Character Creation, a dreaded thing to many, in 3rd Edition is relatively simple. Though sometimes laborious and extremely slow, most people should have little trouble creating their first character. With simplified statistics, more general rules, and a few Variants 3rd Edition has a very well thought out creation process. The process is easily broken down into six steps: Ability Scores, Race Selection, Class Selection, Skills, Feats, and Personal Touches. I will Explain each step, give variant information (if any), and provide personal hints and suggestions.

Ability Scores: Where loaded Dice come in Handy (just kidding).

Ok, every seasoned Veteran knows this stage all too well. In Olden Days there were about 15 Variants for Rolling Dice, many of which required a calculator or Eidetic memory. In 3rd Edition there is the basic dice rules and only one listed Variant. The basic roll is 4d6 per stat, dropping the lowest of the dice.
Example: Roll 4d6, assume the dice land on 6 3 4 2, you would drop the 2. Leaving 6 3 4, making an ability score of 13.
Now the Basic rule also notes that, as long as the DM allows it, you can scrap all 6 Ability rolls if your total modifiers are 0 or Below, or your highest score is 13 or lower. The Variant listed for the DM is to allow Players to Reroll natural 1's on Dice for Abilities. This Variant allows for Characters to have a better chance at high Ability scores.

Ability Scores range from 3(minimum) to 18 from the dice, though through equipment, wishes, leveling, and race a character can exceed 18. An Ability score of 3 is abysmal, while a score of 18 is nigh perfect. A person with 3 Intelligence would have difficulty with even the simplest words, while a person with 18 Intelligence could keep up a riveting conversation with Einstein. The average Ability Score for a Human is 10, thus a 10 means that you are normal in that stat. Anything above 10 means you are above Average. Fighters should look to have 15+ in the top 3 scores; while Mages, Clerics, and the like would do best to have 15+ in their classes Primary Ability.
My Suggestions for Ability scores; dig up some 2nd Edition rules for Dice Rolling Variants, test them out yourself, choose which you like the best. Also as a DM you should decide for yourself whether you want Higher Ability Scores on your Characters (so you can make challenges a little harder) or whether you want the most random rolls as possible. Ultimately it is up to you.

Race Selection: Short, Smart, and Quick vs. Tall, Slow, and Dumb.

This seemingly simple decision can make or break a character in any story. Want a Wizard? Steer clear from the typically Magic-hating Dwarves and Ignorant Half-Orcs. Want a Powerful Melee Tank? Stay away from the Diminutive Halflings and Gnomes. Each Race has its Pro's and Con's. Some races have nice abilities and ability changes, but they also will have things that make them less useful in certain situations. For every Advantage a race has, that race will have an equal disadvantage. In a well-balanced campaign race should just be a decision that will allow a greater customization and uniqueness to the character.

Class Selection: You shall decide your future!

To some, including me, Class selection is the first step to a character's creation; but to WOTC it comes later. Choosing Class this late in Character Creation is not a bad thing, both ways end out the same. Anyway, Class Selection is vital. That simple, if the campaign you are in is going to take place in the middle of a city and focus on political intrigue… a Warrior type might not be smart, unless you make some interesting choices in creation. On the other hand, if you are playing in a game that is mostly hack-and-slash a Warrior of any type is a nice idea. Each class, like races, has many have Pro's and Con's. I will explain briefly each class and focus mainly on strengths, with a short explanation of weaknesses.

First, we will discuss the Series of Classes loosely referred to as the Warrior Class; Fighters, Rangers, Paladins, and Barbarians.

1. Fighters: Fighter's are the basic Warrior they have good Hit Dice (Responsible for Hit Points), can wear any armor, use almost any weapon, and gain an enormous amount of feats as they advance in levels. A Fighter's main drawback is his lack of Magic, both in abilities and in his defenses against magic.

2. Rangers: Ranger's are a mix between the Fighter and the Druid Class. Ranger's have the same Hit Dice of a Fighter, gets bonuses for fighting with 2 weapons in Light Armor, the ability to Track, Favored Enemies, and after several levels the ability to cast spells like a druid. A Ranger's drawbacks are no heavy armor, a few weapon restrictions, and the penalty when dealing with (not trying to fight) a favored enemy.

3. Paladins: Paladin's are a mix between the Fighter and the Cleric Class. Paladins have no armor restrictions, no weapon restrictions, special abilities like Detect Evil at will, Cleric spells after several levels, and a Paladin Mount at level 5. A Paladin's drawbacks include his alignment (always has to be Lawful Good), Code of Conduct, and Association Requirements.

4. Barbarians: Barbarians are the 'wild' version of a Fighter. A Barbarian has the largest Hit Dice of any character class, the powerful ability to Rage, faster movement, and unique Barbarian Abilities as he levels. A Barbarian's drawbacks include alignment restrictions (always chaotic), armor restrictions, Illiteracy, and limited skills.

Second, we will go over the Priest class, which contains; Clerics, Druids, and Monks.

1. Clerics: Clerics are the servants of various Deities, the 'Holy Men', even though they serve the gods they are not weak. A Cleric's advantages include no armor restrictions, decent Hit Dice, powerful spells, Divine Abilities, and the power to Turn Undead (Destroy, Injure, or force to Flee). A Cleric's drawbacks are low to hit bonuses, serious weapon restrictions, and any religious restrictions.

2. Druids: Druids are the servants of Mother Nature, or one of the Nature Deities. A Druid's advantages lie in Shapeshifting, Powerful spells, and interesting abilities. A Druid's disadvantages are required alignment (True Neutral, Neutral Evil/Good, Chaotic N, or Lawful N), serious weapon restrictions, and religious limitations.

3. Monks: Monks are martial artists seeking perfection, with Ki energy they are very dangerous even barehanded. A Monk's advantages are his fast movement, interesting armor class additions, number of Unarmed attacks per turn, and unique class abilities. A Monk's disadvantages include his alignment requirements (always Lawful), his inability to wear any armor, weapon restrictions, and low to hit value.

Third, we are covering the 'Rogue' Class, containing the Bard and Rogue (formerly known as the Thief, I will use Thief because I'm used to it.).

1. Thief: The Thief is well a thief, but also a lot more. The Thief's advantages include the ability to backstab, unique class skills, and unique class abilities. The Thief's disadvantages are armor restrictions, weapon restrictions, social distrust (in most cases), and lower Hit Dice.

2. Bard: The Bard is a 'Jack-of-all-Trades' type. The Bard's advantages are his Unique singing abilities, his mix of class skills, ability to use magic, and decent combat abilities. The Bard's main drawbacks are simple; his relatively low Hit Dice, limited armor use, and generalization make him capable at a lot of things, but good at little.

Finally, we have the Arcane Caster Class, containing the Wizard and Sorcerer.

1. Wizard: The Wizard is the stuff D&D is made of… Magic. Wizard's advantages lie in the many Powerful Spells they can wield, the knowledge of Magic they have, and the tactical use of their powers. The Main disadvantages are their low Hit Dice, Inability to wear armor without penalty, lack of melee power, and the 'low-level blues' (Wizards at low level are extremely weak, but at higher levels a Wizard is a force to be reckoned with.)

2. Sorcerer: The Sorcerer is brother to the Wizard. The Sorcerer's powers are his access to arcane spells, ability to cast many spells per day, and tactical use. The Sorcerer's disadvantages lie in his limited amount of spells learned, low hit dice, the aforementioned 'low-level blues', and melee powerlessness.

Skills: What can you do? How well can you do it?

Skills have replaced the Non-Weapon Proficiencies of the old days, not that NWPs were a bad thing; they just do not offer the range of customization that the Skills of 3rd Edition allow. Skills are fairly simple to understand. The basic skill is made up of 3 possible inputs to the total;
Ex: Skill Total = Skill Modifier (Base Stat) + Ranks + Additional Modifiers

To elaborate, the Skill Total or the final skill number is three variables added together. The Skill Modifier is the modifier from the applicable base attribute (Climb = Str Mod + R + Ext). While Ranks are the total amount of skill points spent into training the skill, each level has a maximum amount of ranks to balance the game. Finally, Additional Modifiers can be anything from additions due to feats, race, or items; to subtractions due to armor, weight, and race. This may seem complicated but it is relatively simple, most characters will have a few skills they focus on, while others may be blessed enough to focus equally on all skills.

Skill Points are dependent on 3 things: Class, Intelligence, and Race. Class is important because some classes have more skills than others, the more class skills the more skill points per level (Usually). Intelligence can garner you more skill points in the fact that to figure skill points per level up you get to add your Intelligence modifier to the Class Skill point per level total. Race can also affect this, Humans get 4 extra skill points at first level, and 1 extra for every level thereafter. There is a simplified way to calculate skill points that I use; (SPL + IntMod + Racial [if any]) * (3 + Current Level). The SPL is the class skill points per level number, the Intelligence mod is self-explanatory, and the Racial mod is really only useful for humans (use a 1 there for humans), Tally this score first. Then move to the other Parentheses take the Current Level and add 3 to it, this number is a simple bit of math, the books tell you level one SP are equal to [(SPL + Int Mod) * 4] if you simply subtract one from four you get three. After you check the math it should be correct, this is a shortcut when creating higher level characters. It should make high level characters easier to calculate skill points for.

Feats: Nifty tricks for Fighter, Mage, and Cleric alike.

Feats are broken down into four areas; General (Anyone Can use), Item Creation (as in Magical item), Metamagic (Casters Only), and Class Specific. Since I am not allowed to go into great details, I will just give a few tips and ideas. In the massive list of General Feats several stand out as 'must-have' for some classes, while some other classes (Wiz and Sor) have trouble picking these. Most General feats deal with Combat, Equipment, and Skills; few deal with Casting and Magic. Think of General Feats as the Fighter's best friend, they not only get the most feats, but most feats are almost geared to combat. Another hint for feats, find out what systems your DM uses, some feats become useless if you do not use some rules. Item Creation Feats are useful to the Wizard, Sorcerer, Cleric, and Druid. Each feat allows a different spectrum of items to be made, and has a prerequisite level. Metamagic feats are add-ons to spells, they increase the level required to memorize the spell in return for improving the spell in some fashion. Class Specific Feats are class-restricted feats that add on to class ability or grant extra power to the prerequisite class.

Personal Touches: I want my Paladin in Pink Armor with High-heel Boots and a Matching Purse… (DM Shudders…).

This is the area where you name your creation, roll Random height/weight/age by race, decide Alignment, and whether or not you follow a Deity (If the DM is using the standard Deities, or Deities at all for that matter). These choices have varying magnitudes on Game Play; decisions like height/weight/age will matter relatively little, while decisions like Alignment and Deity can have serious Impacts on the Game. All of these choices are to allow you to create your character the way you want him/her. There is little to add to this, except make your choices so that you can play this character. I have found that people who create characters purely for Power-Gaming flounder when their character is forced to think, speak, and interact in non-combat situations and negotiations. If you get Power Gamers, don't let them roll Diplomacy, Bluff, and the like… make them 'Act' it out. This won't always work, but it often does.

Final Words:

This guide, well if you want to call it that, is meant to show you how character creation in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition works. As before if you see a problem in my writing please feel free to email me about it, and I will correct it as soon as possible, and if you wish to berate me for my ignorance, selling out as a D&D player, or whatever…
Please don't waste my, or your, time.

--ShadrachVS--

All information contained within is based on Copyrighted Information of WOTC, unless it is an Opinion of the author then WOTC is not responsible for the author's views or interpretations of their Copyrighted Work.

Dragon Ninja

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