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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Ok, I’m presenting some links, and a few general thoughts on each 4^th edition character class. So many others have done so much to get guides and advice on character building together. This is simply a short primer on what each class can do with links to much more extensive advice on optimization and character building, by class.

Warlock Guide

Warlocks have many options, but there are also a lot of decisions to make at first level. All of the eldritch pacts can be useful and effective. This is a choice that comes down to style and preference. If you are worried about survivability, though, remember that you can really maximize your hit points by taking the infernal pact route as your constitution can start at 18 or even 20 quite easily.

If you would rather play a more sneaky or deceitful route, then you can also maximize your charisma to good effect and remain a force on the battlefield. Your choice of skills should support your main ability score choice and also the way you decide to play your character.

Ranger

Rangers can do excellent damage, as well as have awesome mobility. The decision between ranged and melee Ranger is a crucial one you need to make when you create the character. You can’t really do both and still be effective.

Put your ability scores where they will help you hit as often as possible. Rangers can do a ton of damage, but only if they hit, so be sure to maximize your hitting potential. Also, they tend to have lower hit points than other characters, so get them some solid armor as well.

Paladin

A Paladin won’t generally be able to main heal your party. For that you will want to look at the Cleric or Warlord. But they can do some great things for controlling the battlefield, and can have awesome hit points.

They get plate mail to start with, and there isn’t a good reason I can thing of not to go with it. Maximize your defensive capabilities. Don’t worry if you can’t hit as hard as some of the other classes. Focus your ability scores where they will maximize your ability to absorb damage and nullify the enemies’ attacks.

Cleric

Keep in mind that your Cleric is there to support and help the party. Sure they can deal some good damage, especially against undead, but their main purpose is going to be to help others.

They don’t tank as well as fighters, and they don’t hit as hard as rangers, so don’t expect them to. Be prepared to help those around you when they need it. Put your ability scores where they will increase the effectiveness of your powers so that your healing powers work when you need them to.

Warlord

Remember that a Warlord is out there to help his teammates. Of all the characters in the party he is least equipped to go it alone. You won’t find the warlord solo killing any bosses, so don’t try it. Put your points (INT, CHA, STR) where they can be used most effectively to give your party a boost.

The warlord needs some mobility, but also needs to keep his defenses high. Invest in good armor and armor capabilities. Often when he takes too much damage he has to spend time and resources getting himself out of trouble instead of helping others. So make the effort to give yourself some decent defenses and survivability.

Wizard

Perhaps the biggest challenge to overcome is understanding that wizards as a concept have changed in 4^th edition. Personally I find nothing wrong with that, in fact I think there are a lot of things right about it, but that isn’t the point of this article.

In general, if you want to play a good wizard, then find the spells that are going to help you stay alive early on. Magic Missile, as always is a solid spell. You’ll want to put your stat points where they will help out your attacks more than anything. You will find yourself under attack from time to time and early on you’ll need that protection as you won’t be doing as much damage as other players at early levels.

Also don’t forget about the potential of the rituals. These are often overlooked, and can add depth and power to your character.

Rogue

You probably won’t find any better information that what you can find on that thread.

Keep in mind that your rogue is designed to do big damage, but they don’t generally have the hit points or defensive capabilities of other characters.

Rogues have the advantage of being able to diversify their abilities quite easily, but like all characters they will benefit greatly if you try to specialize in an area where your party needs the support.

That’s if for today. Until next time, have fun!

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Last time we talked about the specific difficulties that newer players may have when deciding what kind of character to play. Today we’ll address the same concern with a more experienced player who may be feeling a bit burned out.

So you think you’ve played everything under the sun. Well, I’m sure you have. What’s more, you’ve played with people who have played everything you weren’t interested in trying out yourself. When we play with a group we experience pieces of each character in the party, almost as if we were playing those characters ourselves.

So what do you do?

Option one: Play the stand-by character. Go back to the tried and true. Your old favorite. Re-create the first character you ever played.

Option two: Ask your DM or party what they need. A lot of times other members of your group will have decided what they want to play and they just need something to round the party out. This will at least give you an idea of where to start.

Option three: Play a random character. Use any random number generator to choose a race and class.

If none of these ideas work, then look around for inspiration.

• Scan the internet. Plenty of D&D sites and forums out there.
• Look at your fantasy books (you know you have them).
• Watch an action movie.
• Look at some old TV. shows.

If all else fails, drop me an email and I’ll tell you what to play

As always, remember its about the fun!

Click here for part 1

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