Character Creation
Your first step in playing an adventurer is to imagine and create a character of your own. Your character is a combination of game statistics, roleplaying hooks, and your imagination. You choose a species (such as human or halfling) and talents (such as weapon proficiency or spellcasting). You also invent the personality, appearance, and backstory of your character. Once completed, your character serves as your avatar in the game.
Before you dive into step 1 below, think about the kind of adventurer that you want to play. You might be a courageous fighter, a skulking rogue, a fervent cleric, or a flamboyant wizard. Or you might be more interested in an unconventional character, such as a brawny rogue who likes hand-to-hand combat, or a sharpshooter who picks off enemies from afar. Do you like fantasy fiction featuring dwarves or elves? Try building a character of one of those species. Do you want to be the toughest adventurer at the table? Consider taking talents from the barbarian or paladin trees.
Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, making decisions that reflect the character you want. Your conception of your character might evolve with each choice that you make. What’s important is that you come to the table with a character that you’re excited to play.
Throughout this section, we use the term character sheet to mean whatever you use to track your character, whether it’s a formal character sheet, some form of digital record, or a piece of notebook paper.