New to game got questions.

Nombie

First Post
Me and my friends just grabbed the monster book 1 and player guide starter set and im tryin to make a character looked around online and i just get confused with cantrips, the wand thing and spell book.. do i choose one of those options? if so do i only get to use 1 of each spell like daily etc or do i have to use spell book to get them? i really want a war wizard i got stuck between eladrin and human but i like fey step and the dex and int bonus i just need help makin a eladrin war wizard and i need to know if i choose wand spellbook or cantrips..

we are doing the 10 stats everywhere and we get like +20 so i went

20 int 16 dex 14 wis 14 const 10 cha 10 str

- sorry i sound retarded just need help never played a game like this
 

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Welcome to D&D! I'll do what I can to help.

Cantrips: These are some simple little spells that a Wizard has access to. You can cast them as often as you like. Every wizard gets them

Spellbook: Every wizard gets this, too. When you pick your daily power, you get to choose two different powers to put in your spell book. Each day, you choose which one you want to memorize to have available to you that day. So, you could put both Flaming Sphere and Sleep in your spellbook, but when you start your day you have to say either "I'm preparing Flaming Sphere today" or "I'm preparing Sleep today." You can prepare a different spell the next day if you wish, or stick with the same one.

Wand/Orb/Staff/Tome: As a wizard, you get to pick one implement to have mastery over. This will give you a special encounter power (Orb of Imposition, Staff of Defense, Wand of Accuracy, Tome of Binding or Tome of Readiness). You only get to pick one of these. Assuming you're just using Player's Handbook 1, you pick between Orb of Imposition, Staff of Defense or Wand of Accuracy.

Ability scores: Your ability scores are too high. If you start with 10 in each stat (before adding the +2 to Int and +2 to Dex from being an Eladrin), you do have 20 "points" to spend. However, as you pump up a particular stat higher and higher, it costs more and more points to pump it up further. Increasing a stat to 11, 12 or 13 costs 1/2/3 points. However, pushing it to 14/15/16 costs to points per notch, so getting to 14 costs a total of 5 points, 15 costs 7 points and 16 costs 9 points. Pushing to 17 then costs 3 more points, and pushing to 18 costs 4 more points.

So, if you push your Intelligence all the way to 18 (20 after the Eladrin racial bonus), it will cost you 16 out of your 20 available points. If you spread everything around evenly (I don't recommend this, by the way), you can push all six stats to 13 (costing a total of 18 of your points) and then pick one stat to push to 14 (which will cost your last two points).

Note that you're allowed to pick one stat to lower to 8 if you like, which frees up two more points to spend. This is commonly called a "dump stat" and leads to things like the pitifully weak Wizard (low Strength), the dumb Fighter (low Intelligence) and the cranky Rogue (low Charisma). You can only do this for one stat, though.

If you want to emphasize Intelligence and Dexterity, you could have an array such as: 18 Int, 16 Dex, 13 Wis, 13 Con, 10 Cha, 10 Str.

To sum up: If you want to be a wand wizard, you can have wand AND cantrips AND spellbook. But make sure you do your ability scores correctly! I highly recommend checking out the free version of the Character Builder to help make this process make more sense.

Good luck, and have fun!
 

Everything OnlineDM said sounds good. If you want slightly easier characters, you may want to look at the new Dungeons and Dragons Red Box and the Essentials line. It is still D&D and it doesn't invalidate your current books. However, it is aimed at first time players and focuses a little more on playing soon.

And they are cheap relative to the original books. Here are some links:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Game/dp/0786956291/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285522153&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game: An Essential D&D Starter (4th Edition D&D) (9780786956296): Wizards RPG Team: Gateway[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Fallen-Lands-Essential-Supplement/dp/0786956208/ref=pd_sim_b_2]Amazon.com: Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement (4th Edition D&D) (9780786956203): Mike Mearls, Rodney Thompson, Bill Slavicsek: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Compendium-Essential-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786956216/ref=pd_sim_b_1]Amazon.com: Rules Compendium: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Compendium (4th Edition D&D) (9780786956210): James Wyatt, Andy Collins, Rob Heinsoo: Books[/ame]


Good luck!
 

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