New Characters - 5e Dungeons & Dragons - Web DM

[@WebDM]

Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm

[@sullivancrosby9192]

i dont mean to be so offtopic but does anyone know a trick to get back into an instagram account? I somehow forgot the login password. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

[@reecekairo4493]

@Sullivan Crosby Instablaster =)

[@sullivancrosby9192]

@Reece Kairo I really appreciate your reply. I found the site on google and im trying it out now. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@sullivancrosby9192]

@Reece Kairo it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thanks so much, you saved my ass!

[@reecekairo4493]

@Sullivan Crosby glad I could help :D

[@zieryk6596]

There is a small section that many people seem to skip in the PHB. "To customize a background, you can replace one feature with any other one, choose any two skills, and choose a total of two tool proficiencies or languages from the sample backgrounds." page 125 of the Players Handbook. So in reality the only important part about the background is the thematic bit it adds to the character, mechanically speaking you can mix and match whatever parts you want from the pregenerated backgrounds.

[@broutefoin]

yup, I've had to show this bit to 3 DMs when they scrutinized my sheet, as I usually go for a custom backgrounds.

[@DragonKnightJin]

I sometimes customize my backgrounds with an ideal or a flaw from another background, that I feel is more fitting for the character I'm envisioning. If that means my Soldier gets Arcana instead of Intimidation, because he spent his time off reading books on magic.. I feel that's a perfectly valid option.

[@DefenderofFaith97]

And that's how you logically explain an Eldritch Knight

[@SnarkyRogue]

I think most people shy away from letting players do custom backgrounds because it's too min/max-y. I've been tempted to do a custom one myself in the past but kind of felt guilty picking the best/most beneficial aspects of a bunch of different ones for the sake of making my character stronger.

[@megapixzel]

broutefoin, sounds like poor communication, your DM should have an idea of what players are doing before everyone sits down to play

[@Bobcatwill]

I grew up watching these videos, and as I rewatch all the videos, in which I already watched in high school, I'm going to post this comment. I love you guys, and y'all have gotten me through some tough times. The second I get out of college and get a stable job, I will definitely become a web demon.

[@OscarTangoWhisky]

The fact that you guys crack each other up and have so much damn fun is a big reason this channel stands out amongst others :)

[@funwithmadness]

Jim's comment at 29:48 - 31:00 is one of best about RPGs I've ever heard. Players, listen up! Taking this idea to heart will make your games so much more interesting and add depth well beyond the hack-n-slash style.

[@Lurklen]

Agreed, and it's just polite.

[@michaelwinter742]

Rule 1: Characters who do not want to adventure are great characters, just not for this game.

[@BobGrimminger]

Bilbo didn't want to adventure, but he didn't go back and ruin the adventure for the rest of the party. He tagged along for whatever reason, and did his job.

[@shino4242]

even though the dwarves were dicks to him even though he saved them like 20 times. Bilbo was a cool guy. Then he took a ring to his brain.

[@michaelwinter742]

Bob Grimminger You're right, I should have said "willing" or "able."

[@Anaguma79]

It's important to note that backgrounds are extremely cutomizable and the charts for personality traits are meant to be examples, not a definitive list of how a character might act.

[@jemm113]

My 2 most recent characters follow this. My Female wood elf monk cleric is a follower of a life god, name escape me, but not only is a horrible drunk, but can be greedy. She's good, so by all means, she will help the poor if actively needed, but she is willing and ready to not give any amount of cash to the party or church. At most, it's a few copper at a shrine for personal reasons. For my tiefling fighter Warlock, he is the nicest guy, cheerful, friendly, profusely sorry if he accidentally causes trouble, and actively tries to not cause trouble or be a burden to anyone but himself. But he dominates the battlefield, mercy is only for the peaceful, innocent, or when someone's evil requires prolonged suffering as recompense. He is not above using evil to destroy evil, he is a hexblade, after all. He ignores laws as he has had experience with laws becoming a source of evil, and those hardliners who put the law first are blind to the inherent flaws of laws, especially when it falsely persecuted the innocent. He literally wears black, evil looking armor, jumping in to protect the innocent in as terrifyingly a manner as possible.

[@johnisaacfelipe6357]

In my circles, Subversions are so common that it became itself a cliche, playing a background earnestly as it was written would be so welcomed.

[@ZerkMonsterHunter]

Breastigitation first level transmutation V, S, M components: lace from a corset increase size of a creatures pectoral muscles by d4 cup sizes.

[@erezamir7218]

ZerkMonsterHunter 4 hey! That's too op for a cantrip

[@astralax]

Do you... do you think boobs are made of muscle?

[@robintupta7446]

Jack apparently so but I️ have no idea why

[@nsellos]

Conan's are

[@ironreed2654]

Yall over analyzed an ok joke...

[@JohnathanGross]

Don't knock the 8INT wizard! Sure, you don't want to play one in a long campaign, but it's the perfect character for a one shot. It's the wizard college's jock bladesinger or the divination wizard who cheated on all the exams. There are workable builds in wizard that don't rely that heavily on intelligence.

[@InquisitorThomas]

Johnathan Gross yeah I rolled up a Sorcerer one time and he got really good stats, with nothing dropping below a 12, but the character concept I went with a 18 strength, 17 constitution, Tavern brawler and grappler with only a 14 in charisma, he isn’t a terrible Sorcerer by any means but I like the idea of this massive Chaotic Evil Black Dragonborn Pirate just completely tearing shit up in melee and then when the enemy is out of range he just pops out his wings and max power acid chromatic orb.

[@baltsosser]

I like flawed characters. A high elf with a lower Charisma. A front line fighter that is average or below strength. It forces you as a role player to solve the problems you face another way, and that keeps things interesting for me.

[@lord6617]

@@InquisitorThomas One of my favorite characters has been a relatively low charisma kobold warlock. Stats aren't everything :P

[@TheAsyouwysh]

@@baltsosser your character would die so fast in my game lmao

[@baltsosser]

@@TheAsyouwysh It sure could happen that way. IF it doesn't happen though, that's when things get interesting.

[@creepyypaper1438]

WebDM and Nerdarchy are the best. Yall got me into the hobby 3 years ago and I've logged over 1000 hours playing since. Keep kicking ass.

[@roseytone9289]

When they first said, "Let's talk about inspiration." I was like, why? They would have to learn about advantage and then- oh. They're talking just about 'inspiration'.

[@arikwolf3777]

That was my first though too.

[@Jawn15]

Advantage is an easy to concept to grasp though.

[@radiantburrito]

I've always made up my own Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. I do think most of the ones presented are good if you have no real idea of what you want, but I think it's more important to eventually be able to come up with your own as you play.

[@Daszkal]

RadiantBurrito I created a d100 chart of weird fears. I give my players the option of rolling on the chart instead of taking a flaw.

[@shino4242]

What i like to do is use them as inspiration. I often feel overwhelmed at the idea of "you can do ANYTHING!" so having even a rough map gets the juices in my brain flowing. like i'll take the trait, ideal, bond, or flaw and then expand on it or twist it or whatever. There are a few times when the particular trait is basically perfect with the overall theme i had in mind

[@Aerakade]

I agree, but I had a player with some role playing experience and thought it would be fun to roll and then play to those traits as something fun to do.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Everything in D&D is like that: be inspired, then make your own.

[@LaughingStorm]

Personally, I really like to play characters that aren't optimized, I think it adds to the fun of the game. My current character is a human wizard (I know it's really generic but he's fun) he doesn't have any damaging spells, instead, he is based on utility and avoiding fights. He's an old man who spent his years studying various things and in retirement he decided to pick up spell casting.

[@MalevolentDivinity]

Hitpoints, IMO, are your character's endurance. At full HP they're fully capable, nothing holding them down. Any time an enemy misses, it's not just a miss. It's a miss that wasn't even close. Hits, on the other hand, are mostly grazes. You hit the knight with a greatsword, but it mostly just skims off his armor. All the same, the shock registers in his system, and henceforth he's not going to be quite as capable of avoiding your attacks or getting them to reflect off his armor quite so effortlessly. As time goes on, the hits get more severe. Your character becomes less and less able to avoid attacks, and they take more and more damage from them. At a tenth their health, they're breathing heavily and barely capable of staying on their feet, covered in tons of scratches and cuts. And lobbing off that last bit of health isn't just another cut. It's getting an actual lethal wound off after wearing them down continuously over the course of a fight. The reason it goes up every level isn't because your character becomes more physically durable, it's because they become better fighters capable of avoiding damage. The reason it goes up with constitution is basically because your HP is your endurance, and it getting lower is you getting tired. And by tired I mean the "your muscles are now refusing to obey your commands" type of tired as opposed to the "yo're breathing heavily" type of tired. A'course this isn't mirrored by losses in armor class or attack rolls as you get weaker, but I live under the impression that the characters aren't taking the full force of a sword to the stomach repeatedly and just powering through it. ... And I'm curious as to if you could make it so that a character's armor class and BAB got lower as they lost health and have it not be the most annoying thing in the world.

[@michaelwinter742]

11:15 - However you flavor it, HP is the ability for the character to persist in the environment. Mechanically, they are the immediate state of one's constitution.

[@girostrike]

I basically started DnD watching the original videos. Loving and really appreciating these new ones. I can still send new players to the same place I started. Excellent work guys.

[@RedGalaxy00]

That has got to be the most professional open you've ever done Pruitt.

[@Sean-ne3gx]

....I knew something was odd about it, I DEMAND PUNS lol

[@JPruinc]

It’s all pun and games until there aren’t any.

[@FatDenimDan]

Best character I ever rolled up was a human Cleric in a straight roll - down the list, rolling 3d6 for each stat.... I rolled 18 for strength. Why turn undead when you can just bash their skulls in?

[@princeLunais]

FatDenimDan Turning them to ash makes them deader.

[@bobkhag24601]

The same thing happened to me years ago when I used the "roll-down-the-list' method of ability score generation. I had an extremely buff Elf Bard whose strength was high but charisma only mediocre

[@Pandaemoni]

I think there are a few concepts that are harder to find mechanics for. For example, if you want to play a "pacifist" scholarly wizard that summons creatures to defend you but does not take offensive action himself...yeah, you can sort of it if you are 7th level or higher and you know in advance that the battle is coming so you can summon your minor elementals...but you had better pray your concentration isn't broken during combat and there's not an overabundance of things you can do round to round that isn't blasting. Best bet is Grease for crowd control and casting non-concentration based defensive spells on yourself. Most of the spells that you might use to defend the party require concentration, but your summoning spell soaks that resource. And, if combat sneaks up on you...it's 10 rounds to summon those mephits. Also, at 7th level, you can do that only once per day (albeit for an hour). Below 7th level, and I don't think you can do it at all. My advice for the player who wanted to do this was "be a druid instead" then reflavor the druid as an arcane scholar. He went another way because he didn't want to be a druid. Also, and I feel bad about this one, I did have one player who wanted to play a pure psionicist...and I'm in the weird position of not being a fan of the Mystic, but also was too time-crunched to redesign it to my liking (and even if I did that would then require playtesting). So some concepts seem like they either require or are greatly enabled by the playtest/Unearthed Arcana material.

[@df6597]

The only question remaining is, would you allow a player to choose breastidigitation as a spell going forward?

[@intrepidmerc4346]

I think breastidigitation should be a bard spell and it just puts some boobies in any inanimate (or animate if your DM lets you get funky) object.

[@martinmallet]

I've been DMing since 1999. Tomorrow I will play. (shedding tears)

[@ryushi17]

lol I play DnD in a game store and there is a working Willow arcade cabinet at the end of the table!

[@SwingRipper]

As a DM I like to say "I would recommend a non-spell caster character due to them being difficult to, however if you really want to it is a lot of fun, but you will need to keep track of more resources"

[@spaceiguana5066]

Playing a Goliath? Need equipment? Get a 10 foot ladder. You can conquer the world.

[@ZhangHe2369]

When rolling stats in a normal roll 4 drop 1 style, my first roll was literally rolled 4 1's. After we where done laughing, he let me drop that roll since it was so insanely bad and we were rolling 7 stats drop the lowest . It got me worried for a sec.

[@TacDyne]

Back when NWN was still fairly new, one of team Leto's members, Slamel, made a wizard with a 3 con. It had severe respiratory issues and probably should have been in an elvish hospice. He made it to challenge himself.

[@jizzosh1233]

I never thought to use other fantasy characters or archetypes as inspiration for my character creation. But if I stop to think I've probably done that self consciously anyway. Guess it's time to roll Piotr Parkour Monk of the Spider Sect.

[@blackmagezero3946]

I always want to build a rogue that bluffs his way out of stuff. But I play with a bunch of murderous hobos that travel the country side and stab there way put of a situation.

[@Draeckon]

Sounds like you're in the wrong group and need to find another one.

[@davewilson13]

I'd look for another group, how boring !

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Same. I'm playing a bard, so I have some combat skills, magic, rogue skills.. but it's a more Int. and Cha. based character for strategy, knowledge, diplomacy, clever tricks, etc. but all the other PCs charge toward monsters, take all the loot, ignore puzzle clues, and move on. I've been starting out as a hang back and assist character, but I think I should move toward leadership of the group to at least guide tactics.

[@LaughingStorm]

I feel for you, some people like that play but the most fun campaign I've ever played only involved the party killing 7 enemies. I would suggest finding another group at a local shop or on a website.

[@merkerjackson]

You guys are amazing and inspire me every video! I've probably seen every episode of Web DM and I think every episode brings up new areas of thinking to me, and I hope it does for others as well! I'd be ecstatic to play with a group of players/DM like y'all. Thanks for all the great content and looking forward to your always outstanding content!

[@tabletoppdx]

You guys are the best. Your whole channel has helped me IMMENSELY. Keep up the good work.

[@Speverban]

Yes! Did a similar concept with a halfling wild magic sorcer with the lucky feat. Keeping track of which D20 reroll is associated with which ability. 😁

[@grandiflora8479]

Ive lost like 10 characters in maybe 18 sessions? Yeah about a week ago I was just about ready to give the game up for a while. Luckily I didnt, my current character survived his first session so we shall see how that goes.

[@siryvain1602]

You dudes are my favorite youtubers. My game is tomorrow and you dudes taught me so much about dming. Thanks guys,

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

I always start by picking my class, then stats, and finally race.

[@Daredhnu]

the main reason to follow the steps in the PHB is because it would allow you to pick different skills for your background if you already selected those skills for your class since there is actual benefit to becoming a rogue criminal since you now get to select a tool proficiency of choice and potentially any other skill you'd like if you already picked the background skills as class skills. but that's it really.

[@Daredhnu]

or you can just make a custom background ofcourse :P

[@traviscochran9253]

Didn't get the chance to watch the first time. So happy for the wait to be over.

[@johnrasnick6147]

I'm so thankful for y'all's videos. They are entertaining and helpful

[@zacharyharwell351]

Not a new player, but I once played a Criminal background Tiefling War Wizard, with no proficiency in arcana, but her 2nd highest Stat was charisma and she had stealth, persuasion, sleight of hand and deception proficiency. She was a BLAST and her moral... ambiguity (let's call it) made her a very fun point of the party's dynamic

[@cereilsilvaire9605]

I actually played as a wizard for my first, I have this thing that even in all my games that I always play as a mage or someone who wields magic.

[@arikwolf3777]

I usually play in Adventure League games. It has rules for maintaining balance between players. Like: must use point buy or array for stats generation and only using officially publish rules-no third party rules. It really works well, so my home games follow AL rules. Also, a player can change anything and everything about their character up to Level 4. Once they are 5th level, the are stuck with that character unless they want to start over at level 1. I do this because it give the characters room to grow and time for the players to figure out their character.

[@blurook]

Oh! So this was what was taken off of my Watch Later yesterday. Great video!

[@ladytanuki]

I kind of wish I had followed this advice in my very first campaign when I was a total noob. I followed a few more convoluted steps to my character creation, especially since the DM immediately announced that he'd be allowing homebrew. Therefore my steps were: 1. Come up with concept: I think it would be interesting to play a necromancer (obviously I was not thinking about complexity) 2. Look around at homebrew, without looking at the PHB. I find an interesting homebrew thing called the Dark Arts Player's Companion that has some interesting spells and some races/subclasses. Among them are the shadar-kai race (this was before the UA for them came out) and an archlich as a warlock patron (and an invocation that allows casting Animate Dead). I decide that those look interesting and immediately build a backstory around that, revolving around growing up in a cult that worships the local god of death (custom setting) and then betraying it and leaving the country, asking a lich for guidance. 3. I finally look through the PHB and realize there's a wizard school of necromancy. Since my race gives an INT boost, I decide to go with that instead. Of course, this means no lich patron, but I discuss this with the DM and he lets me just have the lich as a general mentor who doesn't grant magic. 4. That's when I walk through the first chapter of the handbook and determine stats and whatnot. I decide on the Sage background and add to the backstory that my character studied at the local wizarding school after fleeing, but make sure to take Religion proficiency (which my class allows) to reflect it. Start building BIFs around this. 5. For stats, DM wants everyone to use point buy. I end up building stats around what makes sense for the character. Since she has a sense of vanity, I decide to give her high CHA and low DEX, the latter on account of having hard sole shoes that make it difficult to stealth and a fancy dress that makes it difficult to maneuver. And high CON due to having blood magic spells that involve self harm, plus I figure the extra HP will help. Of course, later on I find that low DEX was a mistake. 6. Pick spells last. For cantrips I pick Prestidigitation because it can allow me to instantly clean something - like my clothes. And Chill Touch for offense because it fits a necromancer and I like the "ha-ha you can't heal" side effect. For 1st level spells I choose among other things, Disguise Self for utility and makes sense for someone escaping a cult, Shield to make up for terrible AC, Ray of Sickness to take advantage of an HP restoring class feature, and Witch Bolt because it reminds me of Force Lightning from Star Wars and that fits the character's "I love dishing out pain" nature. Of course, I find the latter to not be very useful once the campaign is under way, but oh well, live and learn. 7. During the first couple of sessions, I look around at other party members, which are a fighter, rogue, blood hunter, bard, and druid, and decide that my character will be the main DPR caster, especially since she's more enthusiastic about missions and battles than the rest of the party. Wizard is kind of suited for that anyway. Ends up fitting this role perfectly, especially later on when she gets more powerful spells and undead minions. (Recently did almost 60 damage on a single turn, solely from skeletons.)

[@sesimie]

breastidigitation......my next character concept!!! thanks Jim!

[@NoahAregood]

In the first session I ever played in 5E, my DM got really pissed off when I was a Wizard using Firebolt since it's a cantrip in 5E. He had a little goblin adventure planned and I just keep blasting them with Firebolt, which made him very angry, so everytime I killed one he just said my fire burnt up the enemy and I never get loot or xp and I just wanted to kill him. Didn't matter though because he was so angry that he killed off my character in the next session without my consent. These days I'm DM.

[@ImADogRuff]

How do you burn exp, that's so ridiculous.

[@theclimbto1]

Am I role-playing the Background? As in, is the Background my main hook... making the Race and Class secondary? Am I role-playing the Race? As in, if the Race was different would my Character Concept not work how I've laid it out? Am I role-playing the Class? Do my actions derive from these particular set of skills I have? I decide what my MAIN Role-Play Focus is... then create from there. Now at some level I'm Role-Playing on all 3, it's the unique combinations that create the Character. But when coming up with the concept, I'm looking for an inspiration... and it STARTS with ONE of the 3, and the others enhance it. Okay, I'm a Revenge Seeking Rich Kid. So I was born affluent, and something horrible happened. Maybe I was cheated out of my inheritance by some extended family, or local corrupted government. So that's Background... now what Race can add to that? Am I Half-Elven in a largely Elven community, and the Elves don't like Half-Breeds? Okay, so what Class can I go with here as a Societal Outcast viewed as 'lesser' than others, despite being on equal or even better footing in a Wealth Stand-Point? Might Rogue lend itself to how I've had to always do Back-Room Deals? Or maybe these are more City Elves, and I'm a Ranger... and such ruffians as myself are looked down up as being 'less sophisticated' than this Community of Elves? Or perhaps it's a Military Society, and I'm a Tavern Loving Bard. Anything that adds to the 'Black Sheep Element'. Just a quick example of one way I'd Concept a Character.

[@lord6617]

35:00 my party literally has a barbarian who put an 8 in his strength, super high intelligence, and thank you for literally expressing how I start every session feeling :P

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

My first time DMing I had a wizard with an 18 strength and 13 int. He played it off brewing Louie from Rune Soldier: the reluctant wizard who wanted to be a fighter. I also had discount bin Darth Maul (who never hit anything) and a master thrower who dealt 1d4+0 every round. TPK on the third adventure. I really don't feel bad about it either. They were warned about the Half-Troll Grimlock (CR4).

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

Some people think when you roll for stats you have to roll the abilities in order. I've never seen that written anywhere, or heard of any group doing it that way. I've always just rolled 4d6, drop the lowest roll, then assign them however applies best for the concept I have in mind.

[@NomNom1970]

That bit at the end "...just fuck off" caused my orange juice to shoot out my nose. Well played Sir, well played.

[@metallichurch]

Only tried 3 characters so far. Always been a caster, which is ironic since I'm a tattooed muscle head lol. Going against the fighter recomendation is a blast. Reading over spell lists for in fun in your off time is amazing fun, and now I feel ready to try the melee classes and not be overwhelmed with the ooga booga mumbo jumbo flying through the air.

[@joshuasibrava9241]

My first character was a wizard in 3.5 and it was a challenge but I loved it

[@veerkillerx]

Willow is in my top 5 fantasy movies. Love it!

[@And-c7n]

Awesome work Travis! Oh, and Save or Dice team - you've only a month to get to PAX Australia for your first convention outing - so get cracking!

[@rastasplash7334]

Rustic wizard? Gandalf?

[@yobressik]

I've never played D&D before but i would like to play a dragon born and my friend that plays need a cleric in the party is that ok?

[@igorsdonjon2271]

all races make good clerics

[@Drew-qs2wk]

Play what you want. Dragonborns get bonuses in strength and charisma, so my first was a paladin. It roleplayed really well, and I chose a devotion to Bahamut, a dragon-god embodiment of lawful goodness. Paladin plays well to the bonuses afforded by the race, but you don't need to choose your class based on your race. Prioritizing wisdom gives you more of a bonus than a measly +1 in charisma based on your race. Be a cleric or whatever you want, and be proud of your draconic heritage.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

Why wouldn’t it be okay? Give it a go, yo! (I know I’m 2 years late; I do what I want!)

[@EilonwyG]

Thank you, Jimm for not advocating my most hated "advice" for new players. Why should I be forced to play a "simple" character just because I don't know the rules yet? If a magic character appeals most to you, having someone tell you you shouldn't play it or it'd be too complicated for you and then be guided to a less interesting character type for you is both disheartening and insulting. If you have your heart set on a wizard as a first character, your not going to be as happy playing a fighter and maybe won't enjoy the game as much. It's a ridiculous piece of advice and I'm so glad to see you veer away from it. My very first character back in ye olde second edition was an elven enchantress and I loved her. I would have been super bummed had I been told I wasn't experienced enough to play her. So thank you for advocating letting a player choose their own character. Rules will come in time. Best play a character you most enjoy playing. Love you guys!

[@shadowgear7032]

Hey my first character was a half elven sourcerer in pathfinder. It was like a year and a half ago. I loved it but kinda wish I had built my spell list better. Sadly the game only lasted 5 sessions so that I never got to fix my spell list.

[@robertf3606]

I think that part of that idea of "keeping it simple" is legitimate but not ironclad. Most of my players were people that had a passing interest in D&D, got their fix with an adventure, and move on. Out of a dozen players that have come and gone half of them played casters, and half of those were immensely frustrated with the rules that go with wizards and clerics(spells per day, domains, and all that). Despite my warning that there was a bit more rules to those characters they had a very "I'll look at it later" attitude and it kinda bit them in the butt." Personally I played a 3.5 Favored Soul from lvl 1-20 in my first campaign and it was an absolute blast.

[@Minigords]

EilonwyG i think it depends how much commited you are when playing the first time. We have a friend that is super excited to play rol games but he really sucks at organizing all the things his character gets. I think he made a Valor Bard and he was a mess when his turns arrived and doesn't know how to deal with it, trying to support but then exposing himself losing concentration of spells and things like that. I get that maybe you like the idea of a full caster for your first character but it isn't easy at first. I'm in my second campaign now (play some one-shot sessions too, so i've made 3-4 different characters) and this is the first time I make a spellcaster, a warlock, and the character creation was crazy, too much spells to choose without know its full potential. Now after 2-3 sessions i'm getting the vibe of spellcasting and notice some bad decission i made but it was a pain in creation and first session.

[@darkgodmaster]

This is great, we have been playing 4e for years and we are going to play 5e this month, for a DM that needs to help the players with making their character sheets this is useful

[@alexbyrd2584]

You guys are awesome. I've learned a ton from you, especially the new DM tips.

[@ChristnThms]

Love it, thank you. I really appreciate that you guys focus on thematic characters, but acknowledge the mechanical functionality at the same time. So often, one if focused on at the expense of the other, leading to great themes that don't work or munchkins. I know that it was a little beyond the scope of this segment. But a few words about how useful the Human Variant, with his first level feat, are in filling in gaps in a theme... Your EK won't come online til level 3? It can begin fulfilling its concept at level 1 with Magic Initiate. Your monk wants a big more mystical flavor, without bringing full spell casting in? Ritual Caster can give him some real flexibility, without changing the core essence of the Monk.

[@michaelwillis3330]

Just wanted to say. Love your show. Wish y'all the best! Keep it up. ✌From S.A Texas

[@danielsantarosa101]

If you pick your background last and pick a background whose skill overlaps with one you've already chosen, you can pick any skill from the book. It is written somewhere in the book, not sure where, but it is there

[@LaughingStorm]

I think it's you get to pick another from your class list, not just any from the book.

[@Jw87563]

I agree with the take on class selection for new players. They should just pick what speaks to them the most.

[@theclimbto1]

There are no Sub-Optimal Characters... only Sub-Optimal Players. Great Players learn to roll with the 3's on Abilities, and to use the combination of Mechanical Knowledge and Role Play Ability to make an Array of 3's into an awesome Character. It's not easy, it's not for the weak, but if was easy it wouldn't be worth doing. It's ROLE-Playing, not Roll-Playing.

[@timkramar9729]

I find it hard, 30 years in, to decide what class I want to be at the beginning. So I make my dice rolls and let my attributes determine what my class will be, at least somewhat. This I can do in games that have you roll attributes. In games like Shadowrun or Traveller, I try to decide last what I'm going to play based on what others have chosen for skills. The thing about 5e that I found amazing, and that I suppose you always could have done, is assigning your rolls to whatever Stat you wanted. Like if I'm m playing a melee character, I could assign my highest roll to Strength, intelligence for wizard, wisdom for cleric, dex for missile combat (or monk?), charisma for bards, sorcerers., or warlocks. Many will optimize by selecting a race to increase their prime stat. I like to shore up my weakest ones.

[@Daszkal]

Yet another excellent video gentlemen, well done.

[@torinnreactsgaming]

For new players watching this show, I would also recommend looking at donjon and 5e.tools, as great resources if you don't have a copy of the books.

[@cyberneticraven358]

My main PC creation process is finding cool pictures on Google images and making a character around that photo.

[@knightghaleon]

I'd love to make some kind of Diviner/Eldritch Knight combo where I can Great Weapon master and give myself a natural 20. Or Diviner Assassin just for an auto crit on a sneak attack or two.

[@johnp2870]

I remember this one time where I rolled up a new character (I was making ranger) and every single stat save for dexterity was in the negatives. We rolled with 1 d20 so I had some stats at ones I think the highest (not dexterity) was 6 which was still negative the dm felt so bad for my garbage character he let me re roll a few stats but my luck was so bad that day it has stuck with me as a reminder of how easily the dice can turn on you

[@charlie_c1373]

SO clearly Im binge watching your show while working... but Ive been looking at "good rolls" and at-least for me they tend toward 17 15 14 13 12 10 as a kind of high-end array. When I start a campaign I would give the players this option instead of rolling to ensure strong (yet not broken) characters; and give them an opportunity if they are a MAD class/sub-class to get a feat or two because that really helps to flesh out a character in a mechanics sense.

[@ninshjok]

What happen to the giant d20 background? I miss it!

[@dreddbolt]

Skills: I always lock in my background's skills before I choose my class skills so I have a larger selection of skills to work with. Hit points roleplay: I say... half of a player's HP is grit, determination, the will to live, and battle prowess... where as the lower half of a character's HP is actual injury... like bleeding out of orifices in the head from psychic damage or withering away from necrotic damage. Player buy-in/(quarterbacks): This. This right here. Making a game happen is the way it needs to go, with constructive criticism afterwards. I very much need more 'quarterback' tabletop roleplayers in my life, speaking from a personal standpoint.

[@CanisVampirim]

They brought up the hitpoint discussion, and they are right. Every DM/Group treats HP differently. I personally treat it as a characters ability to deflect a mortal blow. At low levels, the characters are much like basic recruits, basic training but not as much in the heat of the battle mortal danger. A strong blow will bring them down quickly, they become exhausted faster and cant maintain a sustained combat. At higher levels, they have been tempered in the heat of battle. A powerful blow, while doing high hitpoint damage, in the RP aspect was a just barely deflected mortal strike. The character might be wounded, or shaken, or suffered from some effect. It harmed them, but was not enough to fell them. Or they have the will to continue fighting. A blow that fells a character is a mortal strike, leaving them bleeding out or suffering for horrid wounds and exhaustion. Healing magic accelerates the natural healing, renews the body as if resting and invigorates them, but it's not quite the same as true rest.

[@atlas_of_prescottia]

"Check out our video on Rail-roading vs. Homebrew!" Wait, what? I'm not sure if you intentionally made that joke or not, but it gave me a good laugh!

[@teun558]

Current idea for a character is an Aasimar haunted one ranger that is a demon hunter. Divine legacy but haunted by dark visions at night.

[@TheRollyD]

That camera on Jim really has stuttering issues.

[@kyubii972]

serenitytyaena it's one of the reasons they are taking a small break real life issues and what not

[@Drew-qs2wk]

@ Jim Davis, I want you to know that this video inspired me to make this character as an NPC, but I haven't brought him into any of my games yet. ... His name is Koto Lightfoot, a halfling with a few levels in wizard and a few in bard plus the Lucky feat. I CAN'T WAIT to use this character.

[@Drew-qs2wk]

Wizard 4 / bard 2 / character 6 : str -1 dex +2 con +3 int +3 wis 0 cha +2 / ac 12 (common clothes) / halfling storyteller diviner / component pouch + shamisen and piccolo / lucky, brave, nimbleness, naturally stealthy, portent, actor

[@Minakie]

Do you think you'd be able to make an eppisode on BIFs?

[@mrsips710]

I agree with Jim that Willow is awesome, but damnit is it hard to lay hands on a copy!

[@theclimbto1]

I would like ADDITIONAL Beliefs, Ideals and Flaws as your Character progresses. I mean at Level 5 I may have seen things that alter, or further build upon, my Initial BIF's. Say 10 and 20, or 5/10/15/20. Something a bit minor, but following previous themes.

[@danscantland8066]

I actually had a game last night where we threw like 15 1s

[@ladytanuki]

"I wish there were more options for background BIFs" *checks date of video* Oh, this video was made before Xanathar's Guide to Everything (which has exactly that) came out.

[@RonnieLunn84]

Beard is looking solid bro

[@jemm113]

I've planned out a character from 1st to 20th level for a Dragoon from Final Fantasy (the jumpy asshole, not t mounted combat one). I start with 4 levels in fighter, usually taking the pole arm master feat with variant human, a getting mobile for the first ASI. Then, if my scores are good enough (18/18/17/12/14/12 when making it tonight is great with the 2 human score increases into dex and con) I take monk 1, then fighter 5th, then monk 2nd. 6th level fighter I'm either taking the +2 for STR, or sentinel, or Athletics. Then taking most levels in fighter, once feats are rounded out, take monk 3, take one or two more levels in fighter (picking up medium armor mastery and possibly lucky) then take monk 4 near or at the end (preferably near the middle for the ASI and Slow fall for surviving jumps and falls)

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

If anyone is here watching this for the first time, understand that there’s a bit of a misunderstanding when rolling stats (that you have to roll for them in order STR thru CHA; you don’t! Just roll and put them where you want them.) Just roll those d6s, add them up for each score, and then apply them where you want them. I’ve played on and off for 20 years and I can’t remember *ever* hearing that you had to roll for them in order. That’s just baffling to me.

[@BarokaiRein]

I never understood why people argued about what hitpoints are. It literally says that HP represents the amount of DAMAGE you can take. So it's pretty clear what WotC thinks hit points are.

[@biohazard0119]

these videos does not support 7.1 sound system I think. but good work love the show :D

[@FirstnameLastname-uu2zf]

Hey, tiefling fighter is fun

[@MrSIRIAMMA]

Very Informative viewings. Thanks. :) Please do an IN Depth, show of the importance of DM's, being fair. When the DM's personal feelings about liking or disliking someone, comes into play it ruins the Spirit of the Game Just as players can abuse the game, ( OP's ) so can DM's. What are specific things the DM can do to insure an unbaised game. What are specific things players can do to assist the DM in playing fair. Keep up the good work :)

[@rollingon5566]

I want to make a dragonborn spellsword type dude and I can't find the perfect class without multiclassing, anyone have any ideas?

[@tekisis]

What are your thoughts on a DM pre generating characters. I feel it takes something away from the players. Also it forces me as the player to play your character, because you made it. i feel i have nothing invested in his or her creation. So its hard for me to just pick a character, if i wanted to do that, i'd just play a board game. Am i wrong?

[@MikeLeonard]

WOOT!!! Shout out to Willow!

[@theclimbto1]

I like you as a DM. I'm looking forward to my Starting Equipment Weapon... my Scimitar. My +100 Scimitar of Kill Everything Dead. :D

[@DamienGranz]

Hm, did this get reposted?

[@jacobfike3697]

Breastidigitation is my favorite and only cantrip

[@JimCullen]

There are no quarter casters in the game. Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights are *third* casters.

[@blakebrockhaus347]

Igna M. Gavier I can't tell if that is sarcastic or not

[@dreddbolt]

I guess characters with the magic initiate feat would be fourth casters in this case.

[@ironreed2654]

Am I crazy or is the white balance going crazy on the black tablecloth and shirt?

[@timkramar9729]

It's odd. I've made warlocks with the sage background. Usually discredited academic. But why don't I make him a soldier, give him proficiency with armor and weapons.

[@dahZeee]

Is it just me, or is there a loss of camera quality and frame drops in the latest videos from you guys?

[@WebDM]

We are having some tech issues with the Band C cameras we used to shoot these shows. We are addressing it...

[@gorter23]

part II? it disappreared for couple of days

[@mattpkc34xx]

stuttering issues in the original

[@asbestosfish_]

I think higher stats are a problem. I always roll, and for some reason my rolls are always stupid high. I swear, the lowest I got on three separate characters _was a 14_ and if you want your character to have any believable flaws, but have two 19s and three 16s, you’re not moderately screwed.

[@Licjr]

Asbestos Fish Maybe their flaw is vanity. They just think they're so much better then everyone else and that can turn people off