Welcome to the D&D RPG forum. This is the first step before we can start the adventure itself.



So what's the idea?
We gotta start fleshing out your characters. You have to create a character to play. Pick a race and class from the list below. Or, if you want, just tell me what for a character you want and I can bother with the details.
Build a believable background (= past history) of your character, including his physical and psychological description.
That's important as hell, because it will be your character's description and you'll base yourself on that to do all the role-playing.
The characters from all of you may or may not know each other before the adventure begins, that's your choice. No matter what you prefer, be sure to Rp accordingly.
Rules and numbers? Ah, wait. Those will come soon, but not yet.

And ah. Discuss among yourselves. The standard D&D group is composed of the following:
Warrior (recommended: Fighter, others: Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger, Monk).
Arcane spellcaster (recommended: Wizard, others: Sorcerer, Bard).
Divine spellcaster (recommended: Cleric, others: Druid).
Expert (recommended: Rogue, others: Bard)
Since you are 5, you can relax a little, since the group will be more versatile. But, you still need the basics.
Tell me: what's the use of having 5 very powerful combatants when you meet an Ancient Red Dragon? Sure, they can fight and die, but a Rogue, Cleric or Bard with enough Bluff or Diplomacy skill ranks can surpass the challenge just as well. And you know the best part? They still gain experience for that.
So, yeah. Build not just a character, but a character that's supposed to do well when it comes to teamwork.



The Classes

Barbarian: A powerful warrior from the savage lands. Although not disciplined and trained like the Fighter, the Barbarian cathes up with wild, powerful combat skills and a deadly frenzied rage.

Bard:: Bards are the artists. They are the singers and poets - charismatic, deceptive and skillful, a quasi-Rogue. The Bard has two main abilities: he can cast arcane spells through his music, and help his companions by inspiring them in combat.

Cleric: A Cleric is a person who dedicates his life to serve his god. Clerics are granted the power of divine magic by their deities: good deities grant healing spells, while evil deities grant harming spells. A Cleric is also a good fighter: different from those White Mage wusses, Clerics can wear heavy armor and wield powerful blunt weapons to smash their enemies to pieces. Clerics also have a special ability to influence undead: while the good ones can turn them away, the evil ones can fascinate them.

Druid: Druids are nature's power in person. The force of a storm, the calmness of a forest. All that resides in the spirit of a Druid. They gain powers not by ruling over nature, but by being one with it; achieving that, Druids gain divine spellcasting skills from nature. They are also specially good with animals and many have faithful animal companions.

Fighter: A Fighter is one trained in the art of combat. Different from the spontaneous Barbarians, the Fighters are good because they've trained a lot. Through strict discipline and mastery, Fighters are most fiersome foes when it comes to... well, fighting.

Monk: Monks are the rare few who, through meditation and concentration, managed to melt their minds and bodies into the same entity. They are powerful combatants who have not to rely on weapons.

Paladin: Paladins are the champions of the good gods. Unlike Clerics, who are forbidden to shed blood with slashing or piercing weapons, Paladins are the true warriors who go to every corner of the world to strike down evil in the name of their deity. Besides good combat abilities, a Paladin also has access to a few divine spells provided by his deity.

Ranger: Rangers are cunning and powerful warriors of the wild. Almost like a mix between a Fighter and a Barbarian, the Rangers are true hunters: they know the forest as it was their home (and it is), and are capable of striking down their preferred preys with mighty power. Rangers also gain some access to some divine spells provided by nature.

Rogue: This class represents a wide variety of skills. There is no rogue like the other; some are acrobatic and stealthy; some are skilful dungeon explorers; some are thieves. Rogues do not prime in combat or spellcasting, but they are experts in almost everythign else.

Sorcerer: Sorcerers are spontaneous and powerful arcane spellcasters. They create magic like a poet creates poems: with inborn talent and practice. The origin of the Sorcerer's powers vary. Although they know less spells and are in general less powerful than Wizards, Sorcerers have the advantage in the fact that they must not prepare their spells beforehand, and can cast more spells per day.

Wizard: While Sorcerers tap into their innate skills to produce magic artistically, Wizards do not. They are studious and concentrated people who have spent many years learning, memorizing and honing their magical capabilities. A Wizard can cast less spells a day than a Sorcerer, but has a wider and more powerful selection of spells.


Note about Spellcasting

Although Rangers and Paladins have access to divine spells, our adventure will be for 1st-level characters, and those classes don't have spellcasting skills at this point. So take that into consideration.

A thing that makes D&D's spellcasting a lot different than one might think is spell preparation. Spellcasters must, once a day (usually just after waking up) sit down and focus for an hour or two; during this time, the spellcaster prepares his spells.
Each caster has a different number of spells per day, which substitutes the concept of other games' "MP". You can cast a certain number of level 0 spells, level 1 spells, etc in one day. When preparing your spells once per day, you 'allocate' the spells you know to this Spells Per Day value.

Example:
A 1st level Druid can cast three level-0 spells and one level-1 spell per day. After waking up, our Druid goes to meditate with nature and decides that she will use the level-0 spells Create Water (twice) and Cure Minor Wounds that day, and the level-1 spell Calm Animals. That day, those are the spells she can use: Cure Minor Wounds once, Create Water once, Create Water once again, and Calm Animals once.

Understood? That's a somewhat tricky concept to grasp. Any questions, just ask ^^
Sorcerers and Bards are an exception. They can decide what spell to use at the time they use the spell, no need for preparation. But they also gain less spells per day.


The Races

All races are much based on Tolkien, so if you know LotR, you know how these guys are.

Human: No big differences. Gain extra skills and feats at the beginning for being curious and eager to learn.

Elf: More Desterity, less Constitution. Species traits like low-light vision and bonuses with bows and longswords.

Half-Elf: No big changes, only some minor elf species traits.

Dwarf: More Constitution, less Charisma. Other species traits like darkvision and stone affinity.

Halfling: Exactly like Hobbits. More Dexterity, less Strength.

Gnome: More Constitution, less Strength. Some racial traits like low-light vision, and some magical innate abilities.

Half-Orcs: Brute but powerful. More Strength, less Intelligence and Charisma. Darkvision and some other species traits.

I was kinda too lazy to describe each race's racial traits in detail; if you wanna know the full list of a race, just ask.



Again, any questions at all, feel free to ask. ^^

What do you mean by "Expert" in the list of people a D&D is generally composed of? Is that just a general category (like Warrior or Divine spellcaster), or does it actually mean the person fulfilling that role should be knowledgeable about D&D's?

I ask because I'd be interested in playing as a Rogue, but I have no prior experience with D&D's.

I mean a character with access to lots of skills, and varied ones. Not actual D&D experience.
In other words, Rogue is teh choice. ^^

About the background of the character

The world in which the adventure will be set is a pretty regular medieval fantasy setting. Think 'Tolkien' or 'Dragon Warrior'.
As for the background, I only want a past history (i.e., why does your character know the things that he knows), and a reason to be travelling around the kingdom.

Name: Dalon Eagle

Race: Human(Fighter/Warrior)

Eye color: Brown

Age: 25

Hair color: Black

Skin color: White

Personality: Nice, but, kinda stupid when it comes to danger.

5'8(medium build)

History: Dalon used to be bullied at an early age. So, he decided to train himself to become stronger. He got into many street fights just to prove his strength and power. He has currently lost only once. He spends his time entering tournaments and training. He is traveling to find an actual challenge. A person that can defeat him

What will you be using for dice?

Name: Lorgo Ghesal

Race: Half-Elf

Class: Druid

History: After being raised in the forests for many years of his life, Lorgo is naturally connected to the wilderness around him. His tribe believed that having a strong connection to nature and having the ability to use nature could protect a person more than if they were strong and powerful. Shortly after he left his small tribe in the forest, his parents died from a disease they had had for years. Today, Lorgo searches the forests of the world using his nature affinity to find a cure for the disease.

Name: Violet Haze
Eyes:Purple
Hair:White
Skin:olive
Race: Gnome
Class:Sorcerer
Personality: I have none. This is not a real RPG.

I'll be rolling the dice myself. Perhaps we can come to an agreement for an outer dice rolling site. Perhaps =P

Hm, KK...? No Evil characters, please ^^
For the rest, I'd like to take it step by step, so do not worry about alignment (good, evil, lawful, chaotic, etc) yet.

We have until now:
DP - Fighter
myoky - Druid
KK - Sorcerer
(Phoenix - Rogue?)

What's "constitution"?

What would a half-elf with a tail be?

Constitution means physical resistance; in other words, it says how physically fit your character is. Elves, for instance, are weak and fragile, while dwarves are hard-built and resistant.

A half-elf with a tail would be... a cross between a human and an elf whose bond with nature was particularly powerful xD That's fine, of course. Already told you, you get a free tail as a GM courtesy ^^
Any class idea?

Oh, I don't want to be weak defensively. How are halflings with constitution?

I'll probably be a cleric since nobody else seems to be trained for healing. I'll post a history as soon as I figure out what I am.

Do any of the spell-casting classes have "enemy-weakening" spells?

myoky will do a good job healing as a Druid, but a Cleric is an excellent option because he can also help when it comes to melee.
Constitution does not affect your defense much, but it does have a direct impact on your Hit Points amount. So yeah, low constitution = weak warrior.
Halflings are fine with Constitution... but they do have a penalty in Strength. If you want your Cleric to help in combat, I advise against it.
But that's your choice =D

btw, Dexterity does have an effetc on your defense. It boosts up your dodge ability.

@DP - yes, they do. But I think it's best for the group that you stay as a Fighter, now that other people have chosen weaker classes for combat. As a Fighter you'd do much better in teamwork at this point...

Oh, my intention wasn't changing. I was just wondering =]

Just as a suggestion Dray, Dwarves make excellent clerics.

And if you don't want to be a cleric I won't mind taking up the position.

If you would rather go cleric then I'll probably be taking up a part as a Bard or Monk, leaning towards Monk with all the other spell casters we've got.

Bah! In all the D&D games they have alignment..
And I thought this was a REAL RPG?

*Kitty gets even with "low blow" she took from The Gnasher about her game*

Fine.. I will change my stats. I will play fair.

Nah, I mean, I want them to choose race/class first and then we'll worry about alignment
I'm supposing they're all beginners (with only a few exception), so I'm taking it step by step.
After everyone's decided for a race and class, we'll move on to Abilities and Alignment.

Grrr.. I wanted an evil name to go with an evil title. I will change my name as we go then.
I also wanted the other skill so I can be more evil. Kinda hard to be evil if you can only be evil a few times a day. You tell me what I should do then.

Actually, since we technically already have a healer, I was thinking of going for a monk instead. Possibly human, on account they're the most average-statted. I don't want to worry about being weak in one category.

And I wouldn't really like being a dwarf.