Getting Started

Character creation in ReD&D can seem like a monumental task, but it actually comes down to only a few fairly simple steps.

Step One: Concept
While this doesn't necessarily need to be the first step, it's often a good one. Having a character in mind lets you customize the character as you want, instead of having random bizarre abilities. Figuring out your character's background, history, personality, motives, all these things, will help determine how your character will develop much more easily.

Alignment
ReD&D was created with the idea of the world as a morally gray area. There are no absolutes. Even Immortal creatures, made from the planestuff of creation, are never wholly aligned in one way or another. As such, alignment as presented in the Player's Handbook is not supported. You will find no references to alignment in actual character creation abilities.

For a full listing of the alignment designs, see here.

Race
Races are, as always, an important choice. But, races are more than a simple bunch of mechanics to throw on your character. Races add traits to a character, but they also come with personality traits, prejudices, and physical capabilities. Races add all sorts of interesting aspects to a character, but they should be considered carefully.

Ability Scores
Ability scores are the basis of your character. Humans possess an average of a 10 in each score, while some races possess higher or lower. Ability scores also influence many other aspects of your character, from how much you carry, to how high you can get your skills, to a number of other aspects. These should not be taken lightly.

Wounds and Vigor
Particularly important for combat oriented characters and arcane spellcasters, vigor points can be purchased to make your character better able to withstand punishment from opponents. Wound points can't usually be purchased, per say, but characters have a number of wound points equal to twice their Constitution score. Vigor points can be purchased, even if they are slightly expensive, they make combat much less deadly.

Skills
Skills are the core of every character. Ability scores are the bare bones, and thematic abilities are the fluff, but the skills involve the very essence of what a character is about. A character who only possesses skills can do a variety of things, and are not as limited as with thematic abilities.

Feats
In much the same way as skills, feats offer quite a bit of capabilities for a character, but unlike skills, feats offer new abilities that were previously unavailable. Every skill also scales, granting more abilities as individuals grow higher in whatever the feat is based on (usually a skill or skill group of some kind).

Thematic Abilities
Thematic abilities are what most people think of when they think D&D. Spells, psionics, animal companions, punching through walls; these are the things of fantasy. Thematic abilities grant your character that bit of flair and capability that is usually desired in a fantasy campaign.

Categorization
Thematic abilities are separated into different categories, not because you can only select abilities from one category, but for ease of reference. There are a lot of abilities, so making it easier to see what you want is somewhat important. The different categories are as follows:

Scoundrel Abilities