Primer for Playing 5th-Edition Dungeons & Dragons

D&D

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy roleplaying adventure where friends gather to tell a story together, guiding their adventuring characters against powerful foes and/or on quests for treasure, prestige, and fun. In D&D, each player creates a character and teams up with other adventurers (played by family and friends). This group (aka The Party) works together to explore ruined temples, mysterious caverns, haunted castles, etc. One player takes on the role of Dungeon Master (DM), who serves as the chief storyteller and game referee. The DM creates a foundational world and plans possible encounters and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) for the adventuring characters to interact with. But the players are free to drive the story in unexpected ways (knowing, of course, that their actions have consequences, and their characters might be killed, branded as criminals, and so on). The game normally has no set ending point, and "winning" is measured only in terms of having fun and enjoying the interaction of freinds.

PLAYER AIDS

• A basic text-field editable player character .pdf file is available here: One-Page Character Sheet
• Other styles of character sheets can be downloaded directly from Wizards of the Coast here: Official WoTC Character Sheets
• A one page (double-sided) summary of 5th Edition combat (and other) rules .pdf file is available here: Game Mechanics Summary
• New Character Origins .pdf file is available here: Character Origins
• More (and less) D&D information than you would ever want can be found using this community-funded Site: 5e.Tools
• The campaign will use the three 5th Edition Core rule books (PHB, DMG, and MM) and some material from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

CHARACTER ABILITY SCORES (STATISTICS/STATS)

Ability Scores help determine what a character can do in the game. There are six ability score stats:
• Strength (STR) measures physical power and natural athleticism.
• Dexterity (DEX) measures agility, balance, poise, and reflexes.
• Constitution (CON) measures health, stamina, and vital force.
• Intelligence (INT) measures mental acuity, analytical skill, and information recall.
• Wisdom (WIS) measures insight, intuition, and awareness (of surroundings, societal settings, etc.).
• Charisma (CHA) measures self-confidence, eloquence, leadership skills and influence.

CREATING ABILITY SCORES

• players will use THIS array of pre-established numbers (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) and assign one number to each of their six stats as they wish. Your character's Class will generally dictate where you should place the largest and smaller numbers. Important stats are listed below for each class.

CHARACTER CLASSES

A class is essentially a short-hand notation of the character's adventuring role (profession) and basic skill set (what their specialized training allows them to do). As they increase in levels, all characters will choose an additional specialization track of learning within their class. There are 12 classes:
• Barbarian: a fierce warrior from a primitive culture who may rage in battle for combat bonuses (STR and CON).
• Bard: an inspiring magician/jack of all trades whose power echoes the music of creation (DEX and CHA).
• Cleric: a priestly champion who wields divine magic usually in service to a higher power (WIS and CHA).
• Druid: a priest wielding the powers of nature and later able to adopt animal forms (INT and WIS).
• Fighter: a master of martial combat, skilled with all manner of weapons and armor (STR and CON).
• Monk: a master of martial arts, skilled with unarmed combat and some specialized weapons (STR and DEX).
• Paladin: a determined warrior bound to a sacred oath (WIS and CHA).
• Ranger: a warrior skilled with ranged weapons and possessing some wilderness-based skills (DEX and STR).
• Rogue: an agile scoundrel who uses stealth and trickery to overcome obstacles and enemies (DEX and INT or CHA).
• Sorcerer: a spell caster who innately can draw inherent magic from the surrounding world (CON and CHA).
• Warlock: a wielder of magic that is derived from a bargain with an extraplanar entity (WIS and CHA).
• Wizard: a scholarly magic-user capable of manipulating the structures of reality (INT and WIS).

Note: Rangers in this campaign may use the Unearthed Arcana Ranger Revised description of the class: Ranger Revised .pdf

CLASS EXPECTATIONS AND NOTES

• players should be receptive to having their characters join an adventuring party and working well with others
• players should expect to start with 1st-level characters.
• characters will begin with maximum hit points based upon their class, race, and CON score, and then use standard hit dice averages (5 HP on a D8, etc.) each level achieved thereafter.
• this particular D&D game will use the more realistic Slow Natural Healing optional rule, which means that creatures will recover only some of their lost hit point damage through resting, eating, and drinking (usually 1 hit point after d4 hours).
• after a Short Rest period (of at least 1 hour) or a Long Rest, characters may choose to expend one (or more) of their Hit Dice to self heal themselves (this is considered an innate "spiritual" ability that most "monsters" and classed/trained humanoids have). (Best (full hit die) results are obtained if a character also uses a medical kit and/or is safely and comfortably resting at an inn, etc.)
• one half of a character's Hit Die (rounded up) are recovered when they complete a Long Rest.
• Long Rests are 8 hours long and can be used in this D&D game once every 20 hours (not 24).
• Elves can complete a Long Rest in 4 hours.

LEVELS AND TRAINING

• even at 1st level, an adventurer is considered fairly powerful relative to (previous D&D editions).
• most training for level advancement will come from experiential (on-the-job) training (which builds upon Class foundational instruction) while players are adventuring and actively employing their skills to survive. But some specific training time is required after each level increase.
• this on-going training also presupposes that the majority of a character's downtime (their otherwise idle time while at home, camping, staying at inns, etc.) is consumed in such self-training and not in "side ventures," secondary occupations, item creation, etc.
• characters are the top physical and mental athletes in their chosen Classes, and full-time conditioning is essential to maintain and improve their abilities.
• in addition, player more novice characters must seek out the aid of knowledgable mentors for short periods of rigorous instructor-directed study, research, and testing as a reasonable on-going requirement for level advancement in their chosen class (or classes) until their reach a veteran (5th-level) status.
• because of the realistic time required for characters to learn a completely new character Class, the multiclassing optional rule has some restrictions; players will need to announce to the DM well in advance of "leveling up" in a brand new class, and the character must use "in-game" time to gain the required foundational education from an authority (of at least 3rd level) in the new Class.
• likewise, unless considerable in-game time is allotted and the services of a qualified mentor obtained, characters will not early access to any feat option, and even when possible, training with mentors is absolutely required.

PLAYER CHARACTER RACES

As the most common people in this D&D campaign are humanoids: Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, Halflings, and Gnomes, those are also the expected player character options in this campaign. Each race (and racial subrace) has certain advantages and bonuses to their statistics and/or other skills common to most of their kind (which, in this setting, may differ somewhat from the core book versions); some outlier individuals (and some closer to D&D standard), though, may certainly exist:

• Human: +1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 CON, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 CHA.
Human characters start at an age of 16-18 (of about 100 years); adult size is Medium (6' 180 lbs), Speed is 30, speak Common and one other language. (Note: there are no variant humans in this setting.)

• Hill Dwarf: +2 CON, +1 WIS; has natural toughness (+1 HP/level).
• Mountain Dwarf: +2 CON, +2 STR; has natural proficiency with light and medium armor.
Dwarf characters start at an age of 50 (of about 350 years); size is Medium (5', 150 lbs), Speed is 25, speak Common and Dwarf; they darkvision; they have advantage and resistance vs. poison; they are proficient in axes (hand and battle) and hammers (heavy and light); they are proficient in one type of artisan tools (smith, mason, or brewer); are considered Experts in History checks involving stonework.

• High Elf: +2 DEX, +1 INT; gains one wizard Cantrip and one extra language
• Wood Elf: +2 DEX, +1 WIS; is fleet footed (Speed 35) and can often hide even when using only sparse natural cover.
Elf characters start at an age of 100 (of about 750, although elves on this world have been known to under go Sálrskipi, literally a "soul change," where their purpose in mid-life (sometimes even their memories seem to alter)); adult size is Medium (5.5', 100-140 lbs); Speed is 30; speak Common and Elf; they have darkvision; they have proficiency in Perception, advantage vs. charm, and magic can't put them to sleep; elves may go into a trance in place of regular sleep rest; Elves have natural proficiency with long- and shortsword, short- and longbow.

• Lightfoot Halfling: +2 DEX, +1 CHA; has a natural stealthy advantage and can attempt to hide behind larger creatures.
• Stout Halfling: +2 DEX, +1 CON, has a natural advantage and resistance vs. poison.
Halfling characters start at an age of 20 (of about 150); size is Small (3.25', 40–60 lbs); Speed is 25; speak Common and Halfling; they are Lucky and can re-roll most D20 results of 1; they have advantage on bravery saving throws; in combat they may pass "through" the space of any creature sized larger than they are.

• Forest Gnome: +2 INT, +1 DEX, has natural illusionist (minor illusion) ability, is able to speak with small beasts.
• Rock Gnome: +2 INT, +1 CON, has a natural Artificer's Lore knowledge and a Tinker's artisan abilities.
Gnome characters start at an age of 40 (of 350+ years); size is Small (3-4', 40-60 lbs); Speed is 25; speak Common and Gnomish; they have darkvision; they have advantage on all INT, WIS, and CHA saving throws vs. magic.

CAMPAIGN-SPECIFIC RACIAL NOTES

• Half-Breeds: interbreeding is possible among the humanoid races, but the offspring of these unions tend to favor the racial characteristics of the mother; as such, there is no Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Half-Devil (Tiefling), or Half-Dragon (Dragonborn) "race" in this campaign setting, but exceptions might be considered for player characters who really, really need to be one; however, such characters would be considered unique individuals and not a "race" per se.
• Long-Life Races: a trait on TheWorld is that the longer a race can live the more limited opportunities or successes they seem to have in producing (or desiring) viable offspring. The opposite seems true of the shorter-lived races.
• Racial Cantrips: races such as High-Elves or Forest Gnomes indicated in the source books as having racial cantrips typically need to be mentored in how to cast and master these spells, and the ability to cast cantrips usually does not manifest until adolescence.
• Darkvision: in this setting, races with Darkvision (Dwarf, Gnome, Elves) do not normally see as far or as well as non-Darkvision races (Human, Halflings, etc.) in very bright daylight conditions (Perception Disadvantage checks may apply in some instances); some (especially gnomes) employ shaded-lens eyewear to help compensate during daylight. Such eyewear is relatively inexpensive and readily available.
• Ljósálfar: the "Light Alfs" are a further variant of High Elves in this world; closer in size to humans, they do not have Darkvision but possess instead a Lightvision, which grants them exceptional, long-range, detailed vision in daylight conditions (allows them to effectively double Perception proficiency in these instances). Their vision up close and/or in low light and darker conditions, though, is more standard and human-like. (Many Ljósálfar learn the Light spell as a racial cantrip as they pass into adult hood.) Light Alfs mature and die more quickly than High Elves (start at an age of 50 of 300); they typically are more successful at breeding, are less chaotic, do not Sválskipi, and display more passionate enthusiasm in their chosen pursuits than other High Elves. Adapted well to arid conditions, they have Advantage on their normal Survival rolls in such locations; they do not fatigue quickly in arid conditions nor ever require much water.
• Vattenpukje: "aquatic goblins" are a playable race in this world; a pukje player character has characteristics in common with typical goblins but tend to be more neutral than evil in alignment. Pukje mature very quickly (within a a dozen years) and rarely live beyond 80. They are small creatures, between 3.5 and 4 feet tall, weighing less than 80 pounds. Accustomed to life underground, underwater, or among swamps and dense forests, typical pukje have Darkvision 60' but see less well in bright daylight. Nimble and fast, a pukje's base Dexterity ability score increases by 2. Base movement is 30'. Nimble Escape: all adult pukje may take Disengage as a Bonus Action on each of their turns. Pukje can write and speak Stoatleeg (Goblin) and one additional language (either Yemenson (Common) or Undercommon). Distinguishing aspects of the Vattenpukje apart from other goblins: pinkish white or aqua colored skin, affinity with coasts and islands. Weapon proficiency with javelin, net, and trident. Base Strength increases by 1. Semi-Amphibious: they have underdeveloped gills that can extract oxygen from (even salt) water to supplement their normal air-breathing lungs. This allows them to hold their breath underwater for (the greater of) 10 minutes or 5 times longer than a normal surface humanoid could, which is (1 + CON modifier) minutes. Natural Swimmer: they have a swimming speed of 30 feet. Natural Sailors: they have proficiency with the Perception skill and Tool proficiency: water-based vehicle operation. Mask of the Sea racial trait: while in or adjacent to bodies of water a vattenpukje can attempt to hide as a Bonus Action even when only lightly obscured (by seaweed, mud clouds, stone or other natural water-based objects and phenomena).
• Other Humanoid Races: it may be possible that players may be able to play "standard" Core Book humanoid races, such as Dragonborn--in unique breeding instances (but not as a "race"). Likewise, a Tiefling could exist, for example, as a result of a human having made a pact with an extra-planar patron. In addition, depending upon campaign starting location, players might be able to play certain of the more civilized "monsters" represented in The World. Examples: an Orc in the Rimemarch, Standard "Cave" Goblin or Swamp Goblins (Träskpukjes) or Lizard-folk near Frittlandr, a Yuan-ti Pureblood in Okenvald, or a Myconid in Svartaland. Consult the DM first, and be aware that such characters may have difficulties when traveling elsewhere in TheWorld.

CLASS AND RACIAL SKILLS

When characters are created, they will establish proficiency in certain skills (functions in the game that they are good at).

Strength rolls test whether or not a character can overcome certain physical obstacles and challenges:
• Athletics (STR): climbing, jumping, or swimming; force open door, break bonds, hang on, etc.

Dexterity rolls are used when feats based upon their agility and manually precision are in question:
• Acrobatics (DEX): stay on feet, maintain your balance, perform precise maneuvers, etc.
• Sleight of Hand (DEX): us legerdemain to conceal objects, pick pockets, plant evidence, etc.
• Stealth (DEX): attempt to hide and conceal yourself, sneak quietly past or upon others.

Intelligence rolls are used when a character's academic knowledge and ability to reason and extrapolate are in question:
• Arcana (INT): how familiar you are with magic: recall lore about spells, magic items, magical traditions, planes, etc.
• History (INT): recall lore about historical events, legendary people, civilizations, wars, locations.
• Investigation (INT): look for clues and make deductions, find specific knowledge needed from old scrolls, etc.
• Nature (INT): recall lore about terrain, plants, animals, geology, weather, and natural cycles; general world understanding.
• Religion (INT): recall lore about deities, rites, prayers, religious hierarchy, holy symbols, cults, etc.

Wisdom rolls are used when a character's instincts, senses, and practical experiences may increase understanding or guide actions:
• Animal Handling (WIS): calm and control domesticated animals, intuit an animal's intensions, ease them into trusting you, etc.
• Insight (WIS): gut feelings help you determine true intent from body language, speech habits, changes in mannerisms, etc.
• Medicine (WIS): recognize/diagnose an illness of disease, stabilize a dying companion, treat wounds, aid in childbirth, etc.
• Perception (WIS): spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something; keen senses: see, hear, smell, touch, taste.
• Survival (WIS): follow (or hide) tracks, spot and hunt wild game, guide others safely through wilderness, predict weather, etc.

Charisma rolls are used when a character is attempting to influence others:
• Deception (CHA): counter "Insight": hide truth, lie, mislead, fast-talk, con a merchant or friend, gamble, disguise self, etc.
• Intimidation (CHA): overtly threaten to influence and scare others to chase them away, force their actions, pry out information, etc.
• Performance (CHA): delight an audience with music, dance, acting, story telling, etc.; "read" what a crowd wants/expects.
• Persuasion (CHA): use charm, good manners, convincing words to influence others; know how to be diplomatic, cordial, etc.

CHARACTER BACKGROUNDS

Background reveals where characters came from, how they became adventurers, and so on. Backgrounds provide characters with two Skill Proficiencies, appropriate starting equipment and wealth, and perhaps additional languages and/or Tool Proficiencies (PHB pp. 125-141). Some Standard Background choices include
• Acolyte: Insight, Religion; two languages, 15 GP, common clothes, various religious equipment.
• Charlantan: Deception, Sleight of Hand; Disguise and Forgery kit tool proficiency; 15 GP, fine clothes, disguise kit.
• Criminal: Deception, Stealth; Gaming and Thieves' Tools tool proficiency; 15 GP, crowbar, dark clothes.
• Entertainer: Acrobatics, Performance; Disguise kit and music instrument proficiency; 15 GP, one music instrument.
• Folk Hero: Animal Handling, Survival; tool proficiency in land vehicles and one artisan tool; 10 GP, set of artisan tools, camping supplies.
• Guild Artisan: Insight, Persuasion; extra language; one type of artisan tool proficiency; set of said tools, 15 GP, other guild stuff.
• Hermit: Medicine, Religion; extra language; tool proficiency with Herbalism kit; 5 GP, herbalism kit, camping basics.
• Noble: History, Persuasion; extra language; tool proficiency with one gaming set, 25 GP, fines clothes and such.
• Outlander: Athletics, Survival; extra language, tool proficiency with musical instrument; 10 GP, music instrument, staff, trp, and assorted items.
• Sage: Arcana, History; two extra languages, 10 GP, ink and paper for letters and such.
• Sailor: Athletics, Perception; tool proficiency with navigation tool and water vehicles, 10 GP, rope and such.
• Soldier: Athletics, Intimidation; tool profiency with land vehicles and one gaming set; 10 GP, gaming setm enemy trophy.
• Urchin: Sleight of Hand, Stealth; tool profiency with disguise kit and thieves' tools, 10 GP, clothes, city map, etc.
• Other: (consult with the DM)

PROFICENCIES AND PROFICIENCY BONUS

• characters who are Proficient with weapons, spells, tools, skills, etc. may apply their Proficiency Bonus to their rolls.
• characters who are not proficient may not be able to use certain equipment and/or may use them only with serious disadvantage(s).
• characters who have Expertise with tools and skills, etc. may apply 2x their Proficiency Bonus to their rolls.

ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE

• Characters with Advantage while making D20 skill or saving throws may make two rolls and take the highest result
• Characters with Disadvantage roll twice and take the lowest result

TOOLS PROFICIENCY: LOCKS AND TRAPS

Lock Picking
• characters may attempt to pick a lock (if they have Thieves' Tools) by making a normal Thieves Tools Proficency check.
• if they only have improvised Thieves' Tools, the check is made with DISADV.
• if they have tool proficiency in Thieves' Tools, they get to add in their Proficiency Bonus to their rolls.
• if they have expertise in Thieves' Tools, they get to add in 2x their Proficiency Bonus.
• oftentimes, A DEX or INT bonus modifier may also be appropriate to add to the skill roll.
• serious failures (rolls of 1) may result in breaking of the delicate tool and/or q lock jamming.
• repeated attempts on the same lock in stressful situations after the first failure may result in damaging the lock, breaking the tools, and/or raising the difficulty challenge on that particular lock.
• characters using Thieves' Tools without proficiency do not know how to properly care for them; careless repeated usage of them over time will damage them into "improvised" versions.

Finding Traps and Concealed/Secret Doors
• Perception (WIS) check: "I'm looking for anything that doesn't seem 'right' here--something out of the ordinary."
• Investigation (INT) check: "I'm considering how I would make a mechanical trap or concealed entrance here, then I'm looking for evidence of something like that."
• Arcana (INT) check: "I am using my learned knowledge of magical traps and concealment techniques to look for telltale signs that such have been used here."
• Generally, a successful "Finding a trap" roll will also include ideas about how to disarm or jam it.

Disarming Traps
• once a trap is discovered and understood, the disarming check works much like lock picking using the same tool checks.
• any failure may result in "tripping the trap" and releasing its intended effects

AUTOMATIC SKILL ROLL SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

Many of the skill rolls in the game are based upon characters being in a hurry to accomplish them: they're falling from the roof of two-story house, being chased in a cavern by a bear, trying to sneak past alert royal guards, etc. In these instances, each attempted skill takes six seconds and success or failure may be the difference between life or death. On other occasions, a rogue might be resting comfortably in a room at the inn and have hours to carefully pick a lock. Now, any Rogue worth their salt with the right tools will eventually pick that lock given enough time. In these non-critical should-succeed situations, likely no actual lock-picking rolls will be needed. The rogue just succeeds. Or the rogue will know fairly early into the process that they can never succeed with what they currently know or have.

LEARNING FROM REPETITIVE SKILL ROLLS

Occasionally in the game, a player will succeed at a particular skill roll, such as using Athletics (STR) to climb a back alley fence in their home neighborhood. A single success at climbing this fence doesn't guarantee future success, but there does come a point where if a character climbs it most every day, they will "learn how to do it" without fail. As long as the environment of the skill check doesn't change too much (pouring rain, footholds are icy, or someone greased the handholds) and the health of the character remains good, then when climbing this particular fence in a combat situation, the character will have a "lair advantage," so to speak. No roll normally will be required for them to accomplish the feat. Note: the reverse may be also be true: a character expecting things to be normal when they aren't might automatically fail on their first attempt.

IMMUNITY, RESISTANCE, AND VULNERABILITY

• creatures with Immunity to certain types of damage take no damage from attacks of this nature
• creatures with Resistance to certain types of damage take half damage
• creatures with Vulnerability to certain types of damage take double damage

MAIN LANGUAGES

Most characters will begin play being able to speak and write two languages. Character Backgrounds as indicated above may grant additional languages

• Common (Yemenson/Human) is a conglomerative language peppered with the many words (subsets) and functions of all of the popular humanoid languages combined; pronunciations and meanings of some words, however, have evolved with time and may differ wildly from their original intent.
• Halfling (Nyhet) is phatic language that praises the commonplace; it is used frequently for lengthy greetings and acknowledgements, conveying news, and providing summaries of events; much of the lore and history of the world has been rendered in massive volumes written in Nyhet, but, as Halflings rarely travel anywhere themselves, these records are often secondhand and superficial, but just as often they may contain nuggets of very useful information.
• Dwarf (Varee) is a language of hard consonants and guttural sounds; much of it centered around trade and logistics, and it is also filled with efficient industrial and guild jargon; dwarf runes are commonly found on well-crafted items, in concise/concentrated guide books, and upon location markers to denote pertinent information to travelers.
• Gnome (Hemleeg) is a chirpy, sing-song Fey-based language; much of it is focused on lists of information and algorithmic formula; it is very structural and detail specific, and its written form is the foundation for many magical incantations, scripts, and clandestine lore.
• Elf (Infahding) is an expressive, lyrical language; it is used equally to express feelings and desires and to form evaluations and pass judgments. Primarily an oral-based culture, elves use other languages for most of their written works (works which often seem more concerned with the aesthetics of the scripted artifact than the document's actual content).
• Thieves' Cant (Hwelm) is primarily a non-verbal, sign- and gesture-based version of Common, but it also uses an odd emphasis of and subtle alteration of commonly-spoken words in otherwise open conversations to convey additional meaning; localized variations include methods for members of secret organizations to help identify each other.
• Undercommon (Wirrsprek/Abyssal) is a conglomerative language formed from languages of races who dwell in the deepest caverns of The World and within the Underdark, mixed with a liberal amount of Demonic along with a few of the most-common Common expressions.
• Stoatleeg (Goblin/Infernal) is an imperative language used by royalty and the privileged classes to issue commands and warnings to underlings. (There are many commonalities between Stoatleeg and the language used by the Goblinoid and Infernal races suggesting some common historical source.) Much of the language also centers around wealth, finances, social privileges, and courtly traditions.
• Reyearing (Celestial) is a prescriptive, diplomatic language used primarily for conduct of procedure, legal contracts, and stately treaties; it is also used regularly in religious ceremonies, education, and scripture.
• Ormr (Draconic) is an agglutinative language where its morphemes (its indivisible units of language) remain unchanged no matter how you join them into words and sentences. It is spoken by Lizard Folk, Kobolds, and (supposedly) dragons.

Note: even if they do not select it as one of their starting languages, Clerics learn "just enough" Reyearing to perform their class functions; likewise Rogues learn Hwelm, and Wizards learn Hemleeg basics. But, to be regarded as "fluent," though, characters will need to be proficient in a language.

ALIGNMENT

Alignment is a self-imposed behavioral goal. It is not meant to be a player or class restriction in this setting. It is role playing. Alignment is up to players to determine what is to be right and wrong ethical behavior for their own characters and friends. This is the case generally. Realize, however, that some deities may only accept religious followers who commit to adhering to behaviors that closely resemble the deity's own.

ETHICS

• Good characters tend to be altruistic, have respect for life, and are concerned for the dignity of most every sentient being. They often will make personal sacrifices to help others, even strangers.
• Evil characters tend to be egoistic, self-indulge, and show little concern or compassion for others. Some even derive pleasure from oppressing, torturing, and killing sentient beings.
• Neutral characters tend to lack any serious commitment to either good or evil. They expect to be treated by others as they treat them, and vice versa.

ATTITUDE TOWARD SOCIETY

• Lawful characters tend to follow group traditions and societal rules, are willing to give up some of their personal freedoms in order to be more secure and to have everyday things be more convenient. Governments and laws, they feel, tend to make cities safer and more productive (due to such settlements having a ready, nearby source of labor and worker specialization). Lawful characters may sometimes lack adaptability and might be somewhat set in their ways, but they are also very dependable and honorable in their dealings.
• Chaotic characters tend to place more importance on personal freedoms and liberty, especially their own; they favor self-sufficiency, resent being told what to do, and treat others (not collectively as members of a group but) based upon a creature's individual merits. Chaotic characters might sometimes seem to be arbitrary and reckless, but they look for the potential in everyone and genuinely want others to be able to freely express themselves.
• Neutral characters have principles set somewhere between Law and Chaos; Neutral characters are generally honest (in places were they are well-known) and have some respect for authority, but have no driving compulsion to obey nor to rebel from it--openly.

ROLE-PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS

Work with the DM to flesh out your character by creating two Personality Traits, an Ideal, at least one Bond, and a Flaw. The PHB entries on Backgrounds have some suggestions and examples if you need help.
• Personality Traits define something interesting, fun, and specific about your character. If you have a high intelligence, for example, do not select a generic trait like "I'm smart," but instead develop something unique like "I've read every book in my home town... twice." Based on this trait, your character might seek out more books to read or frequently quote from books that they have memorized.
• Ideals are the concepts that your characters believe in most strongly; ideals are related to ethics, but Good characters, for instance, may be Good for different reasons. An ideal helps to describe why your characters believe in something, or helps define what motivates them to take action. For example, your character, who was once deathly poor, might wish to see a world were no one goes hungry.
• Bonds represent connections to people, places, things, and world events. A bond might commit characters to sending a portion of their earnings each month to help support an aging mother, or he or she might feel great distress if separated from a favorite sword.
• Flaws represent some vice, compulsion, fear, or weakness. Your characters may have little control over their actions in situations that involve this flaw. For example, your character may be claustrophobic and blindly panic when they find themselves in a confined space.

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