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How to Fill Out a Dungeons and Dragons 5E Character Sheet

In this post, I will guide you through filling out your first player character sheet.

 

You can watch the video and/or follow the directions down this post. 

 

Fair warning, this video is from way back in the day. I need to create an updated version soon when I find the available time. 

When I first started D&D, I was perplexed about how to do this, and, honestly, reading about it on the internet didn’t help at all. I knew that one day, once I had a better grasp of things, I wanted to put together a helpful post like this for other newbies!

 

To get started, gather the following items:

4d6 (Four Six-Sided Dice)

Virtual Dice Rollers Welcome

The Player's Handbook

Physical or Digital

A blank character sheet

Printed or Form-Fillable

Choosing a Race

There are expansion books with new races and lots of home-brew races available to explore online. We’re going to focus on core PHB races for this post!

Pick From The Following Races:

Dwarf

Found on page 18 of the Player's Handbook or page 12 of the free PDF.

Elf

Found on page 21 of the Player's Handbook or page 13 of the free PDF.

Halfling

Found on page 26 of the Player's Handbook or page 16 of the free PDF.

Human

Found on page 29 of the Player's Handbook or page 17 of the free PDF.

Dragonborn

Found on page 32 of the Player's Handbook.

Gnome

Found on page 35 of the Player's Handbook.

Half-Elf

Found on page 38 of the Player's Handbook.

Half-Orc

Found on page 40 of the Player's Handbook.

tiefling

Found on page 42 of the Player's Handbook.

Choosing A Class

There are special proficiencies unlocked to your character based on their class. Think of it as their profession — what do they do? Read up about their class and reference their class table in the PHB to find out what needs to be added to your character sheet.

Pick From The Following Classes:

Barbarian

Found on page 46 of the Player's Handbook.

Bard

Found on page 51 of the Player's Handbook.

Cleric

Found on page 56 of the Player's Handbook or page 20 of the free PDF.

Druid

Found on page 64 of the Player's Handbook.

Fighter

Found on page 70 of the Player's Handbook or page 24 of the free PDF.

Monk

Found on page 76  of the Player's Handbook.

Paladin

Found on page 82 of the Player's Handbook.

Ranger

Found on page 89 of the Player's Handbook.

Rogue

Found on page 94 of the Player's Handbook or page 26 of the free PDF.

Sorcerer

Found on page 99 of the Player's Handbook.

Warlock

Found on page 105 of the Player's Handbook.

Wizard

Found on page 112 of the Player's Handbook or page 29 of the free PDF.

Choosing A Background

The background of your character is their history, where they’re from, and their place in society, in a sense.

 

Your character’s background is simply your characters history. Where do they come from and what were they doing prior to the game you are about to play. They provide additional proficiencies, languages, and skills. You can read the first few paragraphs of each background’s section to get an idea of what each of them are.

Pick From The Following Backgrounds:

Acolyte

Page 127 (PDF 37)

Charlatan

Page 128 (Not in PDF)

Criminal

Page 129 (PDF 38)

Entertainer

Page 130 (Not in PDF)

Folk Hero

Page 131 (PDF 39)

Guild Artisan

Page 132 (Not in PDF)

Hermit

Page 134 (Not in PDF)

Noble

Page 135 (PDF 40)

Outlander

Page 136 (Not in PDF)

Sage

Page 137 (PDF 41)

Sailor

Page 139 (Not in PDF)

Soldier

Page 140 (PDF 42)

Urchin

Page 141 (Not in PDF)

Character Name

This should be obvious but I absolutely put my own name in this spot the first time. This is for your character’s name. Okay. Cool. Moving on.

Class, Class Level, And Race

Barbarians, bards, clerics, druids, fighters, monks, paladins, and rangers are just a small handful of class options. Race examples include drow, dwarf, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, humans, and more. You can read up on core 5E races and classes in The Player’s Manual. There are other supplemental D&D books that offer other options. You can even home-brew your own variations.

 

Write your LEVEL in pencil because that’ll increase over time!

Class, Class Level, And Race

Barbarians, bards, clerics, druids, fighters, monks, paladins, and rangers are just a small handful of class options. Race examples include drow, dwarf, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, humans, and more. You can read up on core 5E races and classes in The Player’s Manual. There are other supplemental D&D books that offer other options. You can even home-brew your own variations.

 

Write your LEVEL in pencil because that’ll increase over time!

Background

Find background info in the player’s handbook as well!

Alignment

What is your player’s alignment? This handy chart may help you!

Player Name

HERE is where your name goes!

Experience Points

Write these in pencil because they’ll change over time.

Inspiration

This would be a good spot to use a pencil or even take a little square of packing tape to place over the square. Then you can use a dry- or wet-erase marker to track inspiration given during a game.

Proficiency Bonus

Your proficiency bonus is what you add to whatever skills or weapons you’re proficient in!

Armor Class

This is determined by the type of armor you are or are not wearing during the game.

Initiative

Initiative is your dexterity. You just pull your dexterity number and pop it into the Initiative box.

Speed

This is determined by your race. If you’re an elf, you’ll be swift. If you’re a dwarf, maybe not as much. Speed can also be hindered by your armor type.

Character Skills

Strength

This is pretty much what it sounds like. How strong are you physically? Like, with your muscles.

Dexterity

How swift and agile are you?

Constitution

This is a different kind of strength. My partner has a better constitution than me IRL (in real life) because we can both eat back-of-the-fridge spaghetti sauce and I'm the one that ends up with food poisoning.

Intelligence

Also what it sounds like.

Charisma

Most commonly attributed to Bards.

Character Abilities

If you look at the parentheses next to the words, for example the (Dex) next to Acrobatics, you’ll know which number to put on these lines! You simply pull from your character skills, unless you have a proficiency in one of the skills. Then you add your character skill number plus your proficiency bonus.

 

Example:

If My Charisma Is 11, Then Intimidation, Performance, And Persuasion, Would All Also Be 11.

Let’s Pretend, Though, That I’ve Built A Character That Gives Me A Proficiency Bonus In Persuasion. I’d Add My +2 Proficiency Bonus To Persuasion For A Total Of 13 In That Area! That’ll Be Nice On Persuasion Rolls!

Attacks And Spellcasting

So in this section you will list your weapons, spells, and cantrips. I put cantrips towards the bottom since they are a little more simple to organize.

Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, And Flaws

These are all ideas that you can pull from your Background section of The Player’s Manual. You’re also always welcome to add your own ideas as well.

Personality Traits

Ideals

Bonds

Flaws

Written by
Beth the Bard (@ItsBethTheBard)

She/Her | Pro DM & Coach | ADHD | Best-Selling DnD Author of Feminist Curse of Strahd Book | D&D in a Castle DM | Creator of TTRPG University

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