Introduction to character creation
Characters in this campaign start at level 5 (see Session 0 and Character Creation for the full checklist). Building one means working through a handful of choices in order: pick a class, decide your origin (background and species), generate your six ability scores and assign them, settle on an alignment, and finally fill in the personal details that make the character yours. The sections below walk through each step.
First step: choose a class
Pick a class from any official WotC-published book (2024 or 2014). This decision sets your hit points, proficiencies, and the features you’ll pick up as you go — since you’re starting at level 5, build your class choices as if you levelled from 1 to 5, taking whichever subclass and feature choices your class offers along the way (e.g. subclass selection, Ability Score Improvements/feats). Refer to your class’s table in the source book for what’s available at each level.
Choose your origin
Your origin is made up of two parts: background and species.
Mixing 2024 and 2014 rules
This campaign allows backgrounds and species from either the 2024 or 2014 rules, but the two editions split up ability score increases differently:
- 2024: your background grants the ability score increase(s).
- 2014: your species (race) grants the ability score increase(s) instead — 2014 backgrounds don’t.
You can mix and match (e.g. a 2014 species with a 2024 background, or vice versa), but only take the ability score increase from one of the two — whichever one is written for the edition it comes from. Ask the DM if you’re unsure which side of a mixed pick is granting yours.
Background
Choose a background from either edition. In 2024 this is also where your ability score increase and Origin feat come from.
Species
Choose a species from either edition. In 2014 this is also where your ability score increase comes from.
Species most commonly found on Terra: Drow, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Goliaths, Humans, and Tieflings. Ask the DM first if you’d like to play something outside this list.
Rolling ability scores and assigning them to abilities (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA)
Once you have your six scores, assign them across Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma as you like, then apply whatever increase your background or species (see above) grants. You may generate your scores using any one of the three methods below.
Rolling 4d6, choose 3 highest
Roll 4d6 six times, dropping the lowest die from each roll, to get six scores.
Point Buy
Spend a pool of points to buy up your six scores using the standard point-buy costs.
Standard Array
Assign the fixed array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 across your six scores.
Alignment
Pick an alignment for your character if you’d like one — it’s a light flavour tool for how your character tends to act, not a strict rule. It won’t be enforced mechanically at this table.
Character details
Background story
Write a short surface-level backstory for your character — where they’re from, and what’s brought them to this point.
Motivation
What does your character want? Give them something they’re chasing or working toward.
Relations to the world/party/characters
Decide whether your character has prior relationships with the rest of the party (or anyone else in the world), and how.
Notes
- New tags introduced for this page:
Guide(no existing tag in the vault covers rules-explainer pages like this one — flag if you’d rather reuse an existing tag instead). - Class-by-class level 1–5 feature/subclass tables aren’t reproduced here (sourcing fidelity — that content lives in the official books); this page only tells players to build up through those levels conceptually. Flag if you want a summarized progression table added per class, or a link to specific SRD/D&D Beyond pages.
- Species list is copied from the Session 0 and Character Creation checklist for consistency — flag if that list has changed since.
- Point Buy costs and exact array numbers are stated as standard SRD defaults; flag if this table uses any house-ruled point totals.