Creating A Character with Xanathar's GTE
If you haven't snagged Xanathar's Guide to Everything yet, you're missing out. Like, really missing out. In this humble DM's opinion, it is the single best secondary resource book created for any version of D&D to date. Every serious DM and player needs to have a copy of this on their shelf. It is filled cover to cover with oodles of options for players and DMs alike and has the kind of content that can really bring your game to life in more ways than one.
Xanathar's introduced a handful of much-anticipated sub-classes and archetypes for all of the different character classes, including the Cleric's Forge Domain and the Monk's Way of the Kensei, two of my personal favourites so far. But what this book brings goes deeper than just offering more class options, and it's really the extra stuff that brings depth and life to a character. In a previous blog on character creation I talk about what I call the backward approach - beginning by fleshing out the person before deciding on class. While Xanathar's guide doesn't quite do it backward, it does offer some helpful tables and ideas for thinking about what goes into a person, such as relationship with parents, how many siblings they have, where and how they were raised, and major life events that occurred that shaped them in some way. I'm really excited about the possibilities these new tables and resources will open up for my players in our upcoming campaign, but rather than wait to explore them then, I thought it would be fun to explore some of these new tables and character goodies by rolling up a completely random character using the PHB, Xanathar's, and some homemade tables. Rather than just post a character and say "hey, this PC was random check it out," I thought it'd be better to actually bring you along for the journey so I can highlight what Xanathar has in store.
I hope that this little experiment gives you a taste of what is inside the book!
1. Race, Class, Alignment, & Background
I created some custom tables to make this process completely random right from the start. So rather than choose any particulars of the character myself, I am leaving it up to the dice to decide. The first table I created is to determine race. For this character I'll be sticking to the core races in the PHB and not using any extraneous options (such as aasimar, goliath, etc.), and with the class options available in the PHB and in XGTE.
Roll: 9
Race: Lightfoot Halfling
Lightfoot halflings are charismatic and stealthy, known to be light on their feet (hence the sub-race name). The image I always get is of Merry and Pippin from LOTR - carefree with a carpe diem attitude and easygoing personality.
Roll: 11
Class: Warlock
Roll: 7
Patron: The Celestial
According to XGTE, the Celestial Pact Warlock has a being of the Upper Planes as their patron, making them somewhat unique among warlocks in that their role in the world is akin to that of good-aligned clerics and paladins - "bringing light to the dark places of the world." The Celestial pact offers a very intriguing character type, one whose magic isn't granted through divine prayers to a god or deity but through this contract with a celestial.
The warlock is often seen as a darker class, one drawing on forbidden and mystic energies given by nefarious or not entirely straightforward or trustworthy creatures, but this path offers a lighter option for somebody who wants to use the warlock's powers, such as eldritch invocations, while being a healer or holy warrior of sorts at the same time.
It certainly challenges the stigma and creates an interesting role-play opportunity as well.
Roll: 4
Alignment: True Neutral
So, although our budding character is bound to a celestial, they aren't necessarily about being "good". I can see them seeking to bring light or heal, etc., as a way of balancing the scales, maintaining order.
They don't want evil to prevail, but aren't chasing after a higher good or moral code either. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Roll: 8
Result: Noble
Huh. So rather than go with the suggested background type (or make one up), again, to keep things random, I wanted to roll for this. I think it can often be a good experiment and learning experience to put things together that you wouldn't normally expect. So with this random approach, we end up with a Halfling Celestial Warlock who is a member of the nobility. This brings up some interesting questions about what lead a wealthy, established noble to follow a warlock's path.
2. Rolling for Abilities
Before getting into the tables found in Xanathar's I'm going to go ahead and roll for abilities, since at least one table relies on your character's Charisma. I rolled 4d6 6 times, dropping the lowest die from each result and adding the remaining three rolls together to get the following stats:
14, 8, 14, 11, 12, 16
A warlock's primary ability is Charisma, so I'll throw the 16 in there and round out the rest, adding in racial modifiers (Dex +2, Cha +1). Here's the result:
Str | 08 | -1
Dex | 13 | +1
Con | 14 | +2
Int | 12 | +1
Wis | 14 | +2
Cha | 17 | +3
3. Xanathar's Tables
Alright, so now we get to the good stuff - the new content from Xanathar's, which even has tables filled with random names to choose from. The name tables are actually in the Appendices, but I'm going to start there before getting into the "juicy bits" of the character's life. I "flipped a coin" (rolled a d20, 1-10 is heads, 11-20 is tails) to determine gender: heads = male, tails = female. I got a 6 (heads), so our halfling warlock is going to be a he.
Rolling on the "Halfling, Male" table for names on pg. 179 of XGTE, I got a 100 (d100), which gives us the name Wes. On the adjacent table for family name, I rolled an 86 for Tosscobble.
We now have a good solid basis for our character that can now be fleshed out. The entire first chapter of XGTE is all about character options, and in the section This Is Your Life (p.61), it includes a whole bunch of tables we can roll on to determine whether or not Wes knows his parents, where and how he was raised, how many siblings he has, whether he has good memories of his childhood or not, whether his parents are alive or dead (or missing?), and we can determine some key life events that would've shaped him in his early years. We can also dig a little further into his nobility and what lead him to become a warlock. To make it easier to follow along with this (assuming you have the book, which you should), I'll approach the tables in the order they appear in the book. I'll put all of the results together, and then flesh it out a little more afterwards.
Warlock Tables (p.53-54)
Patron Attitude (1d6 = 6) You are mostly left to your own devices with no interference from your patron.
Special Terms (1d6= 4) You must occasionally conduct bizarre rituals to maintain your pact.
Binding Mark (1d6 = 1) One of your eyes looks the same as one of your patron's eyes.
Family Tables (p. 62-64)
Parents (d100 = 88) You know who your parents are/were.
Birthplace (d100 = 8) Home.
Number of Siblings (1d10 = 7) 1d6 + 2 (5+2=7)
Birth Order (for each sibling). [tldr; here's the summary of my rolls] 3 older, 4 younger.
Family (d100 = 79) Mother and Father
Family Lifestyle (3d6 = 14) Comfortable (+10 modifier for childhood home roll)
Childhood Home (d100 + 10 = 91) Mansion
Childhood Memories (3d6 + Cha modifier [3] = 18) Everyone knew who I was, and I had friends everywhere I went.
Personal Decisions (p. 64-69)
Background - Noble (1d6 = 5) My family is filled with remarkable people. I hope to live up to their example.
Class Training - Warlock (1d6 = 5) My future patron visited me in my dreams and offered great power in exchange for service.
Life Events (p. 69 - 72)
Life Events by Age (d100 = 64 = 31-40 years old) 1d6 Life Events (6)
Life Events (d100)
(70) You spent time working in a job related to your background. Start with an extra 2d6 gp (7).
(49) You made a friend of an adventurer (use supplemental tables and DMs help to establish how this friendship began and who they are).
(76) You went on an adventure. Roll on the adventures table to see what happened (see below).
(5) You suffered a tragedy. Roll on tragedies table (see below).
(40) You made an enemy of an adventurer. (1d6 = 4) You are blameless for the rift.
(33) You made another enemy of an adventurer. (1d6 = 2) Still not to blame for this.
Supplemental Tables (p.72-73)
Adventurer Friend. [Summary of rolls] Neutral Halfling Wizard.
Adventure. (d100 = 5) You nearly died. You have nasty scars on your body, and you are missing an ear and 1 toe.
Tragedy (1d12 = 3) A friendship ended bitterly, and the other person is not hostile to you.
Adventurer Enemy #1. Neutral Good Dragonborn Cleric.
Adventurer Enemy #2. Lawful Neutral Half-Orc Sorcerer.
Using the tables provided, and a few of my own, has brought to life an interesting character that most certainly has a story to tell. There is a lot of rich content that both a player and a DM could use to bring in roleplaying events and scenarios for this character, which is exactly how it should be. A character should always be deep enough and have enough elements to their makeup and their background to make playing them a learning experience and something that can evolve over time as different parts of their history, personality, etc., are interacted with in-game. With all of this detail in place, it becomes much easier to put this character's story together. So, after all is said and done, I would like to formally introduce you all to Wes Tosscobble.
Wes is the fourth child of the Tosscobble family, Halfling nobles that have done moderately well for themselves. He and his seven siblings all grew up under the love and care of Wes's mother and father, impressive figures known and loved by many. His childhood was filled with fond memories and many friends. As he got older, Wes took on some of the responsibilities associated with his family name and managed to earn a small wage of his own, separate from the inheritance he shared in with his siblings.
Wes began to have strange dreams, where an enticing and charismatic solar - a celestial being - met with him and spoke to him. The angel offered the young halfling power that he could use to make a name for himself in exchange for bonded service. Eager to live up to the status of impressive Tosscobbles who had gone before him, Wes accepted the wager and began his training as a Celestial Warlock.
Upon gaining his powers, Wes travelled out into the world seeking adventure. He joined up with a band of adventurers: a halfling wizard, dragonborn cleric, and a half-orc sorcerer. His first and only quest with them almost ended in disaster, resulting in Wes being scarred in multiple places and losing the middle toe on his left foot. The cleric and sorcerer blamed Wes for the mishap, though it truly wasn't his fault. To this day, they harbour deep resentment toward him and consider him an adversary. His fellow halfling, the wizard, was more understanding, and though Wes took his leave of the small group, he and the wizard have kept in touch and remain friends.
Having learned from his experiences the hard way, Wes spent some more time in training and learning all he could from his patron. The solar made Wes undertake a number of rituals, though what purpose they served, he is still not certain. At some point in his communion with the higher power, Wes's left eye changed colour, becoming a pale gold to match the eyes of the celestial form in his dreams. Wes is now ready to find adventure once more, eager to use his powers to bring balance to the world, add renown to his own name, and bring honour to his family.
You can find a detailed character sheet for Wes here. I've filled in some things and left others open, such as sibling and parent names, etc. Feel free to use Wes as a PC (or NPC!) in your own game if you'd like.
I highly recommend experimenting with the character resources in XGTE, whether you're an old hat at character generation or are still a little green. Even if you don't use the exact results from the tables, the ideas can spur your imagination and give you some ideas and guidance in fleshing out your characters and making them memorable for everyone.
Until next time, happy gaming from Master Tosscobble and me!
- C.
