I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is if you’ve ever played Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition (D&D 5e), for the most part, creating a character in Star Wars 5e (SW5E) is going to be pretty familiar to you. The bad news is if you’ve never played D&D 5e, you’ll have to learn this from scratch. But don’t worry, I got you.
Ability cores
The first thing we should talk about is ability scores, skills, and saving throws. There are six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) and eighteen skills in SW5E. Strength measures physical power. Dexterity measures agility. Constitution measures endurance. Intelligence measures reasoning and memory. Wisdom measures awareness and intuition, and Charisma measures force of personality. These stats and their scores are the MOST important things in the game. Everything you do is tied to them.
The numbers associated with your Ability Scores can be determined in a few ways. First, you have something called standard array. The standard array gives you predetermined numbers (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) to put where you want. There is also a point buy system, where each score goes from 1 to 30, is worth a certain number of points, and you can build your stats how you want with the points. Finally, you could roll 4d6, drop the lowest number, and add the remaining 3 together to get a score for each of the six abilities. Speak with your DM to figure out which way you’re getting your Ability Scores.
Ability scores come with a modifier, the number that is added to any skill tied to the Ability Score. If you have a 15 in Strength, you have a +2 modifier associated with any Strength-based checks, which could include the Athletics skill OR attacking with a weapon that uses Strength.
Skills in conjunction with ability scores are what help you do the things you want to do in the game. Let’s say you want to lift a large boulder. Your DM will likely ask you to make an Athletics skill check. Unless otherwise stated, the Athletics skill uses your Strength modifier.
Since we’re talking about skill checks, let’s talk about Passive Wisdom (Perception) and Initiative. Passive scores are used by DMs when you’re not actively doing something. So if you’re wandering around a town, a DM might ask what your passive Perception is to see what you notice. That score is determined by 10 + your Perception skill. Your DM could ask for passive scores for other skills. They all follow the same formula as passive Perception.
Initiative is how fast you act when combat starts. Initiative is based on your Dexterity modifier. If you have a +2 Dexterity modifier, you have a +2 initiative unless an ability or item states otherwise.
Saving throws are used to resist negative effects. If someone throws an energy pulse grenade, you might be asked to make a Dexterity saving throw to not get hit for the full amount of damage.
You can decide what your scores are first, but that does not mean you have to assign them to an Ability before you do anything else. If you choose the standard array (15,14,13,12, 10,8), you can wait until you know what class you’re playing to assign them to specific abilities. Also, at any point up until your first session, unless your DM says otherwise, you can swap those scores around if you come up with a new idea for the character.
Categories of a Character
Three main things categorize a SW5E character: species, class, and background. Species is what your character is biologically. Class is your vocation and what special abilities you have based on that, and background is where you came from.
There are many schools of thought on which you should start with when building a character, none of them incorrect, but just different depending on what you like to do. I like to start with a class and then find a race I am both interested in and will complement the class, and then I pick a background that works for what I think the character is. But for this we’re going to go in the order you find them in the SW5E Player’s Handbook. Starting with species.
Species
SW5E has thirty species, from the Bith to the Zabrak, and if your DM allows it, you might have more options from standard D&D 5e. Each entry will give you information about biology, appearance, society, culture, names, and then traits, which will have mechanical effects on your character. While every species will give you something different, there are some commonalities with them all; you’ll get some sort of ability score improvement, a base walking speed, and learn some languages.
Classes
Next up classes! SW5E has ten classes, slightly less than standard 5e. While each class is going to have unique abilities, they have some things in common: they go from level 1 to 20, have the same proficiency bonus, give you starting equipment, weapon and armor proficiencies, skill proficiencies, saving throw proficiencies, and hit dice. If you want your character to be a powerhouse mowing down enemies, you’ll want to play a Bezerker. Or if you want to be a master of the art of lightsaber combat, Guardian is for you.
Let’s talk a little more about proficiency bonus, hit points/hit dice, armor, and weapons. When you are particularly good at something, you are proficient in it, and you get a bonus for that. Let’s go back to the boulder example from earlier. You want to lift a heavy boulder, and your DM calls for an Athletics check. You have a 15 in Strength, which means a +2. You rolled a 6 on the D20, and because you have a +2, it becomes an 8. But if you’re good at athletics, you add your proficiency bonus to it. If you’re level 1, your proficiency bonus is +2, so the 8 becomes a 10. In some cases, you can have expertise in something, which means you’re an expert in it. In those cases, you double your proficiency bonus. So the 8 in Athletics would become a 12 because 2 doubled is 4.
Hit points are your health. When you hit 0 hit points, you’re unconscious and making Death saving throws to determine if you live or die. Each class has its own hit dice, which determines hit points. A Bezerker has a d12 hit die. At first level, you get your max hit die, 12 if you’re a Bezerker, plus your Constitution modifier. If your Constitution was 17 your modifier would be +3, so at first level you would have 15 hit points. After first level, you roll a d12, adding the result to your Constitution modifier to determine how much your hit points increase by.
Armor determines your Armor Class (AC), which is how hard it is to hit you. When you are unarmored, your AC is determined by 10 + your Dexterity modifier. If your Dexterity modifier is +5, your unarmored AC is 15 unless a class, ability, or power says otherwise. If you are wearing armor, your AC is based on the armor’s AC plus any modifiers it asks you to add.
You use weapons to hurt items, structures, and creatures. There are two types of weapons: melee and ranged. Melee is up close, and ranged is farther away. Each weapon will tell you if it's a simple or martial weapon, what kind of dice it uses to deal damage, the range so how far or close you can be to use it, and the damage type. Typically, your weapons are tied to your Strength or Dexterity score when determining if you hit and how much damage you do, but some weapons aren’t.
After you’ve read the classes and subclasses and picked which one best suits you, you’re going to want to either write the abilities you get on the character sheet or in a separate place, depending on your preference. Your DM will let you know what level your characters are starting at.
Backgrounds
Last but not least, backgrounds. There are twenty backgrounds, with the ability to make custom backgrounds with DM approval. All backgrounds will give you some sort of proficiency, whether it's skills or tools, sometimes both, additional languages, and additional equipment that you start with. Each background has a unique feature that will give you some sort of narrative help during the game. There is also a mention of Feats associated with the background, a talent, or an area of expertise that gives characters special capabilities, but before you choose one, make sure your DM is allowing them, as they are an optional rule.
And that’s everything! You are ready for a grand adventure amongst the stars.
V.J. Harris (they/he/something funny) is a professional TTRG designer and full-time game master. You can play with V.J. on StartPlaying!
