Making a character / Who you are

 

Ahhh welcome great to see you made it past the first video. This means you are truly interested in taking a seat at a table. I am going to break this module about creating and playing a PC* (Player Character) Into 2 parts for you. #1 what you need to play in red and #2 a in depth breakdown of how you can flesh out your character to make it your own. I will at a certain point let you know when you can stop caring if you just want to jump into a game and make it up as you go.

   Now the first thing you are going to need is a Character sheet, a Brain, Player Handbook and something to write with. Now some of you might try to find the player's handbook and find that its around 50$ and are enraged at me for seemingly making this sound free , hold on one second. The player's handbook has been added as a PDF format that you can use on your phone, tablet or computer ask your friends or DM who will have one if he can share it with you. This as blasphemies as it may sound should be considered for all intents and purposes as your new bible. This is a rulebook that will teach you how to find every little loophole that drives the DM crazy and keeps you alive.

   In the upper right corner you will find slots to fill in character name, Race, Level, Background, Player Name( Your Name) and alignment. For character name you can pick whatever you want, though they do give a suggested name column with whatever race you pick if you need inspiration.

   Race however is a particularly important part of your character. You have 16-23 races to choose from depending on how your DM runs the game. #1 Don't worry this only contributes to 20% of your character the other 80% is your class. Just read in the player's handbook what your bonuses are and and write them down and move on. #2 This is who you are in this world. It carries who you are what you believe in and why you do what you do. You can use a lot of the extra information on your race page to flesh out your background and decide what your motives are.

   Level is something purely dictated by the DM. As you accomplish tasks and slay enemies you will be awarded XP which will dictate what level you are currently. The higher your level the more powerful you are. This however caps at 20, Don't worry that's like 2 years down the road

   Background #1 includes certain amounts bonuses that will help you control  the battlefield. #2 this is where 60% of your backstory comes from. A soldier, Sailor, Scholar maybe a hermit this is going to be where you draw the story, the backbone of who you are. This is where you would find the reason you happened upon the group and what brings you to the call to adventure.

   Player name is easy, Its your name. Thats it problem solved

   Character alignment; #1 forget it, doesn't matter. #2 if you so choose you can choose an alignment that would indicate what decisions your character would make. You pick 2 options, the first ranges from chaotic to lawful. The second ranges from good to evil.  

   The first option between Chaos and law is probably exactly what you think it means. Do you believe in anarchy? Do you think that law and justice should reign? Maybe neither or a mixture of both is best in your eyes? Respectively Chaos, Lawful and Neutral.

   Even more easily understandable is the second option. Good and evil, angels and demons, the red sox and the yankees. Does your moral compass always tell you to act honorably and be the knight in shining armour. You are the example of good. Maybe that isnt for you and you prefer to lurk in the darkness and strike out to harm others unnecessarily and steal from the needy. Then you are totally evil dude. Which means that if you combine both options you you can have any combination of the following

                                 Lawful (Exp: knights)                                          Good  (Exp:Philanthropist)

                                 Neutral                 (do whatever you like)            Neutral

                                 Chaotic ( Exp: The Joker)                                   Evil (exp voldemort)      

   Now when creating a character you will find a set of boxes to the left side of your page. This defines who you are as a person. Each box will be filled with a number that dictates how Strong, Fast,Intelligent, Smart and charismatic you will be. Now as #1 info, Roll 4d6 and drop the lowest number. If you roll a 6,2,4,3 you would drop the lowest number and take the higher and end with a total of 13* Keep in mind the maximum you can roll is 18 and the maximum number you can raise it to is 20. Now keep in mind any number above 10 is good! Any number below such is bad. For a reference point the average human has all of their stats at 10. To further complicate things every even number after 10 increases your bonus by 1 point EXP: 10=+0 12=+1 14=+2 and so on. Unfortunately everything even below 10 adds a minus point EXP 10=-0 8=-1 6=-2.

Core Stats:

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

   Now as # 2 this ads a large amount of role playing opportunities, A shriveled and frail wizard with an incredible mind (Steven Hawking?) or a huge brute that can lift a fallen tree easily but can't read, maybe an incredibly smart and rugged super hero but are incredibly socially awkward and inept in conversation. Basically you can use your strengths and flaws as additional fodder to flesh out your character.

    Now once you have your basic stats set you will see a small set of lines to the right of the numbers you just rolled. This is what you would refer to as “Skills” these will dictate how good you are at doing just about everything. Now if you are using the alternate character page (which is what I recommend personally) the skills correlating to your core stats are directly next to the core stat. Now use the positive or negative number from the core stat in the block and replicate it for the skills.

    This is all the basic information I can give you at the moment because from here it changes depending on the choices you make which will be my next set of videos. Whether you are type 1 or 2 there is a large amount of choices for you to make. #1 just pick whatever looks fun and something you've always wanted to be and run with it. Just read what you need for level 1&2 and move on. No “meta gaming” needed, just relax and have fun. After all who knows if there will ever be a second session and if there is, that's a problem for future you. #2 just read the book if you've read the full post so far the book is much more interesting. Some of it might seem like its in latin or a mathbook. Just push through these sections and as you continue to read the pieces of the puzzle will come together and make sense eventually.