Your First Character

Dungeons & Dragons, often abbreviated as DnD or D&D, is one of the founding fathers of the Tabletop Roleplaying genre and has been enormously influential on games and our pop culture.

The game master (known as the Dungeon Master) describes and "plays" the world, while the players each play their own adventurous character. Unlike video games and other board games, as a player you can do whatever you want within the fantasy world of the people at your table.

Who knows, maybe your character is a rough anti-hero taking on an ancient evil, a troubadour from a traveling circus solving a murder mystery, or a noble dwarf trying to steal a treasure right under the nose of a dragon.

The sky's the limit!

…But maybe all that freedom of choice is a bit overwhelming at first. Especially, creating your first character can be pretty intimidating. So here's a simple guide to give you some inspiration and information for the class of your first character in the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons!

Note: This is meant to help you get an idea of what character you'd like to play, not as an explanation of how to roll your stats or fill in a character sheet.

Tip: Always discuss your character with your Dungeon Master first before you create it.

This way you can avoid, for example, showing up with a beautifully crafted steampunk-samurai in a game set in classical mythology.

It's also possible that some classes or races don't exist in their world, and that some game rules work differently in their game.

This works best in a "Session Zero" where everyone at the table discusses their expectations for the campaign before it begins!

Class

In the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, your character's class is the most important aspect. You might already know some of them from games you've played, or what you've seen in movies and series. The different classes are archetypes of the kind of characters you'd like to play. It's essentially an interpretation of your character's abilities—for example, whether they're a heavily armed and armored warrior or a learned old wizard with a book full of spells. How many hitpoints you have, what kind of armor you can wear, which weapons you fight with, and the magical spells you can use are all determined by your class.

In DnD, the biggest difference between classes is those that can use magical spells (like wizards) and those that mainly fight with weapons (like fighters). In between are "hybrid" classes that can do a bit of both (like paladins).

Tip: Usually it's easier at first to start with an armed or "hybrid" class. These are the easiest to play and simplest to start with, because the magical system in DnD can be quite complicated when you're still getting used to the other rules of the game. Note: this is a tip and not a guideline. There are countless players who started immediately with a complicated class without confusion. Most importantly, you play a character you're excited about!

Here's a small list of the standard classes and examples of popular characters from movies, series and books:

Barbarian

A wild fighting beast who enters a trance of rage and becomes immune to normal weapons. Barbarians are the strongest and toughest class in DnD. They laugh off most of the injuries they sustain, fight without armor, and crush monsters with the biggest weapons.

Think of: Viking berserkers, the Hulk, Conan the Barbarian.

Bard

A graceful troubadour who draws magic from their music and storytelling.

Bards fight more often with sharp words than honed weapons, and their charms make them the master of every social situation. Usually this class is mainly focused on supporting the group, though their spells can do quite a bit of damage.

Think of: Jaskier/Dandelion from the Witcher, court jesters and troubadours, or Starlord from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Cleric

A healing priest who receives powerful magic from their god. They're the most versatile class in DnD because their powers depend on their domain. Some clerics are mainly focused on supporting the group, others fight with weapons and armor, while still others pull off magical tricks in the name of their trickster god.

Think of: Arwen and Elrond from Lord of The Rings, Hospital Knights, or Loki from the MCU

Druid

A priest of long-forgotten nature gods and forest spirits who can assume the forms of animals through ancient rituals. Druids master the magic of the natural world, which they usually use to support the group, but also to attack monsters.

Think of: Celtic druids, Sirius from Harry Potter, or Radagast from The Hobbit.

Fighter

A master of the martial arts who is versatile and specialized in fighting with weapons and armor. With a healthy mix of studied technique and physical strength, this class deflects most attacks and gives back the heaviest blows.

Think of: Brienne from Game of Thrones, Gimli from The Lord of the Rings, but also historical fight masters like Fiore dei Liberi and Liechtenauer.

Monk

A warrior-monk trained to evade attacks with their martial arts and disable even the most heavily armored warriors in seconds. Monks can master and manipulate the energy in living beings, which can be used by them to deliver inhumanly fast attacks, or to control the elements.

Think of: Warrior-monks of the Shaolin monastery, Naruto, Tai Li and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Paladin

A noble knight who has sworn an oath to fight for a righteous cause, or the will of a god. This class is heavily armored and heavily armed, but can also heal wounds with magical powers and defeat dark enemies.

Think of: The Knights of the Round Table, the Jedi from Star Wars, or Heimdall & Thor from the MCU.

Ranger

A wild warrior who fights dangers at the edges of the civilized world. Some of this class have animal companions who fight alongside them, while others specialize in hunting dark monsters.

Think of: Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, Geralt from The Witcher, or Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.

Rogue

An agile class specialized in sneaking, stealing, and fighting with cunning tricks. Rogues are thieves, assassins, and spies who can slip past enemies unnoticed and find a clever solution for every problem.

Think of: Robin Hood, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, or the Assassins from Assassin's Creed.

Sorcerer

A class that has had magical powers from birth because of a magical bloodline. Sorcerers have learned to master this unstable form of magic, allowing them to give their spells powerful new effects.

Think of: Yennefer from The Witcher, Scarlet Witch from the MCU, Professor X from X-Men.

Warlock

A class that has made a pact with a supernatural being in exchange for dark magic. Warlocks must always follow the will of their patron, whether it's a cunning devil, monstrous demigod, or a glittering magical fairy.

Think of: Jack Sparrow, Bran Stark from Game of Thrones, Faustus

Wizard

A class that draws their magical powers from their extensive knowledge of magical science. Wizards keep all the magical spells and secret formulas they have learned in an enormous thick book, which they always carry with them.

Think of: Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Strange from the MCU, or Hermione from Harry Potter.

Hopefully with the help of this brief explanation and examples you've got an idea of what class you'd like to play!

Tips

In the Essentials Kit you'll find not only everything you need as a group to get started, but also the game rules and brief instructions on how to create a character yourself for a number of classes (Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard).

In the DnD 5th edition Player's Handbook you'll find the detailed explanation of how to create a character sheet for each class. You'll also find in the Player's Handbook the technical information and aspects of the different classes (all the abilities you get, which weapons you can use, etc). At the back you'll also find all spells sorted by class, super handy!

Looking for a nice dice set that matches your character? You'll find it here!