I'd suggest having players choose Background before asking them what skill proficiencies they want for their class. The background ones are set (well, for many players, above poster excepted) while the class proficiencies offer more leeway, leading to situations where players miss out on skills because they choose class ones before being granted the ones that come with their chosen background.
I Second This! I think the order for making your character should be race> abilities> background>class>skills>spells; With the arrows meaning next.I think this would be a lot easier for the newbies.
Also Loving the character portrait options.
I disagree. Instead, the race, class, and background choice should be as is, and *then* you pick skills, based on what your available choices are and what is autotrained by those choices. Ie, "proficiencies" should be a step in the process.
and the background section needs an option to build a background, per the phb.
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
I second this. There are too many subclasses, or subraces in the PHB that are not offered in DDB. Several of the backgrounds are missing as well. Until those go in, this is not suitable for any of my characters, or most of my friend's characters. I don't have a single character of the subclasses given. That means I can't import any of my characters to play with the new features and instead have to start from scratch for a character I am most likely not going to use.
There is also the matter of the sword coast and volo's guide, which offers a lot of new options that we use and are not available here.
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
I second this. There are too many subclasses, or subraces in the PHB that are not offered in DDB. Several of the backgrounds are missing as well. Until those go in, this is not suitable for any of my characters, or most of my friend's characters. I don't have a single character of the subclasses given. That means I can't import any of my characters to play with the new features and instead have to start from scratch for a character I am most likely not going to use.
There is also the matter of the sword coast and volo's guide, which offers a lot of new options that we use and are not available here.
For the beta, only the rules and options provided in the D&D 5th edition SRD, D&D 5th edition Basic Rules, Elemental Evil Companion are available in Beyond. Once the full platform launches later this summer, the core rule books and others will be available for purchase, and the content within will be available for those that purchase, or have access through a DM's subscription.
Probably already mentioned but I tried to make a human variant and when I went to choose a Feat the only available ones were:
- Choose a Feat - Grappler Svirfneblin Magic
That can't be right.
For the beta, only the rules and options provided in the D&D 5th edition SRD, D&D 5th edition Basic Rules, Elemental Evil Companion are available in Beyond. Once the full platform launches later this summer, the core rule books and others will be available for purchase, and the content within will be available for those that purchase, or have access through a DM's subscription.
Okay this is probably a total newb question, but I can't seem to find a way to make a link to my character that other people can view on the forums. Isn't that one of the desired uses of the digital sheets for play by post games? If I just don't know how to do it, somebody please explain it to me. Thanks! Temo
I really think we need something better to help guide players towards selecting skills.
As an alternative to changing the order of building a character (race, background, then class), you could provide a skill proficiency selection page that shows which skills come from which source, but list them all together. Something that maybe shows 2 preselected options from class, 2 open slots from race, and 2 preselected options from background all on the same page. That would help the player see what has already been selected from their character options and which "slots" are open. It might be nice to have a drag and drop interface where you can see all of the available skills instead of hiding all the options under a menu.
On the left would be slots for all the skills. On the right would be the list of skills you can choose separated by race, class, and background source. The skills that are duplicates in each of those three sections would be clearly marked as "also available from another character option" so players can clearly see which options are NOT duplicated. Also, the "mandatory" options would be clearly marked (and not draggable). The UI would indicate how many choices are still remaining for each source so you know when everything has been filled out. Maybe mark duplicate choices in something bold so players know they picked an option from one source that is mandatory from another source (race, class, background).
This skill selection page could be placed in the middle of the character creation flow, or it could be available outside of the normal flow as a review step, or something that is only available in edit mode. I think it's worth rethinking how the book explains the process to create something that works better for an online character management tool
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
I second this. There are too many subclasses, or subraces in the PHB that are not offered in DDB. Several of the backgrounds are missing as well. Until those go in, this is not suitable for any of my characters, or most of my friend's characters. I don't have a single character of the subclasses given. That means I can't import any of my characters to play with the new features and instead have to start from scratch for a character I am most likely not going to use.
There is also the matter of the sword coast and volo's guide, which offers a lot of new options that we use and are not available here.
For the beta, only the rules and options provided in the D&D 5th edition SRD, D&D 5th edition Basic Rules, Elemental Evil Companion are available in Beyond. Once the full platform launches later this summer, the core rule books and others will be available for purchase, and the content within will be available for those that purchase, or have access through a DM's subscription.
That makes sense for the Sword Coast and Volo's guide points. But that doesn't make sense for the lack of options from the PHB, namely subclasses and feats. It's a rather crippling feature to remove when so much else is available. Why go through and add nearly every race from EE but NOT the subclasses from PHB for the beta test? The PHB content should come first, I agree, but at least finish putting things in the PHB on here.
Thoughts on the character builder: Lots of bugs, expected with a beta test. Noticeable ones have been spinning wheel of death and human variant stat increases not calculating.
In terms of design I have some issues with the character view. Abilities take up far more room than necessary. Having an option to shrink it to just view the mod and save in a horizontal row would be really nice. Similarly with the attacks you show the to hit so to actually use the ability you need to expand it rather than having all the information right there to view at a glance. (see illustration) another really nice feature would be the ability to pin class and race features to the top so we can keep a short list without having to have them all open taking up a ton of space. Being able to drag and drop or have a button to add from your starter equipment is pretty obvious and it's kinda crazy that isn't already there.
It's a start but it feels really lacking right now like it wasn't designed by people who were actually looking to play with it instead of people who kinda understood what it was for but not really.
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
I second this. There are too many subclasses, or subraces in the PHB that are not offered in DDB. Several of the backgrounds are missing as well. Until those go in, this is not suitable for any of my characters, or most of my friend's characters. I don't have a single character of the subclasses given. That means I can't import any of my characters to play with the new features and instead have to start from scratch for a character I am most likely not going to use.
There is also the matter of the sword coast and volo's guide, which offers a lot of new options that we use and are not available here.
For the beta, only the rules and options provided in the D&D 5th edition SRD, D&D 5th edition Basic Rules, Elemental Evil Companion are available in Beyond. Once the full platform launches later this summer, the core rule books and others will be available for purchase, and the content within will be available for those that purchase, or have access through a DM's subscription.
That makes sense for the Sword Coast and Volo's guide points. But that doesn't make sense for the lack of options from the PHB, namely subclasses and feats. It's a rather crippling feature to remove when so much else is available. Why go through and add nearly every race from EE but NOT the subclasses from PHB for the beta test? The PHB content should come first, I agree, but at least finish putting things in the PHB on here.
It's the difference between what Wizards of the Coast has given away for free and what requires a purchase. You need to purchase the Player's Handbook. You can download the SRD, Basic Rules, and EE supplement for free.
Under "Attacks". I liked that it ONLY has equipped weapons on it. With Characters (Dragonborn, Aakaroka, etc...) that have Racial attacks (Dragon Breath, Talons), they should also be listed under Attacks". Also, the character sheet does not have the extra damage when a Barbarian is raging. That should be under "Attacks" as a side note, like you did under "Saving Throws"
Under "Attacks". I liked that it ONLY has equipped weapons on it. With Characters (Dragonborn, Aakaroka, etc...) that have Racial attacks (Dragon Breath, Talons), they should also be listed under Attacks". Also, the character sheet does not have the extra damage when a Barbarian is raging. That should be under "Attacks" as a side note, like you did under "Saving Throws"
In the release notes, devs said that unarmed strike is currently not working. They are working on it.
Great job I'm loving what I see so far! one thing that I would like to see though, would be the ability to quickly edit one thing on the character sheet, after it has been created, just by clicking on it. I find it a bit cumbersome to have to go through the whole edit process again just to change one thing I missed, and even then I am finding it hard to find what I want to edit. I think the ability to just click on what it is you want to change would simplify it a lot more and make it go a bit quicker.
Variant Human only shows grappler and Svirvneblin Magic feats.
For the beta, only the rules and options provided in the D&D 5th edition SRD, D&D 5th edition Basic Rules, Elemental Evil Companion are available in Beyond. Once the full platform launches later this summer, the core rule books and others will be available for purchase, and the content within will be available for those that purchase, or have access through a DM's subscription.
Adding the Arrows item through Manage Equipment in the Character Builder does not add to the character's list of equipment. Any items added after attempting to add Arrows also does not add. Restarting the character builder resolves the issue until adding Arrows is attempted again.
We do bones, motherf***ker!
This is a great start to the character creator. I created one from scratch and attempted to import my character I've had for years. Biggest issue I see so far is the lack of choices in subclasses, such as the Warlock patron selection, or the Paladin oath selection. Both only have one option so I was not able to fully transfer my oath of ancients paladin, devotion was the on,y choice. And Fey was the only patronage to select for warlock.
i'd also like to see the races from Volo's and other texts added
Hey Guys,
Probably already mentioned but I tried to make a human variant and when I went to choose a Feat the only available ones were:
- Choose a Feat -
Grappler
Svirfneblin Magic
That can't be right.
Okay this is probably a total newb question, but I can't seem to find a way to make a link to my character that other people can view on the forums. Isn't that one of the desired uses of the digital sheets for play by post games? If I just don't know how to do it, somebody please explain it to me. Thanks! Temo
I really think we need something better to help guide players towards selecting skills.
As an alternative to changing the order of building a character (race, background, then class), you could provide a skill proficiency selection page that shows which skills come from which source, but list them all together. Something that maybe shows 2 preselected options from class, 2 open slots from race, and 2 preselected options from background all on the same page. That would help the player see what has already been selected from their character options and which "slots" are open. It might be nice to have a drag and drop interface where you can see all of the available skills instead of hiding all the options under a menu.
On the left would be slots for all the skills. On the right would be the list of skills you can choose separated by race, class, and background source. The skills that are duplicates in each of those three sections would be clearly marked as "also available from another character option" so players can clearly see which options are NOT duplicated. Also, the "mandatory" options would be clearly marked (and not draggable). The UI would indicate how many choices are still remaining for each source so you know when everything has been filled out. Maybe mark duplicate choices in something bold so players know they picked an option from one source that is mandatory from another source (race, class, background).
This skill selection page could be placed in the middle of the character creation flow, or it could be available outside of the normal flow as a review step, or something that is only available in edit mode. I think it's worth rethinking how the book explains the process to create something that works better for an online character management tool
It is not a matter of what test now and what later, it is a matter of copyright. The PHB has to come with a price, it is not free.
Thoughts on the character builder: Lots of bugs, expected with a beta test. Noticeable ones have been spinning wheel of death and human variant stat increases not calculating.
In terms of design I have some issues with the character view. Abilities take up far more room than necessary. Having an option to shrink it to just view the mod and save in a horizontal row would be really nice. Similarly with the attacks you show the to hit so to actually use the ability you need to expand it rather than having all the information right there to view at a glance. (see illustration) another really nice feature would be the ability to pin class and race features to the top so we can keep a short list without having to have them all open taking up a ton of space. Being able to drag and drop or have a button to add from your starter equipment is pretty obvious and it's kinda crazy that isn't already there.
It's a start but it feels really lacking right now like it wasn't designed by people who were actually looking to play with it instead of people who kinda understood what it was for but not really.
I'm on the DM's Guild: click here
Under "Attacks". I liked that it ONLY has equipped weapons on it. With Characters (Dragonborn, Aakaroka, etc...) that have Racial attacks (Dragon Breath, Talons), they should also be listed under Attacks". Also, the character sheet does not have the extra damage when a Barbarian is raging. That should be under "Attacks" as a side note, like you did under "Saving Throws"
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
In the release notes, devs said that unarmed strike is currently not working. They are working on it.
Great job I'm loving what I see so far! one thing that I would like to see though, would be the ability to quickly edit one thing on the character sheet, after it has been created, just by clicking on it. I find it a bit cumbersome to have to go through the whole edit process again just to change one thing I missed, and even then I am finding it hard to find what I want to edit. I think the ability to just click on what it is you want to change would simplify it a lot more and make it go a bit quicker.
Variant Human only shows grappler and Svirvneblin Magic feats.
Adding the Arrows item through Manage Equipment in the Character Builder does not add to the character's list of equipment. Any items added after attempting to add Arrows also does not add. Restarting the character builder resolves the issue until adding Arrows is attempted again.
Right you are. Thanks for setting me straight on that!