Cleric starter pack - A pack for first time players.

As you maybe aware, I am new to the 4th edition so I have been dabbling around the books today and learning how it's different from 3.5 edition in the process. I have some friends who will be coming sometime next week to try out D&D and none of them have ever played it. So... as I was learning the ropes of 4th edition I decided to create the characters for them and type up an information sheet to help them understand how to play.
The list doesn't include how the combat works but that is up to the DM to explain how the combat works. I'll type up a combat reference sheet at a later date.

I haven't filled in a character sheet for this Cleric character yet, but you can find printable character sheets here.

Below are some notes about the cleric that will help you fill in the character sheet for them.

Cleric


Elf

Deity – Bahamut – Lawful Good

16 – Str / +3

16 – Wis (+2 from race)/+3

13 – Con/+1

12 - Charisma/+1

13 – Dex (+2 from race)/+1
10 - Intelligence/+0



Skill (+2 nature, +2 perception)

Able to use Longbow and short bow

Considered a fey creature

Group awareness: +1 bonus to perception checks to allies within 5 squares of you

Wild step: Able to shift on difficult terrain without penalty





Skills (+5 bonus)

Religion (int) = 5

Heal (wis) = 8

Diplomacy (char) = 6

History (int) = 5

Nature (Wis) = 5

Perception (Wis) = 5



Feats: Weapon focus (mace), ritual casting



Equipment (100G)

Chainmail (40gp)

6AC, -1 speed

Mace d8 (5GP), remember weapon focus

Holy Symbol (10GP)

Ritual Book (50GP)

Ok, now onto the real thing, just copy and paste below into a word document and print it out! Make sure you have "Cleric" as the header and the page number and number of pages at the bottom. Make sure "Combat" and "Role playing" are on seperate pages. Sorry about the spaces, no idea why blogger does that when I copy something from Microsoft word. Just staple the character sheets and the text below and ask the to have a quick read through it.
I'll be writing up another character tomorrow, so keep up to date!

Combat




Look at this page whenever you have a combat encounter with enemies. There are 3 types of attacks, At-Will, Encounter and Daily. At-Will can be used whenever, Encounter powers can be used once or twice per encounter and the Daily power can be used once per rest.



At-Will



Lance of Faith

A brilliant ray of light sears you foe with golden radiance. Sparkles of light linger around the target, guiding your ally’s attack.

Standard Action: Ranged 5 (Target 1 creature within 5 squares of you)

Attack: Wisdom (d20 + 3) vs. Reflex



Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier (3) damage and one ally you see gains a +2 attack bonus to his or her next attack roll against the target (you choose any one ally you see to increase their chance to hit against the same target you attacked).



Priest’s shield

You utter a minor defensive prayer as you attack with your weapon.

Standard Action: Melee (Target 1 creature adjacent to you)

Attack: Strength (d20 + 3) vs. AC



Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier (3) damage, you and one adjacent ally gain a +1 to AC until the end of your next turn (Yourself and an ally next to you gain +1 to AC, making you harder to hit. This effect is gone when it is your next turn).



Encounter



Channel Divinity – Use 1/encounter

Divine Fortune

In the face of peril, you hold true to your faith and receive a special boon.

Free action (Personal) – This can be used at any time during your turn.



Effect: You gain +1 bonus to your next attack roll or saving throw before the end of your turn.



Healing Word – Use 2/encounter

You whisper a brief prayer as divine light washes over your target, helping to mend it’s wounds.

Minor Action – You can use this, and perform a standard action as well.

Target: You or Ally within 5 squares of you



Effect: Target ally spends a healing surge and regain an addition 1d6 + 3 (wisdom modifier) of hit points.







Divine Glow – Use 1/encounter

Murmuring a prayer to your deity, you invoke a blast of white radiance from your holy symbol. Foes burn in it’s stern light, but your allies are heartened and guided by it.

Standard Action: Close blast 3 (choose a 3x3 square that is adjacent to you and use this skill, it will affect every creature caught in the blast, enemy and ally).

Attack: Wisdom (d20 + 3) vs. Reflex.



Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier (3) damage vs. reflex

Effect: Allies in the blast gain +2 bonus to attack rolls until the end of your next turn (All the allies caught in the blast will gain +2 to attack rolls, increasing their chance of hitting a target. This effect is gone by the end of your next turn).



Elven accuracy: Encounter Power – Use 1/encounter

With an instant of focus, you take careful aim at your foe and strike with the legendary accuracy of the elves

Free action (Personal)

Effect: Reroll an attack roll. Use the second roll, even if it’s lower. (If you didn’t like an attack roll you got on the d20, you can reroll and use the new value).





Daily Attack

Use this skill wisely as you can only use it once before you have to rest to be able to use it again!



Avenging Flame

You slam your weapon into your foe, who bursts into flame. Divine fire avenges each attack your enemy dares to make.

Standard Action: Melee (Target 1 creature adjacent to you)

Attack: Strength (d20 + 3) vs. AC



Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier (3) damage, and ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends). (If you hit with this attack then the creature takes damage, and then the creature will take 5 damage on the start of its next turn. If the creature attacks during that turn, then it takes 5 damage on it’s next turn. However, if the creature does not attack during its turn, at the end of the turn it will roll a d20 (a saving throw), if the result is 11 or more the effect disappears. If the result is 10 or lower the creature will take an additional 5 damage at the start of it’s next turn. This continues until either a successful saving throw is done, or death).





Role playing Encounter



Below is some information about your skills that can influence the outcome of role play encounters. Also a small bit of information about how your character should behave towards the other characters.



Your character



You are a Lawful Good Cleric, so you believe in everything that is true and you wish to smite evil wherever possible. The deity you follow teaches you to protect the weak and to defend what is true. You are a nice person who treats others (who are good) with respect. You are rarely scared by a challenge. The rules set by society are correct and true and every being must follow these rules. Those who do not follow shall be punished. In combat, your main role is to ensure the other members of your party are as healthy by healing their wounds with Healing Word. If you’re confident that they are ok, you smash enemies whilst at the same time providing boons for your allies by using skills such as Priest’s shield and Lance of faith.



Skills



Skills determine how competent you are in an area. The more points you have in a skill area the better you are at it. Your character has these skills with the assigned values. If you wish to use these skills, just ask Edd at any time:



Religion (int) = 5

Due to being a cleric you have knowledge about gods, religious traditions, ceremonies and divine effects. You are able to roll a check to reveal information about the strengths and weaknesses of the undead.



Heal (wis) = 8

You know how to help someone recover from wounds, poisons or diseases. You can stabilizes some one who is dying (who is below 0 HP) by rolling a skill check with a DC of 15. Upon success the character stabilizes and stops dying. You can also help treat a disease by rolling a heal check vs. the DC of the disease (Edd will know this). This can be used on yourself or another ally.



Diplomacy (char) = 6

You can influence others with your tact, subtlety, and social grace. Make a Diplomacy check to change opinions, to inspire good will, to haggle with a patron, to demonstrate proper etiquette and decorum, or to negotiate a deal in good faith.



History (int) = 5

You know past events about the area, such as wars, leaders, legends, laws, traditions and memorial events.



Nature (wis) = 5

Due to your elven heritage you have an connection with nature, you can make your way through the wilderness safely, have knowledge about natural beasts and recognising natural hazards.



Perception (wis) = 5

Due to your elven heritage you have a bonus in this skill. You have keen eyes and ears to spot for clues, detect secret doors, find traps and listen for sounds beyond a door. Just declare to Edd when you want to use this skill to look for traps, secrets or listen at the door.

5 steps to making a good role-playing character

You've just filled in your character sheet...and now possibly wandering how to make a good back ground for your character, never fear because I have 5 easy steps to make a great background for your character! So here it is:




Step one:

You may have already done this but you need to generate a name for your character. I can usually come up with fantasy names pretty quick however, if you lack a bit in the imagination department, try out Wizards of the Coast name generator, it provides a real name and some alternatives that your character could be known as by the commoners.



Step two:

You need to choose your alignment now. I would suggest being a similar alignment to your other characters in your parties so you can all get along. A chaotic good character would not get along with a lawful evil character in the same party! I wouldn't suggest choosing a random alignment either, as alignments influence how you role-play your character.



Step three:

Character physical traits. You need to think about how the character looks physically, firstly deal with height, weight, hair colour, eye colour, face shape, body shape (muscular/lean?) and then beards (if a male of course!). Now, add one or two physical attributes that will make your character even more unique, as a rule of thumb I have at least one unique trait on the face and maybe at least one unique body trait. Regards to the characters face, does he or she have a scar? A patch over one eye? Different coloured eyes? An ear missing? A tattoo on his face? A birth mark? Does he have a lisp when he talks? A high pitched voice? When thinking about the body, does the character have a missing limb? Does he walk in a funny way? Does he have a tattoo on his arm? A magical tattoo that glows? A missing finger? I'll let you decide that lot!

Step four:

Now you need to develop your character's personality. From your alignment that your character has, you can visit this page and choose traits that suit your character best. Once you've picked a few, if any at all, you need to think about other behavioural aspects of your character. Try to think about at least 2 to describe your character. For example, does your character have strange habits? Does he like/dislike particular creatures? Is he incredibly shy? Is he mute? Does he like to attempt to charm the ladies (halarious if you have low charisma!)? Is he fussy? Does he hate seeing blood? Is he focused on being clean all the time?



Step five:

The final step, and usually the biggest step. You need to write a background for your character. You can be as imaginative as possible but there are limits, such as it's not a good idea to say your human character was born on another planet...however you need to check with your DM to say if it's ok or not. The thing is, writing this part of your character won't be as bad as it seems, a good idea to start is to write a couple of sentences about how your character aquired their personal and physical attributes. Did you say your character was a ladies charmer? Maybe your father did it alot and you wanted to follow in his foot steps. Does your character have a fear of spiders? Maybe he had a giant spider try and attack him when he was younger.

You also need to think about your parents, they either are alive, or they died, or your character is unaware of their parents and were adopted. Regards to where your character grew up, the most popular choices would be either in a city or a country side, however you could have been brought up in a cave or in a tree.



I hope this helps to create some awesome characters out there! You think anything else needs to be added? Maybe you could add your own character stories here, or e-mail them to me and I'll choose the best one for next weeks blog!

begindnd@hotmail.co.uk