Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Ask your Dungeon Master if there are any particular "house rules" or limitations that you should be aware of before creating a new character. You don't want to come up with an amazing character that you really want to play only to find out that it won't work with the storyline or campaign world that the Dungeon Master has in store for the group.
Prepare an overall vision for the fighter and how you want to develop him over the course of the game. A grizzled human mercenary who fights with a longsword and shield combination will play much differently than a stoic dwarven defender who wields a two handed axe and disdains the touch of magic.
Plan ahead if you intend to give the fighter levels in a prestige class later on. Prestige classes usually have steep skill prerequisites, so keep in mind that you may need to choose those skills or feats at first level when initially creating the new fighter.
Generate the six basic statistics for your fighter and record them on your character sheet. Some Dungeon Masters have a preference as to how these stats are rolled, so ask about it prior to starting a new character. The two most important stats for a fighter are strength, for being able to land hits more often and deal more damage each time, and constitution, for boosting the fighter's hit points so she can stay in combat longer. Keep in mind any stat adjustments that need to be made for the character's race. Half-orcs automatically receive two extra points in their strength stat, so a first level half-orc could potentially have a devastatingly high strength of twenty points!
Pick out skills and feats for the new character and write them on your character sheet. Remember that a fighter always gains a bonus feat from the "fighter bonus feat" list at first level, and if your fighter is also a human he will gain one additional bonus feat as well. Skill and feat selection is the best way to distinguish your fighter from all the others out there. Decide if she will specialize in fighting with a specific weapon, or possibly even two weapon fighting. Choose skills appropriate to the character's background, such as swim and ride for an outdoors type or possibly even knowledge, performance, or craft skills if your fighter had training in some other field before taking up the mantle of the warrior.
Equip your fighter with weapons, armor, and equipment. Your Dungeon Master should let you know how much gold your character has to purchase equipment at character creation. You may want to give your fighter some special items from his background, such as a prized suit of armor passed down from generation to generation, or a modified version of a normal item, such as a shield emblazoned with the symbol of your character's family crest or religion.
Flesh out the fighter with those final details that make a character more than just a set of stats, such as the character's alignment and history. Work out with your Dungeon Master the specifics of the character's background such as where he's from, why he is traveling with the rest of the adventuring party, his deity of choice, his relationship with his family, contacts with people from other cities, and anything else that will make the character more rounded and fun to roleplay.