Out of character chat!

Alright, I noticed you have a talent for the written word and enjoy IC (in-character) chat/hangout, and since PbP (play-by-post) is a format that I’m very experienced in, I wanted to extend the invite to hang with me here!

This site has wonderful digital features, like dice etc., that make it possible to layer tabletop game rules on top of RP chat. It’s a fantastic way to introduce people to Dungeons and Dragons.

A perfect virtual hangout! ^_^

In reply to DeityX (msg # 2):

Thank you very much for the invite to this site.  I'm humbled you feel I'm talented.  That means a lot coming from someone as talented as yourself.  I have truly enjoyed our time chatting together so far and I look forward to learning much more about this site, and what I need to do next to continue with my first character.

I’m thrilled to be able to show you the ropes! I love coaching newcomers to the game, because I know what a powerful impact it’s had on me, and those I’m close to.  ^_^

Plus, a bit selfishly, our little RP letters put a smile on my face and I think it’d be fun to run an adventure for you here.

So, the first thing I like to start with: what’s your “flavor” of fantasy?

1.) Full medieval, low-magic, more “realistic”?
2.) Medieval fantasy epic, Tolkien style?
3.) Brutal and gritty, like the old-school Conan movies?
4.) Hybrid steampunk-fantasy style, like the newer Final Fantasy games?
5.) Hybrid techno/high-magic fantasy, such as in the 80’s He-Man/She-Ra/Thundercats cartoons?


The answer here informs the setting, which will in turn steer the backstory for a PC (player character).
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:34, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

In reply to DeityX (msg # 4):

I'm truly honored to have met someone as awesome as you to be showing me said ropes.

Our little notes back and forth are putting a huge smile on my face as well, so I'm glad I'm not the only one.

All 5 of those flavors actually sound like a lot of fun, but for my first adventure, I'd say a Medieval fantasy epic would be a good place to start.

Alright, medieval fantasy epic it is!

Since this is your first character, it’s important to get the full experience of starting from scratch, at level 1. This means you’re a neophyte—so take this into account when determining age, station in life relative to your character’s society, etc..

The spirit of the character, from our little RP moments on KiK, suggests someone who went on a kind of “rite of passage” quest to see a “witch queen” and receive his “True Name.” I enjoy that as an opening warm-up adventure. Let’s start there. Here are some main questions I’d like you to consider, which help me draft a story for you:

- What’s your character’s relationship to his family? Good? Bad? Any siblings?

- Who are his parents? Are they important in his society? Is his mom/dad a chief or spiritual leader? This has a huge impact on the lives of young heroes who’ve yet to make a name for themselves.

- What’s his greatest fear?


Don’t try to be too specific—broad is better, then we refine details as we progress. Once we get some info here, we can move on to some dice rolls!

In reply to DeityX (msg # 6):

He doesn't rememmber his real parents.  He was found as as a baby in a tree at the edge of their village.  Know one could ever figure out a baby had made it's way that high into the canopy.  He was raised by the village learning the barbarian ways of the Airwalker clan.

His only fear is a dishonorable death.

He knows he must leave the safety of the clan soon. He is almost at the age of initiation.

In reply to Ivherin Cloudmourne (msg # 7):

Alright, now is the fun part. Here are the 6 ability stats, and what they impact in-game:

Strength (STR) - physical damage, “Athletics” skill
Dexterity - “Finesse”/ranged weapon damage, “Acrobatics” skill, armor class in light armor
Constitution - Hit Points, overall hardiness, armor class (Barbarians)
Intelligence - knowledge skills, Arcana
Wisdom - insight skills, perception, defense against most fear/charm spells
Charisma - social skills


To get the scores, use the “dice roller” link from the game menu, and you’ll see the various settings. You’ll need to roll 4d6, “drop the lowest.” Do this 6 times until you achieve an array of numbers to freely assign to your abilities.

In reply to DeityX (msg # 8):

Good morning my queen.  I hope this weekend served you well.  I have used the dice roller as you instructed and have my 6 numbers.  Do they automatically get attributed to a specific ability, or do I pick where they go?  My numbers in order of their roll were 12, 9, 14, 15, 13, and 9.

Good afternoon, milord! Got some things taken care of, but I had to work, so it wasn’t quite the weekend I’d hoped for. Can’t have ‘em all, I suppose.

You can freely assign your scores as you like.

Here is where there’s a little bit of strategy in your build, where you get to tinker a bit. Barbarians primarily use STR (strength) based weapons. STR affects your chances to hit as well as improves damage.

If you do a quick search for 5E Barbarian, you’ll also note that Barbarians have a feature right out of the gate called “Unarmored Defense,” which allows them to use their CON (constitution) score to help improve their AC (armor class). Since CON also improves hit points, and since you have the highest hit point dice in the game, I recommend putting the highest score in CON, followed by STR. You get a lot of mileage out of CON.

DEX (dexterity) is useful. This should be your next highest. It improves AC and chance to dodge some pretty dangerous attacks.

INT (intelligence) is not especially useful for you, unless you want to role play him as pretty smart. 9 is the equivalent of a C to C- student.

CHA (charisma) is useful for social interactions, and since Intimidation is a class skill for Barbarians, I don’t recommend it as a dump stat.

WIS (wisdom) is a useful stat for pretty much everyone, but since you don’t really have the luxury of a high WIS, you’ll just have to make some tough choices here. Barbarians typically have a hard time with this stat, because the physical stats are so important for you, unless you roll some fantastic scores, you’re left to suffer here.

Also, look up 5E races. You’ll get racial bonuses. I recommend the “varient human.”

In reply to DeityX (msg # 10):

I'm sorry to hear about your weekend your highness.  Mine was typical and relaxing.  I guess I should be writing down my scores and where I assign them?

CON 15
STR 14
DEX 13
INT 9
CHA 12
WIS 9

I agree with you and choose human as my race as well.

Nice. Now, each score has a “modifier” attached to it, typically ranging from 0 to +5 starting from a score of 10, and increasing at every even number, beginning at 12.

For example, a score of 10 would provide a +0 modifier. 12-13 would be +1, 14-15 would be +2, and so on.

Any score below 10 starts to get negative modifiers (10 representing an average human’s level of ability, 18 representing the upper limits of excellence, starting out).

So right now, you’re sitting on a couple of -1 modifiers with your 9s. The INT isn’t such a big deal, but the WIS can hurt. For example, a tricksy fairy or enterprising sorceress decides to hit you with a charm spell, your WIS is the stat used to see if it lands. Currently, you’re getting a -1 penalty to that roll. This is why barbarians make luscious targets for that kind of thing.

Modifiers are the real scores, and apply to various game scenarios.

Enter the racial bonuses:

As a “variant human” (exceptional human), you get to increase two of your ability scores by 1 each. Since the modifiers increase at every “even” numbered score interval, it’s advantageous to bump up some of your odd numbered scores.

Since your WIS is getting you a bothersome penalty, increasing it to 10 would at least bring that -1 to a flat +0.

Since your almighty CON score is sitting at a +2 mod, you could also bump it up to 16, and get yourself a +3 mod.

His physical stats are starting to look about like what you’d expect from someone who’s good at taking hits and dispensing physical punishment.

Notate your scores, with their modifiers in parentheses, then we’ll get into “skills.”

In reply to DeityX (msg # 13):

This is really fun, so thank you again for the help with this my queen.  I'm forever in your debt. So my scores with modifiers would look like this after the racial bonus following your advice.

CON 16 (+3)
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 13 (+1)
INT 9  (-1)
CHA 12 (+1)
WIS 10 (+0)

Skills next you mentioned?  I'll start reading up on those.