2.1 The Creation of Sinqualyn

The Creation of Sinqualyn

In honor of this blog, I am creating a brand new alt. An alt is a character that you can play in the game. I’ve created, played, and deleted alts in the past. I figure this will be a good way to introduce new players to the game. By showing them what it is like to create a new character. I’ve said my goodbyes to Teemu Chippadoe, my 6^th level Wizard. I’ve sold all of his equipment and sent the money to another alt. Now it is time for his deletion. One sec…

Done. All that sweat and the waterfall of tears I poured into that guy. All gone. But, it is ok. This game is about the journey more than the destination. I lived with Teemu for long enough to learn about playing a magic user. Now his time has passed and a new day is dawning. Now I need to do some research.

What kind of character do I want? I could make a type of alt that I’ve never played before. I could create a paladin or ranger, but I am not crazy about either one of those classes. I have a lvl10 bard that I wish I had made differently. I think I will create a new bard. This one will be a Drow Elf. In order to play a Drow Elf, one must earn 400 favor points with another character on the same account. When you see Drow running around, they are being played by experienced players. It takes quite a while to earn 400 favor. Use these characters for help if you are lost or confused. Ask them politely, and you are assured to get a friendly response.

Basically this guy will be a support caster with skills in the repeating light crossbow. He will be able to buff his comrades before battle, cast crowd control spells, and do damage with his repeating crossbow. I will start him as a bard, but I may add a hint of sorcerer within the first few levels. Here’s how I did it.

First, I started the ‘create new character’ process inside the game. I chose female Drow as the race and Bard as the class. To get the right look, I click the randomize button until the character looks ‘right’. I think right is a face that looks both interesting and mysterious, and not too ugly. I tweak a little color here and there, but basically I used the randomize feature for her appearance. Now I need a name.

I use a Drow name generator website on angelfire.com to find possible names. I didn’t roll on the table, just looked for interesting combinations. Something to think about when you choose a name: make sure there is a short version that others can use when referring to you in game chat. If your name is Uyq’wartyin, others are going to be flustered when trying to say, eh hehm, “Oooiik? Is that your name? How do you pronounce that? “ Make it a little easy for the other players. I chose Sinqualyn because the first syllable is easy…Sin. That will make it easy for others to get my attention. Your first name has to be unique, which is why I added the last bit. I am pretty sure no one else on this server will have that name already. The last name shows up above your character’s head just like your first name, so make it good or just leave it blank. I am going to use Deana which means Champions of the Night in the Drow tongue. At least, according to this website it does.

The next thing to figure out is alignment. This actually does affect game play. Some weapons and armor give bonuses and penalties based on armor. There is a whole host of armor (mostly robes) that gives a bonus to armor class (AC) and saving throws because you are a true neutral character. If you are not true neutral, you receive no bonus. There is also a pair of bracers that give a great bonus to AC if you are a chaotic alignment. Since this character won’t be wearing robes or a shield most of the time, I will choose the chaotic good alignment. Being true neutral is good, but in my experience being chaotic neutral is not very beneficial.

At the next step, you can chose to keep the default configuration for this character class and race, or you can customize. I, of course, am going to customize. I am going to maximize Sin’s Charisma and Dexterity (Dex) because those are very important to the style I will play. I need charisma to make sure the spells I cast affect the monsters I cast them on. Charisma also determines how many spell points Sin will receive. Charisma also modifies the ‘Use Magic Device’ skill which I predict I will use quite often. I was able to make Sin’s charisma a 20 because she has a +2 race modifier to CHA for being a Drow elf. I also chose to max out Sin’s dexterity because that ability score affects both her AC modifier making her harder to hit and her attack bonus for when she will be using the repeating light crossbow. I was able to max Sin’s Dex to 18 giving her a +4 modifier to her AC and attack rolls with her crossbow. I placed the remaining 2 ability points into her constitution reducing her hit point penalty from -2/level to -1/level. This way, she will have more hit points and will be more likely to survive a hairy encounter.

Next are I must chose her skills. I can only add 4 points to any skill at level 1. If the skill is a class skill, I can add 4 ranks because each point gives a rank. If the skill is a cross-class skill, I can ojnly raise it to rank 2 because each point only raises those skills by 0.5. Lucky for me, bards have a lot of class skills. Also, I know I may add a bit of Sorcerer to this character in the future, so I don’t want to take any sorcerer class skills that bards do not get. I’m not sure if there are any such skills, but I would look it up before putting any points into a cross-class skill at this point. I have a total of 24 skill points to spend. I will max out my Use Magic Device skill with 4 ranks putting my total skill modifier at 9 because I get a +5 to UMD for my high CHA. I will also max out my diplomacy skill because I can use it to convince monsters to attack someone else. Diplomacy is also a CHA based skill, so its current modifier is also 9. Concentration is important to have for a spell caster. When a monster hits you in the middle of spell casting, you have to make a concentration check to see if you can complete your spell. Concentration is a Constitution (CON) based skill, which means that even when I put 4 ranks into it, the total modifier will only be 3, because Son’s CON is so low that it gives a -1 penalty to the skill check. I will max out Haggle to pay less for the things I buy from vendors and get more money from the things I sell to vendors. I’m gong to ignore jump and swim because there are common items in the game to enhance those skills. I will max out my perform skill so I can fascinate enemies at higher levels. With my last 4 skill points, I will max out my tumble skill so I can avoid enemy strikes while I am trying to diplomacize them to attack someone else. I will not be entering melee combat by choice. I want the deck stacked in my favor if anything decides to come after me.

Next I have to choose a feat to add to the already extensive feat list I receive for being a Drow Bard. There are a lot of choices. I would take the Repeating Light Crossbow feat at this level, but I can’t yet. I’ll have to wait for level 3 for that. I have a quandary here. I have three choices that all look very good right now. The first is Spell Penetration, which I will need at higher levels in order for my spells to do their job and affect monsters. Bards are innately worse at this than other casters, and I’ll need all the help I can get to make sure my spells are working. I won’t take this yet, because I won’t get a spell I can use this with for at least one or two more levels. I could also take Extend Spell which makes my enchantments last longer. This would be a great addition for both the buffing spells I plan to cast on my fellow adventurers, and for the crowd control spells I plan to cast on monsters. I will not take this yet because of the same reason that I didn’t take Spell Penetration. I won’t have spells that this will help for a few levels. I am going to take Rapid Reload to increase the speed I will be able to fire bolts at my enemies. This will improve the damage I can deal to monsters and my value to my party.

Lastly, I must chose a spell. Bards cannot chose spells in between rests. They must chose their spell list, and that’s all they get. I get 1 level 1 spell at first level. I’m choosing ‘Cure Light Wounds’ to heal myself and my fellow party members. I can act as a cleric, especially at low levels. This makes Sin more valuable to a party. I can always change this spell later for a few gold pieces. I probably will once I reach mid level range. I would rather have Otto’s Dance or Hypnotism once I reach level 5 and have Spell Penetration.

Now the character creation process is complete! I hope this description helps you create your first or next character in DDO.

Here’s a pcture of Sin in the opening area for DDO. See you next time!