Dungeons and Dragons Starter Kit
You’re not ready! You’ve just got invited to your first Dungeons and Dragons session and you couldn’t be more excited as you prepare to crack or click open the PHB, Player’s Hand Book, and then reality hits you.
There are alot of rules to this game. Saving throws? Features? Classes? People actually study to play a game in their freetime? If you’re like us then time is a precious resource for you and having to square away several hours to bone up on proper TTRPG procedures, even before your first session, may seem ridiculous. Which it is if you approach learning D&D from a type A perspective where you have to know how to do everything before even trying. We know that feeling fam so trust us when we say that the barest amount of game knowledge is necessary to play in your first session as long as you are willing to learn as you play.
What is this bare minimum? That you know D&D is a co-operative story-telling game where players navigate a setting and scenario by describing what they say and what they want to do then the Dungeon Master, or DM, describes what happens.Thats it. Go ahead and click over to the next D&D tutorial.
Still here? Ok, cool, we appreciate you sticking around because we want to mention that anything you learn past this basic understanding is icing on your newbie cake when you sit down at your first session and to get your tips frosted we want to address the elephant in the Newbie Training Hall. Creating a first character can be daunting to new players because there tends to be this preconceived notion that this first character must be fully fleshed out with all of the fantasy hero tropes attached, like dead parents, and an optimal class build.
We urge you to let go of that, in fact, drop it like its hot and instead remember that this is a game. A somewhat complex yet beautiful game where dreams or horrors are realized based on a literal roll of the dice but still a game so please remember to have fun.
With that being said we want to offer you some premade characters for D&D 5th Edition that we find fun and interesting for your personal use. Using one of these premade characters will save you time in preparing for your first session as most of the details are filled in and all you need to do is familiarize yourself with the character sheets. These characters’ classes are either straight melee or melee with some spellcasting mixed in , like the paladin, because these classes tend to be beginner friendly (read: don’t die easily). Also, if these characters inspire you feel free to copy them and change them however you please.
Also, we’ll be making it a habit to post more helpful tips, tools, and titillating explanations with TL;DRs included. Look for us every Friday!
For each character’s stats we recommend that Strength be the highest and Constitution be the second highest.
Amena Frostbrand, Half-Elven Gladiatrix: https://ddb.ac/characters/17506208/YZRfzc
Suggested Backstory:
- Raised among elves and humans in an enchanted wood where peace and natural order were commonplace.
- As she matured her village became super boring and mundane so she left to find the biggest, craziest, loudest city she could find.
Carlin Ku, Gnomish Barbarian : https://ddb.ac/characters/17507507/Z1eWQZ
Suggested Backstory:
- When she was young her home was attacked by goblins and hobgoblins who killed everyone in sight. Carlin survived by hiding in a cupboard for days until she was found by an old goliath barbarian.
- This barbarian took her in and raised her to be strong and fierce despite her diminutive size by unleashing a primal fury upon her foes.
Orybar Daggertusk, Half-Orcish Paladin: https://ddb.ac/characters/17508426/1Y4ICb
Suggested Backstory:
- Fell into the mercenary life at a young age and survived his first dozen battles with fury alone until one fateful encounter on the battlefield proved too much for his rage
- A traveling priest came across Orybar half-alive and much to Orybar’s amazement nursed him back to health which touched the mercenary in a way that inspired him to follow a new path.
Happy Gaming!
- Image originally posted by u/thegoatfreak
- Photo by Mikael Seegen on Unsplash
