What Do All These Numbers Mean? (Reading Character Sheets Part 1)
- Tanner Jensen
- Oct 17, 2017
- 9 min read
If you're anything like my players when they first started (and even now), you probably feel a little overwhelmed (or a lot) when you look at all the numbers and empty boxes floating around on a character sheet. If you haven't seen one before, take a look below.
Seems a little overwhelming, doesn't it? As you can probably tell, there are a lot of different parts that go into building a character, and in time it will become second nature to understand how each part contributes to a whole character. For now though, lets take a look at the part of the sheet that deal with numbers. (Small Disclaimer: This is the official 5th Edition character sheet, but it is not the only version that is used. However, all the parts discussed here should be present on other character sheets)
Character Information
To start, take a look at the top of the sheet.
This is where general information about your character will be filled out, mostly as a fast way of determining the owner of the sheet. Not all sheets will have this information in the same place, but most will have the following information:
Character Name: As you might have guessed, this is the name of your character, whatever you choose to call them.
Class/Level: Your class is the particular combination of general and specialized abilities, features, powers, and backstory you have chosen for your character (there are 12 base classes in the game, which will be discussed in greater depth in another post). Your level represents the relative advancement of your character in their particular class. Levels go from 1 to 20.
Background: The backstory of your character, this is generally the defining career or lifestyle you experienced prior to adventuring (Backgrounds will also be discussed in a later post).
Player Name: Your name, which shows who owns the character sheet.
Race: The chosen race of your character, which can range from the Tolkien (elves, dwarves, halflings) to the more fantastical (half-orcs, lizardfolk, sentient plants) depending on the preference of your DM.
Alignment: The relative morality of your character, which can give a quick indicator of how your character might act in a given situation (alignment will be better explained in a later post).
Experience Points: Your character's accumulated experience (gained through combat and roleplaying), with certain milestones resulting in the advancement of your character's level. Some DMs, like myself, do not bother with Experience points, preferring to level character's up when the DM feels it is appropriate to.
Ability Scores
Ability Scores are the bedrock foundation of your character, the physical and mental traits that influence what they are capable of doing. Think of it a bit like a scorecard ranking people's strengths and weaknesses: your stereotypical nerd will be very smart and physically weak, while your jock will be strong and charismatic at the cost of the ol' brain juices. Ability Scores are a bit like that. Your Ability Scores determine the following:
Strength, your raw physical force: carry weight, most melee weapon attacks, your ability to grapple (wrestle) another creature, your ability to resist attacks that would try to move you, and your ability to perform physical activities like jumping and running
Dexterity, your agility: some melee weapon attacks, all ranged weapon attacks (bows, slings, crossbows), Initiative (how quickly you react to things), your ability to dodge certain attacks and traps, some Armor Class scores (score that determines how hard it is to damage you), sneaking, and your ability to perform activities that require fine motor control
Constitution, your vital force: your maximum health, your ability to resist poisons/diseases/alcohol (think of your immune system), some Armor Class scores, your ability to push your body to its physical limits, and your ability to maintain concentration on spells when you take damage
Intelligence, your mental acuity: your relative knowledge and problem solving abilities, your ability to notice and see through illusions, and the ability to recall information
Wisdom, your understanding of the world around you: your ability to notice things with your physical senses (sight, hearing, taste), your ability to notice and understand the mental states of others (see when others are lying, for example), and your relative connection to the natural world (handling animals, surviving in the wilderness)
Charisma, your force of personality: Your ability to influence others, and your ability to resist effects that would strip you of your will
For each of these abilities, a number is assigned, usually between 1 and 20. The scale of ability scores looks a bit like this: 10 is the baseline, the average score for an average, garden-variety Joe. Any ability with a score above 10 means that your character is above average in that ability, while a score under 10 means that your character is below average. The scores on this scale are found (and entered) in the smaller box on each of the abilities, though some sheets reverse the two boxes and place the score in the larger of the two.
The number in the larger box (in this example) is your Ability Score Modifier, the number that is added to ability checks governed by a particular ability. The scale for these bonuses looks a bit like this:
You may notice that certain Ability Scores overlap on modifiers. That's because only even numbers actually determine an increase in modifiers; a score of 12 and 13 are functionally identical, at least as far as their application to your ability checks and skills. Keep this in mind when building a character, as it's usually a better idea to round out your scores.
Proficiency bonus and Skills
While your Ability Score Modifier is added to any ability check you make that falls under the category of that particular Ability, your proficiency bonus is another number added to only certain checks. Think of your Proficiency Bonus like this: while your Ability Scores represent your character's natural abilities, your proficiency bonus represents your character's specialty in certain skills. This number is determined not by an ability, but by your character's overall level, and can be seen in the table to the right.
So what do you do with a proficiency bonus? Why, you add it to your proficiencies. Your proficiencies are the abilities and skills your character has the most experience in using. Each character has a few of these proficiencies; some from their class, some from their background, and some from their race. The possible proficiencies you can have are:
Saving Throws
Strength: resisting effects that would move you against your will
Dexterity: Dodging area effects (like a burst of flame) and reacting to sudden threats (like a dart trap)
Constitution: Resisting poisons and diseases
Intelligence: Resisting physic assaults (attempts to deceive and cloud the mind)
Wisdom: Resisting attacks on your mental state (fears, charms)
Charisma: Resisting effects that would affect your force of will (banishments, some charms)
Skills
Acrobatics: balance, coordination, acrobatic moves (rolls, somersaults, flips)
Animal Handling: Dealing with animals (calming, taming, getting information)
Arcana: Knowledge about magic (understanding spells, examining magic items, knowledge about magical planes and creatures)
Athletics: Physical athleticism (jumping, climbing, swimming, pushing, pulling, carrying, breaking down a door)
Deception: Hiding the truth either verbally or physically (lying, withholding information, acting like someone else)
History: Knowledge about historical events, people, kingdoms, etc
Insight: Determining the mental state of other creatures (tell when someone is lying, hiding information, or about to attack) through body language and speech
Intimidation: Influencing others through verbal and physical threats (convincing others to give up information or back down from a fight)
Investigation: Analyzing clues and making deductions (basically CSI investigations)
Medicine: Medical experience (analyzing and treating wounds, crafting and using medical tools)
Nature: Knowledge about the natural world (weather cycles, animal habitats and behaviors, plant uses)
Perception: Detecting creatures and objects through physical sense (hearing something sneaking towards you, feeling a draft of air through a crack in a wall)
Performance: Impressing and entertaining others (singing, dancing, playing instruments, telling stories)
Persuasion: Influencing others through pleas and reason (haggling with merchants, negotiating peace)
Religion: Knowledge of dieties, religious orders, holy symbols, religious hierarchies, etc.
Sleight of Hand: Nimble movements using fine motor control (pickpocketing, lockpicking, cheating at a card game, planting evidence on someone)
Stealth: Concealing your presence from others
Survival: Wilderness survival experience (tracking animals, predicting the weather, travelling safely through the wilderness)
For each skill you are proficient in, the total bonus to your checks and saving throws made with that ability equals (your ability score modifier) + (your proficiency bonus). In the example chart above, both Perception and Medicine are governed by Wisdom. So whenever a player would roll for one of those two skills, they would add their character's Wisdom modifier to the roll; in this case a 1. However, because this particular character is proficient in Perception (indicated by the circle filled in by the skill), we additionally add the character's proficiency bonus to the roll; in this case 2, which gives a total bonus of +3 for any Perception check roll.
Additionally, some classes, like Rogues and Bards, give Expertise in certain skills. This means that when they roll a skill check for a skill with which they are proficient, the bonus to the roll instead equals (the ability score modifier) + (2x the character's proficiency bonus). Using the example above, the total bonus to a Perception check would instead by +5 (1+2+2) rather than +3.
Combat
D&D is a pretty combat-focused game (depending on the DM), so it should come as no surprise that the combat section can be found in the center of the sheet.
Armor Class
Your Armor Class represents the relative difficulty creatures have in dealing damage to you; the higher the better. To harm you, a creature must (generally) make an attack against you, which must meet or exceed your Armor Class, or AC, to harm you. This score can come from armor, thickened skin, or your character's ability to dodge attacks completely.
Initiative
Your Initiative represents your ability to react to combat. When a fight breaks out, all creatures participating in the fight will roll initiative to determine the order in which creatures and characters will take their turns, from highest to lowest. Your Initiative Score is your Dexterity modifier, plus any additional bonuses that may come from class abilities or items.
Speed
Your speed represents the number of feet you are capable of moving on a single turn during combat. This is largely determined by your race; the average speed is 30ft, though some races fall slightly above or below this standard. Some classes, like Barbarians and Monks, also give bonuses to movement speed.
Hitpoint Maximum
Your Hitpoint Maximum is the maximum number of hitpoints your character can have; this is the maximum value to which your character can be healed when they take damage. This value increases when your character advances in level, with certain items, or from certain racial or class features. It can also be lowered by certain attacks and effects, such as a Vampire's bite or a disease.
Current Hitpoints
This is the number of hitpoint you currently have out of the total detemrined by your Hitpoint Maximum. When you take damage from an attack or effect, this value will decrease, and when you are healed it will increase.
Temporary Hitpoints
Temporary Hitpoints are a bit like a protective shield; they absorb incoming damage, protecting your Current Hitpoints. When they are depleted, your character's Current Hitpoints will absorb the remaining damage and subsequent hits. SPells, items, and class features can all give Temporary Hitpoints.
Hit Dice
When you take a rest, you may expend Hit Dice to heal your character. Think of them as a pool of healing; you have a number of dice equal to your character's level, and the dice size is determined by your Class's Hit Dice. When you expend a Hit Dice, you roll the corresponding die and add your Constitution Modifier, restoring the sum to your character's Current Hitpoints.
Death Saves
When your character is reduced to 0 hitpoints, but not killed outright, you will begin a series of Death saving throws on each of your turns to determine whether your character dies or stabilizes. When you do so, roll a d20; if the result is higher than 10 your character succeeds, while a roll of 10 or below is a failure. For each corresponding result, fill in the bubble on the sheet. If you reach 3 successes, your character stabilizes, and stops dying. If you reach 3 failures, your character dies. Taking damage in this state immediately causes your character to fail one Death saving throw, while receiving healing will immediately stabilize you.
Attacks
When you use your turn to attack another creature, choose a weapon or spell your character possesses, and roll a d20. Add the value in the Attack Bonus column to the roll; if the sum equals or exceeds your target's AC, the attack lands. If this is the case, locate the die specified in the Damage/Type column and roll it, adding the corresponding ability modifier to the roll; this is the damage you will deal to the creature you hit. Attacks and the math behind them will be discussed in a later post.
That'll be the end of this post, since there's a little too much going on in a character sheet to really cover in one go. This is the end of the math though; from here on we'll be looking at features and abilities more specific to your character.
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