How to Read a D&D 5e Character Sheet

Your D&D character sheet is the most important document you'll have at the table. It's your hero's resume, their inventory, and their status screen all in one. It can look intimidating at first, full of boxes and numbers, but it’s organized into logical sections that are easy to understand once you know what to look for. This guide will serve as your translator, turning that dense page into a clear and accessible dashboard for your hero.

The Header: Your Hero's Identity

The top section of the sheet holds the most fundamental information about your character, the details that define who they are at a glance:

• Character Name: This is what everyone at the table will call you. Choose something you like saying!
• Class & Level: Your character's profession and how powerful they are. For example, "Fighter 5" means you are a 5th-level Fighter.
• Race: Your character's species, like Elf, Dwarf, or Human.
• Background: Your character's life before adventuring, such as Soldier, Acolyte, or Criminal. This choice grants you skills and story hooks.
• Alignment: A two-word summary of your character's moral and ethical compass (e.g., Lawful Good, Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil). It's a guideline, not a straitjacket.

The Six Ability Scores: The Engine of Your Character

These six numbers are the absolute foundation of your character's capabilities. Every other stat on your sheet is derived from them. Each score has a main number (e.g., 16) and a modifier (e.g., +3). The modifier is the crucial part—it's the number you'll actually add to your d20 rolls.

• Strength (STR): Represents physical power. It’s used for melee attacks with swords and axes, kicking down doors, and feats of raw athleticism.
• Dexterity (DEX): Measures agility, reflexes, and balance. It’s used for ranged attacks with bows, dodging fireballs, moving silently, and picking locks.
• Constitution (CON): Represents health, stamina, and vital force. It's the most important score for determining your hit points.
• Intelligence (INT): Governs reasoning and memory. It’s the key ability for Wizards and is used when you need to recall lore, investigate a scene, or decipher a script.
• Wisdom (WIS): Represents awareness, intuition, and attunement to the world. It’s crucial for Perception checks to spot danger and is the spellcasting ability for Clerics and Druids.
• Charisma (CHA): The force of your personality. It’s not just about being likable; it's about your ability to impose your will on others, whether through charm, intimidation, or performance. Bards, Paladins, and Sorcerers use it for their magic.

Combat Numbers: Staying Alive

This section at the top-middle of the sheet contains your vital statistics for any fight.

• Armor Class (AC): The number an enemy must beat with their attack roll to hit you. It's determined by your armor, your shield, and sometimes your Dexterity modifier.
• Initiative: This is a Dexterity check you make at the start of combat to determine your place in the turn order.
• Speed: How far your character can move in one round, usually measured in feet.
• Hit Points (HP): Your health. Your Hit Point Maximum is the most HP you can have. Your Current Hit Points track how much damage you've taken. When you reach 0 HP, you fall unconscious.
• Hit Dice: A pool of dice you can use during a short rest to regain lost hit points. The type of die is determined by your class.

Attacks and Spellcasting: How You Fight

This box is your quick-reference for combat. It lists your common weapons and the spells you can cast. For each weapon, it will show you the exact numbers to use:

• Attack Bonus: The number you add to your d20 roll when you attack (e.g., `+5`).
• Damage: The dice you roll for damage if you hit, plus any modifier (e.g., `1d8 + 3 slashing`).

If you're a spellcaster, this section will list your spell save DC (the number an enemy has to beat to resist your spell) and your spell attack bonus.

Skills: What You're Good At

Found on the left side of the sheet, Skills are specific applications of your ability scores. When the DM asks you to make an Athletics check, that’s a Strength skill. Stealth is a Dexterity skill, and Persuasion is a Charisma skill.

Next to each skill is a little bubble. If that bubble is filled in, it means you are proficient in that skill. This is a huge deal! It means you get to add your Proficiency Bonus—a bonus that increases as you level up—to any check you make with that skill. This is what separates a character who is just strong from one who is a trained athlete.