Character Creation

Character Creation

Making Dungeon World characters is quick and easy. You should all create your first characters together at the beginning of your first session. Character creation is, just like play, a kind of conversation — everyone should be there for it.

You may need to make another character during play, if yours gets killed for example. If so, no worries, the character creation process helps you make a new character that fits into the group in just a few minutes. All characters, even replacement characters, start at first level.

Most everything you need to create a character you’ll find on the character sheets. These steps will walk you through filling out a character sheet.

1. Choose a Class

Look over the character classes and choose one that interests you. To start with everyone chooses a different class; there aren’t two wizards. If two people want the same class, talk it over like adults and compromise.

2. Choose a Race

Some classes have race options. Choose one. Your race gives you a special move.

3. Choose a Name

Choose your character’s name from the list.

4. Choose Look

Your look is your physical appearance. Choose one item from each list.

5. Choose Stats

Assign these scores to your stats: 16, 15, 13, 12, 9, 8. Start by looking over the basic moves and the starting moves for your class. Pick out the move that interests you the most: something you’ll be doing a lot, or something that you excel at. Put a 16 in the stat for that move. Look over the list again and pick out the next most important move to your character, maybe something that supports your first choice. Put your 15 in the stat for that move. Repeat this process for your remaining scores: 13, 12, 9, 8.

6. Figure Out Modifiers

Next you need to figure out the modifiers for your stats. The modifiers are what you use when a move says +DEX or +CHA. If you’re using the standard character sheets the modifiers are already listed with each score.

7. Set Maximum HP

Your maximum HP is equal to your class’s base HP+Constitution score. You start with your maximum HP.

8. Choose Starting Moves

The front side of each character sheet lists the starting moves. Some classes, like the fighter, have choices to make as part of one of their moves. Make these choices now. The wizard will need to choose spells for their spellbook. Both the cleric and the wizard will need to choose which spells they have prepared to start with.

9. Choose Alignment

Your alignment is a few words that describe your character’s moral outlook. Each class may only start with certain alignments. Choose your alignment — in play, it’ll give your character certain actions that can earn you additional XP.

10. Choose Gear

Each class has choices to make for starting gear. Keep your load in mind — it limits how much you can easily carry. Make sure to total up your armor and note it on your character sheet.

11. Introduce Your Character

Now that you know who your character is, it’s time to introduce them to everyone else. Wait until everyone’s finished choosing their name. Then go around the table; when it’s your turn, share your look, class and anything else pertinent about your character. You can share your alignment now or keep it a secret if you prefer.

This is also the time for the GM to ask questions. The GM’s questions should help establish the relationships between characters (“What do you think about that?”) and draw the group into the adventure (“Does that mean you’ve met Grundloch before?”). The GM should listen to everything in the description and ask about anything that stands out. Establish where they’re from, who they are, how they came together, or anything else that seems relevant or interesting.

12. Choose Bonds

Once everyone has described their characters you can choose your bonds. You must fill in one bond but it’s in your best interest to fill in more. For each blank fill in the name of one character. You can use the same character for more than one statement.

Take some time to discuss the bonds and let the GM ask questions about them as they come up. You’ll want to go back and forth and make sure everyone is happy and comfortable with how the bonds have come out. Leave space to discover what each one might mean in play, too: don’t pre-determine everything at the start. Once everyone’s filled in their bonds read them out to the group. When a move has you roll+Bond you’ll count the number of bonds you have with the character in question and add that to the roll.

13. Get Ready to Play

Take a little break: grab a drink, stretch your legs and let the GM brainstorm for a little bit about what they’ve learned about your characters. Once you’re all ready, grab your dice and your sheet and get ready to take on the dungeon.

Once you’re ready the GM will get things started as described in the First Session chapter.

Worked Example

A player at the table has some cool ideas for a wizard, and since no one else was thinking of playing one, they take the wizard character sheet (Class). Preferring flexibility — more spells available is always good — they choose Human, which lets them pick a cleric spell and cast it like a wizard one, freeing the party’s cleric to keep the healing magic flowing (Race). “Avon” sounds like a good name (Name). Haunted eyes suit a wizard who’s seen things no mortal was meant to; wild hair, since no good wizard has time for styling; strange robes, mentioned to the table as possibly having come from Beyond as part of a summoning ritual; and a thin body, since there’s no time to eat with all that studying (Look).

For stats, Intelligence looks like the priority since spellcasting is the wizard’s whole thing, so the 16 goes there. Defy Danger with Dexterity looks like something they’ll be doing to dive out of the way of a spell, so the 15 goes there. A 13 Wisdom helps notice important details (and maybe keep their sanity). Charisma might help with summoned creatures, so the 12 goes there. Living is nice, so the 9 goes to Constitution for extra HP, leaving the 8 for Strength (Stats).

Base HP of 4 plus 9 Con gives a total of 13 HP (Maximum HP). A Summoning spell is an easy choice for the spellbook, so Contact Spirits is in; Magic Missile deals more damage than the wizard’s pitiful base d4, so that’s in too; Alarm rounds out the last spell slot, since there are some interesting uses for it in mind (Starting Moves). The Neutral wizard alignment — earning XP for discovering a magical mystery — fits a wizard who’s all about discovering mystery (Alignment). Worried about HP, armor wins out over the bag of books; a dagger suits rituals better than a staff; healing potion wins the toss-up over antitoxin; and some rations round out the gear (Gear).

“This is Avon, mighty wizard! He’s a human with haunted eyes, wild hair, strange robes, and a thin body. His robes are strange because they’re literally not of this world: they came to him as part of a summoning ritual” (Introduce Your Character).

With everyone introduced, bonds get filled in: the fighter Gregor gets the prophecy bond (“Gregor will play an important role in the events to come. I have foreseen it!”), and the cleric Brinton — who might not see eye to eye with a wizard contacting things from Beyond — gets “Brinton is woefully misinformed about the world; I will teach them all that I can.” The last bond is left blank, to be filled in later (Choose Bonds).