DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
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“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
I once played a character named "Joe Average", during the early 2e days. He was a human cook, combat proficient with either his chef's knife or meat tenderizing mallet, or both. Just for fun, his ability scores were all 10s. His armor class, 10.
That guy played a support role, as cook and provisions gatherer. He did get involved in the adventure party's fights on occasion, and fought off the occasional random encounter from upsetting his chuck wagon (used sometimes, during some adventures) and his meal preparations, while the heroes were scouring a dungeon. Joe average survived to buy his own building and retired to run an inn, at level 11 Wilderness Chef.
If the dice gods are in the commoner's favor, they can make it.
Wow! Is there a way that could be brought over to 5e?
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“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
Jack, I'd have to rebuild him from memory. His paper character sheet is long gone. Not hard to create from scratch: all 10s, at the time he got d4 hit die when he advanced, and he advanced at the same experience point rate as the 2e rogue.
DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
One of wotc's mistakes was deciding what PC's are supposed to be be.
They are to be heroic, not super-heroes. And because of that, we are now in a position of the 180 plus sub-classes. well over 90% of them have some magical feature, or magic using, or abilities that are supernatural.
If you want to play an "average joe", the closest you can come to that is a few of the Rogue subclasses, like Scout. or Thief, or the Battlemaster subclass in the Fighter class. Then choose Human (NOT Variant) or Halfling. You can and will then have a PC that has no inherent magical abilities (outside of Halfling Luck), and you can keep it that way. And even then, by 9th or 10th level, you will roll your eyes at what these "non-magical" PC 's can do. But be prepared. Though they are fun to play, they will lag behind on the power curve of the other PC's in your group.
DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
Start a game at level one, use the default array for stats, don't take feats, stick to PHB only.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
One of wotc's mistakes was deciding what PC's are supposed to be be.
Oh yes, how dare they give characters heroic capabilities in a game that is meant to emulate heroic fantasy stories. What could they have been thinking?
In answer to the question: use the commoner stat block and get used to being downed/killed is the way to really get the experience. Otherwise just stick to tier 1 campaigns and don't play casters, you should feel fairly basic.
Hard agree with Ace on not playing casters. Even if you're playing in a setting where spellcasting is commonly practiced and taught, not having access to a wide diversity of reality-bending options in your toolkit makes you far more grounded.
Fighters don't get a lot of kit, and other than their accelerated stat progression through frequent ASIs, theyre the closest thing to average joe you can probably get. Rogues start feeling far more advanced and powerful through their sneak attacks and high skill ceiling, so keep that in mind if you were planning a more stealthy lean.
One of my longtime friends in a campaign with me often looks at how much I strategize as an artificer, when he just glances at his fighter character sheet and laughs. "You're over here looking at the fight like a chess match, Reberta, while I just hit things!"
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
You’ve essentially just described a level 0 PC. Take the commoner statblock. Choose a race and apply all of the racial traits and languages and ASIs to the commoner just like you would for a PC. Then pick a background you like and apply it to the statblock, but not so much as their “background,” but more as their “present.” Give them the whole 9 yards, physical description, personality traits, even a little list of equipment detailing what they usually have on them when they leave the house (clothes, pouch, cash, etc.), and write up a 3 sentence backstory too to round them out.
That’s essentially how I design a lot of my NPCs that are noteworthy enough to be more than just a name scratched on a piece of paper, but not actually significant enough to be anything more than that. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/2067765-spostas-quick-commoners).
Then, run around and do enough stuff to earn 100 experience points and all of a sudden, voilà, you’re a 1st level character.
If you're going to limit your spell selection (even an average wizard would take firebolt or something similar) just stick with non casters. Maybe a scout rogue or champion fighter. Barbarians do feel like superheroes though.
If you've seen Delicious in Dungeon, Laios is (comparatively) average - not particularly skilled in any way, according to Shiro. But he's very knowledgeable about monsters, he's brave and a competent lateral thinker.
That's easy enough to build. Building a fighter to fit that mold is maybe not ideal (Laios is a fighter), but there are other options.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You build it exactly as you described it. Every stat is a 10. You choose the prestidigitation cantrip. Simple weapon proficiencies so (s)he uses knife or sickle. This used to be known as a level 0 character, but if you want it higher then it's 1d8 hit points per whatever level you want him/her to have.
Here is the thing - building an average Joe character is easy. But there is a good chance the joke build makes others at your table pretty annoyed. If your character cannot hold their own weight in combat, guess what? Your commitment to a joke makes the faith harder to balance for the DM, and means everyone else must pull more than their weight. This is the kind of character you need to think long and hard about - your desire to play average very well could make the game less fun than everyone else playing. Know your group well before embarking on this character - and pay attention to their attitudes and mannerisms. Even if it is the kind of character they are okay with you staring with, you should be ready to retire the character before crossing the line into selfishly continuing with the character long after everyone else is over it.
Take the commoner statblock like others have suggested. For a class, take the Warlock.
The powerful artifact that your character will need to protect serves also as the gateway to your patron. But your patron is fickle, narcissistic, pre-occupied, apathetic, etc. As a result, they leave your character to their own devices unless if the character is truly in desperate need, or something sparks the patron's interests and demands the character to engage. When the patron pulls their presence they also pull the Pact Magic feature leaving your character as a leather armor wearing, simple weapon wielding adventurer. Only when the patron makes their presence felt does your character have access to Pact Magic.
And to help the party out, allow the artifact that you have expend charges that boost your Charisma to 20. The charges should be limited (no more than 3 per day) but the duration should be like 10 minutes to ensure it can effect the game positively. Regain all at dawn. So now, when the moment calls for it, your character can be one of the, if not the, most impactful characters to resolve an encounter. But once that moment passes, the can return to being an Average Joe.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
I usually start all my characters off with them being no one special, as that is always a good start point in a campaign esp when starting at level 1. The idea is their story gets to grew as extraordinary things happen to them. example
I made a "Bard" she was a level 1 Tiefling fighter with a background in entertainment. (The bouncer at a circus) nothing special, no way to grow, in walks Rise of the Dragon Queen (Early 5th ed Adventure) she grew into a Fighter Bard and hero, but even at the end she was basically just the Bouncer.
Take the commoner statblock like others have suggested. For a class, take the Warlock.
The powerful artifact that your character will need to protect serves also as the gateway to your patron. But your patron is fickle, narcissistic, pre-occupied, apathetic, etc. As a result, they leave your character to their own devices unless if the character is truly in desperate need, or something sparks the patron's interests and demands the character to engage. When the patron pulls their presence they also pull the Pact Magic feature leaving your character as a leather armor wearing, simple weapon wielding adventurer. Only when the patron makes their presence felt does your character have access to Pact Magic.
And to help the party out, allow the artifact that you have expend charges that boost your Charisma to 20. The charges should be limited (no more than 3 per day) but the duration should be like 10 minutes to ensure it can effect the game positively. Regain all at dawn. So now, when the moment calls for it, your character can be one of the, if not the, most impactful characters to resolve an encounter. But once that moment passes, the can return to being an Average Joe.
This reminds me of a Kenku Warlock I heard about. The Kenku was dumb as rocks and worshiped their patron like a god, and their patron was the one doing everything, channeled through them. Sadly I was not at the table for that game, and heard of it second hand.
Now, back to the Magic set, since that provides more interesting discussion. I have already shared my thoughts - but would love to see what folks looking at it for the first time think. Even if you are not a magic character, the art and takes on the characters and novel should be fairly delightful to explore. Considering it is a different perspective than we have grown used to, I found it fascinating how Wizards’ was able to both be so familiar with the artwork, while also exploring new ideas and depictions.
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DnD characters can often feel like gods among mortals, with supernatural talents and backgrounds that render them almost mythically powerful. They can go head to head with dragons and venture to other planes of existence. But how would one create a playable character who isn’t like that? A character who does not have years of martial training, or spells, or fantastical gear. How would one create the most normal character possible. Not underpowered- just excruciatingly average. Normal by DnD standards. Like a commoner. Sure they may have spells like prestidigitation, but they aren’t casting fire bolt. They may have a knife, or a farming tool, but not the ancient broadsword of the dwarf lord Crabadonias. Just some guy. Bonus points if you can make them higher level.
Please respond, I’m really curious, and I have an idea for a character who is this, but gets a really powerful artifact and has to protect it from evil treasure hunters.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
I once played a character named "Joe Average", during the early 2e days. He was a human cook, combat proficient with either his chef's knife or meat tenderizing mallet, or both. Just for fun, his ability scores were all 10s. His armor class, 10.
That guy played a support role, as cook and provisions gatherer. He did get involved in the adventure party's fights on occasion, and fought off the occasional random encounter from upsetting his chuck wagon (used sometimes, during some adventures) and his meal preparations, while the heroes were scouring a dungeon. Joe average survived to buy his own building and retired to run an inn, at level 11 Wilderness Chef.
If the dice gods are in the commoner's favor, they can make it.
Wow! Is there a way that could be brought over to 5e?
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
Jack, I'd have to rebuild him from memory. His paper character sheet is long gone. Not hard to create from scratch: all 10s, at the time he got d4 hit die when he advanced, and he advanced at the same experience point rate as the 2e rogue.
Good luck with your average Joe, and have fun!
One of wotc's mistakes was deciding what PC's are supposed to be be.
They are to be heroic, not super-heroes. And because of that, we are now in a position of the 180 plus sub-classes. well over 90% of them have some magical feature, or magic using, or abilities that are supernatural.
If you want to play an "average joe", the closest you can come to that is a few of the Rogue subclasses, like Scout. or Thief, or the Battlemaster subclass in the Fighter class. Then choose Human (NOT Variant) or Halfling. You can and will then have a PC that has no inherent magical abilities (outside of Halfling Luck), and you can keep it that way. And even then, by 9th or 10th level, you will roll your eyes at what these "non-magical" PC 's can do. But be prepared. Though they are fun to play, they will lag behind on the power curve of the other PC's in your group.
Start a game at level one, use the default array for stats, don't take feats, stick to PHB only.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Oh yes, how dare they give characters heroic capabilities in a game that is meant to emulate heroic fantasy stories. What could they have been thinking?
In answer to the question: use the commoner stat block and get used to being downed/killed is the way to really get the experience. Otherwise just stick to tier 1 campaigns and don't play casters, you should feel fairly basic.
Hard agree with Ace on not playing casters. Even if you're playing in a setting where spellcasting is commonly practiced and taught, not having access to a wide diversity of reality-bending options in your toolkit makes you far more grounded.
Fighters don't get a lot of kit, and other than their accelerated stat progression through frequent ASIs, theyre the closest thing to average joe you can probably get. Rogues start feeling far more advanced and powerful through their sneak attacks and high skill ceiling, so keep that in mind if you were planning a more stealthy lean.
One of my longtime friends in a campaign with me often looks at how much I strategize as an artificer, when he just glances at his fighter character sheet and laughs. "You're over here looking at the fight like a chess match, Reberta, while I just hit things!"
Sounds like a Commoner made as a Warrior or Expert Sidekick ( https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tcoe/dungeon-masters-tools#Sidekicks ).
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
You’ve essentially just described a level 0 PC. Take the commoner statblock. Choose a race and apply all of the racial traits and languages and ASIs to the commoner just like you would for a PC. Then pick a background you like and apply it to the statblock, but not so much as their “background,” but more as their “present.” Give them the whole 9 yards, physical description, personality traits, even a little list of equipment detailing what they usually have on them when they leave the house (clothes, pouch, cash, etc.), and write up a 3 sentence backstory too to round them out.
That’s essentially how I design a lot of my NPCs that are noteworthy enough to be more than just a name scratched on a piece of paper, but not actually significant enough to be anything more than that. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/2067765-spostas-quick-commoners).
Then, run around and do enough stuff to earn 100 experience points and all of a sudden, voilà, you’re a 1st level character.
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If you're going to limit your spell selection (even an average wizard would take firebolt or something similar) just stick with non casters. Maybe a scout rogue or champion fighter. Barbarians do feel like superheroes though.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
If you've seen Delicious in Dungeon, Laios is (comparatively) average - not particularly skilled in any way, according to Shiro. But he's very knowledgeable about monsters, he's brave and a competent lateral thinker.
That's easy enough to build. Building a fighter to fit that mold is maybe not ideal (Laios is a fighter), but there are other options.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You build it exactly as you described it. Every stat is a 10. You choose the prestidigitation cantrip. Simple weapon proficiencies so (s)he uses knife or sickle. This used to be known as a level 0 character, but if you want it higher then it's 1d8 hit points per whatever level you want him/her to have.
Here is the thing - building an average Joe character is easy. But there is a good chance the joke build makes others at your table pretty annoyed. If your character cannot hold their own weight in combat, guess what? Your commitment to a joke makes the faith harder to balance for the DM, and means everyone else must pull more than their weight. This is the kind of character you need to think long and hard about - your desire to play average very well could make the game less fun than everyone else playing. Know your group well before embarking on this character - and pay attention to their attitudes and mannerisms. Even if it is the kind of character they are okay with you staring with, you should be ready to retire the character before crossing the line into selfishly continuing with the character long after everyone else is over it.
Take the commoner statblock like others have suggested. For a class, take the Warlock.
The powerful artifact that your character will need to protect serves also as the gateway to your patron. But your patron is fickle, narcissistic, pre-occupied, apathetic, etc. As a result, they leave your character to their own devices unless if the character is truly in desperate need, or something sparks the patron's interests and demands the character to engage. When the patron pulls their presence they also pull the Pact Magic feature leaving your character as a leather armor wearing, simple weapon wielding adventurer. Only when the patron makes their presence felt does your character have access to Pact Magic.
And to help the party out, allow the artifact that you have expend charges that boost your Charisma to 20. The charges should be limited (no more than 3 per day) but the duration should be like 10 minutes to ensure it can effect the game positively. Regain all at dawn. So now, when the moment calls for it, your character can be one of the, if not the, most impactful characters to resolve an encounter. But once that moment passes, the can return to being an Average Joe.
Thanks!
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
I usually start all my characters off with them being no one special, as that is always a good start point in a campaign esp when starting at level 1. The idea is their story gets to grew as extraordinary things happen to them. example
I made a "Bard" she was a level 1 Tiefling fighter with a background in entertainment. (The bouncer at a circus) nothing special, no way to grow, in walks Rise of the Dragon Queen (Early 5th ed Adventure) she grew into a Fighter Bard and hero, but even at the end she was basically just the Bouncer.
This reminds me of a Kenku Warlock I heard about. The Kenku was dumb as rocks and worshiped their patron like a god, and their patron was the one doing everything, channeled through them. Sadly I was not at the table for that game, and heard of it second hand.
Play earlier editions of DnD
5E makes you feel like a god at level 12 or even earlyer
Old Dnd is harder
My memory is shit but i think Base AC was 5 in one of the older editions
Nowadays you can get 21+ AC at level 1
Edit:I played pathfinder once, it may have been pathfinder, dear god im not even 30 yet and i dont remember anything anymore
Now, back to the Magic set, since that provides more interesting discussion. I have already shared my thoughts - but would love to see what folks looking at it for the first time think. Even if you are not a magic character, the art and takes on the characters and novel should be fairly delightful to explore. Considering it is a different perspective than we have grown used to, I found it fascinating how Wizards’ was able to both be so familiar with the artwork, while also exploring new ideas and depictions.