So this could be long and not completely appropriate to this thread. This is only for the character builder. It may also be covered by others. Love the over all. Here goes. I like the over all use. I realize you are going to fill in way more content as things progress.
1. On the Ability Scores fill in Page, you might want to add something to each score to let people know which one is primary and secondary for the class. I know most can remember from the class page or the books or memory, but if you want to just see which one is important, it might help.
2. On the Description Page, you have the personal characteristics in one section and then a couple of other sections and then the suggested characteristics. Could you blend them together where you have Flaws and instead of typing, just have a drop down with the options as well as a fill in the blank section, if you don't like the options. It just seems weirdly formatted.
3. The Equipment page. First you start with a list of things that you should auto start with for class/background. I looked over it and assumed it would auto populate for my character. Nope. Well that sucked. So I thought I would go back look what I get and populate, but for some reason that screen does not pop up. So I figured a glitch. So I started adding stuff. Little confusing, but ok. If you could make it auto populate both the starting equipment / money and allow the player to modify from there
4. This one is personal preference. I made a Wizard and gave him a staff, thinking its his focus and weapon. It only populates for gear, any way to make it a weapon/gear for the wizards.
5. Before you get an actual character sheet, is it possible to see all your selections before you get there. I choose Wizard/Sage background. So I accidentally choose History twice. Instead of skipping back pages, is there anyway to see the whole character and make sure everything flows the way you want.
6. When I do get to the character sheet, a lot of the information is populated the way I like. But still some questions.
First, like before my staff is not considered a weapon. Okay, but my prepared spell of Magic Missile is not listed as an attack. I do see it farther down in spells, but it looks like it is supposed to be up in the attacks as well.
I would also like the spells to be listed such that Cantrips 1,2,3,... and then level 1... etc.
The Proficiencies tab could be a little more convenient with all the languages grouped together, all the weapon proficiencies grouped together all the non weapon proficiencies grouped together....
Once you have a printable version, areas near some of the main working areas (HP, XP) would be beneficial.
I hope all this helps, it looks great.
Edit**
Forgot a problem. When I was doing the spells for my Wizard to pick the ones in my spell book, I was level 1. So it listed Cantrips and some of the 1st level stuff. Then I had to expand it to see more 1st level. That is fine. But then I clicked on one and the list went back to previous the start point. So if I wanted to change it, then I need to expand again. Kind of inconvenient, I am pretty sure not how you wanted the system to work. Love the way the compendium for spells look, so if you switch the character creation setup to that system, would be great.
Loving what you guys have put together so far, but it looks like some things are missing from the standard books, mainly races like the Drow. And do you guys have a timeline for adding things like Volo's Guide to Monsters and the additional races in it too?
Also, one thing that really, really bugs me about character creators is that they always assume that backgrounds are strictly set. The CORE (and I want to stress that part, this is NOT a variant rule) rule for backgrounds is that the skill/tool/language/feature choices are suggestions and that you do not have to have the ones suggested with each background. Limiting that choice and continuing the mistaken belief, especially for new players, that you're stuck choosing backgrounds as a package rather than as options, is very frustrating to see.
I basically came here to post this. Backgrounds should be customizable. 2 choices out of a pool of all skills, 2 choices out of a pool of all language and tool proficiencies (including thieves tools!). Use the list of backgrounds to chose the background feature and to allow quick selection of role play traits - which should also be very customizable.
That is a perfectly valid way to do it, with the form fillable PDFs. It would just be nice to be fully integrated.
I'm not arguing against how it is now, I just think it would be nice to have options. Maybe that's not possible at this phase, when they are just trying to roll things out, but it might be nice down the line.
In any case, lest anyone think I'm unsatisfied with the product, I am not, I just have a wishlist. :-)
edit: since it didn't quote - this was in response to someone responding to my suggestion that we be able to edit direct from a character sheet, pointing out the existence of fillable sheets from other sources that could then be done with the compendium at hand.)
Loving the quick build option for character generation. I think I just stumbled onto my next character while testing it out.
However it has brought to my attention that while racial abilities that grant additional spells are included in the relevant section (ie Fire Genasi's Reach to the Blaze shows up under spells and attacks) it doesn't actually add the appropriate spells/spell attacks to these areas, it only shows the block of text for the racial ability explain that they should be added. It would be real nice if the appropriate spells were actually added in. I tried to do it manually, but wasn't able to due to not have an open "known spells/cantrips" slot open or possible the spells not being accessible to my class.
Half elf racial bonus is only adding the +2 to charisma and not the +1's to the additional abilities!
The background section could use some work. I pick my background before skills before I select my class skills to avoid the double down on the same skills so moving it to be before class might be a way around that. The Personality traits should be have an option to be customer filled or have a drop own so that you don't have to copy and paste them from elsewhere on the page into their boxes. The bonus language list also has some monsters on it and not just the languages which is weird, like Blink Dog and giant elk, i haven't seen those languages listed in the books.The character description comes from race but is it tabs away from the details so I have to jump back and forth across the tabs.
With the equipment page it is just unwieldy. The starting equipment options are listed but then i have to hunt them down in the integument list, would be better if they could be selected like other options such as skills. Also be able to filter out magic weapons with a check box or something. It is pain trying to get just a normal greatsword when i have to scroll past all of the magic ones, same goes for all equipment selection.
Being able to change the total number of points in a point buy would be nice for when playing a higher powered game.
With the rolled HP it would be nice if you just had to add the new amount you got this level rather than having to add your roll to the rolled total, not a big deal but it would be nice to have it be a little more intuitive since you cannot roll more than your hitdice(ie. d6 ro d10) so It took a double take to work out that was for total rolled HP and not by level rolled HP.
Leveling up could be made much easier by having a pop up that you shows the options gained at that level rather than having to go back through the whole character creation process almost all over again. Just add the new features/math to the character sheet for me when there is nothing to chose between. So currently to go from a level 4 paladin to a level 5, I have to add experience, set it to level 5, then select edit character, push the class tab, click to move the page from the Class description page to the class level page, change my class level to 5, then manage my HP and add my new rolled HP to the total rolled value manually rather than just my new roll, then go back to the character sheet just to get Extra Attack added to my sheet and the 6 new HP, long process for something that is super simple. I get that this is for multiclass options but why not have that as an option when you add the the exp or level to chose between multiclass or same class to avoid page hoping to add a single class feature, or maybe be able to turn off multiclassing so if you don't want to so you can cut that whole thing out if you plan on going straight through with one class.
Not a way to add additional skills that you can pick up through down time or story reasons.
It would be nice to change equipped weapons by an option just selecting the weapon and checking an equipped box, rather than having to open the manage equipment, open the equipment group you want and then equip the new gear, it would be nice to not have to open Manage equipment for that because otherwise I dont see the benefit of not just flagging every weapon you own as equipped. The system lets me equip, chainmail, plate, shield and a two handed weapon at the same time So my AC is static with the shield bonus even if i have a two handed weapon equipped that would prevent the shield from being used.
Things that are great:
Being able to see what is coming in future levels- I know the classes well but this is a nice feature for those that don't have the books or are unfamiliar with the classes to be able to plan at what they have coming.
I really like that it keeps track of limited use class features, that makes it easier to track and that rest options refresh everything for me, great addition!
The spell casting where it shows prepared spells, what they do and what level you cast them at/can cast them at is also very helpful!
Being able to see your resistances when you check your defenses and seeing if that resistance comes from a magic item.
having a digital sheet for easy tracking!
It is a nice tool that with refinement I can see it becoming pretty helpful for people that are going digital. My biggest gripe with it is that its pretty clunky and you have to constantly navigate away from the sheet to do anything with it. I might notice some more later, but these were the things that jumped out to me right away.
Bug: If you choose a background and than want to go back to "-- Choose an Option --" (Should be without a cappital btw) than app will start loadinging and will never finnish it.
when making a new character, and adding equipment, you can't see the list of starting options at the same time as searching for the equipment to add. This was rather annoying bouncing between the "what can I add again?", and equipment screens. Also are we supposed to be able to add the starting gold on the screen that tells you what it is? I didn't see an option for that(admittedly I could have missed it).
Fully agree with everyone saying that backgrounds should be selected before class. Also, I'm really eager for customizable backgrounds.
In general, I'd like some more manual control over my character sheet. If there's a bug in the character builder, I'd like to at least be able to fix things manually. For starters, manual selection and editing of skill proficiencies would be great.
Spell selection is a bit tedious right now. At minimum, I'd like a spell level drop down menu so I can jump immediately to the higher level spells I'm unlocking. Fully expecting this to change with other features like favorites, though.
The Manage Experience page and handling of level ups is poorly designed. There's no need to keep track of class levels and character level separately; your overall level should simply be calculated from the total of your class levels. Ideally, the Manage Experience page should give me quick access to a list to all of my classes, with a separate level drop-down for each. If possible, tying the level drop-down menus together with each other (and an optional experience field) could create a sort of zero-sum system. This would eliminate much of the existing confusion when leveling up a character's overall level but not updating their class level(s).
When creating a character, you get to a point to select starting equipment. You should be able to select the starting equipment from there, not look them up. Also, when you get starting equipment from your background, it should be added automatically. I look forward to using this in my campaigns. It has a lot of promise.
My wishlist, mostly from a campaign management perspective:
Custom campaign-specific fields on the character sheet. When I make a campaign, I can specify custom fields on the sheet for various things, including their type (number, text, or drop-down), and valid options (min number, max number, what the drop-down options are), and permissions (if the player can view or edit the field). People who create characters for the campaign get these fields added to their character sheet. If the player is not given any permissions, it becomes a private DM field for tracking things. Otherwise, they can view and possibly edit it as well.
Ability to specify other rules that affect the character sheet, such as locking it into point buy (including # of points if using non-standard point buy), blacklisting certain races from the race selection, customizing the list of languages, or adding optional ability scores (sanity/honor -- I know those aren't in the SRD/Basic Rules so I'm not expecting them during beta)
Might have more, but won't know until I start using it in conjunction with my upcoming PbP.
The spells window is small, which is good for an overview. However, if you want to expand the spell description, that small window becomes a bit unwieldy. It would be great to be able to open a separate spell list window that shows only known or prepared spells. This could be tied into the spell list compendium as an advanced filter option. A filter like "Known by [Character A]" or "Prepared by [Character B]."
When building a character, the ability score selection should be first in the process. Once ability scores are chosen, then the character's race and class can be picked. If 'I' the player chooses a class/ race and then the array they receive does not support those options the player is forced to go back and adjust to compensate for the scores they received. This makes them potentially need to go through the menus twice.
first of all congrats and awesome job!!! I have a suggestion or let's better say a wish regarding the character sheet.
How about a dynamic display of damage a spell can deal depending on the spell slot I select?
So let's say I open up my character sheet and see in the attacks section that I have as a spell attack "Guiding Bolt". If I expand the list, I can see all sorts of important information and I even have the option to choose the level, at which I want to cast it.
What if next to the "Cast level" (or at least on the same line), I could see the dice I have to roll according to the level I choose? For example, if I cast it on level 1 I would see "4d6" but if I choose to cast it at 3rd level it would display "6d6".
If this has already been suggested, then I'm sorry and thanks.
Improvement: Automatically add equipment for the class and background when creating a new character. Choices should be presented with descriptions of the item you pick between. Currently manually searching for and adding all the equipment seems like unnecessary manual work. Adding a pack should add all the items inside it. Maybe in a dropdown so you can collapse/expand the pack? This could be made general for all item bundles and support custom bundles at a later time.
Seconded, with the caveat that there should be a button to automatically add the class/background inventory rather than simply adding it. Rolling for random money and purchasing inventory that way allows for a great deal more flexibility.
Also, I would like to see any container (such as a backpack, or a bag of holding) be given some sort of container property as well as its capacity so that in your manage gear screen you can 'place' items in that container, which can then be expanded/collapsed in your digital character sheet. On my paper character sheets I like to organize gear by naming the container and listing the items inside that container underneath, indented slightly.
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So this could be long and not completely appropriate to this thread. This is only for the character builder. It may also be covered by others. Love the over all. Here goes. I like the over all use. I realize you are going to fill in way more content as things progress.
1. On the Ability Scores fill in Page, you might want to add something to each score to let people know which one is primary and secondary for the class. I know most can remember from the class page or the books or memory, but if you want to just see which one is important, it might help.
2. On the Description Page, you have the personal characteristics in one section and then a couple of other sections and then the suggested characteristics. Could you blend them together where you have Flaws and instead of typing, just have a drop down with the options as well as a fill in the blank section, if you don't like the options. It just seems weirdly formatted.
3. The Equipment page. First you start with a list of things that you should auto start with for class/background. I looked over it and assumed it would auto populate for my character. Nope. Well that sucked. So I thought I would go back look what I get and populate, but for some reason that screen does not pop up. So I figured a glitch. So I started adding stuff. Little confusing, but ok. If you could make it auto populate both the starting equipment / money and allow the player to modify from there
4. This one is personal preference. I made a Wizard and gave him a staff, thinking its his focus and weapon. It only populates for gear, any way to make it a weapon/gear for the wizards.
5. Before you get an actual character sheet, is it possible to see all your selections before you get there. I choose Wizard/Sage background. So I accidentally choose History twice. Instead of skipping back pages, is there anyway to see the whole character and make sure everything flows the way you want.
6. When I do get to the character sheet, a lot of the information is populated the way I like. But still some questions.
First, like before my staff is not considered a weapon. Okay, but my prepared spell of Magic Missile is not listed as an attack. I do see it farther down in spells, but it looks like it is supposed to be up in the attacks as well.
I would also like the spells to be listed such that Cantrips 1,2,3,... and then level 1... etc.
The Proficiencies tab could be a little more convenient with all the languages grouped together, all the weapon proficiencies grouped together all the non weapon proficiencies grouped together....
Once you have a printable version, areas near some of the main working areas (HP, XP) would be beneficial.
I hope all this helps, it looks great.
Edit**
Forgot a problem. When I was doing the spells for my Wizard to pick the ones in my spell book, I was level 1. So it listed Cantrips and some of the 1st level stuff. Then I had to expand it to see more 1st level. That is fine. But then I clicked on one and the list went back to previous the start point. So if I wanted to change it, then I need to expand again. Kind of inconvenient, I am pretty sure not how you wanted the system to work. Love the way the compendium for spells look, so if you switch the character creation setup to that system, would be great.
random character generator - human variant warlock gives the snerfeblin feat (which is gnome only)????
Congratulations on your release and thank you for the product.
1. The monks unarmed strikes aren't showing up in the attack section. (human monk)
2. Equipment management is very tedious, it needs to be totally reworked.
Overall I like the general idea and direction of the builder.....
NOW BACK TO WORK!!!!
Loving what you guys have put together so far, but it looks like some things are missing from the standard books, mainly races like the Drow. And do you guys have a timeline for adding things like Volo's Guide to Monsters and the additional races in it too?
That is a perfectly valid way to do it, with the form fillable PDFs. It would just be nice to be fully integrated.
I'm not arguing against how it is now, I just think it would be nice to have options. Maybe that's not possible at this phase, when they are just trying to roll things out, but it might be nice down the line.
In any case, lest anyone think I'm unsatisfied with the product, I am not, I just have a wishlist. :-)
edit: since it didn't quote - this was in response to someone responding to my suggestion that we be able to edit direct from a character sheet, pointing out the existence of fillable sheets from other sources that could then be done with the compendium at hand.)
We welcome all wishlists! :D
Lets make this something that everyone will love.
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Loving the quick build option for character generation. I think I just stumbled onto my next character while testing it out.
However it has brought to my attention that while racial abilities that grant additional spells are included in the relevant section (ie Fire Genasi's Reach to the Blaze shows up under spells and attacks) it doesn't actually add the appropriate spells/spell attacks to these areas, it only shows the block of text for the racial ability explain that they should be added. It would be real nice if the appropriate spells were actually added in. I tried to do it manually, but wasn't able to due to not have an open "known spells/cantrips" slot open or possible the spells not being accessible to my class.
Here are my thoughts on the character builder:
Things that are great:
It is a nice tool that with refinement I can see it becoming pretty helpful for people that are going digital. My biggest gripe with it is that its pretty clunky and you have to constantly navigate away from the sheet to do anything with it. I might notice some more later, but these were the things that jumped out to me right away.
"The Best Status Effect Is Death" WebDM
Bug: If you choose a background and than want to go back to "-- Choose an Option --" (Should be without a cappital btw) than app will start loadinging and will never finnish it.
when making a new character, and adding equipment, you can't see the list of starting options at the same time as searching for the equipment to add. This was rather annoying bouncing between the "what can I add again?", and equipment screens. Also are we supposed to be able to add the starting gold on the screen that tells you what it is? I didn't see an option for that(admittedly I could have missed it).
A few random notes/ideas:
When creating a character, you get to a point to select starting equipment. You should be able to select the starting equipment from there, not look them up. Also, when you get starting equipment from your background, it should be added automatically. I look forward to using this in my campaigns. It has a lot of promise.
My wishlist, mostly from a campaign management perspective:
Might have more, but won't know until I start using it in conjunction with my upcoming PbP.
The spells window is small, which is good for an overview. However, if you want to expand the spell description, that small window becomes a bit unwieldy. It would be great to be able to open a separate spell list window that shows only known or prepared spells. This could be tied into the spell list compendium as an advanced filter option. A filter like "Known by [Character A]" or "Prepared by [Character B]."
This pertains to the Standard Character builder:
When building a character, the ability score selection should be first in the process. Once ability scores are chosen, then the character's race and class can be picked. If 'I' the player chooses a class/ race and then the array they receive does not support those options the player is forced to go back and adjust to compensate for the scores they received. This makes them potentially need to go through the menus twice.
Bug Report: Prepared Spells get locked when selecting a Paladin Oath class feature.
Repro:
1. Create a paladin at 5th level or higher
2. Click Manage Spells and select spells to prepare ("Lesser Restoration" and one other)
3. go back to the paladin screen and select the Oath class feature.
4. Manage spells again
5. Lesser Restoration is now "Always prepared" but you cannot prepare the correct number of spells. One of the slots for prepared spells is locked in.
Expected behavior:
An "always prepared" would free up the "prepared" slot and allow me to prepare an additional spell.
Dear D&D Beyond Team,
first of all congrats and awesome job!!!
I have a suggestion or let's better say a wish regarding the character sheet.
How about a dynamic display of damage a spell can deal depending on the spell slot I select?
So let's say I open up my character sheet and see in the attacks section that I have as a spell attack "Guiding Bolt".
If I expand the list, I can see all sorts of important information and I even have the option to choose the level, at which I want to cast it.
What if next to the "Cast level" (or at least on the same line), I could see the dice I have to roll according to the level I choose?
For example, if I cast it on level 1 I would see "4d6" but if I choose to cast it at 3rd level it would display "6d6".
If this has already been suggested, then I'm sorry and thanks.
Till later
TheDarkLoS