Character creation

The Basics:

 * Three things make up the groundwork of your identity:
 * Your Race - elf/human/dwarf/dragonborn etc. Affects how you are perceived, your skills and feats, as well as maybe some innate abilities.
 * Your Class - stealthy rogue, talkative bard, wise wizard etc. Kind of your identity, or a how you tackle problems and where your skills lie.
 * Your Background - why are you here, risking your life adventuring when you could work a farm? Where did you come from? etc. This is your identity and a large part of what makes you unique.

Your Backstory/Background:

 * Your character needs a reason to adventure and work as a team; why are you an adventurer?
 * Where do you come from?
 * Are you referred to by your birth name or a specific name or phrase? Are you wanted by a group of people, a town or even an entire region? What fuck-ups have you done throughout your, lets be honest, not so honest life?
 * Personality and flaws (you can find a table in the Players Handbook under background if you don't have some in mind) - could also add fun quirks like "scared of ..."/"hates ..." etc.
 * What do you desire or strive to achieve? - simply want to get rich or die trying?, want to build your own castle and become a lord of the realm? - how about acquiring enough political power to invoking your very own law on the land you reside on, or maybe just pay off that debt you have build up over the years at one of the black guilds?
 * Your actions dictate your alignment, not the other way around - though, if going for something quirky I would suggest you read the table for a better understanding.

Character Deep Dive:
Going blank on character ideas or does your character feel flat? Are you having a hard time visualizing what your character feels or would do in a certain situation? Just want to liven up the character to make the table more vivid? - Then try to step into the shoes of your character and answer some of these questions.

Stat rolling (will be explained at the table):
'That is practically all you need to know if you are new to the game. If you are keen to learn more read on.'
 * Roll 3d6 and re-roll snake-eyes. Example: (1-1-5), re-roll the two ones. If snake-eyes are rolled again the dice are kept.
 * If the total of a roll is above 16, the number drops to 16 and the excess is added to the next roll.
 * Example: rolls {10,12,9,18,13,7} in that order. Resulting in; {10,12,9,16,15,7} instead.

Further reading - Before the game starts, consider the following:

 * At least to some degree get an impression of the world (ask or see the Wiki links), so as to fit in or build on the vibe of the realm.
 * The game will be a low magic, low power level campaign - don't base your character on initially being a 18 dex sharpshooter or the likes.
 * Play something that is fun to play and interact with, not a beast in combat - will help you out more than min-max'ing and will most likely lead to beneficial encounters.
 * I am very lenient on funky races or classes you might find (even homebrew) if they favor RP and flavor over min/maxing and they don't overshadow other classes roles (*cough* mystic *cough*).
 * Your actions should correlate with your class and/or personality - a bard using "Bardic Inspiration" needs to actually be somewhat inspiring and a character of faith (per example cleric) needs to have at least some insight into its god (see Domains and gods or make up your own god).

1: Try to match the tone of the setting
Whether the DM is starting a new game, or you are joining an existing one, it is important to ask about a few things. Let's say you have an idea for an amazing character, a wise-cracking, steam-powered motorcycle-riding, gunslinging bugbear named 'The Sheriff'. This can either be an amazing character, or an awful one who isn't appreciated, depending on the tone of the game. What do I mean by tone? A number of things:

The level of 'Tolkienesque'-ness and what races are adventurers, - extremely exotic races might incur natural RP handicap or attract unwanted attention on the streets, as you would stand out in a world of predominantly humans.

The level of seriousness of the campaign. I'm going for more of an immersive and serious campaign, engaging in roleplaying most of the time. While others might be used to a funny, anything goes, light-hearted romp through the forest. Ask first. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being Monty-Python meme party with PC's naming themselves 'Boogie Woogie' and bringing a cartoon soundboard and 10 being a incredibly serious diplomatic conversations, am going for a 7, but maybe a solid 4 as a comic relief character would be welcome.

The technology. Low tech, spears-n-swords style game where your steam powered motorcycle and fully automated pistols are woefully out of place. Exceptions can be made, but ask beforehand.

The level of strategy vs RP. Some games go for a high level of tactics, where it's basically a war-game, and you are expected to pull your weight with an optimized character, fx. with a polearm master/sentinel build to lock the enemy down in place. However I would much prefer an orc wizard with 5 intellect to bring some flavor to the table and hope you pick your race not for the stats, but for the roleplaying it accompanies. Ask first and get a sense of what to aim for. (these are extreme examples, most games fall somewhere in the middle, I wouldn't personally bring either of those characters to a game).

2: Mechanical campaign choices
Combat vs RP vs exploration - D&D is built on the 3 pillars; 'combat', 'roleplaying/social interaction', and 'exploration'. But they're not all equal in all games. I've chosen to focus on a more RP and exploration based game, meaning a combat focused character with a thin backstory will fall short on some occasions.

Death and resurrection - Some games have cheap and easy resurrections, almost at every corner store, others don't allow it at all. Am going for something in between, where a resurrection will be a major journey or a kings ransom. At the same time death awaits at every turn for the one caught off guard. Meaning a hyper aggressive zealot barbarian who charges past the enemy to hit their back-line often runs the risk of dying. For more details read The Fading Spirit homebrew.

Gold, magic items and things for purchase - Some builds really need a particular piece of equipment, a mount for example, or plated armor. Others are fine just as they are. It might be wise to ask about the availability of that sort of thing before rolling up a warhorse-dependent full plate-wearing paladin build as gold will be sparse and magic items will be the talk of the town if one is availed due to their rarity.

Leveling - Other builds require a certain level to shine or a specific UA char you dug up will only be good past lvl 9. Don't expect a quick level up, as progression will be more character based than lvl based.

3: Backstories - keep them simple, open and down to earth
Your background should overall guide you in regards to harsh decisions, answer why you are where you are, tell where you came from as well as touch on what you've done so far in your life (sailor/performer/traveler/trader/spy etc).

Remember that D&D is a game about making and exploring stories together and your goal is for everyone at the table to have fun. Not the GM, not just you, everyone.

Tropes to avoid: (that have come up in former campaigns) If you have an amazing idea to something out of the ordinary talk to the GM, he'll love it. Just don't expect to start with an obscenely powerful magical object, as you would never have had the luck nor the skill to keep such an item hidden, much less safe.
 * 1) Crazy Background. The 5., 3. or even 1. lvl character who is a Lord, have defeated two dragons and single-handedly stopped an invasion of a city (exaggeration for emphasis but you get the point). If you can be one-shottet by a lvl 5 assassin, you most likely have not been a significant focal point in any great battle, yet.
 * 2) The Noble. Unless you have a very solid understanding of the world and how the nobility in Alera works or have spoken in great lengths with the GM, please don't pick the noble background nor put yourself within a noble family.
 * 3) The Novel. Don't pull your background or character directly out of a book. It often forces a framework of concepts upon the world that doesn't make sense, or requires the GM to make huge alterations to accommodate it. In addition, it results in a player looking to the book for answers regarding player progression instead of living their own story. It can also become a moot point if what can be done in D&D, can't accommodate what the character does in the book (fx how X fights or what equipment X uses).
 * 4) The Broody, Anti-social, Lone Wolf. We are here to have fun and play with each other, have a reason to stick around and interact with the content.
 * 5) Variations include:
 * 6) Cleptomaniac who steals from his mates
 * 7) Chaotic Evil Goblin Pyromaniac - 'Off-the-charts-crazy', 'burn down the world' mentality of a character, which again disrupts the cohesion of the group.
 * 8) The Overly Coward - It can be fun to have your reservations and not blast down every door, and it can be fun to play a cowardly character, but if you take it to such an extreme that you run from every battle or stop at the doorstep of every dungeon wanting to 'sit this one out', then what's the point? (going too much in the opposite direction and giving every bad guy, city guard and noble the finger can also lead to a bad experience)
 * 9) The Flirt. Don't play someone trying to screw everything that moves. I'm all for the medieval mentality of letting off steam in a brothel and it can have its moments when trying to seduce a target as an alternative to kidnapping. But generally it's cringe for both table and GM, and again, we are here to have fun.

Make the story as open as possible to allow the GM to feed it to the world.

Abuse begets abuse
If you make a broken character that is using poorly written or poorly balanced loopholes and have a tendency to be OP I’m not going to nerf you, I’m simply going to abuse the same or similar loopholes to destroy you and everyone you love - and more than likely I know more loopholes than you.

Further comments
Your game will never make it to level 20. You'll be lucky to make it to level 10.

Games peter out. People get bored. School starts back up. DMs get busy. The module just ends. But where this realization once depressed me, I now find it liberating.

CHARACTER CREATION TIPS FOR ACTUAL GAMES IN THE REAL WORLD:

Avoid character designs that “come online” at a later level. You should focus on a character that is fun and effective at every level. Life's too short, and reliable game time is too valuable, to be spent waiting for your character to become fun. Save those more complex designs for when you need to reroll a higher level character after your first PC dies. Besides, when fully designing a character at the outset you are more likely to overcomplicate things uncessesarily.

Don't plan your character more than a few levels ahead. Even if your current game meets reliably and you are totally certain you will reach high level play, you can't be sure if the abilities you've mapped out will be compatible with the world being built. A thief rogue is less useful in a wilderness campaign. A barbarian has less to do if your game is heavy on social interaction. True, you will have some idea of the style of your game if your DM is open, if you have a session 0, or if you're running a familiar module, but even then DM plans can take a turn for the weird. Your character leveling should take into account what you've experienced in the game thus far.

If that feat is important to you, take it NOW. Don't take an ASI at level 4 if what you really want is to smash people with a shield or shoot them twice with a crossbow. Ignore people who say that an ASI is numerically superior, or that variant human is overplayed. Do not wait for level 8. There's a good chance you will never get there.

Choose abilities that YOU can activate reliably. Just because you picked up the Warcaster feat does not mean you will make booming blade opportunity attacks left and right. Without DM intervention on your behalf, enemies will not be moving out of your range often. In fact, the only triggers you can count on reliably are: a) an enemy approaches you, b) an enemy attacks you, and c) you take damage. If an ability requires you making a specific saving throw, or that someone is hidden in low-light, or that someone tries to charm or frighten you… well it will be a LOT less useful than you think. If your campaign is short enough, you might never use those abilities at all. Choose abilities that you can activate in the broadest range of situations, ideally on any given turn, even if the ability seem weaker. Their frequency of use will make them better, and make you feel more effective and engaged.

Take that 1 level dip, and take it early. Are you a fighter who wants to rage? Take barbarian next level. Are you a monk who wants more spells and buffs? Grab a level of cleric. If someone tells you it will cost you your level 20 capstone ability, thank them for their advice, then ignore them. You aren’t going to make it to level 20. Even if you did, how long will you hang around there using that 4th attack, or those 4 extra ki points per initiative roll? And against a tarrasque or Lord Orcus, how much will it matter? Compare that to 15 levels of fun you derive from a useful 1 or 2 level dip. If you’re worried about the effects on your class progression, only look ahead a few levels. WotC front-loaded a lot of classes with a lot of cool stuff. It might even be worth putting off that 3rd level spell or extra attack, if you get enough use out of those extra features.

If you don’t enjoy your character anymore, talk to your DM and change it. Nothing is more pointless than a player quitting a game because they’ve grown tired of their barbarian or warlock. Your character is make-believe and just because you built it doesn’t mean you owe it anything, especially if your game isn’t going to last that long. Talk to your DM about retiring or retooling that character in exchange for something more interesting. There is a limit to how often you can do this, of course, but don’t let character regret be what turns you away from DnD.

If it REGULARLY takes you more than a half a minute to execute your turn, you’re wasting everyone’s precious time. Maybe you’ve designed a character with a million possible things to do on your turn. Maybe you’re a wizard or, god help us, a UA mystic. If it regularly takes you more than a minute to figure out your turn then you need to narrow down your options. Make a list of your 3 or 4 most useful and familiar abilities and have them ready to fall back on if you can’t think of something else to. Your campaign will be shorter than you anticipate, so don’t spend it in analysis paralysis or flipping through the rulebook to figure out how “levitate” works. Know how stuff works ahead of time and when you’ve mastered its use, add it to your list.

Be a Team player. One thing you can never plan for is what other players will bring to the table. Remember that DnD is a team game, an exercise in collective story telling. So get to know your team mates (at least the ones who show up regularly) and see what abilities you can take to be of help to them. Have an archer on your team? Light up a foe with fairy fire and have him finish the job. Have a rogue buddy? Knock an enemy prone so he can nail that sneak attack every time. Use your cleric power Polymorph the BBEG so your wizard can follow up with flesh to stone. It's the team efforts, the 1-2 punches, that will make the most memorable experiences, not that your warlock could nova 80 damage in a round.

If you want a high-level game you probably need to run a high-level campaign. Is your desire to unleash a 9th level spell or have your monk be proficient in every save? Hell, do you just wish your fighter could get that third attack? Then you should talk to your DM about about starting a campaign at level 10 or above. However, be careful what you wish for. Tier 4 play (and even some tier 3 play) is a lot to digest. It's harder for DMs to balance encounters, both due to PC's reality-altering abilities and a general lack of experience in both running and playing at that level. Battles can be more of a slog as every creature and character is a massive pile of HP. It can be overwhelming to jump into a new class at a higher level and be expected to know how all the abilities work without the usual months of gradual build-up. But in spite of all that, there's nothing stopping you from just starting at those levels with the abilities you always wanted to try out. Maybe warm everyone up with a one-shot to see if that's what players really want, or if it's just what they think they should want.