My Life As A Gamer: AD&D1e Character Generation, Part Two (Race & Class)

(Citations from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition Player's Handbook (PHB) and Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) as needed.)

Following yesterday's post, I generated the attribute scores for a new player character. Now it is time to determine what race that character will be, and what class (or classes) this character will practice.

Races

The PHB (p.13) notes that the Dungeon Master (DM) is not obligated to allow all of the available races as player-charcters. I return to the document that the DM referred me to and I find that all of the standard races in the PHB are allowed, but nothing else. That note exists because of p. 21 of the DMG, "The Monster as Player-Character", which addresses that question.

I take the time to look at what the PHB says about what attributes are required for each race (p.15). Half-Orc is immediately eliminated because my Wisdom and Charisma scores exceed that race's upper limit. The others pass the first filter.

I take a look at the charts (pp.13-14) for permitted classes by race, and level limits by class per each race. Most of the demihuman races are under significant level limits without very high scores, topping out at 7th and needing 17+ scores--which I do not have--to go further. Multi-classing does not alleviate that.

Furthermore, I note that some classes I see that I have the scores for--Druid, Ranger--are either unavaiable or only allow one demihuman choice. That settles it for me; I write "Human" down and move on.

Classes

Neither the PHB nor the DMG specifically forbid the DM the discretion over what classes are allowed. Therefore it is permitted for the DM to curate as he sees fit, so again I return to the Google document; I find a note that only those classes in the PHB, as described therein, are allowed. That works for me.

Due to attribute scores, I cannot choose to be an Illusionist, Monk, or Paladin. I have exactly what is required for a bonus to earned Experience Points if I choose Druid, and I am very close if I choose Ranger.

I take a moment to send a Direct Message to the DM and inquire as to how common adventuring in the wilds are, as I am considering these two classes. He tells me that this is a campaign taking place on the frontier, with the sort of action one might expect. I respond with asking where Humans are in regards to conflicts, as the document didn't specify. He replies that it hadn't occured to him, so he invites me to take up the matter at my discretion.

I choose to play as a Ranger, and I will be the first Ranger in the campaign area; this will prove detrimental later on.

Alignment

The PHB states that all characters have an alignment, and that players must determine an alignment (p. 33). It does not state how this is done, so no procedure is dictated by the PHB and there is none dictated by the DMG either.

Neither volume forbids the DM from imposing one either, so back to that Google document I go; it states that, where multiple possibilities are allowed, I am to roll randomly. For my convenience, a chart is provided; I look down to "Ranger" and see "Roll 1d6: 1-2 = Lawful Good (LG), 3-4 = Neutral Good (NG), 5-6 = Chaotic Good (CG)."

I pick up a d6 and give it a toss. It comes up a 4; Neutral Good it is, and I write that down.

Hit Points

This is straight-forward most of the time, but the PHB (p.34) notes that the DM has the discretion to hide this score from the player. Back to the document, which notes only "Roll Hit Dice and record totals as normal; you are responsible for tracking damage and status effects for your PC as well as all Henchmen, Hirelings, and other NPCs under your control."

For now, that doesn't mean much. It will down the road. Rangers start at 2d8, and this character gains two HP per die due his Constitution (CON) score. The dice roll a hair above average--a pair of 5s--but with bonuses that turns into 14 Hit Points.

We're not done yet, but what remains is a lot of little things that are lumped together as finishing touches. However, they are not inconsequential and thus deserve attention, so I will give it to them tomorrow.

(P.S.: Primeval Patterns dropped a new article. Go read it.)