Hopefully More help for Beginners to D&D – I found it a minefield when I first started, so hopefully this will help other novices (and my new players)
EDIT: These are the house rules that we follow when I’m the DM for my group as I use critical fails and success for fun flavour:
In 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, rolling a natural 1 or 20 doesn’t necessarily mean a critical failure or success outside of attack rolls. (It’s not the standard.) A crit fail on an attack roll isn’t 5e standard either– penalties don’t inherently occur on a 1.
Dragon + is great for updates to current content, it is a endless well of information that should spark anyone’s creativity. It’s all around a great publication.
RPG Sounds: Fantasy is awesome for atmosphere and an alternative to the YouTube which plays adds, or constantly has you searching for a new song to play.
Trello connects to both your phone and computer and is a great alternative to physical note cards. My favorite for session prep.
Story Cubes always pull me out of writers block. Some of my favorite game moments came from a random roll of these die.
Time Tree my least favorite side of D&D is organizing the best time for everyone to play. This app allows all the players to upload their schedules and makes life so much easier.
Can anyone recommend any other apps that make DMing easier and more fun?
A quick little something I knocked together, the patented tragic backstory generator ™ is the easiest way to give your character a mythically horrible origin.
(actual tragedy may vary, results are final and non-negotiable, i am not responsible for any tears you may shed while imagining the sad life your character must have led up to this point)
if fallout 76 really is a world where “every character is a real person” & there’s no NPCs im making it my civic duty to be like this lowly tavern barkeep and then once i’ve established enough of a rapport i’m going to nuke all of west virginia and it will be in character
someone help where’s the screenshot of some post somewhere about the mmo player who barkept for a longass time then fucked absolutely everyone over
8 Character Creation Tips (for DnD or just writing in general)
1. Have a goal
While it may sound like I’m stating the obvious here, your character needs to have something they want to accomplish. Maybe they want to be the best at something, see a place, fall in love, conquer the world, or something else. Whatever it is, they need to have something that they desire beyond all other things. Ideally, give them more than one goal. Make them have to sacrifice one to achieve the other, to add extra drama
2. Have a reputation
Maybe they’re the best artist in their class or they’re great at juggling. Perhaps they slipped on the stairs in front of their whole village. Either way, give something for the locals to remember about them. That way it can give you a starting point for the interactions with other characters
3. Have a friend
Whether a friend, a coworker, a sibling, an army buddy, or someone they saved, have someone close to your character whom they’re close to and wish well. Yeah, angsty “I have no friends” characters can be fun, but in small doses; eventually the reader gets fed up with them. At the very least the character needs someone to talk to or bounce ideas off of
4. Have a home
It may be a neighborhood they grew up in, their parents’ house, or a room they’ve been renting in a tavern. Hell, it could even be a person if you so choose. Everyone needs to feel secure at one time or another
5. Have a signature item
Now, recognize that this may not work for EVERY character, but it’s up to you to decide what will fit and what won’t. In many cases, it can work. A signature item is something that is recognizably YOUR CHARACTER’S, be it a weapon, a scarf, a toy, or a piece of jewelry. It’s something that makes them feel like themself
6. Have a problem
This should be something other than the problem addressed in the main plot line. Maybe a member of their family is sick, they are broke, or they’re failing their classes. This helps make your character seem more realistic because NO ONE has one problem at a time
7. Have a secret
This can affect the plot or not; either way, it helps make your character more well rounded. Maybe your character can’t read, left their crewmates to die when a kracken attacked their ship, or made their long lost sister run away. If you choose to have it affect the plot in any way, this secret should embarrass your character, make it so that other characters don’t trust your character, or somehow endanger them and the people they’re close to if found out
8. Have a reason to be brave and to fight
Maybe it’s because your character wants to be like their hero, maybe it’s so they can repay a debt (like if someone saved their life previously), maybe it’s for their child, but your character needs to have a reason to occasionally face their fears
Have fun!!!
I understand that this is meant to be simple, but GOSH DANG, is it so helpful! This came at the perfect time for me, as I am in the process of creating characters both in the realm of fictional writing and tabletop roleplaying. I’ve been seriously struggling with one of my characters for a long time now and always felt something was missing. Only now do I realize – I had all of these, except for a secret! Well, I gave him a secret to keep, but not one that would make him fearful, embarrassed, or ashamed! And what point is there in a secret without a price attached to it’s exposure? There was no cost, no blow to his own worth or self-esteem or ego, to keeping that secret from his friends and allies. Now I know I need to sit down with my DM and work out where to interweave a potential secret into the plot.
Thank you for this, OP! May it genuinely help all of my followers as it has helped me.
Verliese Und Drachen 