Now we’ve smoothly approached character creation. Or more precisely, what you need to know for this process to go smoothly and without a hitch. The first part of the guide covered the periphery, including information about the role community and the system as a whole. In the second part, we will delve into the basics of game mechanics so that your first acquaintance with the system will not be overshadowed by typical beginner mistakes.
I recommend listening to this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeo2VCCtUZQ
Links to other parts of the guide:
Part One, Basics.
Third part, Races.
Part four, Classes.
Part Five, Finishing Touches.
The core of your character’s abilities are stats. There are six of them: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Under normal circumstances, stat scores range from 8 to 20, with 10 being considered average. Literally, because there are also stat modifiers. For every two stat points above 10, the modifier increases by +1. For example, an Agility value of 15 gives a +2 modifier, and a Stamina value of 20 gives a +5 modifier. Modifiers can also be negative if the stat value drops below 10. For example, Strength 9 gives a -1 modifier.
Three different methods are used to determine the numerical values of a character’s characteristics. The first is a 4d6 roll where the three highest values are added together and the lowest is ignored. The result will vary from 3 to 18, but usually the minimum characteristic value is 8. This is due to the fact that excessively low stat values can render the character incapacitated. For example, a character with an Intelligence of 3 will be so stupid that he won’t even have self-awareness. For each characteristic, the roll is made separately, but you can distribute the resulting values at your discretion.
The second method is called “point buy”. It allows you to independently distribute stat points, but with a number of certain restrictions. The starting value of the characteristic is considered to be 8. You can raise the value to 15, but increasing the characteristic to marks 14 and 15 costs not one point, but two at once. A total of 27 points are awarded for distribution. For example, character stats 10-15-13-10-10-14 would cost 2-9-5-2-2-7 points.
The third method allows you to take fixed characteristics values: 15-14-13-12-10-8. Regardless of the method, the character receives a bonus to characteristics depending on the race. The increase is added “on top” and does not affect the cost of developing the characteristic during a “point buy”. As you become more experienced, your character will be able to increase their stats, gaining corresponding class abilities and traits. Of course, the distribution of characteristics should not be taken lightly, because their importance is difficult to overestimate.
Strength. The character’s physical strength, responsible for carrying capacity (Strength value x 15 pounds) and melee combat. The Strength modifier is added to ability checks and saving throws, attack rolls, and melee weapon damage rolls. Strength is also required to wear heavy armor. Athletics skill depends on Strength.
Dexterity. The character’s grace and agility, responsible for defense, ranged combat and fencing. The Dexterity modifier is added to the character’s Armor Class in full if he wears light armor or without it at all, and in a reduced form when wearing medium armor. The Dexterity modifier is also added to ability checks and saving throws, initiative in combat, attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons and weapons with the "Fencing». The following skills depend on Dexterity: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand and Stealth.
Interesting fact: When wearing heavy armor, your Dexterity modifier will not be taken into account, even if it is negative.
Physique. The character’s vitality and reserve of strength, measuring the adventurer’s path to the grave. The Constitution modifier is added to the character’s health (if the modifier is changed, the bonus will be recalculated for each character level), ability checks and ability saving throws, including checks to maintain concentration while maintaining spells. No skill depends on Constitution.
Intelligence. The character’s mental abilities, reflecting the depth of his knowledge. The Intelligence modifier is added to ability checks and saving throws, and is also used by some classes as a base ability rating for spells. The following skills depend on Intelligence: Analysis (Investigation), History, Magic, Nature and Religion.
Wisdom. The character’s intuition, which helps to understand the true essence of things. The Wisdom modifier is added to ability checks and saving throws, and is also used by some classes as a base spell ability score. The following skills depend on Wisdom: Attention, Survival, Medicine, Insight and Animal Care (Training).
Charisma. The will of the character and his ability to win over others towards him. Your Charisma modifier is added to ability checks and saving throws, and is also used by some classes as a base spell ability score. The following skills depend on Charisma: Performance (Performance), Intimidation, Deception and Persuasion.
No less important are the character’s skills (possession). You can master saving throws, skills, tools, weapons, armor and shields. Proficiency in any of the above (except for proficiency with armor and shields) allows you to add a proficiency bonus to the corresponding checks, the amount of which depends on the character’s level. Character levels can be divided into tiers: the first tier (levels from 1 to 4, skill bonus +2), the second tier (levels from 5 to 8, skill bonus +3), the third tier (levels from 9 to 12, skill bonus +4), the fourth tier (levels from 13 to 16, skill bonus +5) and the fifth tier (levels from 17 to 20, skill bonus +6). Important clarification: you can pass checks without proficiency, but without the proficiency bonus, which, in turn, significantly reduces the chances of success.
Ability Saving Throws. Allows you to resist various negative effects. The main saving throws are Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom. They are used most often and have a more pronounced effect. Dexterity saving throws allow you to evade area-of-effect attacks and are also responsible for the character’s agility and reaction in an emergency situation. Constitution saving throws allow you to resist poisons, diseases and other effects that are harmful to the character’s health, and are also responsible for spell concentration checks when receiving damage. Wisdom saving throws help a character detect magical effects on his mind in time, and also allow him to protect his sanity from negative effects of a mental nature.
Strength saving throws are highly situational. Often they allow you to prevent yourself from being knocked down or help you hold an object in your hands. Charisma saving throws only help when an ability or spell specifically requires it, which is not very often. Reflects the resilience of your character’s personality, but in this regard partially duplicates Wisdom saving throws. You will most likely never have to make Intelligence saving throws at all. In all this time, I have passed Intelligence saving throws only twice, and I have enough experience. However, it can be useful in resisting some psionic abilities, although the likelihood of use is still not high enough.
An ability saving throw is calculated as follows: d20 + relevant ability modifier + proficiency bonus for proficiency with the saving throw. To be considered successful, the final result must be equal to or greater than the difficulty of the test. For example, a 1st level character makes a Wisdom saving throw check. Let’s say the dice roll is 10. The character has the appropriate saving throw and a Wisdom score of 16, so he adds a +5 bonus to 10. If the difficulty of the check was 15 or lower, the saving throw is considered successful.
Skills. When talking about ability checks, this wording includes both skill checks and initiative checks (yes, bonuses to Dexterity checks (such as the +1 bonus from a Luckstone) affect initiative as well). The skills themselves reflect the character’s specialization in a particular area. Skill checks are scored using the following formula: d20 + relevant ability score modifier + proficiency bonus for skill proficiency.
The most useful skills are: Athletics (Strength), Acrobatics (Dexterity), Stealth (Dexterity), Analysis/Investigation (Intelligence), History (Intelligence), Magic (Intelligence), Perception (Wisdom), Insight (Wisdom), Deception (Charisma) and Persuasion (Charisma). If you take any of them, you will clearly not regret your choice.
Athletics (Strength). Can be used in virtually any physical test requiring brute force. Need to knock down the door? Lift a heavy load and carry it to the nearest settlement? Trying to climb a sheer cliff? Then this is the choice for you.
Acrobatics (Dexterity). If you http://dream-jackpot-casino.co.uk/ prefer to avoid danger while balancing over a bottomless abyss, then know that in some cases Athletics and Acrobatics duplicate each other. In such situations, the master offers to make a choice between them, although the choice is fictitious, since the vast majority of players choose the highest indicator.
Stealth (Dexterity). The stealth mechanics in this system are more broken than not. However, it is broken in favor of the player, and therefore those who like to avoid other people’s attention will like this skill. The main thing is not to abuse it too much. Still, this is not Skyrim for enemies to believe that the arrow was brought to their head by the wind.
Analysis/Investigation (Intelligence). Translation difficulties are also relevant for DnD 5e, since this edition has gone through the era of Anglicisms, fan translation and official localization. The skill itself is valuable because it allows you to recognize illusions. Can also be useful in detective investigations and comparison of facts.
History (Intelligence). A valuable skill that allows you to receive hints from a master. Encountered an unusual monster? Knowledge of history can help determine its vulnerabilities and habits. Arrived in a city with an unusual culture for the group? Erudition can help you maintain etiquette without having to prove everything the hard way.
Magic (Intelligence). Again, it allows you to receive tips from the master, but on magical-occult matters. Trying to understand what purpose the ritual circle was used for? You need to determine the magical effect? The Magic skill along with the corresponding spells will make you a true expert in this field.
Mindfulness (Wisdom). Another skill that works with some grinding. But again, he usually does this in favor of the player. Responsible for searching and discovering what is hidden from your sensitive eyes and ears. Look for the passage to the secret room? Or are you trying to find valuable loot in an old crypt?? Your choice. You will often hear the phrase "passive Perception check".
A passive check is calculated using the following formula: 10 + the corresponding ability modifier + the proficiency bonus from the skill. Additional bonuses are also added to it, if applicable (for example, a bonus from a luck stone). If a character has advantage on a passive check, he will receive a +5 bonus. The interference, in turn, reduces the value of the passive check by -5.
Passive checks are responsible for cases when a character must pass a check, but does it unconsciously, without making an effort. Passive checks apply to all skills, but in practice they only apply to Perception checks and, in rare cases, Analysis.
Insight (Wisdom). Allows you to obtain additional information about the target and its emotional state. Despite the sincere conviction of some players, it is not a lie detector, but only allows you to suspect something is wrong. If, while clearing out a cultists’ lair, your group comes across a tied up girl begging to be saved, you should check with the master to see if she looks scared or if her screams sound feigned. Perhaps the cultists tied her up for a reason.
Deception (Charisma). This skill is indispensable for those who prefer to hide information and get their way by lying. Despite the risk of worsening attitude towards the character, this skill can save the party from certain death. Remember, in NRI you can even come to an agreement with your opponent if he is reasonable.
Persuasion (Charisma). Essential skill for social interactions. Helps improve attitude towards the character, including saving the entire party from certain death. Feeling déjà vu, yeah?
Less useful skills include: Sleight of Hand (Dexterity), Nature (Intelligence), Religion (Intelligence), Survival (Wisdom), Medicine (Wisdom), Animal Care (Training), Performance (Performance), and Intimidation (Charisma/Strength). Make no mistake, these skills are definitely not useless, but they can often remain unused in your arsenal.
Sleight of hand (Dexterity). A pickpocket skill that allows you to pass checks that require precise movements. How often will you need to juggle and pick the pockets of inattentive characters? Not very often, to be honest.
Nature (Intelligence). Responsible for knowledge of plant and animal life. Unfortunately, this skill is rarely useful in practice due to the fact that nature rarely figures into the unfolding plot. You’ll be more likely to encounter magical phenomena, but even if the stars align properly and the party needs a nature expert, druids and rangers have more ability to interact with it even without skill.
Religion (Intelligence). Knowledge in religion suffers for the same reason as Nature. What can be opposed to a priest who is able to communicate directly with his deity?? In addition, during your adventures you will most often have to deal with evil deities, interaction with which is extremely limited by their alignment.
Survival (Wisdom). Helps track targets. The rest of the functionality is useless, since the game has plenty of skills that provide the group with food. There is an optional opportunity to earn money by skinning killed monsters, but you can usually sell trophies only towards the end of the story, if this is not a campaign.
Medicine (Wisdom). Perhaps you think that medicine in the world of magic is being replaced by this very magic. Almost. The Medicine skill is replaced by a healer kit, which is guaranteed to stabilize a dying character. Can Medicine help with diagnosing diseases?? If they are not magical, then it is easier to immediately cure them with magic.
Animal Care/Training (Wisdom). Let’s imagine that there are no druids or rangers in this system. You were attacked by wild animals? Throw them food and run away. You’ve come across an obstinate horse? Ask the stable for a calmer mount. Do you want to give your character a pet?? This is where training can help. And now we remember that there are druids and rangers in the system..
Performance (Performance). Singing, dancing and public speaking in front of large crowds. The specificity of a skill reduces the number of opportunities to use it. May indirectly affect your reputation, but you are unlikely to perform on stage often.
Intimidation (Charisma/Strength). According to the old tradition, some masters allow the use of Strength instead of Charisma for Intimidation rolls, which has been the practice since previous editions. In DnD 5e, however, Charisma is responsible for this skill, so don’t be surprised by a possible refusal. Each master has his own specificity. The main problems of the skill itself can be called the inevitable deterioration in attitude towards oneself when using it and its ineffectiveness in negotiations with those who are obviously stronger than you. What can we say about the possible consequences, because in many cultures intimidation is a reason to attract guards or revenge.
Tools. The game offers a wide range of different tools, but there is one problem – DnD 5e does not have a full-fledged crafting system. Of course, during all this time people have managed to come up with their own rules, but many masters prefer to simply ignore this aspect of the game, simplifying it to a simple throw. Tool check formula: d20 + ability modifier + proficiency bonus from tool proficiency.
What characteristic is used when checking? At the discretion of the master. Yes, this system is so poorly written. Additionally, I note that the proficiency bonus from skills is not added to such checks. This leads to unpleasant situations when a character can use a skill instead of a tool, since it is simply better developed for him. To avoid such situations, it is worth encouraging the use of tools. For example, reduce complexity or increase efficiency upon success.
Check results. When a character passes an ability, saving throw, and attack check, the player rolls a d20. If the final result is higher than or equal to the difficulty of the test, then the test is considered successfully passed. If below, then the check fails.
Rolling a 20 on a d20 counts as a critical success. In this case, the character succeeds regardless of the circumstances, even if the final score is lower than the difficulty of the check. Critical success also increases efficiency.
If a d20 rolls a 1, it is considered a critical failure. The character does not succeed even if the final score is greater than or equal to the difficulty of the check. Critical failure leads to complications.
Some GMs truly believe that in DnD 5e, critical successes and failures only affect attack rolls, and ability checks and saving throws are made without them. This is a stereotype, since page 242 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide clarifies this. The rules allow the GM to take critical values into account if he so chooses.
The system also has mechanics of interference and advantage. If you have disadvantage on a roll, you roll 2d20, choosing the lowest result. Hindrance greatly reduces the likelihood of a critical success, reflecting unfavorable circumstances. If you get advantage on the roll, you also roll 2d20, but choose the highest result. Advantage reduces the likelihood of critical failure by emphasizing the convenience of the moment or conditions.
Actions in battle. Each round the character gains a main action, a bonus action, a free action, and a reaction. Spent actions are restored at the start of your character’s next turn, not the start of the round. The primary action allows you to attack enemies, make skill checks, interact with objects, and cast most spells. The bonus action provides more limited functionality: it allows you to perform some special attacks and cast a number of spells.
A free action allows you to do something that requires little time or effort. For example, move within your character’s speed or speak a few words. The word count can be increased significantly if you spend a bonus or main action. A reaction allows you to perform a limited number of actions during your own or someone else’s turn. Often this is an attack on a fleeing enemy (a situation where the enemy moves out of your melee range – in most situations this is beyond 5 feet) or casting protective spells.
Particular attention should be paid to the special actions available to each character: Ambush, Prepared Action, Assist, Charge, Retreat and Evade. Activating any of them requires spending a main action. Ambush allows you to make a Stealth check to remain hidden and have advantage on your next attack. A prepared action allows you to perform a specific action (for example, an attack) when certain conditions occur, using a reaction. Assist allows the targeted target to make their next skill or attack check with advantage (the effect lasts until your next turn). Dash doubles the character’s movement speed for the current round. Retreat allows you to move away from the enemy without provoking an attack from him. Evasion interferes with character attacks.
Attack weapons. There are several weapon types within DnD 5e, but the main ones are Simple, Martial, and Improvised. When attacking without a weapon, you automatically receive a proficiency bonus; there is no separate proficiency for it. Sometimes a character may not own all categories at once, but only several types of weapons from it.
Interesting fact: When attacking with melee, you can claim to deal non-lethal damage. This allows you to capture opponents instead of killing them on the spot.
“Simple weapons” are cheap and widespread, but in terms of their characteristics they are significantly inferior to “Military” ones. An "improvised weapon" is any object that a character would use to cause direct physical harm to an opponent.
As stated earlier, all melee weapons can use a Strength modifier on attack and damage rolls. Exception: weapons with the "Fencing", for attack and damage rolls for which you can use the Dexterity modifier instead of the Strength modifier. However, even such weapons can still be used using the Force.
Ranged weapons use a Dexterity modifier and can be used to attack targets within the weapon’s range. The first number in the distance means shooting without interference or advantage, the second number in the distance reflects shooting with interference. Also, a ranged attack has disadvantage if the target is in a square adjacent to the shooter (5 feet). For example, the range of a light crossbow is 80/320. If the shooter attacks a target within 100 feet (20 squares) of him, he will have disadvantage on the attack roll.
Attack roll formula: d20 + appropriate ability modifier + weapon proficiency bonus. If successful, you may roll a damage die based on the weapon used and add an attack ability modifier to the roll. On a critical success, you double the number of dice rolled, but the fixed modifiers remain unchanged. For example, a shooter with an Dexterity value of 16 will use it to deal: with a successful attack – d8 + 3, with a critical success – 2d8 +3. If other dice are used when rolling damage, they will also double.
Interesting fact: When attacking without a weapon, your character will deal a fixed damage equal to 1 + Strength modifier (minimum 1). The damage from such attacks will not increase on a critical success, as there is no dice rolled here. Some abilities enhance unarmed attacks by adding a damage die to them. They work as standard.
In all cases, the difficulty of hitting depends on the armor class (AC) of the target. The GM is not required to tell the players the difficulty of the check, only reporting hits or misses. Regarding the character’s AC, keep two facts in mind: different types of "Defense without armor" do not combine with each other, and AC below 15 implies a successful hit on the character in most cases.
Ranged fighters can also benefit from the cover system. If a character is half covered, he receives a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws; if three-quarters covered, he receives a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws; if fully covered, he can only be attacked by spells and abilities that deal area damage. If the target of an attack has been knocked down, melee attacks will have advantage, but ranged attacks will have disadvantage.
Two-weapon combat deserves special mention. Many beginners are confused by the rules for using a second weapon, and therefore this point is worth explaining in more detail. If you do not have abilities tailored to a similar fighting style, then you can make one attack with a second weapon during the round using a bonus action. Both weapons must have the "Lung». The attack stat modifier is not added to damage with the second weapon. Also, attacks with a second weapon are not affected by abilities that increase the number of attacks per turn. For example, a 5th level warrior will make two attacks with his main weapon, spending a main action, but only one attack with his second weapon, spending a bonus action.
Spell Attack. When attacking with a spell, the formula is calculated as follows: d20 + base spell stat modifier + proficiency bonus. The caster gains a proficiency bonus without the need for any proficiency. Some spells require the target to make a saving throw instead of making an attack roll. Difficulty of this saving throw: 8 + base spell ability modifier + proficiency bonus. Most spells do not allow the spell’s base stat modifier to be added to the damage.
You can only cast one spell during your turn, but the number of spells is not limited. However, this is a topic of eternal debate. To put it simply, there are two irreconcilable camps: some believe that the number of spells used per turn is not limited by anything other than the actions available to the caster. Others insist that you can only use one spell per turn. Most often I came across masters who shared the second point of view.
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