Picking a race to play for your character in DnD can be a bit daunting – especially if you have personal biases like I do.  I don’t like to play dwarves, for example.

Which means that when I want to play a stout, immovable fighter, I either have to play a race I don’t care for or else I have to get creative.

Picking a race should be much more than just finding the race that gives you the best combat bonuses for the class you have in mind.  It is also a reflection of an aspect of your personality and an indication of what you bring to the table.

If every character you play is min/maxed or optimized fully every time, it won’t take long for the other players to know exactly what you are playing and how you are going to play it  - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  There are builds that are more effective than others, anyone who tells you different should be selling life insurance.  I prefer to allow the other players to find out my character’s strengths and weaknesses over time rather than saying “I’m playing an elf” and someone else finish my sentence “ranger, ranged attack specialist because you’re scared to get your hands dirty, and you want to do lots of damage.”

So, how do you pick a race?  Simple – pick what you enjoy.  Pick what matches the concept you are striving for.  If you like dwarves.  You read The Lord of the Rings and fell in love with Gimli – then play a dwarf.  If you liked Legolas better, play an elf.  If you read a Forgotten Realms novel and found something you enjoy – play that race.

And when you pick that dwarf, understand that you can make an effective character from that race in a lot of ways.  A dwarf rogue may not be great at sneaking but could excel at finding dungeon secrets and uncovering NPC lies.

Or you could just roll a die and play a random race.

Either way, have fun with it!

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I used to work full time as a video game tester.  I quickly rose through the ranks and eventually was in charge of the quality department for a small software development company.  I would encourage those of you out there who enjoy games to become a game tester.  Often the wages are relatively poor to start out with, but it opens doors to future possibilities.

Making a career is about meeting people and making connections.  Becoming a game tester can be a good start in that direction.  When I was hiring game testers I would turn to friends and acquaintences that I knew through my relationships in gaming either table top or people I knew from LAN parties.

Gamertestingground offers a program that can help you get into the business if you are interested.  This is one way to start a career or earn a few extra bucks to help get ready for college.  Many of us spend hours playing anyway, and if you are like most serious gamers I know then you have the intelligence to put those hours to good use.

I know this is a bit off topic from the norm (hence appearing on an off day) but I do encourage you to try out gamertestingground if you have the inclination to put some of those gaming hours to good use and become a game tester.

As always, remember to have fun!

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Maintaining a healthy game can be difficult under the best of circumstances.  Trying to keep a game healthy and have fun doing it can be nearly impossible.  Power control, done properly, allows players to have a more enjoyable experience as well as keep the DM’s headaches to a minimum.

Power [...] Continue Reading…

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My Steps For making a Dungeons and Dragons character:

Ok so most, if not all, of you reading this have made dozens if not hundreds of DnD characters.  But I thought I would outline my process for making a new Dungeons and Dragons character.

These steps apply pretty much to any [...] Continue Reading…

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Have you ever had a hard time “getting into charcter?” You’ve thumbed through the Player’s Handbook for a couple of hours already and have nothing to show for it? Or worse, you have a character build and optimized, but you just don’t “feel it” when you play that character. [...] Continue Reading…

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Upsetting the DM is a pretty common fear. After all the Dungeon Master can pretty well screw you over anytime she wants to. If you want to survive to level five, or higher, making her life easier is just a good idea. Here are seven things you can do as a player to make her life much simpler, and every aggravation off her shoulders is one less excuse to give you grief. [...] Continue Reading…

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Ok so you have no money, which is generally true for most of us, but you still want to run as cool of a game as possible.

Here are some ideas to save cash and still enhance your gaming experience. [...] Continue Reading…

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