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[0:00] Michael Doherty: Mythic Thunderlute is produced independently, but you can find us on Patreon.

[0:05] Michael Doherty: Also, in this episode, we'll be building a D&D character from scratch.

[0:09] Michael Doherty: So if you'd like to build along with us, you can download a character sheet by Googling Fifth Edition Character Sheet and using the website D&D Beyond.

[0:41] Michael Doherty: Hello again, listeners. Game maker Michael Doherty here with my pal Richard R. Henry.

[0:46] Richard R. Henry: How are you doing, Richie?

[0:47] Richard R. Henry: I'm good. I'm very excited, but I'm also a little nervous.

[0:50] Michael Doherty: It's okay. I'm gonna walk you through this step by step.

[0:52] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[0:53] Michael Doherty: Last episode, we talked about the basics of RPG gameplay with what we called D&D 101. But today, I wanted to do more of a deep dive into actually playing the game. Researching this has been very helpful for me as a reminder, both as a player and a DM, as to what the heck is actually going on. You know.

[1:10] Michael Doherty: It's a lot. I mean, there's so many variables in this. There's a lot of actual rules, so hopefully I can impart some wisdom here. Have you got your character sheet pulled up, Richie?

[1:19] Richard R. Henry: I have it pulled up, I'm ready to rumble.

[1:21] Michael Doherty: All right, with that, it is time for D&D 201 building a character. So picture that Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones cameo of your fantasies.

[1:35] Richard R. Henry: Yes.

[1:35] Michael Doherty: And we're gonna make that dream a reality. Cool?

[1:37] Richard R. Henry: I'm excited.

[1:37] Michael Doherty: Yes. It can be as irreverent, anachronistic, or earnest as you would like.

[1:41] Richard R. Henry: It'll be all those things, I think.

[1:43] Michael Doherty: So the first thing a player must decide are their class and race. How you look versus how you fight. Let's start with race. These are the exact kind of species that you might find in Lord of the Rings. Elves, dwarves, hobbits, or as they're known in D&D, halflings, right?

[2:00] Michael Doherty: And many, many more. So if you want to pull up the races link in that sheet I sent you.

[2:06] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, I'm clicking it open now.

[2:07] Michael Doherty: So check it out. Scroll through them. In addition to what you look like, these also add a fun layer of personality and ability to your character. For instance, elves are known for their wisdom and grace.

[2:18] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[2:19] Michael Doherty: Gnomes for their joy and loyalty, and halflings for their curiosity and peacefulness, making Roscoe Chubb the most unlikely halfling ever created. So yeah, you see anything that jumps out at you here?

[2:34] Richard R. Henry: I mean, you guys don't deal in dragonborn.

[2:36] Michael Doherty: But you want to be a dragonborn.

[2:38] Richard R. Henry: I mean it's kind of exciting to be a monster.

[2:40] Michael Doherty: Let's make a dragonborn.

[2:42] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[2:42] Michael Doherty: So dragonborns are sort of human-dragon hybrids. They look very much like dragons only they stand on two legs, they speak the common tongue, which is the preferred language of the players. Uh, tends to be a little more on the evil side, but that, my friend, is for you to decide.

[3:00] Richard R. Henry: I'm excited for him to be a little evil, I think.

[3:02] Michael Doherty: Okay, I'm very excited by that. Okay, um, and then we're gonna hop over to character classes if you want to click that link.

[3:10] Richard R. Henry: Okay, got it.

[3:11] Michael Doherty: So, your class really determines how you want to play the game. Yeah, for instance, in Thunderloot, Edgar represents the Bard class, musical storytellers who are also all about charm and charisma.

[3:23] Michael Doherty: While they might have strong personalities, they're maybe not the best fighters. Jocasta is a druid, which are spellcasters who focus their abilities on healing and animals.

[3:33] Richard R. Henry: Okay, yeah.

[3:34] Michael Doherty: Pug plays a rogue, which are known for their precision and stealth.

[3:37] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, Roscoe is of the monk class, which is another kind of fighter, a little more disciplined in their trade.

[3:43] Michael Doherty: So, check it out. Anything jumping out at you here?

[3:46] Richard R. Henry: I like magic. I like using magic.

[3:48] Michael Doherty: Great. I'd like the idea of a dragon cleric.

[3:51] Richard R. Henry: I love that for you. So clerics are priestly champions who wield their magic in service of a higher power. Lucky for you, in the world of Thunderloot, there is a draconic pantheon.

[4:04] Michael Doherty: So you'll even get to choose which of the dragon gods you would like to serve.

[4:08] Richard R. Henry: Ooh, that's exciting.

[4:09] Michael Doherty: In fact, let me just pull up a tab and drop you a link if that's cool.

[4:12] Richard R. Henry: I was gonna be so impressed if you listed them all up.

[4:15] Michael Doherty: I would have been too, honestly. If you're excited by the evil or the fighting elements, I gotta say, the evil draws me in.

[4:22] Michael Doherty: Could be Perrin, God of War, or Velma, God of Death.

[4:26] Richard R. Henry: If I'm a big ass dragon, I should be aligned with the God of Death.

[4:29] Michael Doherty: Let's do Velma, God of Death. So we can make sure that your spells you end up choosing are very focused on death, that they're very on the attack.

[4:38] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[4:38] Michael Doherty: And that you are a magical killing machine.

[4:41] Richard R. Henry: Cool.

[4:41] Michael Doherty: Yeah. Do you save the name for last?

[4:43] Richard R. Henry: Let's do it right now.

[4:45] Michael Doherty: Okay. Richie, what do you want to be called?

[4:47] Richard R. Henry: Well, I'll tell you, I've been thinking about what my character name would be. And I just went to Greece recently.

[4:52] Michael Doherty: Yeah.

[4:53] Richard R. Henry: And I'm holding the Lonely Greek Islands travel book. Love it. And when I was in Greece, all these different towns and different islands, like they were great names. They sounded like names from Game of Thrones. And I thought, what a perfect thing. Like I would like to be a one-named person like Cher or Madonna, you know.

[5:10] Michael Doherty: I'm obsessed.

[5:11] Richard R. Henry: And I'm literally picking it at random. And it is a place called Sarodari.

[5:16] Michael Doherty: Sarodari.

[5:17] Richard R. Henry: Sarodari. S-A-R-A-D-A-R-I.

[5:19] Michael Doherty: Great. Put that in as your name.

[5:21] Richard R. Henry: Yeah. You've added those things under race and class. Now let me draw your attention to the top left column. We talked a little bit about this in D&D 101. Your character's attributes.

[5:30] Richard R. Henry: Yes.

[5:31] Michael Doherty: These are your character's broadest abilities, right? Broken down into two basic principles: physical and mental.

[5:39] Richard R. Henry: Okay, gotcha.

[5:40] Michael Doherty: The physical are strength, constitution, and dexterity.

[5:44] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[5:44] Michael Doherty: Now the mental are intelligence, wisdom, and charisma.

[5:48] Richard R. Henry: Okay, gotcha.

[5:49] Michael Doherty: These six categories cover every type of action a player could attempt in gameplay. So you want to push someone, you're gonna roll strength. You want to tell if someone's lying, you're gonna roll wisdom. You want to balance on a narrow bridge, you're gonna roll dexterity.

[6:04] Richard R. Henry: Okay, I'm following.

[6:05] Richard R. Henry: I'm following.

[6:05] Michael Doherty: So we are about to generate six numbers to determine which of these you are proficient in. To do this, you can roll a 20-sided die seven times and lose the lowest number.

[6:15] Richard R. Henry: Okay, I'm rolling the die.

[6:17] Richard R. Henry: Here we go. 17.

[6:19] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Six.

[6:20] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Ten.

[6:21] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Seventeen.

[6:23] Michael Doherty: Great.

[6:24] Richard R. Henry: Eighteen.

[6:25] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Fourteen.

[6:26] Richard R. Henry: All right. And I've lost track of how many more I need to roll of these.

[6:30] Michael Doherty: You need one more roll.

[6:31] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Five.

[6:33] Michael Doherty: Okay, and that's the one we're losing.

[6:34] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[6:35] Michael Doherty: So your numbers are 17, 6, 10, 17, 18, and 14.

[6:39] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[6:39] Michael Doherty: Now we're gonna assign these numbers to each of these attributes. Some of these will be class and species specific. For instance, bards should have high charisma because they're performers. Elves have high dexterity. Dragonborn should be very strong and very charismatic because they're quite intimidating.

[6:57] Richard R. Henry: So your strength score increases by two and your charisma score increases by one.

[7:01] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha.

[7:02] Michael Doherty: So let's give you one of your big honking numbers. You've got two 17s. Would you like that to be your strength and charisma?

[7:09] Richard R. Henry: Do those like in the video games, you don't want to put too much to physical strength when you're a spell caster.

[7:15] Michael Doherty: That's a great point. Uh, the thing about a dragonborn is that they are also strong.

[7:20] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[7:21] Michael Doherty: While you can cast a spell, you can also carry a battle axe and like slice some people up too, you know?

[7:29] Richard R. Henry: Fair enough.

[7:29] Michael Doherty: So 17 for strength. Oh, you've also got an 18.

[7:32] Richard R. Henry: Oh.

[7:32] Michael Doherty: So that's at your disposal too. What traits amplify my spell?

[7:36] Richard R. Henry: So I think wisdom is gonna be what helps you with spell casting. We should put the highest number, I think, in the wisdom.

[7:42] Michael Doherty: In wisdom, great. So let's put 18 as your wisdom. We'll go 17 as your charisma and 17 as your strength.

[7:49] Richard R. Henry: Strength.

[7:50] Michael Doherty: Now your strength score increases by two. So you get to make that strength score a 19.

[7:55] Richard R. Henry: Uh-huh.

[7:55] Michael Doherty: And you get to add one to your charisma. So you get to make that an 18. So we're starting off strong here.

[8:00] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, we're starting off strong.

[8:02] Michael Doherty: 14, 10, and 6 are to be distributed among the remaining three traits.

[8:07] Richard R. Henry: He could be like me and not be that bright.

[8:09] Richard R. Henry: He can be very dim.

[8:11] Michael Doherty: Do you want intelligence to be your lowest?

[8:13] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, yeah.

[8:14] Michael Doherty: Great. So let's go with six for that.

[8:16] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[8:16] Michael Doherty: And what does that leave us with?

[8:17] Richard R. Henry: Dexterity and Constitution.

[8:20] Michael Doherty: Constitution.

[8:20] Richard R. Henry: Okay. You're also a big bruiser, so you don't need to be particularly dexterous.

[8:25] Michael Doherty: Right.

[8:25] Richard R. Henry: And constitution is going to be the thing that keeps you from succumbing to poison and fear and all these kinds of things. We want that to be strong.

[8:31] Michael Doherty: So in that case, you probably want to go with 14 for your constitution and 10 for your dexterity.

[8:39] Richard R. Henry: What's funny is as you build these characters, they start to sort of become who you are. I often find that, although I find that my strength as a D&D character way, way, way surpasses my own.

[8:49] Michael Doherty: That's the element of fantasy, right?

[8:50] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, exactly.

[8:51] Michael Doherty: Exactly. So now that we've got that figured out, we can figure out your modifiers.

[8:56] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[8:57] Michael Doherty: So this is the number you will add to your 20-sided rolls when playing the game.

[9:01] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[9:01] Michael Doherty: So if you're rolling for strength, you don't add 18. You add your modifier to it.

[9:06] Richard R. Henry: Ah, so that's the little circle underneath.

[9:08] Michael Doherty: Precisely. That's where you would put that. So to figure this out, you subtract 10 from your ability score and then half that.

[9:14] Richard R. Henry: Ah, okay.

[9:16] Michael Doherty: So strength is 19. So that's gonna be nine. But half that, and we always round down. So that would be a four.

[9:24] Richard R. Henry: So that's an incredible modifier. A standard is like about two.

[9:28] Michael Doherty: Gotcha. Now it is possible to have negative modifiers.

[9:31] Richard R. Henry: That's probably my intelligence, right?

[9:33] Michael Doherty: For sure. So do that for the rest of it.

[9:36] Richard R. Henry: So yeah, subtract ten and then half it. So if it's ten, that's zero. Half of zero is zero.

[9:40] Michael Doherty: So yeah, that'll just be zero.

[9:43] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Uh four, half of that is two for constitution.

[9:49] Richard R. Henry: Uh intelligence is six, half of that is three, and then.

[9:52] Michael Doherty: Oh, well, you can't subtract ten from six. So how does that work?

[9:56] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[9:56] Michael Doherty: So now we're gonna have our first negative modifier.

[9:59] Richard R. Henry: Ah.

[9:59] Michael Doherty: So negative four, but half would be negative two, is going to be your modifier for that one.

[9:59] Richard R. Henry: Negative two.

[10:06] Michael Doherty: Okay. And eighteen is, uh, that would be eight.

[10:09] Richard R. Henry: So four would be your modifier for eighteen.

[10:12] Michael Doherty: Four. You're good at this. You're quicker than I am with numbers.

[10:14] Richard R. Henry: That's what I'm here for.

[10:15] Michael Doherty: The same for charisma. So yeah, basically, this means that in the things that you're strong in, like your strength, your wisdom, your charisma, you're gonna be adding these numbers because you're really good at that thing.

[10:26] Michael Doherty: Because you lack intelligence, it's actually gonna be to your detriment to factor that into those roles, right? You're subtracting two from those roles. Luckily, those numbers are high from the other ones. You'll also notice that each of these six attributes has a set of subcategories or skills. For instance, dexterity gets broken down into acrobatics, sleight of hand, and stealth, right?

[10:49] Richard R. Henry: I see.

[10:49] Michael Doherty: The number assigned to these is simply the modifier for that ability score. So your dex mod is 10.

[10:55] Richard R. Henry: Oh no, the mod is zero.

[10:56] Michael Doherty: Is zero. Great. So you don't add anything to those scores. So that would be uh zero for acrobatics, sleight of hand, and stealth checks.

[11:03] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[11:03] Michael Doherty: So yeah, just take that modifier for each of those categories and put those into those skills.

[11:08] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha. It's clear what's what on the sheet, right?

[11:11] Michael Doherty: Yeah. Let me just go to all the wisdoms, intelligence. Okay, I'm all filled in on my skills list.

[11:17] Richard R. Henry: Great.

[11:18] Michael Doherty: Some of these skills can be affected by proficiencies, things that your particular character is good at.

[11:24] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[11:24] Michael Doherty: So just as we had an ability score increase based on the race of dragonborn, we have proficiencies based on class. I'm looking at the proficiency bonus. So your proficiency bonus is plus two. It changes at each level, but we're gonna build you a level one character.

[11:40] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[11:40] Michael Doherty: So for the cleric, you get to choose two skills to improve in from history when you're trying to like know things about the world that you're existing in.

[11:48] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[11:49] Michael Doherty: Insight is when you're trying to perceive like if someone's lying. If medicine, which is exactly what it sounds like, persuasion, convince someone to join your team or do something for you.

[12:00] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[12:01] Michael Doherty: Religion would be for anything to do with your religion that you've chosen.

[12:05] Richard R. Henry: Wow, I cannot believe how in-depth this is.

[12:07] Michael Doherty: I know it's insane, right? It's crazy. It's deeper than me.

[12:12] Richard R. Henry: Exactly. Like I don't have all these traits.

[12:14] Michael Doherty: A little inside baseball here. You're gonna be rolling insight and persuasion the most of all five of these things.

[12:20] Richard R. Henry: Ah, then we should do that.

[12:22] Michael Doherty: I would recommend that because anytime you're like interacting with an NPC, you might say something that's trying to persuade them. Yeah, an insight, can you perceive that they're trustworthy or not? That's gonna be pretty helpful.

[12:33] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha.

[12:33] Michael Doherty: So we'll add your proficiency bonus to that. You just filled out all of your skills. They're right next to your big six ability scores.

[12:41] Richard R. Henry: Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[12:42] Michael Doherty: So it was a four, now it's a six.

[12:44] Richard R. Henry: Precisely.

[12:45] Michael Doherty: Let's hit the other stats on the sheet.

[12:47] Richard R. Henry: I'm ready.

[12:48] Michael Doherty: Starting with initiative.

[12:49] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[12:49] Michael Doherty: In Dungeons and Dragons, like many role-playing games, it's turn-based when dealing with combat.

[12:55] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[12:55] Michael Doherty: So if all the characters were fighting at once, as would happen in real life, it would be a little too chaotic to actually play out. Everyone would be talking over each other.

[13:03] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[13:03] Michael Doherty: So instead, we roll initiative. This decides the order of turns during combat.

[13:07] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha.

[13:08] Michael Doherty: If we roll our 20-sided die. Basically, the higher you roll, the earlier in combat you get to fight. This is what you want, right? So it's who gets to go next. But we add a number, known as initiative, to this role. Generating your initiative number is quite easy. It is your dexterity modifier.

[13:24] Richard R. Henry: Ah, which is zero.

[13:25] Michael Doherty: Great. So under initiative, you're just gonna put a big ol' zero.

[13:30] Richard R. Henry: Cool.

[13:30] Michael Doherty: Okay, there it is. Okay, so speed is the maximum number of feet you can travel in a single move. This number is dictated by your character species. Most species, including Dragonborn, travel at a rate of 30 feet per turn.

[13:45] Richard R. Henry: So you can put 30 feet for that.

[13:47] Michael Doherty: Uh, if you're moving stealthily or on difficult terrain, you're gonna move slower at a rate of 20 feet per turn. But if you're flying or riding a horse or any mount for that matter, you can soar at a rate of 60 feet per turn.

[14:01] Richard R. Henry: Oh, okay.

[14:02] Michael Doherty: We mentioned this briefly, but just to state it explicitly, let's chat about level. So we've been building a uh level one character, so you can put that where it says level at the top of your sheet. Cleric level one. Typically, when you're playing, starting level is determined by your dungeon master, uh, based on how powerful they want you to be starting out. So we're keeping it simple by building a level one character.

[14:22] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[14:23] Michael Doherty: This affects how high your ability scores are, and if you're a spellcaster, the number of spells you can perform in a day.

[14:29] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[14:30] Michael Doherty: Every time you level up, you look up the things within that class, and they'll tell you what is changing on your character sheet when you level up. You'll also notice it says experience points. These are awarded by the DM as you go along your journey, usually after an encounter or combat. Another way to do this is just level them up after they've done an insane battle.

[14:51] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[14:52] Michael Doherty: Languages. These are super straightforward, dictated by your species. Dragonborn can definitely speak, read, and write draconic. And they can also speak the common tongue.

[15:02] Richard R. Henry: Preferred language of the players, which in our case is going to be English.

[15:05] Michael Doherty: Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. So fitting that you're a spellcaster. They come across the door of an ancient tomb and it has draconic on it.

[15:17] Richard R. Henry: I can read it.

[15:17] Michael Doherty: You can translate that. This language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and syllables. If you're trying to build a character voice for your dragonborn, something like a little harsh and dragon-y sounding might be the way to go.

[15:33] Richard R. Henry: But of course.

[15:34] Michael Doherty: Cool. Gold. Let's talk about gold. The amount of gold you start with can be determined by any number of things, including class, background, starting level, all of which you can find in the handbook, or really any amount agreed upon by the dungeon master and the player.

[15:50] Richard R. Henry: For us, I'd like to roll according to class.

[15:53] Michael Doherty: Okay. It says that clerics roll five D4 times 10 to calculate their gold. So you're gonna roll the four-sided die five times.

[16:00] Richard R. Henry: The four-sided die. It looks like a pyramid.

[16:05] Michael Doherty: Gotcha. Okay. First one is three.

[16:07] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[16:08] Michael Doherty: Next one is one.

[16:09] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[16:09] Michael Doherty: Next one is three.

[16:10] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[16:11] Michael Doherty: Next one is one.

[16:12] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[16:12] Michael Doherty: Next one is one.

[16:13] Richard R. Henry: Great.

[16:13] Michael Doherty: That is a total of nine. We're gonna multiply that by ten, giving you 90 gold pieces.

[16:18] Richard R. Henry: See these little things. It says C P S P E P G P.

[16:21] Michael Doherty: Oh, yeah, there is CP, yeah, yeah. Next to GP, you'll put 90.

[16:25] Richard R. Henry: Ah, gold pieces.

[16:26] Michael Doherty: Yep. Got it. Now we get to spend some of that money. Let's start with armor. This will affect your armor class or AC. It's at the top center of your character sheet and kind of looks like a shield.

[16:37] Richard R. Henry: Yes, armor class.

[16:38] Michael Doherty: So AC is your defense in battle. It's the number that your enemies need to roll higher than in order to hit you. You'll see armor listed in that equipment page. Armor and shields. With the cleric class, you're proficient in light and medium armor.

[16:54] Richard R. Henry: So if you choose one of those, you'll be able to add your proficiency bonus to it, which is plus two.

[16:58] Michael Doherty: I mean, I'm a dragon, I've got scales and stuff, right? I feel like I could do well with just padded armor.

[17:04] Richard R. Henry: You're adding it to your dexterity mod. If we're what's your dex mod?

[17:07] Michael Doherty: Zero.

[17:08] Richard R. Henry: So in battle, your armor class is also your ability to dodge.

[17:12] Michael Doherty: I see. So since you're just this giant target, you're actually quite easy to hit. Entirely dependent upon the armor that you put on your body.

[17:19] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[17:20] Michael Doherty: Oh, this is interesting. So you've got 90 gold to spend. So you're looking at hide armor gets you 12 AC. Chain shirt gets you 13. Scale mail gets you 14. But if you go with scale mail, you're gonna be rolling disadvantage on stealth checks.

[17:35] Richard R. Henry: Oh, because that would make noise, right?

[17:37] Michael Doherty: Precisely. You'd be clanking all around. We should probably go with a hide, right?

[17:41] Richard R. Henry: Well, I would recommend that the chain shirt.

[17:43] Michael Doherty: Okay. One point higher in armor class than the hide armor, and you're not rolling at a disadvantage on stealth checks.

[17:49] Richard R. Henry: Yes, okay, got it.

[17:50] Michael Doherty: That would be 50 gold pieces.

[17:52] Richard R. Henry: Dang. I'm really cutting into my budget.

[17:53] Michael Doherty: But that would make your armor class 15.

[17:55] Richard R. Henry: But I'm gonna be like Mickey Mouse. I'm just wearing a top and no pants.

[17:58] Michael Doherty: Well, this is not your clothes. This is merely your armor.

[18:02] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[18:02] Michael Doherty: Although, if that's your style, you can totally dance that.

[18:06] Richard R. Henry: You know, I'm a dragon, do they?

[18:07] Michael Doherty: We can get into the nitty-gritty. You're also proficient in shields, plus two to your armor class, and you're proficient in it. So when you're using your shield, you could actually add four to your AC.

[18:18] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, let's do that.

[18:19] Michael Doherty: Now you can only use one-handed weapons.

[18:22] Richard R. Henry: I want to work my way out to a flaming shield and sword anyway.

[18:25] Michael Doherty: So you want the shield.

[18:27] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, let's do the shield, yeah.

[18:29] Michael Doherty: So you're gonna spend 10 gold pieces on that.

[18:32] Richard R. Henry: So we're down to 30.

[18:33] Michael Doherty: Add four to your armor class when your shield is deployed.

[18:37] Richard R. Henry: So 19.

[18:38] Michael Doherty: Which is pretty amazing. All right. With that, we can choose our weapons. Basically, the thing you use to deal damage when you're not casting spells.

[18:45] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[18:46] Michael Doherty: So let's look at the simple melee weapons here. So you're proficient in all of these. The thing you really want to look at is how much damage you're dealing. And for most simple weapons, you're rolling a d4 of damage.

[18:57] Richard R. Henry: I feel like the good tactic here is what deals the most damage while still being a one-handed weapon because you want to use your shield.

[19:05] Michael Doherty: It feels like it wants to be an axe.

[19:06] Richard R. Henry: A hand axe, yeah. You get the one d6 slashing, and this can be.

[19:09] Michael Doherty: Oh, it's thrown. I see.

[19:11] Richard R. Henry: Well, and you have the option. You can use it in close range combat, or you can throw it.

[19:16] Michael Doherty: Just like the spear, just like the javelin. So, yeah, you want to go hand axe?

[19:19] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, let's do a hand axe.

[19:21] Michael Doherty: That'll cost you five gold.

[19:22] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[19:22] Michael Doherty: So that's 25 gold now. In that equipment, you're gonna write that it does 1d6 slashing damage.

[19:29] Richard R. Henry: Okay, hand axe 1d6 in equipment.

[19:31] Michael Doherty: Because you're proficient in it. Anytime you roll an attack roll, you're adding your proficiency bonus. So just put plus two to attack in parentheses.

[19:36] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[19:40] Michael Doherty: You can also choose a simple ranged weapon. Too soon for magical staffs. Spellcasters do need something from which to cast their spells.

[19:48] Richard R. Henry: So yeah, you could have a staff that you're using as your arcane focus.

[19:53] Michael Doherty: Which would be a uh a quarter staff. Well, you could just buy a full staff for five gold, and it's just the source of your powers.

[20:00] Richard R. Henry: Let's do that.

[20:01] Michael Doherty: Yeah, that's your equipment. So I'll have that on my back. I'll have the axe and the shield in my two hands.

[20:06] Richard R. Henry: So you've gotten your weapons chosen, you've got your armor chosen. There's also other items that you can grab in the shop. You can make that part of your homework. If you want to scroll through the rest of the items, you can spend the rest of your gold on random craft that you would have in like your backpack.

[20:22] Michael Doherty: Oh, great.

[20:23] Richard R. Henry: So fill it up with the rest of the things.

[20:25] Michael Doherty: Exactly. Now you'll find potential backgrounds for your character as well within the player's handbook. And they're a cool way to give you some more skill proficiencies if you want to explore that.

[20:35] Michael Doherty: I usually encourage my players here to maybe deviate from the player's handbook and instead draw from your own backstory and bio, which will be another piece of your homework. You'll build the life history of Sarodari.

[20:48] Richard R. Henry: Okay, yeah.

[20:49] Michael Doherty: Now, this will affect the bonds, flaws, ideals, and traits.

[20:52] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, looking at it.

[20:53] Michael Doherty: You'll choose something for each of those bonds, are the things you abide by. It could be family, it could be a loved one, it could be your home, it could be anything that you're attached to.

[21:05] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha.

[21:06] Michael Doherty: Flaws is exactly what it sounds like. Every character's got them.

[21:09] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[21:10] Michael Doherty: Ideals is more like bonds, it's like the principles that you abide by as you go through life.

[21:15] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[21:15] Michael Doherty: And traits is a catch-all for anything else. Any oddities about him. Maybe he's a dermaphobe. Maybe he's like Larry David. The other thing you can decide after you build your backstory is your alignment.

[21:28] Richard R. Henry: Oh, yes. Now, what is what is that?

[21:30] Michael Doherty: So this is where your character sits on the spectrums of order and morality. So a character's relationship to law and order can either be lawful, neutral, or chaotic, depending on how law-abiding they are. Morality exists on a scale of good, neutral, and evil. We always list their relationship to order followed by morality.

[21:51] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[21:51] Michael Doherty: So in Thunderloot, Edgar's character is always breaking the law. So he's a very chaotic character. He's not really doing it for good or evil purposes, just selfish ones. So Edgar would be what we call a chaotic neutral character.

[22:05] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[22:05] Michael Doherty: So you could be lawful good. You could also be lawful evil.

[22:09] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[22:10] Michael Doherty: Right? You can be chaotic good, or you could be true neutral. You could not have an alignment to the law and not have an alignment to morality.

[22:17] Richard R. Henry: I mean, that's more like me.

[22:19] Michael Doherty: Yeah, that could be. And I say write your backstory and feel inspired by that.

[22:24] Richard R. Henry: Oh, and then maybe change it accordingly.

[22:25] Michael Doherty: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, there's one last thing to talk about when building a character, and that is spell casting.

[22:31] Richard R. Henry: Oh, yes, please. That's my favorite part.

[22:32] Michael Doherty: Yes. Scroll down to the third page.

[22:35] Richard R. Henry: On the character sheet.

[22:36] Michael Doherty: Yep. So spellcasting class, you're a cleric.

[22:39] Richard R. Henry: Uh-huh.

[22:40] Michael Doherty: Spell casting ability. Do you see the table? The cleric table on D&D Beyond.

[22:44] Richard R. Henry: The cleric table.

[22:45] Michael Doherty: So you'll see that the cleric table shows you how many spell slots you have.

[22:49] Richard R. Henry: Ah, I see.

[22:50] Michael Doherty: You've also got Divine domain.

[22:52] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[22:53] Michael Doherty: Let me tell you what that is.

[22:54] Richard R. Henry: Yes, please.

[22:54] Michael Doherty: This is basically how we're gearing your spell casting abilities. You'll be rewarded for doing things that are domain specific. Choose one domain related to your deity. If you click the words divine domain.

[23:06] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, it says knowledge, life, light, nature, tempest, trickery, or war.

[23:09] Michael Doherty: So you're gonna choose one of those.

[23:11] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[23:11] Michael Doherty: And if you're worshiping the draconic god of death, I would say trickery, tempest, or war would maybe be the vibe you're looking at.

[23:19] Richard R. Henry: Tempest is bringing up storms. Is that what that is?

[23:22] Michael Doherty: Mm-hmm. Uh let's do uh Tempest.

[23:25] Richard R. Henry: Okay, great.

[23:26] Michael Doherty: This is encouraging you towards specific spells.

[23:29] Richard R. Henry: Ah, I see, yes.

[23:30] Michael Doherty: So for level one, you've got three cantrips that you know and two first level spells.

[23:37] Richard R. Henry: So I've got it looks like fog cloud and thunder wave.

[23:40] Michael Doherty: Great. So let's write down what fog cloud is. Create a 20 foot radius sphere of fog centered on a point within range. So this is one action, it is a ranged attack, and it can last up to an hour, which would basically be the entire duration of combat.

[23:55] Richard R. Henry: Aren't we also rolling in a dead advantage?

[23:57] Michael Doherty: Yep. And you're heavily obscured. We're in a fog. Which means that every time someone's trying to attack you or anyone within it, they're rolling at a disadvantage.

[24:06] Richard R. Henry: I mean, it's kind of funny in a way, too, that this not so bright dragon fills a cave or a room with fog and nobody can see shit, you know.

[24:13] Michael Doherty: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The other recommended spell is Thunder Wave, which is a single action. Each creature within a 15 foot range must make a constitution saving throw. And if not, they take two d8 of damage and get pushed away from you.

[24:29] Richard R. Henry: I like that one.

[24:29] Michael Doherty: So it packs a wallop. That's a fun one. So write this down. Under your spells in that center box. Thunder wave. Attack bonus or damage type.

[24:38] Richard R. Henry: Uh damage type, it's thunder. And it's uh, it's gonna be two d8 damage on a failed save.

[24:45] Michael Doherty: Two d8. That means they're gonna roll constitution, and they have to roll higher than your spell save DC. We're really diving deep here with this guy.

[24:54] Richard R. Henry: I mean, we're getting it, we're in the nitty-gritty right now.

[24:57] Michael Doherty: And we've only touched the surface. That's the craziest part. Would you like your other power to be the fog cloud, or would you like to choose a different one?

[25:04] Richard R. Henry: Let's go with the fog cloud for now, I think.

[25:07] Michael Doherty: Okay, great. So just make a note of that. It is a range of 120 feet, and it heavily obscures everyone in the range. It can last up to an hour.

[25:17] Richard R. Henry: Wow, that's a long time, especially in a battle.

[25:19] Michael Doherty: Yeah. We're gonna now calculate your spell save DC. This is what your enemies need to roll higher than when they're making saving throws.

[25:27] Richard R. Henry: I see. I would defeat them if they don't.

[25:29] Michael Doherty: Correct. Yes. They would take the damage that you wrote down and be knocked back 10 feet. You can make note of that too for Thunder Wave.

[25:34] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[25:36] Michael Doherty: And this would be listed under uh spell level one.

[25:40] Richard R. Henry: Oh, level one, there it is.

[25:41] Michael Doherty: Slots total, you're gonna write two.

[25:43] Richard R. Henry: Two.

[25:44] Michael Doherty: And then slots expended, you won't worry about till gameplay.

[25:47] Richard R. Henry: Okay.

[25:47] Michael Doherty: So to calculate your spell save DC, we're gonna take the number eight, and then you're gonna add your proficiency bonus, which is two, which brings us up to ten, plus your ability modifier for your wisdom for Clerics.

[26:00] Richard R. Henry: Oh, modifier is four.

[26:02] Michael Doherty: So 14 is your spell save DC. The number your enemies need to roll higher than when doing a save.

[26:08] Richard R. Henry: Yes.

[26:09] Michael Doherty: Okay, gotcha. Otherwise, they take the damage that I'm sending to them.

[26:12] Richard R. Henry: Gotcha.

[26:13] Michael Doherty: Exactly. And then you can look at cantrips. You can just Google D&D 5E cantrips. Acid splash, blade wall, blade ward. I mean, we gotta have a fireball.

[26:27] Richard R. Henry: So in cantrips, just write fireball.

[26:29] Michael Doherty: Yeah. And then write what the uh the damage, right?

[26:33] Richard R. Henry: You hurl a mode of fire at a creature within range up to 120 feet, make a range spell attack against the target on a hit. They take one D10 fire damage.

[26:43] Michael Doherty: Okay, hit one d10. Gotcha. Two more cantrips.

[26:47] Richard R. Henry: Spare the dying. What is that?

[26:49] Michael Doherty: You touch a living creature that has zero hit points.

[26:52] Richard R. Henry: Oh, cool.

[26:53] Michael Doherty: The creature becomes stable. So, Richie, once you lose all of your hit points, you're what we call dying, right?

[27:00] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[27:00] Michael Doherty: And you'll see this on your first page, right? You'll have your max hit points, current hit points, and temporary hit points.

[27:06] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[27:07] Michael Doherty: So once your current hit points gets down to zero, you'll roll saving throws. See where it says death saves?

[27:13] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[27:14] Michael Doherty: You'll have to roll above a certain number to not die.

[27:17] Richard R. Henry: Well, that's a fun one to have, I think, in the game.

[27:20] Michael Doherty: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you would make someone no longer have to roll for this. They would just be stabilized at zero hit points.

[27:27] Richard R. Henry: Ah, okay.

[27:28] Michael Doherty: So it keeps it keep someone in the game.

[27:29] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, keeps them alive. That works.

[27:31] Michael Doherty: Yep. Spare the dying in cantrips. And then what should I write next to it?

[27:35] Richard R. Henry: So yeah, it's just instantaneous and it just works.

[27:38] Michael Doherty: Great. So one more cantrip for you. Help me pick one here that will be useful for gameplay.

[27:45] Richard R. Henry: Okay. So far, I'm sort of randomly thinking what would look cool, what would be cool.

[27:49] Michael Doherty: Yeah, I think something else that can deal some damage is gonna be really great.

[27:53] Richard R. Henry: Yeah, yeah. What would be the best for this character?

[27:56] Michael Doherty: I'd say as some acid or poison action could be good.

[28:00] Richard R. Henry: Let's do it.

[28:01] Michael Doherty: Acid splash.

[28:02] Richard R. Henry: Acid gotta have it.

[28:03] Michael Doherty: Gotta have it. You hurl a bubble of acid at someone within range. Let's do that. They must do a deck saving throw.

[28:10] Richard R. Henry: Deck save.

[28:11] Michael Doherty: Or take one d6 of acid damage.

[28:13] Richard R. Henry: Got it.

[28:14] Michael Doherty: So we have Fireball, Spare the Dying, and Acid Splash. And your level ones are your fog and your thunder wave, right?

[28:21] Richard R. Henry: Yeah.

[28:21] Michael Doherty: That's your spells taken care of. Let's calculate your hit points. You don't yet have your hit points, right?

[28:27] Richard R. Henry: No, I do not.

[28:28] Michael Doherty: There is a D&D 5E HP calculator. So my character is a level one cleric with a constitution modifier of two, you said.

[28:37] Richard R. Henry: That would put your HP at level one.

[28:40] Michael Doherty: So that is a 10. So the hit point maximum is 10. And your hit dice is actually a D8.

[28:45] Richard R. Henry: Okay, so D8.

[28:46] Michael Doherty: Yeah. 10 is not a lot of hit points.

[28:49] Richard R. Henry: So I'm kind of a weak little bitch.

[28:51] Michael Doherty: Well, your AC is incredibly high.

[28:52] Richard R. Henry: Right.

[28:53] Michael Doherty: Especially when you got that shield up. So you're gonna be very hard to hit.

[28:56] Richard R. Henry: Because what's your AC?

[28:57] Michael Doherty: It's 19.

[28:58] Richard R. Henry: 19, yeah. That's people are gonna be very rarely hitting you. When they do hit you and they're rolling damage, that's a scary situation, you know?

[29:06] Michael Doherty: Yeah, yeah. So, trying to see if you have the tough feature. I'm gonna just say you do. Add two to your hit points. So you'll have 12 total.

[29:15] Richard R. Henry: Okay. Great.

[29:17] Michael Doherty: So, Richie, when next we meet, I will walk you through a tutorial gameplay with the character that you have built.

[29:23] Richard R. Henry: Who's a little stupid, but he can fill a room with smoke.

[29:26] Michael Doherty: Exactly. So your homework is to write your backstory, write your bonds and flaws, yeah. Those four categories, and then write your alignment once you've chosen it.

[29:35] Richard R. Henry: Sarodari the wise.

[29:37] Michael Doherty: Sarodari the wise is coming at us next time when we hit D&D 301. Richie, thanks so much for being here.

[29:45] Richard R. Henry: Thank you. I hope I passed this class.

[29:46] Michael Doherty: Folks, thanks so much for tuning in. If you have any questions or corrections, hit us up on Patreon or social media. You can find us using the handle at Mythic Thunderlute on Instagram and TikTok and at MTL Pod on Twitter.

[30:01] Michael Doherty: This episode was written by me, Michael Doherty, and my fabulous special guest, Richard R. Henry, edited by Alex Kuyper and underscored by Dan Kazemi. We've got merch. Head on over to Mythicthunderloot.com slash shop to purchase a Roscoe pot holder or an iHeart Giovanni Chub t-shirt.

[30:20] Michael Doherty: A quick shout out to our newest Patreon supporter, Archer Wagner. We have got volume two of our album dropping soon, D&D 301 coming at you next month, and the premiere of season 1.5 premiering this winter. And winter, my friends, will eventually be here. We'll catch you next time on Mythic Thunderlute.

[30:45] Richard R. Henry: Thank you. Did I do okay?