How to Create Basic D&D Characters

Obtain a character sheet. Use an official preprinted sheet, a home-made sheet or one downloaded from the Internet.

Write down your character's eye color, hair color, gender, race, class, alignment -- such as Good or Neutral -- and deity. Consult your player handbook, if you have one. Check with your Dungeon Master to make sure your choices will work with the campaign you'll be playing. Sketch your character's portrait or symbol (optional).

Roll the six-sided die to determine your basic abilities. Abilities are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Each ability is the sum of three rolls of a six-sided die (3d6, in gaming jargon). Write the rolls down on a sheet of scrap paper or the back of your character sheet and assign one of your rolls to each attribute. Different DMs have different methods they allow for calculating these scores so consult with your DM when rolling for abilities.

Calculate your saving throws: Fortitude, Reflex and Willpower. These scores tell you how likely you are to overcome certain kinds of attacks. For example, you may need to roll the dice to see if you can avoid a trap by saving against Reflex, adding or subtracting the relevant ability modifier to get your total saving throw.

Determine your hit points by throwing the die specified for your class. Add or subtract your Constitution modifier from the result. Hit points determine how much damage your character can take.

Calculate your character's movement. Refer to the player handbook or ask your DM what the movement speed for your character's race is. Movement speed will be affected by how much your character is carrying. Some character sheets have sections for maximum light, medium and heavy loads. These scores depend on the Strength ability. Carrying too much can slow your character down, although some DMs dispense with this rule to simplify gameplay.

Calculate your Initiative score. Find the basic score in the player handbook or ask your DM what the basic score should be. Add or subtract your Dexterity modifier.

Calculate your Base Attack Bonus. This is based on your level and class. Look up your class and level on the table in the player handbook or consult with your DM. Depending on your character sheet, you may also have Melee, Ranged and Grapple attack bonuses. Find the Base Attack Bonus for each of these and fill it in, then add or subtract your Strength modifier for Melee and Grapple and your Dexterity modifier for Ranged.