Character Creation

You keep character information on a character sheet. You can download one that I really like here. You can even fill out the pdf itself and then print it! If you print the empty sheet and want to fill it in by hand, I recommend using a pencil and eraser, since you might make mistakes or things change after a level up.
Table of Contents

• First Steps
• Attributes
• Proficiencies
• Hit Points
• Equipment
• Attacks
• Race & Class Features
• Feats
• Character Data
• Spells
• What about the empty fields?

First Steps

Decide on what kind of character you want to play. Some let themselves get inspired by looking at the available races and classes (see above), others start with the personality their character should have.
After getting a vague idea of your character, choose a race and class. Don't try to overthink the rules behind them or what would work best, just pick something you like. For now just write down your choice and where to find the details on it (page or URL).
Next, pick a fitting background for your character. A background describes what your adventurer has been doing before they started, well, adventuring. You can find these in the books, such as the Player's Handbook, or online (for example on DnD Beyond or 5e Backgrounds ). If you can't find a background that suits your character's backstory, let me know and we will create a custom one together. Again, make a note of your choice and we'll come back to the details later.

Start by adding your Class and Level (we will assume you start with Level 1), as well as Background, Race and Player's Name to the top right of your character sheet.

• Character Name Think about a fitting character name. In the subrace pages under Elf you can find several name suggestions, otherwise try something like the Fantasy Name Generators website or simply come up with your own. Fill in the Character Name in the top left of your character sheet.
• Alignment This serves as a starting point to figuring out your character's moral compass. There are two axes to the alignment. My example Fighter might be Neutral Good, trying to help others, even if it involves breaking some rules. The alignment is only intended as a starting point! As you get more comfortable role playing you might find that your character is not like you first intended them to be, or they might evolve. Feel free to change the alignment if necessary!
  Lawful - Neutral - Chaotic Does your character follow a set of rules? Set by the government or a code of a mercenary guild? Then they are Lawful. Do they abhor rules and regulations and fight them whenever possible? Then they are Chaotic. Do they choose to follow rules or ignore them depending on what suits them best in the moment? Then they are Neutral.
  Good - Neutral - Evil Does your character try to help others wherever they can, even if it inconveniences them? Then they are Good. Is your character selfish and thinks of themselves first, always? Then they are Evil. Does your character help others if there is a benefit for them, or not inconveniencing? Then they are Neutral.

Attributes

First, grab an extra piece of paper and create a table as you see below.

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma

Next, roll 4d6 (four six-sided dice, or one six-sided die four times) and write down each result. Drop the lowest number. Sum up the remaining three. Alternatively use this handy widget that does all of that for you! 4d6-L

• For example, I rolled: 3, 6, 1, 2. I drop the 1, and sum the remaining and get a total of 11.
• Do this 6 times and write down the result of each end result, so that you have 6 numbers in the end.
• House Rule: To avoid particularly bad or good roles and keep things interesting for all players, re-roll everything if you have more than one total of 18 or more than two totals of less than 10.

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You now have your basic attribute stats! Feel free to assign them to the first column beneath a stat. For example, a character that wants to use a warhammer will probably be very strong, so a high value in strength makes sense.
If you are unsure what attributes are important for your class, make sure to take a look at the "Quick Build" section at the beginning of each class description.
A quick list of what the attributes stand for:

• Strength How hard can you hit, how much can you lift, how well can you climb.
• Dexterity How nimble are you, how quick, how stealthy.
• Constitution How much health do you have, how resistant to poisons are you, how well can you take damage.
• Intelligence How smart are you, how much have you learned, how educated are you.
• Wisdom How clever are you, how perceptive are you, how much insight do you have.
• Charisma How appealing are you, how well can you lie, how well can you perform.

Your table might now look something like this.

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
17	12	14	9	11	11

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Next up we'll add the racial bonuses beneath the values we just entered. In case you are playing an Elf, you get +1 to Wisdom, and depending on the subrace either +1 to Intelligence, Dexterity or Constitution. For the Elven Fighter I'm creating, I've picked the Icherian subrace, so I get +1 to Constitution.
We can also use this opportunity to sum up our rolled values with the racial bonuses.

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
17	12	14	9	11	11
		+1		+1
17	12	15	9	12	11

Lastly we are going to translate these ability scores into ability modifiers. During play, whenever a player wants to achieve something they roll 1d20 (one twenty-sided die) and add the ability modifier that fits whatever they are trying to do.
So for example, if a player wants to push open a very heavy door, they might add be asked by the DM to roll a "Strength Check" - this means, that they roll 1d20 and add their Strength modifier.
Using this information we can now finish up our ability scores and modifiers!

Score	Modifier
2–3	−4
4–5	−3
6–7	−2
8–9	−1
10–11	+0
12–13	+1
14–15	+2
16–17	+3
18–19	+4
20–21	+5

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Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
17	12	14	9	11	11
		+1		+1
17	12	15	9	12	11
+3	+1	+2	-1	+1	+0

Now to transferring this data into our character sheet - the Ability Score (e.g. "17") goes into the smaller circle next to the attribute, while the Ability Modifier (e.g. "+3") goes into the large shield, since the modifiers are what we constantly use while playing, the scores less so.

Proficiencies

If your character is proficient in something, it means that they are trained in it. You start of with a Proficiency Bonus of +2, which will increase every couple of levels. You can be proficient in skills, weapons, armor and tools. You generally gain proficiencies from your race and subrace, your class, and your background.

Skill Proficiencies

You can find the skill proficiencies next to your ability scores. When choosing a skill proficiency, fill in the circle next to it on your character sheet.

• Saving Throw. The DM asks you to do a saving throw of a specific kind (e.g. Dexterity Saving Throw) when trying to avoid damage or something else bad happening to your character. For example, to avoid falling debris and jump out of the way in time, you would have to roll a Dexterity Saving Throw.
• Athletics. Climbing or shoving / pulling something heavy.
• Acrobatics. Parkour or balancing.
• Sleight of Hand. Pick-pocketing, card tricks, cheating.
• Stealth. Sneaking, moving unseen.
• Arcana. Analysing / understanding magical effects.
• History. Recalling something from your past or something that you have read or heard about.
• Investigation. Inspecting something up close, trying to disarm a trap, looking for something specific.
• Nature. Understanding Flora and Fauna, knowing whether something is poisonous or venomous.
• Religion. Knowledge about the gods, demons, devils, or about religious ceremonies or groups.
• Animal Handling. Interacting with animals, trying to ride a Caeda Beetle, calming an angry beast.
• Insight. Reading people, knowing when they are hiding something or lying, understanding their intentions or motivations.
• Medicine. Applying first aid, knowing how a person got hurt or died.
• Perception. The most commonly used skill. Finding a person in a crowd, searching a room, finding someone who is trying to stay hidden.
• Survival. Surviving in nature, reading tracks, navigating the wild, knowing where to find water and food, hunting.
• Deception. Lying, omitting the truth.
• Intimidation. Scaring someone into giving you what you want. House rule: You can be uncharismatic but freakishly strong, which is intimidating in itself. You can choose to use your Strength Modifier instead of your Charisma Modifier on Intimidation checks.
• Performance. Trying to draw attention to yourself, performing with musical instruments, singing, dancing.
• Persuasion. Convincing someone, being charismatic or using logical reasoning.

Let's start with race and subrace. As an Elf you gain one skill proficiency of your choice (this does not include Saving Throws!). If you choose Icherosan you even gain another skill proficiency of your choice!
Your class usually lets you pick several skill proficiencies from a list. Please look up your class skill proficiencies in the Player's Handbook or online (or in the case of the Witch or Necromancer on their respective pages in the wiki).
Your background also lets you choose skill proficiencies. If at any point you would get the same proficiency twice, choose again from the list of available proficiencies.

Now that you have chosen your proficiencies, we can fill in the numbers! Next to them you can see a bit of space where you can write the Skill Modifiers down. To calculate the modifiers simply take the corresponding attribute modifier (e.g. Strength, +3) and add your proficiency bonus (+2) if you are proficient (so the result would be +5). If you are not proficient, simply write down the attribute modifier (e.g. Intelligence, -1).

Below the skills you can see a field for Passive Wisdom (Perception) - calculate this by adding your Perception Modifier + 10.

Below that you have a field for Senses & Movement, add 30ft to the "Base" Speed field. This means that you can move 30 feet in one turn.

Weapon, Armor, and Tool Proficiencies

To be able to properly use a weapon, set of armor or a tool, you must be proficient in it. You can look up armor on page 145, weapons on page 149, and tools on page 154 of the Player's Handbook, or online.

You can write down these Weapon, Armor, and Tool Proficiencies on the second page of your character sheet, in the top left. If your class says that you are proficient in e.g. all Simple Weapons, you can check that box instead of having to write down every simple weapon available.

Language

Another kind of "proficiency" are the languages that your character can read, speak and/or write.
As an Elf you know Elvish. Each subrace has their own dialect that they can speak. If your background allows you more languages, you can look up the available ones on page 123 of the Player's Handbook. Try to think of a reason why your character would be able to speak that language.
Please note that due to the Character Limitations the following languages are not allowed:

• Common
• Halfling
• Gnomish
• Dwarvish (unless agreed upon with the DM)

You can write down the Languages your character speaks in the box below the weapon, armor and tool proficiencies on page 2 of the character sheet.

Hit Points

Depending on your class you have a different kind of "Hit Die" (as in dice, not as in dying). These hit dice are used when you take a Short Rest, which means that you take an hour to tend to your wounds. You can spend up to the maximum amount of hit dice that you have (one per level), which you then roll and you then heal that amount.

Look up your class Hit Dice in the Player's Handbook, online, or on the wiki in the case of the Witch or Necromancer. On the right side of the first page of the character sheet, where it says "Hit Dice Maximum" write down 1dX, where X is the kind of dice your class uses for hit points.

With level 1 you start with a Hit Point Maximum of the maximum amount that your hit dice has, plus your Constitution modifier. So for example my fighter has a d10 as hit dice and a Constitution modifier of +2 so I write down 12 in the "Hit Points Maximum" field above the Hit Dice box.

Equipment

Your class and your background give you some starting equipment. You could also instead ignore those and start with some gold and buy the equipment you want, but for now let's just look at the starting equipment.
Your class lets you decide between several options for weapons, armor, and packs. You can look those up starting at page 143 in the Player's Handbook or simply google them. Some information and recommendations:

• Make sure that you are proficient in the weapon or armor you choose, so you can make proper use of it.
• Heavy armor usually gives you a penalty to stealth.
• Most melee weapons use your Strength modifier to attack. Exceptions are those that have the Finesse tag - those can be used with Dexterity as well.
• Ranged weapons use the Dexterity modifier.
• The contents of the packs that most classes offer can be looked up in the Player's Handbook or online. They often contain useful things like rope, torches, rations or a crowbar.

Write down your chosen Equipment on the left side of page 3 of the character sheet. If your background also gives you some money, write that down in the box to the right under Coins.

House rule: I usually don't care about equipment weight and over encumbrance. So unless you go crazy and collect every piece of armor that you find, you don't have to worry about that. I will speak up if I think that your character is carrying too much.
When you have chosen your equipment, you can also write down your Armor Class. Armor Class (or AC) describes how hard you are to hit, either because you are quick, or your armor is tough. You can look up the Armor Class of your chosen armor on page 145 in the Player's Handbook or online. Light and Medium armor profit from your Dexterity Modifier. A shield automatically gives you +2 to your Armor Class if equipped. If you don't wear armor, your Armor Class is 10 + your Dexterity Modifier.

Write down your Armor Class on the first page of your character sheet. If your armor gives you Disadvantage on Stealth, circle the broken shield next to the Stealth Skill on the left of your character sheet.

Attacks

On the first page of the character sheet you can find a box where you can write down your possible attacks for quick lookup during combat. It is also useful to write down your most-often used spell attacks here, if you have any! For more info on spells, see below in the Spells section.

• Weapon the weapon name
• Attack the Attack Modifier. This is calculated by taking either the Strength Modifier (if it's a melee weapon without the Finesse tag), or the Dexterity Modifier (if it's a ranged weapon or a melee weapon with the Finesse tag) and adding your Proficiency Bonus if you are proficient with that weapon. My fighter uses a warhammer with which he is proficient, so that would be +3 from his Strength and +2 from his Proficiency Bonus for a total of +5.
• Damage / Type on page 149 of the Player's Handbook (or online) you can find the amount of damage the weapon does. You also get a bonus of, again, either your Strength Modifier or Dexterity Modifier, depending on the type of weapon. For my warhammer, this would be 1d8+3 bludgeoning damage. The type is important as well, since some monsters are resistant or vulnerable to certain types.
• Range if the weapon is either a ranged weapon or can be thrown, write down the range here. Range is described as two numbers (e.g. range 20/60) which mean short range and long range. For the short range the weapon is effective as normal, but you could also throw it further up until the long range, where you would have disadvantage on the attack role (so you are more likely to miss).
• Weight You can ignore this, see the house rule above in the Equipment section.
• Ammunition at the bottom you can see several smaller boxes where you can mark down what kind and how much ammunition you have left for ranged weapons.

You can also dual-wield two weapons! See the Two-Weapon Fighting paragraph on page 195 of the Player's Handbook for more information.

Write down the Weapon Attacks that you have, as well as any Spell Attacks that you frequently use (e.g. Cantrips), so you can quickly look them up during combat.

Race & Class Features

Race and Class provide you with additional features. The ones that are not essential for combat (see below Combat Features) we write down on the second page of our character sheet on the right.
The only relevant racial feature we haven't written down yet (except for Age, but we will look at that in a later section is the Elven Trance. Elves don't have to sleep, instead they meditate for 4 hours, which counts as a Long Rest.

Write down the Race Feature Trance in abbreviated form.

Your class may give you additional features. For example, my Fighter gains Fighting Style and Second Wind with level 1. Second Wind is useful in combat, so I will write that down in the Combat Features box on the first page of the character sheet (see below). Fighting Style however is something that is important to know, but I can adjust the relevant combat values on the first page and just write down which style I chose on the second page (so I don't pick the same style twice later on).
We can write these down in the same box, below the race features. Remember to keep it short, since you will gain further features when levelling up.

Write down your Class Features in abbreviated form.

Combat Features

Some Race or Class Features are quite handy in combat. Write down any of these in the Combat Features box at the bottom of the first page of the character sheet.
Cross out the triangle at the beginning if it's not rest dependant (if it can be used all the time). Fill it out if it can only be used after a long rest. Keep it empty if it can be used after a short or long rest.
If the feature has a limited amount of uses (e.g. 3 times per long rest) cross out the unneeded boxes and make sure to tick the remaining ones (with a pencil!) whenever you use the feature. This way you can easily keep track of whether you can still use a feature or not.

Write down any Combat Features that you want to keep close by during combat in the Combat Features box.

Feats

As part of your Elven race, you get to choose one Feat. Feats are extraordinary abilities, often increasing ability scores and skill sets. Below is a filtered list of Feats that I allow or recommend. Please look up the detailed description of a feat online or in the Player's Handbook if you are interested to learn more.

• Actor +1 Charisma, Advantage on Deception and Performance, PHB
• Alert +5 to Initiative, you cannot be surprised, PHB
• Charger If you Dash, you can make a melee attack with a +5 bonus if you moved at least 10 feet before, PHB
• Crossbow Expert You can fire a crossbow multiple times if your attacks allow it (ignore Loading tag), no disadvantage if in close combat with it, PHB
• Defensive Duelist You can add your proficiency bonus to your AC if you are wielding a finesse weapon, PHB
• Dual Wielder +1 to AC if a melee weapon in each hand, two-weapon fighting with non-light weapons, PHB
• Dungeon Delver Advantage on Perception and Investigation checks, as well as saving throws vs traps, PHB
• Grappler You have advantage on attack rolls when grappling and can try to restrain a creature grappled by you, PHB
• Great Weapon Master Extra attack after melee critical hit, can choose +5 to attack to add +10 damage with heavy weapons, PHB
• Inspiring Leader Up to 6 creatures within 30ft of you gain temporary hp equal to your level + charisma modifier, PHB
• Keen Mind +1 to Intelligence, you know which way is north, what time it is, recall any events of the past month, PHB
• Linguist +1 to Intelligence, learn three languages, create ciphers, PHB
• Mage Slayer Reaction to make melee attack against spellcaster and advantage on saving throws against spells if enemy within 5ft, PHB
• Magic Initiate Learn two cantrips and one 1st level spell from one class, PHB
• Medium Armor Master No disadvantage to stealth checks when wearing medium armor, Dex bonus of max +3 instead of +2, PHB
• Mobile Speed increases by 10 ft, Dash on difficult terrain, no opportunity attacks in melee, PHB
• Observant +1 Intelligence or Wisdom, can read lips, +5 to passive Perception, PHB
• Polearm Master extra attack with polearm weapons, opportunity attacks if creature enters reach, PHB
• Sentinel Successful opportunity attacks reduce a creatures speed to 0 for this turn, PHB
• Sharpshooter ranged attacks ignore some cover, no disadvantage at long range, possibility of -5 to hit for +10 damage, PHB
• War Caster Advantage on saving throws to maintain concentration, can cast some spells as opportunity attacks, PHB

If you have any questions or are unsure what these descriptions mean, feel free to hit me up.

Choose one feat and add it to the Feat box on page two of the character sheet. Remember to make adjustments to Ability Scores, Modifiers, Skills or Combat Features where necessary.

Character Data

If you want to you can also fill out some character data on the second page of your character sheet and choose (pdf, then print) or draw a portrait.

• Deity and Domain - in case your character is religious, write down which god(s) they worship here.
• Age - Elves are fully grown by the age of 25, but are only considered adults by the age of 80. They live up to 400 years.
• Eyes - keep your Soul Colours secret!
• Appearance - Make sure to write down a description of your Mask or Masks.
• Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, Flaws - These provide a good start into figuring out your character and I highly recommend filling these out. You can find examples in the Player's Handbook Backgrounds section, starting at page 127.
• Friends and allies - These can be other player characters or NPC's (such as family members)

Write down some information about your character in the Character Data box.

Spells

Some classes can cast spells. The way they cast spells differs greatly from class to class, so make sure to read up in the Player's Handbook on how yours work!
You can skip this part if your character can not cast any spells. However, keep the sheet! This might change.
An important factor if spell casting is the Spellcasting Ability. Different classes use different abilities, so look this one up. The Spellcasting Ability is used in attack spells to see if you hit, similar to how an attack roll for a weapon attack works.

Write down your Spellcasting Ability at the top of the fourth character sheet, as well as the corresponding Ability Modifier.

The Spell Save DC is also an important attribute. It is calculated by adding 10 to your Ability Modifier. It is used for spells where you don't roll to attack but instead the enemy tries to avoid the spell. They must then roll a number equal or higher to your Spell Save DC.

Write down your Spell Save DC in the top left.

Spell Levels

Spells are grouped into levels. A better word for it would actually be tiers, since you don't gain level 2 spells when you are level 2.
Cantrips are the lowest tier of spells. They are sort of tricks, something that doesn't require much effort, that you have practised for a long time. As such you can cast them however often you want (over a day).

It is often useful to write down attack Cantrips on page one of your character sheet, in the Weapons & Ammunitions box.

Spell Slots

To cast any spell that is not a cantrip, you must use a spell slot. You can think of this as sort of your mana depleting, in video game terms. You can cast a level 1 spell using a level 2 spell slot, but not vice versa. Some spells become more powerful when cast with a higher spell slot.
Spell slots usually "regenerate" after a long rest. An exception is the warlock - they don't have a lot of spell slots, but in return they regain their spell slots after a short rest.

Write down your available Spell Slots on page four of your character sheet.

Known & Prepared Spells

Some spell casters have a list of "known" spells, from which they can choose to cast. They can only "switch" spells when gaining a level, and even then they can only replace up to one spell at a time. Cantrips do not count against your known spells.
Other spell casters know all available spells to them, but can only prepare some of them. They can prepare new spells at the beginning of each new day (after a long rest). They can not cast unprepared spells.

Write down your known or prepared Spells in the corresponding spell level boxes on page four of your character sheet. If your class prepares spells, write down the Number of Prepared Spells in the top left.

What about the empty fields?

There are some fields where we haven't written anything down. This is either because your character doesn't have any skills for that (for example not every class can cast spells, so your spell sheet might be empty), will only be able to use it later (for example your character only learns spells at a later level), it is only important during play (for example temporary hit points or death saves), or it is optional (for example background information about your character).
If you have any questions about these empty fields and whether you should have written down something there, feel free to ask me! If there are fields such as temporary hit points or death saves that are relevant during play, I will explain them the first couple of times that they come into action.