D&D 5E What Do You Need to Roll Up a New Character?

[CleverNickName]

You're rolling up a brand-new character for your regular 5th Edition D&D game!
What all do you need to make that happen? Check all that apply.

I know that "need" is a strong word, and I know that technically all we absolutely need to play D&D is a handful of friends and some dice. But semantics aside, I'm curious about the books, tools, and equipment we typically deploy when crafting our characters. Tell us about them!

 

[DEFCON 1]

The PHB (since you didn't include the Basic Rules as an option), a pencil, and convos with the DM and other players. I'd also need a pad of paper (something else you didn't include as an option), but other than that I'm good.

 

[CleverNickName]

The PHB (since you didn't include the Basic Rules as an option), a pencil, and convos with the DM and other players. I'd also need a pad of paper (something else you didn't include as an option), but other than that I'm good.

I guess if you don't play 5E, "Player's Handbook" with "house rules" are going to be about as close as you can get to Basic Rules.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

A good reason to play? That's really all at this point.

 

[CleverNickName]

A good reason to play? That's really all at this point.

I know right?
I'm operating under the assumption that you have already decided to play before rolling up your character, but your point stands: 5th Edition D&D isn't the only game in town.

 

[J.Quondam]

(E) All of the above.*



* aka "supreme pizza" toppings.

 

[Li Shenron]

Pen & paper, and a PHB (or subset) for the chosen edition.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I know right?
I'm operating under the assumption that you have already decided to play before rolling up your character, but your point stands: 5th Edition D&D isn't the only game in town.

Right, but I'm not opposed to playing in a 5e game. I just need a good reason* to invest my time and effort in that game over something else. And since I don't play it exclusively, I haven't exhausted every option for players. So I'll play whatever. Give me a premade, if it helps.

*A good reason for me is: wanting to play with friends, wanting to play with a particular DM, wanting to play in a particular setting or adventure, and incentives (like money or free snacks).

Bad reasons might include: "5e is the only game to play!" and "You can certainly try to play something else, but Matt Mercer won't let us!".

 

[CleverNickName]

Right, but I'm not opposed to playing in a 5e game. I just need a good reason* to invest my time and effort in that game over something else. And since I don't play it exclusively, I haven't exhausted every option for players. So I'll play whatever. Give me a premade, if it helps.

*A good reason for me is: wanting to play with friends, wanting to play with a particular DM, wanting to play in a particular setting or adventure, and incentives (like money or free snacks).

Bad reasons might include: "5e is the only game to play!", "Why play anything else?", and "You can certainly try to play something else, but Matt Mercer won't let us!".

Sounds like I should have put "Better friends" on the list.

 

[TwoSix]

Tough to say. I don't need the books to make my character decisions, but I'll probably need them at some point to copy out information. Communicating with the DM about things like starting level and expected endpoint, rolling or point-buy, what sort of homebrew they'll allow, any initial magic items, etc., is pretty essential. I usually take several days enjoying the character development process in my head, but it only takes 30 minutes or so to actually put the character to paper/electronic file.