[RPG] “Choose Your Own Adventure” style of character creator?

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I have never played D&D before, but was thinking of getting a character going to play with a group of friends.

I was told that there might be a "choose your own adventure" type of walkthrough that, after completing, would tell you which type of character you were. This seemed appealing to me as it allows you to back into your character type.

Is there such a thing or something similar?

Best Answer

If I understand your question correctly, you're looking for help in choosing a class to play.

While I'm not aware of any "choose your own adventure" tools for taking you through the process of making the choice, I do have some advice for you.

Creating a character seems like it's about the mechanical choices that you make, but it's really about one question: what role do you want to play in the story?

That is, when things are happening, what part do you want to play a part in them?

Some things that happen in roleplaying games:

  • Talking to people for various purposes (gathering information, negotiating, fast-talking your way into places you shouldn't be, trying to intimidate your way out of trouble, just having fun, etc)
  • Problem-solving in various ways (scaling walls, disarming traps, finding clues, figuring out puzzles, investigating things, etc)
  • Fighting

Everyone gets involved with the fighting part in some way, so you want to know what you're going to do when there are no other options. Are you going to get in the middle of things, or stay outside? Do you want to fight with finesse or with brute force? Do you rely on armor and shield, fancy footwork, magical wards, or do you simply shrug off the damage?

When there's no fighting, how do you spend your time? Do you want to be in the middle of the conversation? Or do you stay back, letting others take the lead, waiting for the blades to be drawn (or maybe even helping that happen)?

How do you get people to talk to you? Charming secrets out of tipsy nobles with your feminine wiles (or beefy charms) is very different from scaring answers out of conspirators with a blade to their throat.

Once you have thought through these things, take a look at the initial descriptions of each of the classes in the PHB. They start with some prose that describes what that class is like in play. Choose the one of those that sounds best to you.

You may also want to talk to the other players to see what they're doing. If "brooding merchant of death" is already being done at the table, then maybe you want to try something different. Or maybe you want to partner up and be brood brothers.

Hope this helps.

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