Hi, I'm new to D&D and still in the character creation process. But I'm already running into a problem here. While I've already determined the race, class, appearance, and backstory of my character, I'm running into the problem of distributing skill points according to my backstory. My Rogue is a highly efficient and strategic assassin with a bad-ass charm, which makes him particularly effective at intimidating and lying. The problem is to transfer these characteristics into the scoring system. While Strength and Constitution are only average according to my ideas, all the other four skills would have to be maximized to fit his backstory, which would make him overpowered. Here is why: Dexterity I need Dexterity to be extremely high in order to deal high damage and have good stealth rolls, as he is one of the best assassins of his time, taking out his enemies almost invisibly and silently. Furthermore, his extremely high Dexterity is due to his criminal past as a thief and bounty hunter, which is why he needs good rolls on actions like pick a lock, disable a trap, securely tie up a prisoner, or wriggle free of bonds. On the other hand, he is only an average acrobat and is not a bit musical (including playing a stringed instrument). He is also not good at making small or detailed objects. Rolls on these actions should therefore be below average, but this is not possible due to the extremely high Dexterity I need. Wisdom While an extremely high Wisdom is justified and needed, as he has a very good knowledge of human nature (Insight), an extremely good perception (Perception), which makes it almost impossible to ambush him or set a trap, and he is a very good tracker (Survival), he has no special abilities to diagnose or even heal other players, because he was a lone fighter in the past, and his Animal Handling is not good either, which is why he should not have high rolls for these abilities. Charisma He should also be extremely good at Charisma, as he needs excellent rolls on Deception and Intimidation. On the other hand, he is below average in Performance and Persuasion. He can perfectly play other people off against each other, manipulate, lie, mislead and exploit, but all normal interpersonal interactions that have no direct, foreseeable benefit are almost impossible for him (making friends, small talk, storytelling, entertainment, etc.). Intelligence In terms of Intelligence, he also needs extremely good scores, as he is an excellent strategist with very well-developed logical thinking and deductive reasoning. In terms of Investigation, he needs high rolls, as he is definitely able to determine which weapon has caused a particular wound and which part of a tunnel is the weak point and can cause it to collapse. He also knows a lot about other peoples, cultures, cults, legends, kingdoms, disputes, wars, terrain, animals, monsters, symbolism, and objects, as he either uses this to his advantage in strategic planning in terms of combat or infiltration, needs the knowledge to be able to estimate the value of objects on raids, or makes use of this knowledge to forge documents. However, he himself has absolutely no affinity for magic, so he can neither use spells nor communicate with a living being without using words. He also lacks the skill and patience to follow up clues.
The problem is that on the one hand, he is an absolute perfectionist in everything that is important for his missions, which makes him one of the best assassins in the world. On the other hand, he is below average to miserable in everything else. How can these characteristics expressed in the values? Have you come across similar contradictions within a value group? If so, how did you deal with them?
It seems like you are thinking of what your character wants to be, not what they are. At 1st level, they are not one of the best in the world at anything. That’s something they aspire to and grow into over the course of the game. They are going to be better than most people to start, but without room to grow, there’s no story. You’re not the master of the assassin’s guild; you’re a promising intern.
And in another sense, D&D is about trade offs. You are part of a team of heroes (or antiheroes), not the main character. No one character is great at everything. You need to make choices.
Rogues are probably the most single attribute dependent class in the game, you want high dex the rest is flavour and character concept, but as Xalthu said unless you are building a high level character you will not be the best in the world at anything.
The game is also a simplification, it assumes someone who is dexterous both has a steady hand for making small objects and disabling traps and has quick reflexes for g3tting out of the way of a falling rock. If you are an expert in reading body language of intelligent creatures (insight) it makes sense that you do not completely suck at reading 5he body language of animals.
From your description you want to be proficient insight, perception, survival, deception, intimidation, investigation and stealth. You get 6 skills from your class and background and it is easy to get your 7th from race. Max you dex and choose your other ability scores and expertise in line with which of these skills you want to emphasise.
@Xalthu, your first advice really clicked with me. I realized my character doesn't have to be perfect from the get-go, just talented. I've tweaked my backstory to reflect that, and it feels much more authentic now. Appreciate your help with that!
@Jegpeg, your tips on where to put my ability points to match my character's story and skills were super helpful. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Thanks again for taking the time to give me advice. Looking forward to seeing how these changes play out in the game!
You don’t need 16+ to be considered dexterous, wise, charismatic, etc. That can be mechanically reflected with a 12 or higher. Some of the skill stuff you are looking for will be reflected in your Proficiency Bonus and Expertise. Also, you will have teammates who can excel at the things you don’t. No one is in this game meant to do it all.
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Hi, I'm new to D&D and still in the character creation process. But I'm already running into a problem here. While I've already determined the race, class, appearance, and backstory of my character, I'm running into the problem of distributing skill points according to my backstory. My Rogue is a highly efficient and strategic assassin with a bad-ass charm, which makes him particularly effective at intimidating and lying. The problem is to transfer these characteristics into the scoring system. While Strength and Constitution are only average according to my ideas, all the other four skills would have to be maximized to fit his backstory, which would make him overpowered. Here is why:
Dexterity
I need Dexterity to be extremely high in order to deal high damage and have good stealth rolls, as he is one of the best assassins of his time, taking out his enemies almost invisibly and silently. Furthermore, his extremely high Dexterity is due to his criminal past as a thief and bounty hunter, which is why he needs good rolls on actions like pick a lock, disable a trap, securely tie up a prisoner, or wriggle free of bonds. On the other hand, he is only an average acrobat and is not a bit musical (including playing a stringed instrument). He is also not good at making small or detailed objects. Rolls on these actions should therefore be below average, but this is not possible due to the extremely high Dexterity I need.
Wisdom
While an extremely high Wisdom is justified and needed, as he has a very good knowledge of human nature (Insight), an extremely good perception (Perception), which makes it almost impossible to ambush him or set a trap, and he is a very good tracker (Survival), he has no special abilities to diagnose or even heal other players, because he was a lone fighter in the past, and his Animal Handling is not good either, which is why he should not have high rolls for these abilities.
Charisma
He should also be extremely good at Charisma, as he needs excellent rolls on Deception and Intimidation. On the other hand, he is below average in Performance and Persuasion. He can perfectly play other people off against each other, manipulate, lie, mislead and exploit, but all normal interpersonal interactions that have no direct, foreseeable benefit are almost impossible for him (making friends, small talk, storytelling, entertainment, etc.).
Intelligence
In terms of Intelligence, he also needs extremely good scores, as he is an excellent strategist with very well-developed logical thinking and deductive reasoning. In terms of Investigation, he needs high rolls, as he is definitely able to determine which weapon has caused a particular wound and which part of a tunnel is the weak point and can cause it to collapse. He also knows a lot about other peoples, cultures, cults, legends, kingdoms, disputes, wars, terrain, animals, monsters, symbolism, and objects, as he either uses this to his advantage in strategic planning in terms of combat or infiltration, needs the knowledge to be able to estimate the value of objects on raids, or makes use of this knowledge to forge documents. However, he himself has absolutely no affinity for magic, so he can neither use spells nor communicate with a living being without using words. He also lacks the skill and patience to follow up clues.
The problem is that on the one hand, he is an absolute perfectionist in everything that is important for his missions, which makes him one of the best assassins in the world. On the other hand, he is below average to miserable in everything else. How can these characteristics expressed in the values? Have you come across similar contradictions within a value group? If so, how did you deal with them?
It seems like you are thinking of what your character wants to be, not what they are. At 1st level, they are not one of the best in the world at anything. That’s something they aspire to and grow into over the course of the game. They are going to be better than most people to start, but without room to grow, there’s no story. You’re not the master of the assassin’s guild; you’re a promising intern.
And in another sense, D&D is about trade offs. You are part of a team of heroes (or antiheroes), not the main character. No one character is great at everything. You need to make choices.
Rogues are probably the most single attribute dependent class in the game, you want high dex the rest is flavour and character concept, but as Xalthu said unless you are building a high level character you will not be the best in the world at anything.
The game is also a simplification, it assumes someone who is dexterous both has a steady hand for making small objects and disabling traps and has quick reflexes for g3tting out of the way of a falling rock. If you are an expert in reading body language of intelligent creatures (insight) it makes sense that you do not completely suck at reading 5he body language of animals.
From your description you want to be proficient insight, perception, survival, deception, intimidation, investigation and stealth. You get 6 skills from your class and background and it is easy to get your 7th from race. Max you dex and choose your other ability scores and expertise in line with which of these skills you want to emphasise.
Thanks a lot to both of you!
@Xalthu, your first advice really clicked with me. I realized my character doesn't have to be perfect from the get-go, just talented. I've tweaked my backstory to reflect that, and it feels much more authentic now. Appreciate your help with that!
@Jegpeg, your tips on where to put my ability points to match my character's story and skills were super helpful. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Thanks again for taking the time to give me advice. Looking forward to seeing how these changes play out in the game!
You don’t need 16+ to be considered dexterous, wise, charismatic, etc. That can be mechanically reflected with a 12 or higher. Some of the skill stuff you are looking for will be reflected in your Proficiency Bonus and Expertise. Also, you will have teammates who can excel at the things you don’t. No one is in this game meant to do it all.