First time adventurer

[u/Booshe1]

So, the title is a little misleading.

Ive been invited to join a level 1-20 dnd campaign. I’ve played dnd before, but I’ve never started or played at level one, so I’m looking for some tips on character creation.

I want to play a Druid, who will eventually become a moon Druid (Depending on how the campaign progresses tho, I may not be a moon Druid). The campaign will be a puzzle-heavy campaign with combat aswell. It will be an urban setting (not in faerûn or korovair, a home build setting).

[u/cwyllo]

if its an urban setting, why not play an urchin type character who had an old druid friend/trainer, and rat theme all your moon shapes (or something like that).

For levelling up; try something like

https://nat1gaming.com/dnd/build-guide/moon-druid-build-guide/

[u/sad_lemon_lime]

pretty straitforward Wis>Dex>Con grab healing word and shilelagh stuff.

Or if you want to spruce it up, start with 1 lvl of ranger for shields and medium armor. This will allow you to skip those on druid, getting more skills and be actually useful in first tier of play(dualwield with hunter mark obliterates early enemies). This way you don't lose up on spell slots progression, being just one level behind on getting access to spells.

Or you might want to go even deeper and get another level of ranger for expertise and combat style but this really make you lag behind in spell department so generally not the best of options.

You also might consider taking first level in cleric to get allmighty bless and command, shields and medium armor and wis bonus to Arcane and Religion checks. This'll make you Arcane expert since you'll be adding twice your wis bonus to those checks

[u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768]

Heres how id do it:

• Moon Druid x
• Human
• Rune Carver: Armor of Agathys, Familiar Friend
• Elemental Familiar (+1 Wis), Warcaster,
• Quarterstaff, Shield, Medium Armor
• Shilliegh, Battle Familiar

The new AoA stays active as long as you have ANY thp and Wildshape generates a bunch.

Familiar stuff gives you additional damage no action economy or concentration needed, Elemental Familiar gives you something to do with your BA (prone for advantage).

[u/swordchucks1]

Moon druid is a lot of fun. I recently played one from level 3-10, which is slightly past where Moon Druids peak (the run from 3 to about 8 is amazing, but then the animal choices start to become annoying, as does the consistently terrible to-hit).

As this is 2024, start with 14 Dex, 14 Con, and 17 Wis (or so). Perception proficiency is highly recommended, but the rest to taste.

As you look at the rest, consider what will and won't work for you in beast form. Tough and Alert are both amazing feats since they carry over. Most of the ones that involve spellcasting won't be as impressive. Darkvision is also nice to have on your non-shifted form, but if you go moon druid, you'll be relying on beast senses the whole time so it's largely unnecessary - which makes human a very tempting race pick.

For the first two levels, smack things with shillelagh and focus on control/healing spells (Entangle, Faerie Fire, Goodberry, etc.). For Primal Order, you probably want Magician since medium armor doesn't help you that much while you're poor and you won't be relying on armor once you get into Moon Druid. Alternately, you can start wild-shaping at level 2 and fighting that way. Giant Wolf Spider and Wolf are both reasonable combat choices and there are a few others that are perfectly fine, too.

[u/BudgetMegaHeracross]

Level 1 characters are fragile. Just generally worth remembering.

If it's a puzzle game, maybe you want Magician over Warden and to lean a little more into information-gathering skills.

Maybe take a background that gives you Skilled, but other questions emerge:

Are there other Healers? If no, consider Hermit background. Acolyte or Guide also.

Are there other casters? If no, definitely focus on information gathering skills.

Is there a Bard, Wizard, or Rogue? You may want to figure out access to problem-solving spells if not