Characters have 6 attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
Each attribute will have a score attached to it. Scores are usually between 3-18 but certain conditions will change that occasionally.
For example, Dwarves suffer a -1 penalty to charisma, so they’re limited to a 2-17 range.
Various actions throughout the game are influenced by your scores in these attributes. For example, a person with a strength of 10-12 (average) is able to carry about 100lbs of equipment without too much trouble. A person with a strength of 17-18 (exceptional) will be able to easily carry 250lbs of stuff.
An archer receives a bonus or penalty to all of his attempts to shoot something based on his Dexterity score. An archer with an excellent (17-18) dexterity gets a hefty bonus to his chances of hitting a target when firing off an arrow.
Characters with a high wisdom may sense certain truths about a situation, and receive more spells from their gods.
Characters with higher intelligence are able to speak more languages, and are actually able to read and write (unlike most of the D&D universe.)
Different classes (occupations) have different specialty attributes. A thief needs to be very dexterous to be good at his job. A fighter needs to be strong and have a good constitution. A wizard must have a high intelligence, and a cleric must have a good amount of wisdom. Bards and Paladins both require a high charisma.
Lastly, there are events which require a “check” of one of your attributes. When you “check” your attribute, you roll a 20 sided die and hope that you roll a number lower than your score in that attribute. For example, you’ve fallen off the side of a cliff after being dive bombed by giant eagles who felt you were invading their territory. There are lots of outcroppings, vines and ledges that you might catch hold of instead of just falling to your death. To succeed, you must make a “dexterity check”. If you happen to be a nimble thief, you’re looking pretty good. Your 17 dexterity is a very good score. You roll the 20 sided dice knowing that any score of 17 or lower means you’ve managed to catch hold of a vine and saved yourself. You have an 85% chance of surviving. On the other hand, if you’re a less-than-graceful wizard, who spends all her time with her face buried in books, you might only have a 40-50% chance of saving yourself (assuming a dexterity score of 8-10). But then again, perhaps you’ve memorized a useful spell like Feather Fall that day, so you may have another method to save yourself!
Another example: You’ve found a scroll with magical properties, but it’s written in a language no one in the party can read. It does seem related to ancient elvish however, which your very intelligent wizard can read. The dungeon master tells you that your wizard can figure out the sounds, and therefore can read the scroll aloud (unleashing some sort of spell… but it’s unclear how useful that spell might be in the given moment.) The DM will then also let you make an “intelligence check” to see if you can puzzle out the meaning of the scroll based on knowing a few related words or root words. If you fail the check (by rolling a 19 or 20 when you only have an intelligence of 18) you might have to consult another wizard for help. Casting spells, whilst not knowing their effects, is a very dangerous thing to do!
More about spells and other character’s special abilities later.
If you’re totally grossed out by that much math getting in the way of your storytelling, you might want to reconsider. The dice rolling is an integral part of the D&D experience.
Hopefully that all made sense and wasn’t too intimidating though.
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