Making your first Dungeons & Dragons character can look like homework: a page of numbers, unfamiliar words and a rulebook open beside you. It gets much easier when you do it in the right order and know which choices actually matter at level 1. This guide walks through the six steps most tables use.
1. Pick a class
Your class is what your character does best — fighting up close, casting spells, sneaking, healing, talking their way out of trouble. It decides your hit points, the skills you can learn and most of what you do on your turn. If you are unsure, pick the one whose description makes you grin. Our guide to choosing a class compares all twelve.
2. Pick a species
Your species (called race in older books) — human, elf, dwarf, halfling and others — gives a few small traits: darkvision, extra speed, resistance to poison, a bonus to some ability scores in the 2014 rules. It matters much less than your class, so choose for the story you want to tell.
3. Set your ability scores
Six scores describe your character: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Most tables use one of three methods:
- Roll: roll four six-sided dice, drop the lowest, and add the rest — six times. Exciting and swingy.
- Standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8, assigned however you like. Fair and quick.
- Point buy: spend 27 points to build the exact spread you want.
Put your highest score in the ability your class relies on — Strength or Dexterity for fighters, Intelligence for wizards, Wisdom for clerics, Charisma for bards — and your second highest in Constitution so you have more hit points.
4. Choose skills and a background
Your class lets you pick a few skills; your background (acolyte, soldier, criminal, sage…) adds two more and a bit of history. Choose skills that fit how you want to play: Perception and Stealth for a scout, Persuasion and Insight for a talker, Athletics for someone who solves problems by climbing them.
5. Work out the numbers
This is where most people get stuck. Your modifiers come from your scores, your proficiency bonus is +2 at level 1, and your armor class, hit points, attack bonus and saving throws all follow from those. A character builder does this for you and shows the result, so you can focus on choices instead of arithmetic.
6. Give them a reason to adventure
Two or three sentences is plenty: where they came from, one person they care about, and why they are on the road. Leave room for the story to fill in the rest. Stuck? The Backstory Roller gives you a family, a turning point and a hook in a few clicks.
Do it in five minutes
The free Character Builder walks through all six steps, rolls or assigns your scores, applies your class and species, and saves a sheet where every attack, save and skill rolls with a click. When the campaign goes on, the sheet has a level-up button that adds hit points, proficiency and spell slots for you.
Ready to play? Find a group or grab a seat at an upcoming one-shot.