Characters (4E)

4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons

Optional rules for character creation.

• Alternate Attribute Costs

Free Skill Selection

This option allows free selection of skills, while still ensuring that essential class skill requirements are still met. Members of any class have four free skill picks. Some classes get one or two bonus skills in addition to the four free picks. These are essential skills that are needed for the class, such as Religion for clerics or Arcana for wizards.

Class	Picks	Bonus
Cleric	4	Religion
Fighter	4
Paladin	4	Religion
Ranger	4	Dungeoneering or Nature or Streetwise
Rogue	4	Stealth & Thievery or Bluff & Streetwise or Acrobatics & Athletics
Warlock	4
Warlord	4
Wizard	4	Arcana

This option makes the extra skill selection equivalent for Humans and Eladrin.

Martial Arts Class Option

Before the arrival of the monk, any class can be made into a martial arts class by applying the following modifiers. This is based on the Chinese martial arts tradition, and can use quite a lot of different weapons.

• You lose all armor proficiencies except cloth armor and all shield proficiencies
• As long as you are wearing only cloth armor, you gain a +2 bonus to armor class, +1 more for each type of heavy armor you are proficient with.
  • If your class has proficiency in heavy armor, you have the option to use either Dexterity, Intelligence, or Constitution to AC while wearing light armor.
  • If your class had proficiency in light shields, gain the Two Weapon Defense feat.
  • If your class had proficiency in heavy shields, gain the Fencing and Fencing Stance feats.
• Give an unarmed attack with the following values: Proficiency +2, Damage 1d8, 1 Handed, Melee, Unarmed, with the Off-hand property. You can use this with any power that can be used with a melee weapon.
  • When using an unarmed attack, you can use the magical abilities of any one melee weapon you carry and are proficient in. You need not be wielding this weapon, but must be carrying it. Changing which carried weapon gives you a bonus is a minor action.