bonus and seems like the best choice.
8th. Observant feat with the +1 to Wis. I could dump 2 points into Wis and get it up to 20 but I am thinking this feat will be extremely handy and it fits my Character perfectly.
12th. Resiliant Feat taking the +1 to Wis (bumping it up to 20) and getting to add my Proficiency Bonus to my Wisdom saving throws. All of which fit the character.
16th and 19th.....I like the Alert feat a lot and the Martial adept looks very cool because (if I am reading it right) most of the manouvers say 'weapon' which means I could use my longbow for a Disarming Attack (I assume I put an arrow in his hand) and if I take Parry I would get a D6 + 5 (My Dex) damage reduction. But depending on the adventures we have been on to that level perhaps Dungeon Delver would be better, or Shield? Being able to make my Dex save (which will be +10 or +11 by then) to take zero damage looks good!
But then perhaps taken Toughness would be wise.
Any advice would be welcome for a dextrious, forest loving nature expert with a thing for Wood Elves and tracking down orcs would be welcome!
Ps. How do you work out Passive Perception?
Shield Master is not one you would do because as somone who uses your Longbow 90% of the time, you won't be able to use said shield 90% of the time. I would take Tough before Resiliant if you're finding yourself low on HP a lot. If not, I wouldn't take it at all. Martial Adept isn't bad, but a little on the weak side seeing how you'll only get to do 1 maneuver every short rest.
Passive Perception works assuming you're always as perceptive as the score. So in your case, at level 8, you'll have a score of 22. Anything requiring a Perception check is automatically a 22 for you. If the DC is higher than a 22 (a very stealthy creature or a particularly hard to find item/feature) you would then make an active Perception check so long as you stated you were actively looking around for it, rolling 1d20 + 7. This can often yeild a lower result than your pasive Perception of those with the Observant feat. If you didn't state you were actively looking, all checks would rely on your passive score. As usual, finding a hiden item/feature will still require you to look in the right place.
Passive Perception is you Perception modifier +10 (and an addition +5 if you would have advatange on an active roll)
So accounting for Observant (which specifically raises passive), your PP would be 15+ Perception Modifier
Ahhhh thanks to you both for the insight there
As for the resiliant feat it is the only one to offer me a +1 to Wisdom other than Observant and as I feel I want the Observant feat I went for Resilient. The other option is to use that level to add the ability score improver and go +1 Wis...and then have another +1 left to spend that wont really help me. Having Proficiency on three saves seemed far more useful.
So for the last two 'Feats' would you go 'Alert' and perhaps then 'Skulker'? I am looking at Magic Initiate and the possibility of having a couple of Wis based Cantrips could be very handy do you think?
Although, I looked up 'Saving Throws' in the book and it doesn't say what Wisdom saves would be against. Dex, Con, cha and Str checks I can work out but what do Int and Wis saves work against?
PhillPowell wrote:
Hello again lovely D&D peoples
So I have been playing for a few weeks now (we are in Wave Echo cave right now) and I have gotten Lloyd up to level 4 heading towards 5 and at 4th I took the +1 to Dex and Wis.
First thing to say is how much FUN it has been playing 5th ed, I adore it!
So, now I have played some I am starting to wonder if maxing out my secondary stat is really needed. Being a ranger having a +4 on Wis seems like it is enough, for now anyway, and perhaps I would be better off taking some flavour feats and/or boosting my Con. Having faced a young green dragon and coming up against a 12D6 breath weapon staying alive seems rather unlikely as the next adventure will be the Horde of the dragon Queen o_0
Anyway I am after some advice.
I am thinking of taking Alert at 8th level as the +5 initiative will take me up to +10, with my Horde Breaker and spells that are AOE being able to fire First while they are bunched would certainly help, plus I could Ensnare them etc thus helping the rest of my party when they act lower down in the order. Does that seem sensible?
Then at 12th level I am thinking of taking Resiliance but on Con rather than Wis. With Hunters Mark etc being Concentration and from what I have seen Con saves are the most difficult to survive. Would you put Con before Wis?
At 16th the options seem to be Observant/skulker/skilled. Not really sure which.
Lastly at 19th I could, if I took Resiliant Con (bumping Con to 15) and Observant (bumping Wis to 19), go +1 Wis and Con.
I guess I am not really sure what the most effective way to choose what to improve at each level? Do I take what I think Lloyd would be good at, or want? DO I ask the party what would help our group the most? Do I go with the best mechanical choice? How do you choose?!?!?!!
I know I personally design my characters to kill effectively and (hopefully) stay alive in a vacuum. That way I know that I'm not hurting the party (unless I'm joining an in-progress party who needs a skill-monkey) as long as they know that. My presence merely decreases the opponent's. That said, if you're branching into being a skill monkey for the group... Ask the group?
I'd say go with what aspect of the game you like playing the most. If you like the exploration more, pick up Observant. If you want to be a bit more effective in combat, go with Alert.
Thanks for the feed back very grateful for the help!
Going through the PHB I noticed the Monk from 1st level can add his Dex and Wis mod to a 10 for his unarmoured AC!
Now I am wondering if that would be a good idea for my character, a one level dip into monk to get that ability.
Seeing as I am 4th level ranger do you think multiclassing with the Monk would be a viable (it fits with his background) combination and would you just go for a 1 level dip or a few more?
PhillPowell wrote:
I have spoken with the DM and the group and basically the DM will allow multiclassing IF it fits with my character and my character has someone available he could learn from.
I have written a couple of pages of backstory for my Ranger and the Rogue Assassin is the only option that fits (and it fits very well with his backstory) and that I have someone that could train me in so I have come up with this.
Currently I am a lvl4 Ranger so I will take the next 4 levels in Rogue. This means I will gain Expertise in Perception and Stealth, I will add Proficiency to Investigation for my extra skill and gain Proficiency in Thieves tools. I will also get sneak attack (which will end up being 2D6), Thieves' Cant, Cunning action and will take the Archetype Assassin. Then when I hit 4th level and get the ability increase I will take the Alert Feat as it will work wonderfully with the Assassins 3rd level benefits (and again fit in perfectly with his back story).
For all the benefits of that I will lose 5th level Ranger spells, Feral senses and Foe slayer.
What do you think? From a character point of view it works well, but I don't want to spoil his abilities too much by doing this.
Wait till Ranger 5 before you go Rogue. Missing Extra Attack and 2nd-level spells isn't worth it.
Again many thanks to you Mr Danny sir!
Strill, some fantastic ideas there and thanks for the link to the Assassin build thread!
So I will take the four levels of Rogue AFTER taking the 5th level in Ranger
Just a quick Q though. I am thinking to take 4 levels in Rogue to get the ability score increase...these increases are in CLASS levels only, right? Not Character levels...?
PhillPowell wrote:
Aha! Thanks forthrightdnd