How to start thinking, planning, and building a character for someone newish to 5e Dungeons & Dragons
If you already have an idea for your character, awesome! D&D is usually flexiable enough to accomodate most “generic fantasyland” ideas. Fantasy archetypes and tropes are popular for a reason. The quiet dark armor clad ranger, the meathead fighter, the light on their feet archer, and the old man wizard, these all invoke great imagery and personas in our minds and it can be fun to step into their shoes for a bit. Whether your idea is from a movie, book, or your own creation, you get to make it your own. The different options allow you to customize your character from how they grew up, what they did did before the adventure, and what role you might play in your adventure party.
And if you don’t have any idea for your character, awesome! Sometimes the fun is finding out who they become as you play the game. Some players enjoy picking everything at random before and they have a blast.
Where did you come from? Were you raised in a small village by wood elves or humans? Or did you live out in the wilds with orcs and goliaths? Maybe you were even brought into this world by extra planar forces! This choice can help reinforce the fantasy of your character with both flavor and determines some gameplay benefits.
Pick your ancestries from these choices
Note: Ancestry/race can be a sticky subject in D&D. I think the best way to read the options are “typical dwarves have traits …”. They are intended to give you a broad idea of choice, not to stereotype or pigeonhole creative ideas.
What are you good at? Fighting? Sneaking? A little bit of both? Do you have magical capabilities from study or from within? These are questions that can help in deciding which character class to choose. This choice determines the primary role you will play in your adventuring group.
Pick your class from these choices
What were you doing before adventure called you? A life of luxury or poverty? Did you have a job, were you a full time student, or did you wander the woods in seclusion? This choice determines what skills you developed and what your personality traits might be like before you set out for adventure.
Pick your background from these
Every character has six different Abilities that help describe how good they are with their associated Skills. Each attribute also has an associated Saving Throw that helps you avoid some effects. These attributes receive an assigned number value indicating what kind of bonus a character gets, the higher the value the higher the bonus. Players can either use a standard array spread to assign or take a possible risk and roll for their scores. This choice is typically done at the table with everyone else.