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Character Creation Order

dcoffron

First Post
Am I required to perform the character creation process in the order outlined by the Player's Guide. I ask because it is relevant towards the selection of feats for Variant Human race as the ability scores have not yet been generated since they are in Step 3. If the order is important, is class or race generated first (for feats like Spell Sniper that require the ability to cast a spell).
 

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I would say you should do the steps in the order listed, but you don't have to finalize every selection during that step.

For example, you choose your race and class first, and if either of these require you to pick a specific resource as the character's +1, then you make the selection at that time. However, if your race and class are both in the Player's Handbook, you are not required to select a +1 during steps 1 and 2 and can defer that decision until a later step when it is required. Likewise, if you select variant human as your race, you are not required to determine your bonus feat and bonus skill proficiency immediately; you can defer those decisions until a later step, though they should be completed before the character creation process is finished.

Note that the first five steps in the ALPG are identical to the steps in the Player's Handbook/Basic Rules. In that sense, you should follow them, but this isn't Pathfinder.

--
Pauper
 

I'll just 2nd what Pauper laid out, but add that I sort of prefer doing it in this order: race, background, and then class - at least for 1st-level characters. It just feels more natural that way.

There really is no right or best order, though. Some people go into chargen thinking "I want to play a fighter! With two swords!", and then decides on a race as an afterthought, or after realizing half-orcs have some nice fighter-friendly ASIs, or whatever. Or maybe they really like the Entertainer background, but don't want to play a bard, and figure the rest out from there.
 

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