Character Building 101

I love making characters in 5e. It is my favorite part of Dungeons and Dragons. It is a skill that requires practice, which you can do for fun on a lazy afternoon. You can also work with the rest of your group to make the best character that you can for the campaign you are going to be a part of.

I’m not going to tell you which race, character class, or background to choose. You should choose what you think will be interesting to play. For instance, I don’t really like dwarves and I have never played one, but I know that if you want to play a frontliner tank then you can’t go wrong with a dwarf.

Let’s talk about some things to think about when building your characters.

Start with a Spark

There are three main pieces to making a character, they are race, class, and background. They do not need to be chosen in that order. If the Urchin background interests you, then think about what race and class would work best with the story you are creating for your character.

If I’m building a martial class, then I usually start with the weapon. For instance, I want to make the best knife fighter or I want a character that is good with a shield. Or I start with an idea like, what if the magician’s rabbit is the actual wizard? Find the spark that interests you and build your character from there.

Unless the adventure is a one-shot, you are going to be spending quite a bit of time with your character. Make sure your character is someone you want to spend a lot of time with. They will be inside your head even when you are not at the table.

You Are Not Alone

At its core, Dungeons and Dragons is a cooperative game. You are working as a team to slay the dragon, save the town, or stop the orc raids. You are a hero not the hero of the story.

Make connections between your character and other members of the party. You could be related either through birth or marriage. You could be good friends that grew up on the same street. You could have been in a traveling minstrel show together that disbanded. Create these connections within the party to make a cohesive group that has a reason to be together. I’m not saying you should avoid conflict within the party, but every decision and interaction should not have the party on the verge of rolling initiative against each other. Player versus player combat is not a place you want to go and never goes down the way you expect it to.

I don’t believe that parties need to have a balanced mix of classes to be successful. Sure, if you don’t have a cleric then an encounter with the undead is going to be more challenging. The different classes in 5e have enough overlap that each class does not need to be represented to create an effective party. Be aware of your group’s deficiencies and come up with solutions to make up for them. This might mean picking different spells than you would normally, acquiring feats that have a party focus, or even multiclassing to pick up the missing abilities.

Session Zero

If your group is doing a session zero, then come to the table with two or three ideas. The ideas only need to be rough with at least a race and class. Backgrounds are best chosen at the table, but if you have a strong idea having all three pieces chosen is not bad. It has been my experience that usually one player comes to the table with a strong idea and everyone else creates their characters around that one. This has not led to main character syndrome, but the players that are at the core of my group are very good at creating a team as opposed to a lead with their minions.

Resist the temptation of creating your entire character before sitting down for session zero. It is best to leave some wiggle room as to what your character will be until you get an idea as to what everyone else is doing. Keep an ear open as the other players are developing their characters to see how you can tie your backstories together. If someone picks the Folk Hero background where they rescued locals from slavers, maybe you could be one of the rescued locals or one of the slavers that learned the error of their way. This would tie these two characters together and make for some interesting role-playing opportunities during the campaign.

Don’t ignore the world that the DM is running. If you are going to be in a nautically themed campaign then you better know how to swim, navigate the water, be proficient with water vehicles, and/or know how to repair them. If you insist on being a fish out of water (or an aarakocra underwater), then know that you are going to be missing out or be a liability to your party. Make a character that makes sense in the world that they live.

Fill a Hole

If you have no ideas for a new character, then find out what everyone else is playing and fill in the missing piece. No healer in the party? Take a look at Cleric, Druid, Bard, or Paladin. No frontliner? Then think about making a Barbarian, Fighter, or Paladin.

I look at the combat situation in three levels. The first level is the frontliners and those who are going to be in close with the enemy. The third level is the squishier characters such as your spellcasters along with your missile weapon experts. Those in the middle need to be able to do both. They either run up to get in close with the enemy if there is a hole or they fall back and sling spells. In certain situations, they fall back to protect the spellcasters if the enemy flanks the party or more enemies show up. A party filled with squishy spellcasters and archers is going to find out the hard way that there is no way to avoid melee combat. See if there are any missing pieces to the current party and make the character that can fill that role.

Backstory

Your backstory should fit on the back of a novel and not be the novel itself. As a DM, I just need a couple of highlights to pull your character into the larger story. If you need some ideas, then the This is Your Life chapter in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything is a great place to start. A couple of die rolls will give you some insight into your character’s story thus far. The best part is that you can ignore any roll that doesn’t make any sense.

Multiclassing

A well put together multiclass build requires planning. Power chasing without a plan will make a character that is mediocre at many things without being good at anything. Or have abilities that come into play too late in the game to be effective.

The most important character levels are the levels where you get an ability increase or feat. If you dip into another class, then it needs to be something that adds to your character or boosts the abilities of your character like a feat or ability score increase would. If you need to go over three levels to get what you want to make your vision come to life then you better make sure you are not diluting the abilities of your main or original class.

Make sure that the classes synergize together or with the race and feats that you have. I want my multiclass builds to really come into their own by no later than sixth level. If your character is not coming online until tenth level or higher, you will want to rethink the build because you will spend a long time waiting for your character to be the best version of itself.

A Word on Min-Maxing

I am interested in making the best character that I can and sometimes that looks like min-maxing, but I don’t crunch numbers to find the best combination. I have a vision for my character and if that means the character is a great sword fighter then I’m going to choose abilities that maximize that part of the build. But, if I’m building a character who is damaged from a past that had them held captive then all the abilities that character chooses will minimize the chance that they will be captured again. Even if that reduces their capacity to lay down damage in a combat situation. Combat is important in D&D, but it is not the only thing. I’ve had just as much fun role-playing my character for a whole evening and not once picking up the dice in anger.

I have nothing against making your character very effective in combat, but remember this might mean you have nothing to do during the exploration or investigation portion of the adventure. You might be able to split open an ogre’s head in one hit, but that won’t help you smooze the innkeeper into spilling the beans on the local lord (well not without the threat of death). Not all problems can be fixed with blunt-force violence.

With that said, there are several very good optimizers out there that share how they build their characters. I would suggest watching their videos or reading their articles to get ideas on how to build a character. They will also show the best ways to multiclass to create a character that is cohesive and functional. I really like Treantmonk’s Temple and d4: D&D Deep Dive for some excellent builds and great character ideas.

Action/Bonus Action/Reaction

Keep track of what your character can do. I have a chart that has all the Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions that my character can do. Most spells take an action, so I don’t list those out, but I do keep track of the Bonus Action and Reaction spells that my character has available. Certain character classes have very few options for their Bonus Action while others have a plethora. Be aware of what you can do and when you can do it.

Be Flexible

Take time to play around with all of the different options available. Look at the subclasses and have an idea of where you want your character to go in their career, but be aware that the campaign may change those expectations. The feat you had an eye on at first level may not make sense when you finally have a chance to pick it up. The subclass that you thought you would pick may not make sense in the campaign. Be aware of what the other players are doing so that you do not overlap abilities while continuing to leave a glaring hole in the party’s capabilities.

In the End

Make a character that is fun for you while being an effective member of their party and a cohesive part of the world of the adventure. This is going to look different at every table. Sometimes the character that does the most damage is the best character you can make and other times the character that has the social aspect of the game covered is the optimal choice. Read the room (or table) and see what makes sense. If you are going to go against the grain, then be prepared with a very good reason and for a tough journey. Just remember, this is a game that requires cooperation whether this is in the party or between the party and the DM. Create a character that is fun for you and that lives comfortably in the world of the campaign.