Note to Newbies is a series about helping new players understand the
philosophy behind the basics of Dungeons & Dragons. In this first session, I
want to discuss what I feel is both the most fun and most intimidating
hurdle for new players to overcome: character creation.
Character creation is something that newcomers almost always overcomplicate.
They approach D&D with the mindset that they’re playing a video game,
shooting for the best stats and most optimal build choices. And while this
style of “min-max” character building isn’t necessarily wrong, I feel it goes
against the spirit of what D&D is about. D&D is not a game about having
the strongest build or the most points, or beating out your friends in
efficiency and performance. There is no “winning” D&D per se. Playing
D&D is like visiting a theme park. You can’t “Win” a theme park. Everyone
is just there to have fun together and make memories. And besides, thanks
to the prominent role luck has in D&D, any character with any stats can do
the basics and still be effective mechanically. Instead, a player’s focus
should be on telling the most interesting story they can, with the most
interesting character they can.
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
The core of all characters - and often the first step in making a character -
is rolling Ability Scores. On paper, the Ability Scores tell you what your
character is good or bad at. And often, having lower scores is seen as bad
or sub-optimal, and as a consequence the character is possibly thrown out
and remade. I argue that having low scores can be a good thing in its own
way. Low scores - just like high scores - offer different opportunities for role
play. Having a character who is physically weak and frail may not be as
good in a fight as one with superhuman strength and charm, but can be far
more interesting and compelling.
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
One of my most fun and fond D&D memories arose from playing a low
Intelligence character; a Dark Elf Barbarian named Boulder, who had an Int
score of 7. Boulder’s background was Outlander, and so he had the feature
“Wanderer”, which gave him perfect recollection of maps among other
things. One session, Boulder’s party had drawn a map in some dirt with a
stick, and Boulder - in his kind simplicity - thought it would be helpful to
bring the map along, and so he scooped up the scribbled dirt and threw it
into his pocket. This action was naturally met with disgruntled sighs and
forehead slaps. Later on, however, when the map was needed, Boulder
was able to pour the dirt out and perfectly recreate the map using his
background feature. This time, the entire table was struck with uproarious
laughter and impressed bewilderment.
My main point in all of this is to not see low scores and sub-optimal choices
as “bad”. See them as role play opportunities. See flaws as distinguishing
features that make your character unique. Find fun and creative ways of
rolling with those punches. That’s what makes your character interesting,
which makes them more fun for the whole table! And having fun is what
role playing games are all about.
Welcome to Dungeons & Dragons, Newbie.
-Gumball
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
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