DnD Player Guide
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:09 pm
This is my personal opinion and shouldn't by any means be taken as a must do it like this thing, feedback and personal opinions and tips are greatly appreciated.
1. Get the rules from your DM:
- What classes/ races are allowed
- What alignments are allowed
- What the vague campaign setting
- What system you will use to make the character ( stat distribution, etc.)
- There can be disallowed feats / skills , extra ones as well.
- What level you start at and all that.
2. Initial steps:
- Think about how your character is from an outside perspective ( Not class or stats but how you would see it visually and what his personality is. Lets say you meet the character you want to create, how would you see them. Write this down. )
- Flesh out your characters personality and backstory.
- Pick a class and distribute your stats and skills while keeping in mind how it fits into your backstory. (If you're the son of a farmer you probably won't have knowledge arcana or use magic device unless you got thought by lets say a wizard in the town that took you under his wing and you became some sort of disciple).
- Don't overextend, if you don't know the game well try making a simple character in your first game.
- Keep in mind your level 1 character isn't an superhero or a person that's well established in the world. Level 1 means untried untested , not much reputation beyond your village. Let your characters become cool , the best prize is the one earned. It's a bit ridiculous to start at 20 STR , you're level one you're not the strongest person in the world. Don't be awesome from the start, you'll get bored fast.
- Character Naming is important. If you name your character Balls McGee, you will play it like that and ruin the game for the rest of the players. Take your character seriously or you'll ruin the experience for everyone. Put heart into your characters. If you like being silly and absurd you'll probably have more fun playing a video game.
3. The Character:
- Start expanding the backstory and details, descriptions about your character
- After you have a fair description of your character work with your DM to iron it out, maybe choose gear and all that. ( Your DM may reward you with extra stuff for a well made character )
- Immersion is in the details. The more details you have the better.
- Try to think of how your character will react in certain situations.
- Maybe you can build relations before or during the first session with the other characters, for example 2 brothers or 3 old friends and so on.
4. Play :
- When you play get into the character.
- Be careful not to metagame, you may know that trolls require fire to stop their regeneration but your character may not, stay into character.
- If you use an accent it's nice to talk to the DM in your normal voice while using that accent only for what your character actually says.
- Roleplay your Rolls. Instead of i attack the ogre maybe i take a roll and do a slashing strike towards his feet , then make your roll and roleplay what happens, maybe you get a 1 and that would be something like I stumble and my hit doesn't even graze the ogre. Even small things like I do an overhead swing with my hammer towards the goblin, helps make it more fun for yourself and for the other players.
- Develop your character during the sessions, RP with people provide more details about your character.
- Reflect about your previous sessions and put out more details about your character.
- Consistency, keep your character fairly consistent. Don't just make a bunch of random decisions.
- Be careful not to overshadow the other players from a combat and RP perspective. If your a guy that's good at RP try to encourage it in the other players and involve them as well.
- Don't be afraid of character arguments with the other characters, as long as it's in character it's all good.
- Don't plan your character up to lvl 10-20 you can have a vague idea but the story should influence the way your character develops.
1. Get the rules from your DM:
- What classes/ races are allowed
- What alignments are allowed
- What the vague campaign setting
- What system you will use to make the character ( stat distribution, etc.)
- There can be disallowed feats / skills , extra ones as well.
- What level you start at and all that.
2. Initial steps:
- Think about how your character is from an outside perspective ( Not class or stats but how you would see it visually and what his personality is. Lets say you meet the character you want to create, how would you see them. Write this down. )
- Flesh out your characters personality and backstory.
- Pick a class and distribute your stats and skills while keeping in mind how it fits into your backstory. (If you're the son of a farmer you probably won't have knowledge arcana or use magic device unless you got thought by lets say a wizard in the town that took you under his wing and you became some sort of disciple).
- Don't overextend, if you don't know the game well try making a simple character in your first game.
- Keep in mind your level 1 character isn't an superhero or a person that's well established in the world. Level 1 means untried untested , not much reputation beyond your village. Let your characters become cool , the best prize is the one earned. It's a bit ridiculous to start at 20 STR , you're level one you're not the strongest person in the world. Don't be awesome from the start, you'll get bored fast.
- Character Naming is important. If you name your character Balls McGee, you will play it like that and ruin the game for the rest of the players. Take your character seriously or you'll ruin the experience for everyone. Put heart into your characters. If you like being silly and absurd you'll probably have more fun playing a video game.
3. The Character:
- Start expanding the backstory and details, descriptions about your character
- After you have a fair description of your character work with your DM to iron it out, maybe choose gear and all that. ( Your DM may reward you with extra stuff for a well made character )
- Immersion is in the details. The more details you have the better.
- Try to think of how your character will react in certain situations.
- Maybe you can build relations before or during the first session with the other characters, for example 2 brothers or 3 old friends and so on.
4. Play :
- When you play get into the character.
- Be careful not to metagame, you may know that trolls require fire to stop their regeneration but your character may not, stay into character.
- If you use an accent it's nice to talk to the DM in your normal voice while using that accent only for what your character actually says.
- Roleplay your Rolls. Instead of i attack the ogre maybe i take a roll and do a slashing strike towards his feet , then make your roll and roleplay what happens, maybe you get a 1 and that would be something like I stumble and my hit doesn't even graze the ogre. Even small things like I do an overhead swing with my hammer towards the goblin, helps make it more fun for yourself and for the other players.
- Develop your character during the sessions, RP with people provide more details about your character.
- Reflect about your previous sessions and put out more details about your character.
- Consistency, keep your character fairly consistent. Don't just make a bunch of random decisions.
- Be careful not to overshadow the other players from a combat and RP perspective. If your a guy that's good at RP try to encourage it in the other players and involve them as well.
- Don't be afraid of character arguments with the other characters, as long as it's in character it's all good.
- Don't plan your character up to lvl 10-20 you can have a vague idea but the story should influence the way your character develops.