Many people play Dungeons and Dragons simply because they have fun doing it. But rarely does anyone point out the benefits of playing a table-top game like this. Yes, there are several positive aspects to this game, that actually enhance your life.

It helps build positive character traits and social skills.

I watched a fantastic YouTube video that talked about how playing different characters in D&D teaches you how to talk and behave in different situations, even if those behaviors don’t come naturally to you. Maybe you’re a mild-mannered quiet person, but you want to speak and act very confidently during an interview. Or maybe you’re insanely nervous to go on a first date, and you’re afraid that the person won’t see the fun side of you because you’re too scared to think. When you build a character in D&D, you usually create one with personality traits that you aspire to have. Playing a character like this, thinking of how they would act, walk, and talk, actually trains your brain how to behave that way. So the next time you’re in a situation where you want to be more outgoing or witty, you’ll be prepared.

It teaches people how to work as a team.

Something that I learned quickly when playing Dungeons and Dragons is that the group should NEVER split up. That is basically certain death for all of you. The Dungeon Master plans battles and challenges for the entire party, so if one or two people from the group try facing it alone, they’re bound to fail. Just like any team project at work or school, you have to talk to the members of your group, find out what each person is good at, and put your heads together to solve a problem. Communication is key. And what’s better about working together during D&D than at work is that, no one is scared to speak their mind. Groupthink isn’t a problem. You’re all on the same playing field, and you view each other as equals.

It encourages problem solving.

This is a fantastic reason to play with your kids. This is a skill that can be hard to teach. My fiance and I play D&D with our two sons, and like most kids, they want to run into every dangerous situation full force, without stopping to consider the consequences. When they state that they’re about to do something that you know is a bad idea, you can stop them, ask them to reconsider, and explain why what they’re about to do might not work. We love to talk through plans and show the boys how to think through something before acting. And if something doesn’t work, we have them start over and think of a new approach.

It helps with socialization.

This is another great reason to play with kids, but it’s just as beneficial for adults. Not everyone is good in social situations, especially children. D&D forces you to be social without the stress that usually comes along with it. You have to talk and work with other people, but you’re kind of “hiding” behind your character, so it doesn’t feel as intimidating. It’s basically practice for interacting with people, that makes you feel safe. If you say something dumb or embarrassing, you can blame it on your character. It allows you to test out different thoughts, behaviors, actions, and phrases without the fear of being judged.

It inspires creativity and imagination.

In everyday life, we have to keep our head on our shoulders and our feet on the ground. With all the responsibilities that we have to be concerned with, it’s not often that, as an adult, we get to just have fun and use our imaginations. While playing D&D, you can forget about your worries and responsibilities for a while, and just have fun. It’s an excuse to act and play like a kid again. Playing Dungeons and Dragons inserts you into a world without limits. Anything is possible there. Plus, the creativity that you develop while playing can help you in other areas of your life, such as work and relationships.

Well, of course, I play D&D. If you had asked me ten years ago if I would be a Dungeons & Dragons “nerd”, I would have been confused and asked “how do you even play that?”

I was a tomboy in my teen years. Soon after graduating high school, I joined the Army and served as a Military Policy Officer. When I got out of the Army, I was a stay-at-home mom for a while. Then I went into sales, which then lead me to the insurance industry. As hard as it might be to believe, I actually love working in insurance.

Some of my favorite things are drinking beer and wine, listening to podcasts, eating food, and reading. I travel and exercise as much as I can. I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of water, but I really don’t like it. I love to watch documentaries and scary, supernatural, haunting type movies.

This is Ken. He is one of the original people whom I started to play Dungeons & Dragons with. That’s actually how we met. We worked together, but we didn’t know whom each other was until we were introduced at a D&D night. We were super close friends for a few years, and then we started dating. Fast forward 5 years, and now we’re engaged! Yeah, we’ve known each other for a while.

Ken works as a trusty mailman. That whole thing about the US Postal Service delivering through any weather is true. In the middle of Wisconsin blizzards, you’ll find him out in his mail truck. However, if you don’t clean out your driveway and around your mailbox, he’ll probably skip your house.

My adorable, bearded mailman is a fantastic cyclist. He can pedal a ten-speed unbelievably fast and always leaves me in his dust. He loves his giant, 130-pound dog, beer, video games, and reddit.

Bethany is one of my favorite people in the world. She is a mix between a modern day hippie and a homestead farm girl. She is an amazing yoga instructor, and when she’s not helping people relieve stress, she’s hanging out with her sweet daughter, Rowan.

Bethany used to be a ballerina, and she performed in many ballets, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. She is more graceful and light on her feet than most people (especially me). She has a kind, lighthearted spirit that everybody loves.

This country girl loves animals, and has had several of them, including cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks. She hopes to have pygmy goats someday in the near future. Bethany has a passion for thrift shopping, and somehow always manages to find the best vintage clothes.

Theo is a quiet guy. He is crazy about the Green Bay Packers, and a large portion of his wardrobe includes the Packer emblem. Him and his wife like to attend other sporting events as well, such as hockey and baseball. Sports are a passion in his family.

Theo and his wife just had their first child last year, a baby girl! They are loving parenthood, spending as much time as they can with their happy little girl. They also have two tiny dogs who used to run the house before the baby came along.

Some of Theo’s hobbies include building computers, anything involving Star Wars, video games, fixing up his house, and grilling out in the summertime. His house has been the hub for many barbecues and Packer parties.

In case you haven’t gotten the point yet, anyone and everyone can play D&D. It’s not the stereotypical nerds who don’t have lives and smell like BO. Dungeons and Dragons is for anyone who likes to spend time with their friends, play games, and escape from the stress of everyday life. You can have kids, be a girly-girl, own a house, love sports, travel, have a career, exercise, and still play Dungeons and Dragons.

Playing Dungeons & Dragons mainly involves using your imagination and having fun, so you don’t necessarily need tips on how to play. But there are things that you can learn from an old hat to make things more interesting, and to keep you from dying earlier than you have to.

• Always check for traps. When you’re walking through a cave or dungeon or unknown path in the forest, tell the Dungeon Master (DM) that you want to check for traps. He will have you do this by rolling your D20, and then you’ll add your perception score to the number that you rolled. If you roll poorly enough, you won’t see traps even if they’re there. But at least you tried.
• Talk to everyone you encounter. This tip is especially helpful when you enter a new town or village. You never know who can give you helpful information, or who might be willing to sell you some healing potions. Or maybe you’ll encounter someone who can send you on a fun side quest. The DM has information on all of the extra people in the game, who they are, and what they know. You might have to talk to a few duds, but someone knows something.
• You don’t have to kill every bad guy. In fact, you can sometimes keep them alive and turn them into your minion. Of course, if they’re truly evil, you don’t want to spare their life. However, many little goblins are only working for the guy who provided them with food, and they have no loyalty to them. If there’s one last guy in a fight, you can decide to not kill him with the last blow, and instead, hold him for questioning. If he seems to be helpful enough, you can offer him food and safety to stay with your group and help out. They can work as a translator, carry bags, and watch your stuff. Sometimes, they’ll even pick up a dagger and fight in battle for you.
• Gambling is allowed. It’s sometimes fun to play a game within a game. If you’re at an Inn, drinking some ale, and you decide that you need some extra money, you can challenge others to gamble with you. Basically, this means rolling your D20, and paying gold pieces to whoever rolls the highest number. You could even play bar dice together.
• Always search for treasure. After you kill some bad guys, especially if it’s a boss, search the area for treasure. By this, I mean actually telling the DM that you’re searching the room. You might be told to roll a perception check. If you’re told to do this, that usually means that there is something hidden in the area. Many times there are special treasures hidden in the bad guy areas, such as gold or magical weapons. The DM isn’t going to hand this stuff to you on a silver platter, so make sure you’re searching for it!

While reading about creating your Dungeons & Dragons character, you may have heard about character stats at some point. These are the skills that every character has, but each character has skills that they excel at, and then they have the ones that they are seriously lacking in, just like people in real life. If you are creating a character the old fashioned way, you will have to “roll” for these stats. This means taking four D6 dice, rolling them, and adding up the three highest numbers that you rolled. You do this six times, once for all six of your stats. Then you take your six final numbers, and assign each one to a stat. If almost all of your numbers are depressingly low, your Dungeon Master may have pity and let you re-roll.

Let’s do a quick review of the six stats:

• Strength: This one is a bit obvious. This number will determine how strong your character is. This is an important stat for a fighter or a barbarian, because those fighting classes are meant to do a lot of damage. If you’re a weak fighter, you won’t last very long. However, if you’re a ranger or a wizard, you probably don’t need to be too concerned with this stat.
• Dexterity: This is a stat that has to do with your character’s fine motor skills. When someone is high in dexterity, they are light on their feet, good with their hands, and they can learn to do new things relatively fast. If someone is low in dexterity, they are clumsy, they trip or drop things often, and they usually aren’t very careful or good at learning new things.
• Constitution: A character with a high constitution is healthy, energetic, and they can take a lot of damage, pain, and illness before they are knocked down. Every D&D group loves having a character that has a high constitution. This character is referred to as the “tank”. They stand in front of everyone else and take the hard hits without getting knocked down. So if you want to be the tank, this is a good stat to put a high number into.
• Intelligence: This is the stat that determines how smart you are. Surprisingly, not every character needs to be smart. If you’re strong and take lots of hits, no one is going to expect you to be high in intelligence. The character who needs to worry about this stat is the one that is going to concoct plans, figure out puzzles, learn new spells, and find clues.
• Wisdom: Many people might not care about being wise, but that is different for certain characters. Haven’t you heard of the “wise old wizard”? Characters who are high in wisdom are able to understand other cultures, other religions, and ancient writing. This is useful in Dungeons & Dragons because you’ll spend so much of your time traveling, meeting new creatures, and becoming acquainted with things you’ve never seen.
• Charisma: This skill is not for everyone, but believe me, you want at least one player in your group to be high in this. Unless you are fine with people hating you wherever you go. Your charisma stat determines how likable and attractive you are. If you want to persuade people into giving you want you want, or doing things for you, you need this skill to be high. This is especially useful for thieves and rogues. Think of James Bond. He was INSANELY high in charisma.

Before rolling your character’s stats, I encourage you to take time to think about who your character is, what they’re good at, what kind of personality they have, and what skills they truly need. Some people are lucky enough to roll high numbers for every stat, but that’s not the usual outcome.

You might want your character to be very likable and persuasive, but does that truly fit who they are? For instance, I once played a Native American Human Ranger who was very stoic, quiet, and fast. As much as I would have liked for her to be gorgeous and for everyone to fall in love with her, it didn’t make sense with the personality I was creating for her. Therefore, charisma was her lowest stat. She was terrible at having conversations, she was overly honest, and she had a bad habit of staring at people in a non-friendly way. As you may have guessed, my party did not let me do much of the talking.

You might want your character to have it all and be the perfect being, but this is one way in which D&D is like the real world. No one is good at everything. You need to make the tough calls to make your character truly become who they’re meant to be.

Misty was what you would call a free spirit. She lived in the middle of a forest, in a small cabin that she had found, abandoned, and she made it her own. Misty was beautiful, loving, and friendly, but she didn’t fit in well with other people. She longed to be near animals. She could speak with the beasts of the woods and plains, and they would talk back to her. Because she inherited her mother’s druidic powers, Misty could shape shift to take on the form of the animals she had seen.

After both of her parents passed away, Misty lived in solitude, feeling as though the only living creatures on the earth who understood her were those that lived in the wild. You would think that this was a lonely existence, but she loved it. She gathered food in the woods, decorated her cabin with flowers and leafy-green plants, and danced to music that she played in her own head.

One day while out gathering herbs for medicine, Misty was found by two travelers. She was intrigued by their wild and unruly appearance, and decided to follow them out of curiosity. They were kind to her, but they seemed to be on a mission of some sort, so the travelers didn’t do much talking, which she didn’t mind at all. However, it wasn’t long after she started following these two strange men that some angry looking lizard people attacked them out of nowhere. Misty saw that the adventurers were weak, and decided to fight alongside them. She shape shifted into a large spider, which scared the adventurers just as much as it did the lizard people, and she helped destroy the enemy.

After this first encounter with these travelers, Misty decided to continue on with them to help them on their journey. She amazed them with her ability to connect with animals and change her appearance, and she entertained them with her dancing, singing, and knack for making healing potions. It didn’t take long for these three to trust one another and become friends. They saw each other through many dangerous situations, and they kept each other company when they had no one else.

A day came when the three friends wandered into a town. They split up to find supplies and prepare for the next leg of their journey. While wandering, Misty noticed some shady looking creatures whom she recognized as being in the same gang as a group that her and her traveling partners had battled once. She followed them into an abandoned castle. Misty decided that she would shape shift into a rat so that she could sneak around the castle without being noticed. She hoped that she would find something that she would want, or something that would be helpful to her friends. While creeping around, she found herself in a huge, crumbling room, with deep crevices and cracks in the floor, humongous pillars that looked as though they were about to topple over, and a bridge that looked like it was barely held together by unraveling ropes. This giant room looked as though it would soon be in ruins.

Suddenly, Misty heard a voice in her head. It whispered evil, terrifying things to her, but she had no idea where this voice was coming from. She decided to wander further into the room, thinking that she would be safe as an innocent, little rat. She started to cross the bridge, wary at first, but then once she realized it would support her, she quickly ran the rest of the way over. As she made it to the other side of the bridge, she suddenly saw a horrible creature which seemed to be staring into her soul. It had one, large eye that never blinked, and a terrifying smile with glinting teeth that seemed to be thirsty for blood. A horrible fear rose within her, and she knew she needed to escape.

Suddenly, Misty’s powers wore off, and she was no longer able to keep the appearance of a rat. Returning to her human form, she felt vulnerable standing in front of the hideous creature. Rather than try to fight it, she decided to try running. However, she didn’t stop to consider that her change in size might not work for crossing back over the rickety bridge. Halfway across, it fell apart under her weight, and she fell to her death in the deep ravine underneath.

Misty’s death was incredibly heartbreaking for me, and just a little bit traumatizing! Even worse was knowing that she would never be avenged, since the other members of her team had no idea where she was. In case you are interested in knowing, the creature that she came across in the room is called a nothic, pictured above. This monster can learn secrets about people by staring at them and basically paralyzing them. When it becomes violent, it uses its horrible gaze to rot the flesh off of victims’ bones. So yes, it is even more nightmarish than it looks.

Quick tip: If you have a favorite book, movie, or TV character, it is so much fun to create a D&D character based off of them. Doing this will give you a deep attachment to your character, which makes it even more entertaining to play, and also more depressing if they get killed. I based Misty off of the bohemian witch from the third season of American Horror Story, Coven. She is one of my favorite TV show characters of all time.

Considering my past, many people are surprised by my love for Dungeons &Dragons. This is mostly due to the stigma surrounding role-playing games. I am proof that the stigma is wrong. I served in the US Army as a young adult, I have worked in sales, and I am currently an Insurance Underwriter. I have done a decent amount of traveling, and have lived on three different continents. I love to try new types of beer, I’m a firm believer in the healing powers of yoga, and I love to buy clothes. I’m addicted to reading and buying books, I’ve always been a tomboy, and I love to play devil’s advocate, no matter the topic. I am passionate about breaking down stereotypes and doing things that aren’t expected of me, so to me it makes perfect sense that I would play this game.

I don’t want to rant and rave about myself too much, because that would bore you to death. However, I know that some of you might be wondering what there is to like about D&D. Everyone has their own reasons for playing the game, but here are some of mine. I hope that I can provide you a little inspiration to try it out, and take away any fear that you won’t “fit in”.

1 The social environment

Sitting around a table for several hours might sound boring. I thought it did when I joined my first D&D group. But as you may have found out, players of the game are extremely persuasive when it comes to talking others into trying it out. On top of that, I think that most people are curious about the game. I am so grateful that my friends talked me into it though. Do you know the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you’re sitting around a dinner table with your friends, eating food, maybe drinking some wine or good beer, chatting, laughing, and reconnecting? This is what playing Dungeons and Dragons feels like. You’re spending quality time with people who you love to be around, and you’re having great conversations while also getting to know each other on a different level.

2 Using imagination without judgement

In Dungeons and Dragons, you’re expected to use your imagination and become someone new. No one is going to think you’re weird if you change your personality, talk in a different voice, or have conversations with creatures that aren’t actually there. This is a judgement free zone. You can be as crazy, silly, sexy, cute, angry, rude, charming, happy, or disgruntled as you want to be, and everyone watching just finds it incredibly entertaining, rather than thinking that you’ve lost your mind.

3 An escape from the real world

We all need to get away from the stresses of our jobs, bills, and responsibilities once in a while. If we don’t, we’ll go crazy. Taking a vacation is a great way to do this, but sadly, most people don’t get to take multiple vacations a year. Playing D&D is a great way for me to unwind and submerge myself into another world, where I can be someone else with different problems that I can escape from whenever I want to. I can change my personality and looks, and just become someone completely new when I’m tired of being myself.

4 Solving problems

Your Dungeon Master will present you with several problems and obstacles to overcome. Whether it’s a giant, fire-breathing dragon, a door that can only be opened by solving a riddle, or a booby trap, some serious brain power and strategy is going to come into play with this game. What makes this even better is that several people with different viewpoints are going to have to work together to solve the problems. Dungeons and Dragons sometimes feels like one large, extravagant, team-building exercise, which I absolutely love. D&D is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, combined with an escape room.

5 The more personalities, the better

You might think that having several different personality types in a group might be difficult to deal with, but it can be a huge asset to getting things done. The charismatic chatterbox can smooth talk the townsfolk, while the quiet thinker listens from the background and simply observes how people react. A risk taker can run ahead and make sure things are safe, while the timid person can stay back and provide cover. Playing with a diverse group will help to keep you all alive and make it easier to come up with answers to a question. Sometimes you will have a party member who is only in it for themselves, but they’ll quickly learn that that’s not a good idea. If they don’t shape up, their character will either be killed off by the other party members or the DM.

Dungeons & Dragons is a wonderful outlet for kids, it’s becoming a powerful hobby for women, and everyone is encouraged to play, no matter your background. In fact, Dungeons & Dragons is actually starting to be seen as cool! I highly encourage you to check out some other opinions on this fun game, and then develop your own. If you already play, why do you love D&D?

One thing that I haven’t touched on yet, but I feel I should really warn you about, is the fact that playing any table-top, role-playing game will more than likely cause you to become obsessed with dice. When you roll them and hold them in your hand so frequently, these little geometric shapes will grow near and dear to your heart. You’ll see other peoples’ pretty dice sets, and then you’ll start looking them up online, finding ones that you just have to have. Your dice sort of become a type of treasure to you. You can’t explain the attachment, but it’s there.

How many different types of dice can there really be, you ask? Ohhhhhh boy, hahaha. Let me tell you. It’s a BIG list. There are plastic dice, metal dice, gemstone dice, wooden dice, bone dice… on top of all the different materials that dice can be made out of, there are so many colors. You can get painted dice, engraved dice, sparkly dice, glow-in-the-dark dice, translucent dice… the options that are out there are incredible.

The key is to find a dice set that speaks to you. These things are going to be your best friends (at least you hope so) in battle, so you want to get the right ones. If you aren’t sure where to look, there is a fantastic store that separates dice by character class. So if you are playing a rogue, and you want your dice to represent your character, look at the rogue dice that they have. Their dice sets are gorgeous!

Before you start to play D&D, I want to give you a quick run down of what types of dice are in a set, and what they’re typically used for.

The D4 is the lowest numbered, as well as the pointiest die there is. It is called a D4 because of the number of sides that it has (I think you’ll soon see the pattern here). There are some weapons that have you roll this die to see how much damage you do. As you probably guessed, those weapons don’t do a bunch of damage. They’re usually daggers and things of that nature.

The D6 is most likely one that you’re already familiar with. This die is used for many games, such as board games and gambling. Surprisingly, it is not used in D&D as much as you would expect it to be. I have rarely played with a weapon that required this die. Like the D4, this weapon is used for smaller weapons, such as a mace or a hand ax.

The D8 is one of my personal favorites. I love its diamond shape, plus the characters that I play tend to have D8 weapons, such as a crossbow and a long sword. These types of weapons are usually used by rangers and rogues, which are probably my favorite classes. If you like to shoot arrows and stab things, you’ll probably be using this die a lot too.

Here we have a pair of D10s, which I think are the most elegant looking dice in a set. Why are there two of them you ask? That is a great question. Not only can you use these for weapon damage rolls, but they can also be used for percentage rolls. If your DM (Dungeon Master) tells you that you need to roll 80% or higher to do something, these are the dice you take out. On the dice in the picture, you’ll see that I’ve rolled 84%.

This is a D12. You might be thinking that this looks like a powerful and sturdy die, and you would be correct. This is the die rolled for the hard hitting weapons, such as a great ax and a lance. The big, bulky fighters and barbarians are usually the characters that carry weapons this large, so if you want to do a lot of damage, consider playing one of those classes.

Last, but certainly not least, is the D20. This 20-sided die is the favorite of most people. Your D20 can make or break you in battle. It decides whether you are able to talk someone into giving you a special golden key, or if they beat you up for doing a very bad job at trying to persuade them. This is the die that you roll to see if you are successful at an attempt to do something, so you’ll be rolling it A LOT.

That, my friends, is an entire set of dice. I highly recommend having more than one. It’s common practice to, if a particular die is rolling especially horrible for you, switch out your dice to see if your luck improves. However, if you don’t have the extra money to spend on dice, or if you’re not really into material possessions like that, never fear. There are plenty of websites and apps that will digitally roll your dice for you.

Which is your favorite die?

Alignment might be something that you’ve heard of before. When creating your Dungeons and Dragons character, you have to choose what their alignment is going to be. This has a lot to do with the decisions they make and how they behave. Most TV shows and movies have characters from most or all of these alignment categories. A fun game is taking your favorite movie and dividing up the characters into these groups. Let’s dig a little deeper into each alignment to give you a better understanding of what kind of character you want to play.

Lawful Good

This is the character that is most saintly, and always does what is seen as “the right thing”. These characters are very good people, but they can also be a tad annoying because they don’t allow for any failures or flaws in anyone, including themselves. They hold themselves to a very high standard, and they expect others to do the same.

Neutral Good

This character is very good as well, but they make decisions based on what they feel is right rather than what they are told is right. They follow their heart and stand up against the people in charge when they are being unjust. A neutral good character has no problem breaking the rules when they feel like they’re doing what’s right and necessary for the greater good.

Chaotic Good

These characters are fun to play because they’re relatively kind and care about others. Chaotic good people, however, are the rebels. These people tend to believe in vigilante justice, and they take matters into their own hands. You aren’t worried with rules or authority figures at all. You’re a free spirit who fights evil in your own way, even if that can get you into trouble and make some people view you as bad.

Lawful Neutral

This is a character who believes in order and following the law to a T, even if that law isn’t always good or right. This character doesn’t distinguish between what’s good and what’s bad. They only know what is supposed to be happening, and they are there to make sure others understand that. These are usually the tattle tales who get others in trouble when they’re breaking the rules.

True Neutral

Someone who is true neutral does not lean heavily toward being good or evil. For the most part, they tend to like having good people around them, but they could just as easily get mixed in with the bad crowd. They do what they feel is necessary in the moment. True Neutral people are the hardest to understand because one day they can seem nice, and the next day they seem horribly mean. You never know what to expect.

Chaotic Neutral

This character is a free spirit, but not in a good way. They do things that will benefit them, always. Their own freedom and liberty is important, but they don’t really care about anyone else’s freedom and liberty. These people are very charismatic and can seem friendly, but they are actually just slimy and out to help themselves, sort of like a stereotypical used car salesman.

Lawful Evil

Lawful evil characters are all about law, order, and obedience. These are the evil dictators, who think that everyone needs to follow a specific code of conduct. They will be as cruel and horrible as they need to be to make people obey. These characters always think that they’re doing what is right, no matter how many people they are hurting.

Neutral Evil

This is the lover of evil. The one who will do anything to benefit themselves, and they don’t have any qualms about killing anyone who tries to get in their way. These characters aren’t doing what they feel is right, simply what they feel is necessary. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. These people don’t want to be perceived as being nice or just at all, so they will even go out of their way to make people fear them.

Chaotic Evil

Last but not least is the character whom everyone loves to hate. The chaotic evil character is the one who will go out of their way to cause conflict. The ones who do evil just for fun and laugh when they see people in pain. These characters are highly unpredictable and incredibly violent. They often will follow a leader, but only for as long as that leader is perceived as powerful. Once that leader falls or appears weak, they have no problem betraying them. These are the truly demonic people.

I hope this helps you get a clear idea of what character alignment is, and how to choose the type of character that you want to be. One little thing to keep in mind is that, your Dungeon Master will often choose a general alignment for the campaign. For instance, they might say that they are putting together an evil campaign. If this is the case, you probably don’t want to choose a character with any type of good alignment, because they’ll most likely be murdered in their sleep within the first few hours of playing. And if your DM is putting together a good campaign, choosing to play an evil character is a good way to get your entire group to quickly turn against you.

Jo was orphaned as a young girl. She survived by pick pocketing from unsuspecting victims on the streets, and stealing food from vendors. One day, a pirate captain caught her trying to swipe gold from his pocket. Rather than get angry, he was impressed by her guts and bravery. Most people were afraid to come within 20 feet of him. The pirate captain bought Jo some food and ale (which she looked like she desperately needed), and invited her to join his crew. With no better option, Jo accepted. She packed up what few possessions she had (most of them stolen), and boarded the captain’s ship.

Jo was quickly accepted by the other shipmates because of her spunk. She drank ale, swore, and entertained with her slight of hand. She was taught how to sword fight, throw a good punch, and gamble like the rest of the crew. She quickly earned a place in the ship captain’s heart as his daughter.

After several years of being a pirate, Jo thought she had found the perfect life and the perfect family. However, her thieving side got the best of her one day. After a long journey to find a long lost treasure, the crew finally found the treasure map that would lead them to it. Jo’s honorary father decided that Jo was not going to accompany the crew to get the treasure, since it was a dangerous mission. Jo was furious that she would be left out, so in the middle of the night, she stole the map from the captain’s quarters and left the ship, stealing the crew’s only life boat. She never dared return, assuming that she would be executed if the crew found her.

Jo was one of my favorite Dungeons and Dragons characters. She was feisty and hot-tempered. She played bar dice with anyone who was up for it, and she was usually drinking a pint of ale or a pouch of wine that she had stored away somewhere. She joined a group of random travelers who were on a quest that she couldn’t quite remember. Her hope was to persuade them to follow the treasure map, and then retire to a distant land. Sadly, not all of her traveling party was sane. One of the group members was a crazy, old wizard, who often put the rest of the group in danger because of his horrible decisions.

During one encounter, the group was sneaking up on some orcs who were camped out behind a waterfall. Jo, being the sneakiest of them all, went to the front of the group and quietly peaked her head through the waterfall. She counted the orcs and got an idea of where they were all sitting so that she could tell the others. It was at this point that the crazy wizard decided to make one of those horrible decisions. He said that he was going to throw fireballs at all of them. Even though the Dungeon Master pointed out that Jo would get hit as well as the orcs, because of where she was standing, the wizard went ahead with it, declaring “She’s got plenty of health. She’ll be fine.” When it was time for him to role to see if he hit Jo, he rolled a Natural 20. Rolling a Nat 20 on the die means you succeed at what you were doing, no matter what obstacles stand in your way. If you’re attacking someone, this also means that you get to roll extra dice because you hit them so hard. And just like that, Jo was incinerated in a ball of flame.

I still haven’t quite recovered from this campaign, and I hold a bit of a grudge against the crazy, old wizard. This is why you, A, never go ahead of the crazy person in your group, and B, never assume that you won’t kill someone if you have to attack them. Murphy’s Law is real. You will always kill the player who you didn’t want to harm.

Let’s be real. Creating your character is one of the best parts of playing Dungeons and Dragons. Deciding who you’re going to be, what you’re going to look like, what kind of personality you’ll have, how you’re going to fight… These are all big decisions. You’re basically deciding who you would want to be if you lived in a fantasy world. There are some guidelines to creating your character that you need to be aware of, but don’t get scared off by them. In past editions, character creation was much more complicated, but 5th Edition has simplified it GREATLY.

To start, what race do you want to be? The basic options in 5th Edition are shown in the picture above.

Gnomes are friendly little folks who are smart and good at making things. They are dedicated creatures who have several names.

Halflings are like Hobbits (think of Bilbo and Frodo). They tend to be kind-hearted, helpful, and curious.

Dwarves are gruff, stubborn, and greedy, but they’re also good fighters and love their ale.

Elves are graceful and secretive. They have keen senses and are known for their abilities to sneak and move quickly.

Half-elves are a mix between Elf and Human, sharing qualities with both. They tend to have the cunningness and quickness of Elves, with the charisma and chaos of humans.

Tieflings are part human as well, but look much more frightening, with horns, thick tails, and sharp, protruding canine teeth. Others tend to be afraid of these creatures as they are dark and brooding, and have a tendency to lean toward evil.

Humans are restless travelers who seek adventure. Their traits and skills can vary greatly, just like humans in real life.

Dragonborn look like, you guessed it, dragons. They’re basically large lizards. These creatures are self-sufficient and tough.

Half-orcs are savage, strong fighters, tending to like things such as eating, drinking, wrestling, and wild dancing.

After choosing your race, you need to pick your class. This basically means, what is your style of fighting? If you want to cast spells and be extremely wise, you probably want to be a wizard. If you want to be sneaky and cunning, a rogue would be a great choice for you. There are many options to choose from, and it all comes down to what kind of skills you want your character to have.

There are additional elements to character creation, such as choosing what weapons you’ll use and what spells you’ll have. My best advice is to find some sort of tool that can lead you through this process step-by-step, or one that can do all of the work for you. You can use the official character builder tool, provided by the official Dungeons and Dragons website. To use this, you will have to create an account. If you want to be a little more independent, you can use a character sheet and guide to help you go through the process on your own. Or, if you really don’t want to put much effort into this part at all, you can have a website do most of the work for you.

Whatever you do, don’t feel like you have to make your character a specific way or with a certain tool. No matter how you choose to do it, the main purpose is to HAVE FUN!