This will be using the RPG Crossing's Character Profiler for Sheet Storage, for which you can use just about any name to open up and make a new sheet, just make sure it's a 5e template. This sheet creation will use the Basic Rules, which can be found free and legal in PDF format via this link and does not use the whole of the 5e Player's Handbook.
And since I'm just using the Basic Rules, I'm allowed Clerics, Fighters, Rogues, Wizards and in terms of Classes, and Dwarf, Elf, Halfling and Human in terms of Races. The full 5e PHB will have more options for character creation, but for here, I'll keep it simple and use the freebies from the good folks at Wizards. The Basic Rules, in and of themselves, provide Quick Build advice in regards to making characters, and should be all you need for creating one, but nonetheless here's a sample. Please be advised that the Steps I'm going through may not be in the same order as the character building as per Chapter 1 of the Basics.
Step 1: Decide what sort of character to play. (Class, Race, Level)
The bare minimum a player needs in order to start creating a Player Character (PC) is a base concept for the character he or she wants to bring to life in a particular RPG. The Dungeon Master (DM) gives requirements and allowances in regards to what can be made. Example: The New Player Solo Games all begin at 1st level, which means zero experience, the characters will all be essentially out on their first adventure. So let's consider the sort of person that might be out on such an adventure? How about a young swordsman from a small town. He'll accept fame and glory by proving his martial prowess, as that comes with adventuring sometimes, but only by facing the against common foes of the land? He'll be a strong, tough guy, not exactly a scholar, and his limited experience with the world leaves him as not quite a "people person" yet. Yes, he's a little rough around the edges, but he's up for fighting the good fight.
With that concept in mind, I now choose a Human Fighter from the Basic Rules options, a 1st level character with 0 Experience Points (XP), and fill in the top of the character sheet accordingly. I'll get to the rest of the sheet soon enough, for now, I just need Class, Race, and Level.
Note: You do not have to automatically choose Fighter for a New Player Solo Game. This class choice is just for this particular example character.
Step 2: Fill in your ability scores. (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA)
There are six ability scores to take into consideration and assign values to. You can read what all each one covers within the Basic Rules. Reading over them, and then assigning the numbers will help determine various modifiers to future in game rolls, and give a quick glance insight into what the character might be capable of, or how to describe it. The higher the number, the better. For example, a Fighter with a 16 STR is considerably stronger than one with a 12 STR, and might be described as the more muscular of the two, if two such fighters were standing near each other. Now, while different types of character builds will call for different ability scores to be prioritized, most Fighters rely on Strength to win battles, and this sample character I'm building now will be no different.
The Basic Rules give multiple options for determining ability scores, and for now, just for this character, I shall use the Variant that's known by some as the point buy system.
Note: The point buy system is not used by all DMs of 5e games on site. It is simply one method of ability system creation. Another method is to roll 4d6 a total of six times, and for each of those rolls, keep the highest 3 dice of each set. Your DM will inform you at some point prior to actual character creation of which system to use, and any variations of it.
As per page 8 of the Basic Rules, each desired ability score requires a different number of points to buy, and I get 27 points with which to buy them. If I want to leave a score as an 8, then it costs 0 points. If I want one of our scores to be a 10, it costs 2 points. If I want the maximum allowable from this method of a 15, then I pay the cost of 9. Now, keep in mind that the Race chosen for the character will have ability score modifiers. I'll need to remember those as I spend the points. As this Fighter-to-be is a "strong, tough guy", let's go ahead and maximize his STR and CON. A pair of 15s costs us 18 points. Now, Humans get +1 to every ability score, which means our Fighter will have a 16 STR and a 16 CON, which will provide +3 modifiers for checks (rolls) related to those abilities. A good DEX is also key for most fighters, and by spending 5 points, I will have a 13 DEX, which is bumped up to a 14 because of being Human. A 14 DEX gives us a +2 modifier in that area, and I'll now down to 4 points to spend. 1 point spent on INT, 3 on WIS, and 0 on CHA, leads to scores of 9, 11, and 8 respectively, but Human racial bonuses leads to a 10 INT, 12 WIS and 9 CHA. No, definitely not a scholar or a people person yet. Note: a 9 in an ability score provides a negative modifier to related checks. 9 just means below average, it doesn't mean awful or terrible.
As for the sheet, I enter the ability scores in the appropriate boxes, and make sure to notate somewhere how I spent those Point Buys.
Step 3: Fill in the Racial Modifiers (Basic Rules Chapter 2)
Probably could've done this along with Step 1, but let's go ahead and do it now. I go to the section of Chapter 2 and look up the Human Traits.
Ability Score Increase: All of them increase by 1. I'll put this under Feats and Special Abilities, making sure I adjusted my scores accordingly.
Age: I'll go with 18, he's a young adult. That goes on a line up on the top part of the character sheet, as does choices for height and weight.
Size: While I'm thinking about height and weight, DMs tend to be lenient with choices here, just keep it within the usual ranges that are listed. Chapter 4 has examples of the ranges, so you know. 6' tall and 180 pounds works just fine for this warrior, and I'll note a M for Medium in the acutal size category. Medium means 1 space in a typical map that uses 5' x 5' for each map square.
Alignment: I went out of order but I'm back to this trait. A character's alignment is an indicator of what type of person he or she is. If you're new to DnD, you'll want to read up on alignment by skipping over to Chapter 4 for just a bit. Now, I'll be honest and point out that NPSG characters are protagonists, meant to be the "good guys" and "heroic ladies" in their particular stories, so Evil alignments just aren't going to work out. As I said this warrior is up for fighting the good fight, I think Neutral Good is a perfectly acceptable alignment here.
Speed: 30'. It means the character can move 6 squares on a typical map with what's called a Move Action.
Languages: Humans start with Common, and pick one extra for free. Any basic language will do, just need a reason for it. I'll go with Elvish, under the notion that the fighter learned some of his sword fighting techniques from an Elven teacher, one who preferred to speak his native tongue.
**Note: Variant Human Traits will not be used here, as we're not using the full Player's Handbook.**
Step 4: Input the Class Features (Chapter 3)
Hit Points (HP). These are what you use to determine how much damage your character can take, and has taken. Fighters get d10s for Hit Dice, and a 1st level Fighter starts with 10 + CON modifier, with that 10 being the max you can roll on a d10. As this fighter has a 16 CON, he has a +3 modifier, giving him a maximum of 13 total Hit Points.
Proficiences: These represent what the character is trained with using or working with.
4a) Armor, Weapons, Tools: Fighters get proficiency with all armor, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons, but no tools. All of that should be notated on the sheet.
4b) Saving Throws: These represent the ability scores that you get to add your proficiency bonus to when asked to roll a particular type of Saving Throw. Saves help you lessen or avoid damage in certain situations. Fighters get STR and CON as their proficient saves.
4c) Skills: All of these have their uses, and I can choose two from the list given. I'll take Perception and Athletics, which I'll now get to add my proficiency bonus to, thinking they suit my character well enough.
Equipment: There are 4 bullet points here, each one giving me 2 choices for gear. As I've got a swordsman in mind, not an archer, I'll take the fighter's proficiences in mind and take the following
a) chain mail
a) a martial weapon (longsword) and a shield
b) 2 hand axes
b) an explorer's pack (the items in this pack, as well as weights of all the gear, are detailed in the Equipment chapter)
My character sheet provides space for me to list the weights and locations of my gear, so I shall tend to that. For example, I simply say my explorer's pack is on my back, and the items within them (once listed separately) are in the pack.
The Fighter table: In addition to a proficiency bonus of +2, having a 1st level character shows that I can choose a Fighting Style, and have a power known as Second Wind. I'm going to take Dueling for my Fighting Style, under the notion that a shield is not a weapon, and the longsword will be wielded with 1 hand. Second Wind allows me to regain HP lost during a battle, but only once before I take a rest.
Step 5: Choose your background + personality traits (Chapter 4)
Now, I want to skip ahead in this chapter to do the background first. Why, because in the quick build section of the Fighter class, it said to pick Soldier as a background. But as there are several other options here, I want to read through them and see if something else is more appropriate. For this warrior, I realize that Acolyte, Criminal, Noble and Sage just don't work. But rather than him be a member of an actual army, I'd rather he be a man of the people, though still not a people person, and go with Folk Hero for the background. It looks like I've got more proficiencies and equipment to add to my sheet. Artisan's tools are in the Equipment chapter, and I'm going to take Carpenter's tools, and carpentry, in terms of gear and skill. Must remember to list locations and weights of all the gear I get from my background as well.
Playing a Folk Hero entitles me to the Rustic Background feature, the mechanics of which I can define on the sheet, but how did the character get that status? Ah yes, the Defining Event. Rather than determine it randomly, I'll pick one, and for this character, he shall have stood alone against a terrible monster. It's up to me to choose the monster, and barring a storyline nix from a DM, I shall say that a fresh water spring near his hometown was somehow being polluted. While many looked for the assailant, he alone found and defeated a monster made of pure filth. Part luck and good fortune, part good skill with his blade, all led to an encounter he barely survived, one where upon being found by some of his fellow townsfolk, he could only describe it as "Critter...Bad" before passing out due to his wounds.
With the Event defined, we now turn to the rest of the chapter's notables. I'll go with lending help to others for his personality trait, respect for his ideal, protecting others for his bond, but being blind to his shortcomings for his flaw. Now, this may not be exactly the aspects I thought of when first thinking of the character, but part of the fun of character creation is working with the options given to you to come up with something interesting and playable.
Now, back to the personality traits. Pick two. Saying just something like "he's strong" or "he's a fighter" just won't do here. How about, "willing to lend his strength to a good cause" but pair that with "must prove he is a quality swordsman"? Yes, let's go with that.
Step 6: Equipment (Chapter 5)
I should have all my equipment sorted out due to class and background choices, but here's where we do some mechanics. For example, this Fighter has Chain Mail and a shield. The Armor chart lists Chain Mail as an AC of 16, and a +2 from the shield giving him an 18 total. Note: in some previous editions of D&D and similar games, armor ratings are given as additions to a base 10. In 5e, it would appear that they factor that in for you, so you can easily discern your base AC.
I am proficient in longsword use, so to attack with it, I add my Proficiency bonus to my STR modifier, which would be 2 added to 3, for an attack modifier of 5. Longsword held in one hand does 1d8 slashing damage plus STR modifier, and I add this Fighter's Dueling bonus of +2 to 1 hand held weapon damage and thus my sword does 1d8+5. Hand axe, as a melee weapon will act the same, being +5 to attack, 1d6+5 slashing damage. But now as a thrown weapon, I can still use my STR modifier to attack (an exception to the use DEX for ranged weapons rule), but I don't believe I'd get the Dueling damage bonus. So for thrown axe, +5 to attack, 1d6+3 damage.
Step 7: Everything Else
And here, my readers, is where we wrap up the tutorial. The character's name doesn't have to be what we first saved the sheet under, and I'll leave it to you all to imagine a name for this fighter. The character does not currently have "inspiration". That's something to be earned in game. Combat is something to be covered between players and DMs in games, spellcasting and spell learning is to be had by some other character, some other time. What you have here is a barebones how to, under the notion that 5e is laid out well enough to where any questions that arise can be answered within the Basic Rules, or you can simply PM me as you see fit.
September 2016 addendum: The wizards.com site I have linked to earlier in this post may go through changes in regards to what they provide in terms of Basic Rules. If any page or section I have linked to does not seem to correlate properly with the particular subject at hand, please PM me. Thanks.
2021 notice - Currency and Equipment list on sheet isn't complete, but should be easy enough to sort out for your own character based on Class and Background.
Note that some DMs will insist on every item being noted before start of game. Also in 5e, some DMs allow for the rolling of trinkets, or may give extra coins and equipment.
-zev
Last edited by zevonian; Oct 12th, 2021 at 02:35 AM.