Full Video Transcript

Welcome to the table.

Today I want to talk about character creation, specifically in Dungeons and Dragons. When you first get started in Dungeons and Dragons, it can be a little overwhelming how many different rulebooks there are and add-ons and different character classes and all these options that you have available to you. I mentioned in another video the idea of a character concept to let you trim it down. Another helpful tool when you are creating a character is using a character builder.

Most systems have these, and Dungeons and Dragons has this as well. If you go over to the D&D Beyond site, they’ve got a free character builder tool that you can go through, and it’s going to know all the rules for you so you don’t have to look it up. This makes it guide you through a nice easy wizard so that when you aren’t sure of what choices to make, you have something that can kind of guide you as to what the choices are you need to learn about right now before you move on to the next piece.

Other systems also have this concept of a character builder. It’s usually used for bringing new players in, but honestly? I prefer using them in general, just to be able to have something saved up in the cloud that I can access very easily and I don’t have to, like, lug paper sheets around. I just prefer doing that.

Some people though prefer an older school approach. Pen and paper, being able to go through the rules, kind of work it out on your own, and allows it to cement the idea in their head of what their character has, allows them to know better about the abilities. Sure, sometimes you make mistakes on the paper and you got to redo it a little bit. But, overall, if you enjoyed that particular way of learning, that’s a great way as a beginner for you to really get a good handle on the rules. Because these tools, the builders, while they make it easy to get started, do kind of hide from you what those mechanics are and what starting a character means and what you have to do.

Whether you like using a builder tool or going pen and paper, either way is great. The key is to make sure you can go from concept to being able to play in the shortest time possible so that you can get to the real fun part of actually playing your character.

Remember, you’re always welcome at the table.