New Player’s Guide: Making Your First Character

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Welcome to New Player’s Guide, the first stop on your journey to playing D&D. This series has advice for players who’ve just joined their first D&D campaign, as well as Dungeon Masters who want help taking their new campaign to the next level. To see the other articles in this series, check out the New Player’s Guide tag—and for the brass-tacks information on how to start playing D&D, click on the New Player Guide link at the top of this page!

This third entry in the New Player’s Guide series addresses a question often asked by people who have just been invited to play in a D&D game: What do I need to do? The number one thing you need to do to join a D&D game is make a character. Aside from the Dungeon Master, everyone playing the game makes a character that they roleplay as during the game. Some DMs like to have their players create their characters all together, but others like their players to make their characters ahead of time so that they can jump right into playing. Ask your DM which option you (and your fellow players) should take.

How to Create a Fun D&D Character

The D&D Basic Rules (which are available for free on D&D Beyond) have a thorough and detailed step-by-step walkthrough on how to create a D&D character. I highly recommend you read chapter 1 of the Basic Rules before reading any further in this article. That chapter will give you an idea of how to make a character that you can play in a D&D game. Once you’ve read that chapter, come back here. We’ll explain how to go beyond just making a blank-slate avatar with a sword and how to create a character that you and your friends will love to have around.

Think of Race and Class Together

Choose a race and class that tell an interesting story. Race and class are two of the most important factors to determining the things your D&D character can do, and putting these two elements together tells a simple story all on its own. You choose your character’s race in chapter 2 of the Basic Rules, and their class in chapter 3.

In D&D, race isn’t synonymous with ethnicity or skin tone, like it is in real life. Instead, race refers to “the human race,” “the race of elves,” and so on. These “races” have incredible, sometimes magical, traits—they represent what your character can do by their very nature. Likewise, your class is a representation of what your character has learned to do through training. You start play with only a single level in a class of your choice, so while it’s clear that you have a lot more to learn, your learned skills have already made you a lot more powerful and unique than someone who’s never trained to be an adventurer.

Once you’ve chosen your race and your class, think of what story it tells. There are some obvious combinations of race and class that just work well together, like a half-orc barbarian or a tiefling warlock. For both of these examples, their racial traits support and enhance their class features, and it’s easy to see the story that emerges when you put a character’s race and class side-by-side. A half-orc became a skilled barbarian after she was exiled from her clan; she used her innate strength to fend for herself. A tiefling embraced the dark power he was always falsely accused of possessing; he used his natural charisma to make his enemies suffer.

But what about unusual combinations? Choosing races and classes that fit together in unexpected ways create stories that defy stereotypes. Consider a half-orc monk. This half-orc was raised in an orc clan that valued strength over cleverness, but she knew that there was something more to the world than raw power. Monks don’t need the bonus to Strength that being a half-orc provides, but it tells an interesting story, and Strength certainly doesn’t hurt. Or consider a tiefling bard. Rather than seeking out darkness, a tiefling who was bullied throughout his life turned to entertainment so that he could spread the joy he never had as a child, rather than perpetuating his old suffering.

In short, think about the micro-story that your race/class combination tells, and consider whether you want that story to be archetypal, or stereotype-defying. If you want to learn more about breaking down stereotypes in D&D, consider reading this article on Reimagining Racial Ability Scores.

Start Small

You’ll have more fun playing D&D for the first time if your first character only has a few character traits and a simple backstory. Chapter 4 of the Basic Rules describes how to make your character’s personality and background. When doing this, choose two or three important character traits, in addition to your Ideal, Bond, and Flaw. Write a backstory that’s only two or three sentences long. Doing so will make it easier for you to stay in character. Then, send that information to your DM over chat or email.

Why should you limit the amount of detail you put into your character right off the bat? It’s to help you and your DM focus on your character's most important traits. If you want to tell an epic fantasy story, it’s essential for you to stay in character while making decisions in game. To clarify, it’s okay to make jokes and talk out of character during a D&D game, but staying in-character during roleplaying scenes and making decisions that your character would make heightens the excitement and deepens the drama of your story.

Some D&D players love creating characters with backstories that are thousands of words long, writing epics all on their own before they’ve even learned the names of the characters their friends will bring to the table. Do not do this—at least, not for your first D&D game. It’s true that writing deep and complex character backstories can help you play a deep and complex character, but the two don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. Writing a lengthy backstory can shackle you to your character’s history, making it harder to make snap decisions in character—and most importantly, prevent you from choosing the most fun choice in the moment, rather than the most “in-character” choice.

It’s actually easier to stay in character when you start small and only choose a few traits, because you can always decide on new backstory information or character traits over the course of the adventure. Check out this article on the importance of “frontstory” as opposed to backstory, if you want to go deeper.

Create a Character that Plays Well with Others

“Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.”

—The Fellowship of the Ring, chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

Tolkien’s introduction of the ranger Aragorn in The Fellowship of the Ring is one of the best and most iconic in fantasy fiction. This evocative introduction paints Aragorn as a loner, a mysterious character that intrigues and unnerves both the audience and Frodo alike. It’s an excellent piece of fiction. Unfortunately, it makes for terrible D&D.

Dungeons & Dragons is a game that requires teamwork. While it’s fine for characters to keep secrets, it’s important that all of the characters can trust one another enough to work together. It’s your duty to create a character that wants to work with others, and that wants to go on the adventure that the Dungeon Master sets before you. Your D&D game will stop dead in its tracks if you refuse to work with your fellow players or decide that you’re not interested in the hooks that the DM sets forth before you. Your character might have ulterior motives, or they may grumble for a bit before acquiescing, but ultimately the social contract of playing D&D with other people requires you to play along.

If you make a character that doesn’t want to join adventuring parties or go into dangerous dungeons, you may rightly feel like your wants are being ignored by your fellow players. Or worse, that you’re being forced to do something that your character wouldn’t do. If you want to play a character who doesn’t want to go adventuring, then you need to figure out a reason why they have to. Nevertheless, it’s usually more fun for everyone involved if you skip this hurdle and just create a character that isn’t opposed to going on dangerous quests with other adventurers—or better yet, one who enjoys it!

Using the Character Builder

Now that the ideas are bouncing around in your head, it’s time to actually make your character. The quickest and easiest way to make a D&D character is to use the D&D Beyond Character Builder. The Standard option is best if you want total control over your character’s in-game statistics, but the Quick Build option is useful if you mostly care about your character’s story and aren’t terribly interested in the minutiae of your character’s stats.

If you care very deeply about making a character that feels iconic, powerful, and fun to play, consider looking at the Class 101 series—particularly the first twelve entries in the Class 101 series, which are full class overviews.  

What Else?

Making a character that’s fun for you to play as and fun for others to play with is the most important part of being a D&D player. Once your character is made, you’re basically ready to play D&D with your new group. Don’t forget to bring your character sheet, which you can print out once you’ve built your character in the Character Builder. If you want to be absolutely beloved by your group and your DM, come fully prepared with: your character sheet, a pencil, a set of D&D dice (which you can buy online or at a local game store), and snacks to share with your group. Let’s play some Dungeons and Dragons!

You have a character and you’re ready to play. You’re all set for the fantasy world of D&D—but what about the real world? Next time on New Player’s Guide, DMs will learn how to set ground rules for good gamer behavior, and players will learn ways to have fun without stepping on their friends’ toes.

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.

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