DnD Basic Level 1 Creating Characters

I wrote about general thoughts on the character creation process last time. Here is a more detailed account of how that process went.

I.                         Character Creation – Level 1

In a way, the process is simpler, in that the steps are fewer (is that actually true, though?). The process feels simpler, at least, mostly because the idea of Skills, which is pretty integral to later editions, is relegated to an optional rule – though perhaps that’s a good thing, as the list of skills is exhaustive, and exhausting, to read through!

You begin by giving your character a name and writing down your own name as the player. I skipped trying to come up with a name until I knew what class the character was going to be, mostly because I tend to come up with stupid names that play on the class, like Terf Aight for a Fighter.

The real nitty-gritty bit of character creation begins as you roll for your Ability Scores. The Abilities are the six I’m familiar with from 5e and Pathfinder 2e, though they are listed in a slightly different order: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. The process is simple – roll 3d6 for each of the scores and write them down. I don’t know why it took me this long to realize that this is why DnD Ability Scores top out at 18, at least at first level. Rolling for these scores is maintained as an option in 5e, but it is optional alongside other methods. Either way, obviously 18 is the maximum number you can get from rolling three dice with a maximum of 6 on each. Duh.

My results were – interesting. I wanted to create a traditional party of four characters, fighter, wizard – I mean, magic user, cleric, and rogue – er, I mean, Thief. I decided to wait and see what my rolls were before I chose the class of each character. In all four cases, I had some very low rolls in the Abilities that I needed for any of the classes. Fortunately, it’s possible to adjust the Ability Scores by taking two points from a less necessary Ability to add 1 extra in the more important ones. However, this is only so useful when you can’t lower your Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma.

My first character ended up with Strength 10, Intelligence 5, Wisdom 7, Dexterity 7, Constitution 10, and Charisma 15. I decided to make this character the Fighter, because at least I wasn’t getting a penalty to his “Prime Requisite” of Strength. Sure would have liked to lower that Charisma score to add another point or two to Strength, but that would be against the rules.

The other characters wound up with similar rolls, almost always getting higher rolls in less important Abilities that I couldn’t reduce. In a couple of cases I was able to adjust the scores successfully in favor of the class’s Prime Requisite, but I still ended up with no higher than a +1 bonus in any of them.

The next step is to determine how much money you start with – important because it determines how much equipment you can buy, which we’ll get to next. To determine money, you roll 3d6 and multiply by 10. So you are guaranteed to start with 30 gold at the very least. Most of my characters wound up with significantly more, but one did begin with just 40.

Still, I was satisfied with what I was able to buy for each character’s starting equipment. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with all the extra money for the characters who got higher rolls, but I tried to equip everyone with a weapon – ideally both a melee and ranged weapon, and armor. The magic user did not get any armor because he can’t use it. And that covers buying Equipment.

You then have to figure out your character’s Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. The Attack Rolls are complicated in a way, as there are two suggestions. The first, geared towards beginners, is to look up the table provided in the Rules Compendium and copy it onto your character sheet. I did that, as I am a beginner in this version of the system. However, at least at level 1, the Attack Rolls for all four characters are the same, leaving me to wonder if there isn’t a simpler way than copying the same table four times. Of course, in a real game, each player would have only one character, so that’s a bit of a niche gripe.

The second way is to calculate them based on THAC0. Reading through, I felt like I more or less understood THAC0, but I can’t really explain it now without reference to the document. I did feel like the THAC0 system would be easier than copying tables, but as I said, I decided to try the technique that’s supposed to be more beginner friendly.

The final steps are the finishing touches – height, weight, background. Even in 5e, I dislike the necessity to choose height and weight. I really don’t care how tall my character is beyond whether they are normal human sized, larger (like Goliaths), or smaller (like dwarves, halflings, and gnomes). There are no game mechanics that are affected by having such an exact height or weight. Well, weight might affect encumbrance if someone has to carry the character. But what’s the point of height?

Background is a much looser thing in D&D Basic than in 5e. Instead of a list of specific backgrounds to choose from, background is conceived of as what I think of as a backstory, has no effect on Skills, which are optional in any case, or Abilities. Players are encouraged to work with their DM to determine how their character fits into the world.

I didn’t spend much effort here, as I am mostly interested in comparing the mechanics of Basic to the 5e and Pathfinder 2e systems I know better, rather than truly telling a story within this system (though as I suggested in my previous entry, there are some tantalizing possibilities that come up).

The last thing I did was flesh out my magic user with a single level 1 spell. That’s all he gets, as cantrips have not been conceived of yet. I opted for Magic Missile, so that my spellcaster can still deal some damage. Magic Missile in this early edition, however, is quite different from the 5e version, though there are similarities and it’s easy to see how it developed. At level 1, the spell only creates one missile, rather than three. Eventually, magic users can conjure up to three, but only at much higher levels. Still, the missile can be launched at a single target, which it automatically hits, with no defense, no saving throw.

In conclusion, I now have a party of four characters in the traditional mold – a fighter, a cleric, a thief, and a magic user – however ill-equipped they are in terms of innate abilities. My next step will be to run through a mock level 1 combat with them. I am doing this just to get my feet wet. My ultimate goal is to take this party through an encounter with the iconic D&D monster – the Beholder! But I’ll have to make sure the character’s are an appropriate level and have sufficient equipment to have at least a fighting chance!