Summary
When it comes to character creation inDungeons & Dragons, a lot of longtime DND players or even DMs will usually have their players start at level two or three. Level one, in some ways, is mostly relegated to first-time players, who have never so much as seen a d20 before, let alone rolled one.
However, if it’s been a while since you’ve played at first level, you might’ve forgotten some of these abilities and features that, in some ways, are actually kind of broken. Not all of them are going to work for every type of build, but you’d be surprised how much you can accomplish with these.
Key Feature
Gain Weapon Mastery Properties
Various classes in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, like barbarian, fighter, and ranger, can gain access to Weapon Mastery properties starting at level one. While these may not seem all that impactful, it’s important not to underestimate the value of well-timed or well-used Weapon Master properties.
When used correctly with the right weapons, Weapon Master properties like Nick or Vex can drastically change the tide of combat in your favor. Particularly at early levels, these properties tend to have more impact, whereas their functions tend to dwindle at higher levels of play.
Warden - Gain Extra Proficiencies
As a druid at first level, you can pick between two primal orders: either magician or warden. Selecting magician gives you bonuses to your Intelligence and an extra cantrip, which is useful. But, in actuality, the warden’s primal order can be a bit more useful at first level.
The warden’s ability allows druids who select this order to gain proficiency with martial weapons and training with medium armor. This can make ahuge difference for druids, particularly early on. Druids, of course, are by no means squishy, but varying your combat prowess beyond just your spell list can prove immensely useful.
Gain Advantage on Spells and Spell Save DCs
Innate Sorcery is a combat-focused ability that I, frankly, cannot believe exists at first level. As a sorcerer, you can use a bonus action to unleash your innate sorcery for one minute, during which you increase your spell save DC by one, and you gain advantage on spell attack rolls. Plus, you can use this feature twice per long rest.
Because the effect lasts for a minute and does not require concentration, you basically get ten rounds of combat with an advantage on your spell attack rolls. Obviously, you might run out of spells by that point, but it’s still amazing that this advantage can be grantedto a level one characterin Dungeons & Dragons.
Easier Access to Ritual Tag Spells
This ability is actually extremely underrated in my opinion. As a wizard at first level, you can cast any spell that has the ritual tag as a ritual, so long as the spell is in your spellbook. However, with this feature, you don’t need to have the spell prepared.
Obviously, if you want to cast spells instantaneously, that can pose a problem. But, generally speaking, this means you don’t have to worry about wasting prepared spells on things like Identify or Detect Magic. Rather, you can assume that you always have them prepared. This can really help flesh out a wizard’s spell book and leave room for plenty ofextra combat spells.
Healing
Paladins are highly underrated healers in many respects. Of course, at first level, paladins can already access various healing spells, depending on what they select. However, they also have an innate healing ability known as Lay on Hands, which allows them to replenish HP to allies or themselves equal to five times their paladin level.
Obviously, at first level, this means your pool of Lay on Hands is only equal to five. But, because most players at this level don’t have much more than ten HP, that means with one touch, you can heal a player for potentially over half their HP in a single flourish. Not too shabby for a first-level character.
Extra Damage
While some elements of the rogue class can leave something to be desired, ultimately, in terms of damage, rogues are still one of the best offensive classes out there. And that’s why it should be no surprise that Sneak Attack found its way onto this list as one of the most powerful damage-dealing abilities in the game.
At first level, you can impose an extra 1d6 of damage on foes if you gain Sneak Attack, which is gained by having Advantage on your roll, or if you have an ally within five feet of the target. Of course, the Sneak Attack ability only gets more powerful over time. But, considering how well this ability synergizes with having a natural advantage on your roll, level one rogues can expect to be getting the finishing blow most of the time on enemies with this feature in tow.
Heal Self
While fighters also have access to Weapon Mastery at first level, their more secretly broken feature that they get at character creation is actually Second Wind. This ability allows fighters to use a Bonus Action to regain HP equal to 1d10 plus their fighter level. They can also use this feature twice per long rest, and can regain one expended use on a short rest.
This means that, in first-level combat, a fighter can potentially heal themselves back up to full at least twice without help from a cleric or paladin. This is, frankly, amazing. Plus, the fact that it’s a Bonus Action is also amazing for your combat action economy.
Grant Buffs to Allies
Last but not least, bards, in my opinion, have one of the most unique and most powerful first level abilities in the game: Bardic Inspiration. While this is ultimately a support ability, at first level, its impact can be incredibly potent. As a bard at first level, you can use your bonus action to inspire another creature within 60 feet of yourself. In the 2024 Player’s Handbook rules, that ally can then use that d6 anytime within the next hour and add it to their d20 test.
Obviously, this has the most potent impact in terms of success or failure. You can use a Bardic Inspiration die to change a failure to a success in the drop of a hat. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
