You have a wonderful idea for a Background and want to bring it to life on D&D Beyond, but you’re not sure how to do it effectively while making sure that all the benefits and features show up on your character sheet without any issues. Well, this guide will aim to resolve that - I will be going through the full homebrew creator for Backgrounds and explaining what each section (and subsequently each option) does and how to utilize them. To clarify, this is NOT a guide to conceptualize or design a background - this is to work out the nitty-gritty details and working within the forms of D&D Beyond. If you’d like to read a guide that helps with designing homebrew backgrounds, I would recommend checking out this article from James Introcaso.
Basic Information:
The majority of these fields are what will appear and show up on the actual background page itself. Think of it as what shows up when another person looks at your homebrew background (we’ll delve into the mechanical aspects later on in this guide).
Name:This is where you name your background. Version:You can use this to signify changes you’ve made to your homebrew.
Introduction:This is the flavor text that you use to open with. This will often define what the background will entail and how it can integrate with a character.
Proficiencies and Descriptions:
Skill/Tool/Language Proficiencies: This is how you inform people which skills, tools, and/or languages are granted via this background. Typically, Wizards of the Coast (and by extension D&D Beyond) will just list them rather than providing flavor text.
Equipment Description: This is where you would list all of the equipment that this background provides.
Background-Specific Table: This is where you can add a description for the extra (rollable) table that may be relevant to your background. For example, the Criminal background has a description preceding the "Criminal Specialty" table providing some fluff and how to best utilize the table when exploring that aspect of the background.
Feature Name/Description: This is where you describe the cool ability that your background gives you – something that ties your character to your background. A good example is the Soldier’s feature Military Rank and the following description about what it does.
Variant Name/Description/Feature/Feature Description:These sections are basically like the above-mentioned fields but give you a way to provide an alternate approach to that background. For example, the Criminal Background also has the Spy variant.
Suggested Characteristics Description:This allows you to provide the description for the tables that people will roll on for Personality Traits, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw.
Spell List Introduction/Extended Description: This lets you describe or talk about any additional spells that might be granted to you for taking this background. There’s a section later that allows us to specify what spells will be added to the list of potential spells your character can pick from (if they can cast spells).
Contacts Description: This section lets you describe the table of contacts that your background may provide.
Background Tags: This lets you add relevant tags for your backgrounds should you wish to submit it to public homebrew. Just as a note, you don’t need to submit your homebrew to share it with players in your campaign!
Modifiers:
Once we’ve saved our homebrew (after filling out the required fields in the Basic Information section), we see these:
This is the real meat of it; this is how we tell our homebrew background how to function with and interact with the character builder and sheet! Let’s go through each one:
Skill/Tool/Language Proficiencies
These sections are how the background tells the character sheet what our character has learned as a result of taking this background. I’ve lumped them together because they follow the same core process (and are largely interchangeable).
This screen is what we see when we click on “Add a Skill Proficiency”. When you click in the white field underneath “Skills to choose from”. You’ll see a list of all of the current skills in D&D with the option to click on one in order to have it appear in that empty field. The same will apply on the Tools Proficiencies and Languages pages. It’s important to know the following:
If you only input one skill/tool/language, that proficiency is automatically granted to the character in the character builder.
If you input two or more options in that field, the character builder will prompt that character to choose between the ones you’ve added to this screen.
If you leave the field blank, the character builder will allow them to choose between all of the available options.
Let’s take a look at some of our examples:
Equipment
This is how we tell the character builder and character sheet what items you get as a result of your background.
A. Equipment Phrase: This is how the equipment phrase appears on the “Edit Background” page – it’s something that only appears for the editor (this will not appear in the character builder or to other users).
B. Equipment Phrase Individual Choices: This is how it will appear in the character builder itself when you’re being granted any equipment that comes with the background. If you would like the character to choose between certain options, you can create multiple instances of these choices.
C. Individual Choice Text: This section will actually determine HOW the item(s) are added to the character sheet. It’s how we get the items to appear for characters (once they add it in the character builder). However, I acknowledge that the various data types can be somewhat confusing, so let me break it down further:
i. Specific Armor: This will allow you to designate a particular piece of armor (ie plate). You can opt to make sure it’s only granted to those with proficiency in that item by clicking on the “Requires Proficiency” checkbox.
ii. Types of Armor: This allows the character to choose between armors of a specific type (i.e. light armor).
iii. Specific Gear: This lets you choose a specific mundane item to grant as part of the background.
iv. Types of Gear: This allows the character to choose between specific gear types (ie Artisan’s Tools).
v. Specific Weapons: This provides the character with a specific weapon that is specified here. You can also make sure that its only granted to those with proficiency by clicking on the “Requires Proficiency” checkbox.
vi. Types of Weapons: This lets the character choose between various types of weapons (i.e. martial weapons).
vii. Gold: This lets you specify the amount of gold the character will receive.
viii. A Custom Value: This allows you to specify (and create) a custom item that will be added to the character sheet’s “Other Possessions” section.
ix. Instructional Text: This is used when you want to provide specific instructions to the character (such as rolling on a specific table found elsewhere).
It’s also important to note that you can add multiple choice data options and add multiple instances of choice text as well. Multiple instances of Choice Text (within one Modifier) will prompt the user to choose between those options. Multiple instances of Choice Data will allow you to have multiple items within Choice Text. To help provide some more context as to how this can be used, here are some examples:
Here’s a more complicated example. We’re going to set up an equipment option wherein characters will be able to choose plate armor but ONLY if they’re proficient with it. The other option will be an instructional text indicating to choose any light armor.
This is how it will show up in the character builder:
As you can see, because this character isn’t proficient in Plate Armor, we can’t choose that as an option. However, our instructional text gives expectations as to what we should do as an alternative, and because we set it up like the previous screenshots, it allows us to choose between any light armor.
Background-Specific Table
This is the table that accompanies the previously mentioned background table, except entering an option here will allow you to generate the table with each additional entry increasing the number of rows on the table. For example, having 8 entries would make the table show up and have the character roll 1d8). Ultimately, you can just enter text here, click save, then add entries until you get the desired amount of options you’d like. Here’s how the process would look:
Suggested Characteristics
This allows you to generate and create the various tables that determine the characteristics from your background: Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. When you set the type to one of the aforementioned types, it will separate and convert it into its own table (just like the ones in the Player’s Handbook). For all intents and purposes otherwise, it behaves similarly to the previous section (of Background-specific tables) in that you just input text here and can make as many entries as you’d like.
Contacts
This allows you to generate a table of contacts that your background may provide - again this will follow the same principle of the previous two sections. *Please note that this table will only appear on the background page itself – it won’t appear in the character builder or character sheet.
And that’s how you utilize and create homebrew backgrounds using the D&D Beyond homebrew system! I hope it’s been helpful getting a comprehensive look at how to use these forms - and just as a reminder: You do not need to publish your background to share it with other players in your campaign.
When creating homebrew on D&D Beyond, you may run into a dilemma where something you’ve created looks good based on the description, but you can’t quite nail the interactions on the character sheet. The grittiest parts of the Homebrew creator are most certainly the various forms that tells the character sheet what to look for and how to display the relevant information. The next few installments of Demystifying Homebrew aim to break down some of the more common forms.
Actions define what your character can do at any given point in time. The Actions form allows you to convey that information within the character sheet and help users interact with it – this can be especially helpful if your action requires dice rolling (meaning it will integrate with Digital Dice). The Actions form show up for Feats, Races, and Subclasses.
Action Type:
When you first add an action to one of the above mentioned homebrew elements, this is what you'll see:
General: This is the “catch-all” for actions – something that’s not necessarily a weapon-based action, or a spell-like action.
φ Weapon: This is when an action involves a weapon in some capacity.
☼ Spell: This is an action that would emulate a spell (without actually being a spell).
(You may have noticed that Weapon and Spell both have a symbol preceding them. If you see that symbol preceding another form name, that means it's only available to that specific action type).
A. Name: This is what your Action will be named.
B. Ability Score Type: If your Action uses a specific ability score, then you would specify it here.
C. Level: This is where you specify what level a character needs to be to use this action.
D. Is Proficient: If this checkbox is checked, the character’s proficiency bonus is added to the Action.
E. Attack Range: This is where you specify whether it’s Melee or Ranged.
F. Save Type: If the Action requires a saving throw, you specify which type of saving throw here. Fixed Save DC: This allows you to enter a specific number (rather than basing it off of your ability score).
G. Dice Count: If the Action uses dice, then you specify the amount of dice here. Die Type: What type of die the action will use (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20).
H. Fixed Value: This lets you specify a number that would be added to the dice roll or if there are no dice, it would be utilize this value.
I. Effect on Miss: A description for what happens if the Action misses. This field is only available if an Attack Range is specified. Effect on Save Success: A description for what happens if the Action has a saving throw and the save was successful. This field is only available if the Save Type is specified. Effect on Save Fail: A description for what happens if the Action has a saving throw and the saving throw failed. This field is only available if the Save Type is specified.
J. φ Weapon Attack Subtype: Lets you specify whether an attack is Natural attack or Unarmed attack. This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Weapon.
K. Damage Type: If your Action deals damage, you can specify what type of damage here.
L. Display as Attack: You can specify whether the Action appears as an Attack action on the character sheet.
M. Affected by Martial Arts: This lets you specify whether it scales with the Monk’s Martial Arts ability.
N. ☼ Spell Range Type: Determines the spell range (ie self, touch, etc.). This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Spell.
O. Range:Allows you to specify the range of the Action. This field is only available if the Attack Range or Spell Range Type is set to Ranged.
P. φ Long Range: This allows you to specify the Long Range of a ranged weapon attack (typically the second value of a ranged weapon such as a Longbow). This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Weapon and if the Attack Range is set to Ranged.
Q. Area of Effect Type:If your Action is an Area of Effect (AoE), you can specify what type (ie Cone, Cube, Line, etc.) it is here. AoE Size: You can specify the size of the AoE here (measured in feet). AoE Special Flag: Checking this will put an asterisk (*) next to the Action to indicate that the full description should be checked.
R. Activation Type: Specify what type of action is needed to activate this Action. Activation Time: Lets you specify a specific number to represent the amount of time the activation type requires. This field is only available if the Activation Type is set to Hour, Minute, or Special.
S. Reset Type: How the Action is refreshed/restored (if it’s a limited use action).
T. Snippet: This is a text summary of the Action itself. You can enhance it by using specific types of calculations to appear in this description (such as displaying the amount of uses it gets). This ONLY shows text and doesn’t affect anything within the action itself. For a list of all the snippet codes you can utilize, check out StormKnight's guide here. Description: This is where you would describe the action and talk about what it does, what it’s about, etc.
U. Limited Use: Once your action has been defined, you can specify the amount of uses it has here (as long as there's a reset type set). Level Overrides: This is where you would specify how the action changes at various levels (for example if the damage increases at level 5).
Limited Use:
This is where you define the limited use aspects of your action.
Number of Uses: The amount of uses that this action is allowed.
Operator: How this will affect the modifier (either adding or multiplying).
Stat Modifier: Lets you define a stat to key off or to multiply/add against.
Use Proficiency Bonus: This allows you to specify whether the Limited Use action is defined by the character's proficiency bonus rather than a specified amount of uses/a specific modifier.
Proficiency Bonus Operator: This is used to determine whether the number in field 1 is added or multiplied by the character's proficiency bonus.
Level: What level this override will occur at.
Level Overrides:
This gets used when your Action changes at specific levels. If you want it to scale multiple times, then you would add a level override for each level an override would take place.
Level: The level where the override occurs.
Dice Count: The amount of dice that would be affected at that level.
Die Type: Specifies the die type (or if it’s a new die).
Fixed Value: Either adds a value to the dice value or allows you to set a specific number.
Range: This allows you to override the range value.
Long Range: This allows you to override the long range value.
Activation Type: Override the action type it requires.
Activation Time: Specify/override the action activation number (ie changing from 1 hour to 30 minutes).
Reset Type: This allows you to specify whether the action required changes for this override (ie changing an action to a bonus action).
Removes Limited Use: This allows you to change an action from having limited uses to being able to use it an unlimited amount of times.
Let's take a look at an example, shall we? Say we want to set up an Action that works like and functions as an Attack. It'll be based on our Strength score and will do 1d4 bludgeoning damage at level 1, scales up to 2d4 bludgeoning damage at level 10, then finally 2d6 at level 20. For added fun, lets make sure that it would be affected by a Monk's Martial Arts feature. Here's what the first Action form will look like:
Here is what the two override forms will look like (to show the dice increase and at what levels they're granted to us):
With the underlined parts being the parts we changed from the default forms. Now this is what it'll look like in our character sheets:
Now as we stated before, we wanted to make sure that this Attack scaled with the Monk's Martial Arts die as well. Well, here's what it will look like if this character was a Monk instead of their current class:
As you can see, it appends "Martial Arts" to the end of the Melee Attack and also changes the die from 1d6 to 1d8 in order to correctly correspond with the Monk's scaling Martial Arts Die.
Actions are a very powerful and extremely useful tool to make use of when using the Homebrew system on D&D Beyond. Hopefully this guide helped you to understand the ins and outs of the forms and will further help you bring your various homebrew elements to life!
Notes: 11/25/20: Updated to accommodate new Limited Use screen (allowing for uses by proficiency).
This is where you can specify any number of spells that would be added to the list of spells that a character can pick between (assuming your character can learn spells). It’s important to note that while you can define any spell, these aren’t automatically granted – its added to the list of potential spells your character can pick from (if they can cast spells). An example of this being used is the Dragonmarked race variants from either of the Eberron source books. There are two distinct fields for Additional Spell Lists:
Name: This is where you would name the Additional Spell List feature.
Expanded Spells: This is where you can specify the spell that would be added to expand that character’s spell list. There’s no limit to the amount of spells you can enter here, and you will want to add them all as part of the same field (if you want them to come from the same source). The .gif below shows an example of this in action.
The Additional Spells form currently shows up for Backgrounds, Races, and Subclasses.
Picture this: You’ve spent a decent chunk of time working on your homebrew, it gives really cool bonuses and benefits, and you’re ready to play some D&D with it! Then, full of excitement, you bound toward your character sheet in order to bring up your new homebrew goodies, only to find out that the mechanical bonuses don’t show up! Maybe you found a magic teapot that grants you a language and proficiency in Cook's Utensils – but the character sheet isn’t reflecting that! This is where modifiers come in.
Modifiers define all the mechanical bonuses conferred to you by a homebrew element. Whether that means giving you a bonus to an ability score, letting you choose which artisan’s tools your character will be proficient in, how far the distance of your darkvision goes, and many more (pretty much anything that confers any sort of mechanics-related effect for your character sheet). The Modifiers form appears within Feats, Magic Items, Races (both Subraces & Variants), Spells, and Subclasses.
Add Modifier:
When you add a modifier, you’ll be brought to a screen that looks like (or similar to) this:
A. Modifier Type: This is how the modifiers are categorized and effectively serve as broad umbrellas that will contain the effects that you’re looking to achieve (i.e., if you wanted this modifier to provide a language, you would select the Language type). I cover every modifier type below.
B. Modifier Subtype: This is used to grant specific effects which in turn will affect the character sheet. Each subtype is specific to a particular modifier type, but won’t be individually covered due to the sheer amount of them.
C. Ability Score: If a modifier is affected by or otherwise affects an ability score, you would specify that here. You can choose between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
D. Dice Count: If your modifiers involve dice, you can specify the number of dice here.
E. Die Type: The type of die that will be utilized. You can choose between a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20.
F. Fixed Value: If there’s a value associated with the modifier then you would specify that value here. This includes things like a fixed number (such as setting a base value) or a specific bonus (such as specifying a +2 bonus to a weapon).
G. Additional Bonus Types: This allows you to add dynamic bonuses based on the following:
i. Proficiency Bonus: This will scale based off your character’s proficiency bonus. ii.Attuned Item Count: This increases the bonus based off the number of magic items your character is attuned to. Does not work with Magic Items.
H. Details: If your modifier has a specific detail that you’d like to mention (such as indicating a range for a sense or clarifying a restriction, you’d indicate it on this field).
I. Duration Interval: If there’s a numeric component to the duration of the modifier, you would indicate the number here.
J. Duration Type: The length of the duration. You can choose between Round, Minute, Hour, or Day.
Modifier Types:
As previously mentioned, the modifier types are how all of the bonuses and various effects are categorized. It’s important to note that not all modifier types will work with all homebrew types – I will specify which ones work with which element and whether there are any weird interactions. I should note that Magic Items and Spells both have unique natures that prevent them from fully taking advantage of all of the various modifiers. I’ll outline why in the section following this.
Advantage – This specifies when advantage would be granted. An example of this is being granted advantage on saving throws. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Bonus – Whenever a numerical bonus is applied to anything, anywhere on the sheet. This could mean adding a bonus on Armor Class, to both the Attack and Damage roll of a magic weapon, or even to one of your ability scores. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, Spells, and Subclasses.
Carrying Capacity – This lets you specify the carrying capacity for the character. Please note that the character sheet currently limits this to the Large size category (it won’t calculate past that size). Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Damage – If your homebrew element can deal damage, you would specify the type and the amount with this. Only works for Magic Items (Weapons) and Spells.
Disadvantage – This specifies when the character has disadvantage on something. An example of this is ability checks for a specific ability score. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Eldritch Blast – This allows you to make changes to the Eldritch Blast spell. You can choose between Bonus Range and Bonus Damage. While the Bonus Range works without any issues for Fixed Value, Bonus Damage only works with an Ability Score specified. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Expertise – This grants the ability to specify a skill or tool that you’re proficient in to provide Expertise (2x your prof. bonus). You can also provide the option to allow the character to choose what they’ll gain Expertise in. Please note that while you can specify things like Heavy Armor or Weapons under this modifier type, they will not confer any additional bonuses. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Feat – Allows you to specify a Feat that will be granted or the option to Choose a Feat. Works with Races and Subclasses.
Half Proficiency – This allows you to specify whether the character can add half of their proficiency bonus (rounded down) to an ability check, tool, or saving throw. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Half Proficiency Round Up - This allows you to specify whether the character can add half of their proficiency bonus (rounded up) to an ability check or tool. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Ignore – This allows for specific rules to be ignored on the character sheet. Currently it allows you to ignore Dual Wield restrictions, Heavy Armor Speed Reduction, and Unarmored Dex AC bonuses. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Ignore Weapon Property – This allows you to exclude a specific weapon property for weapons. Only works for Magic Items (Weapons).
Immunity – This allows you to grant immunity to something such as Acid Damage or Critical Hits. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Language – You can specify whether a specific language is granted or whether you would like the character to choose between languages. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Proficiency– This allows you to specify whether the character becomes proficient in something specific (i.e., a skill or weapon) or whether you’d like them to Choose between specific sets (such as Choose a Saving throw or Armor Type). Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Replace Damage Type – This allows you to replace the damage type for a weapon (such as changing it from Piercing damage to Necrotic Damage). Only works for Magic Items (Weapons).
Resistance – This allows you to grant resistance to something such as Acid Damage or Ranged Attacks. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Size – This allows you to override the size of your character. Please bear in mind that mechanically speaking, the sheet only supports Small, Medium, and Large size related rules. Only works for Races (including Subraces & Variants).
Sense – This allows you to specify a type of Sense that would be granted to a character. You can currently choose between Blindsight, Darkvision, Tremorsense, and Truesight. The Fixed Value field is where you would enter the total range for your Sense. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Set– This allows you to set a value for something specific – such as an Ability Score or Armor Class. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Set Base– This allows you to set the base value for a specific Sense. Setting a base allows you to increase the range past that base value (as opposed to the Sense modifier which will set it to that particular value and not allow for an increase UNLESS you use the Set Base modifier). Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Stacking Bonus – Provides a bonus on top of any end result of normally calculated values. You can specify Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and/or Charisma. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Stealth Disadvantage – This allows you to either impose or remove disadvantage on Stealth checks. The Impose subtype does not currently work in this Modifier type and the Remove subtype only works with armor that you’re proficient in. Works with Feats, Magic Items, and Subclasses.
Twice Proficiency – This modifier also allows you to add your proficiency bonus twice – but differs from Expertise in that it doesn’t require prior proficiency to gain the benefits. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Vulnerability – This allows you to indicate a vulnerability for a specific type of damage. Works with Feats, Magic Items, Races, and Subclasses.
Weapon Property – This allows you to add a weapon property to a weapon (such as adding Finesse to a weapon that doesn’t normally have it). Only works for Magic Items (Weapons).
The following Modifier Types don’t work at all (or have no visible effect on the character sheet):
Favored Enemy
Melee Weapon Attack
Natural Weapon
Protection
Ranged Weapon Attack
Speed Reduction
As I previously mentioned, Spells are in a unique situation for D&D Beyond. Currently there’s not much to them due to the inherent nature of how spells work; largely that spells that would affect a character sheet would do so in a temporary fashion (or any period of time). For this reason (as the character sheet doesn't support temporary effects), Spells are only functional when they include rolling dice in some fashion or if specific values are affected (some examples are Cure Wounds or Scorching Ray). Specifically, the Bonus and Damage modifiers work (and have a tangible effect) for Spells.
Another thing to note is that Magic Items doesn’t currently support any choice-based modifiers so those will not work as expected. In that same vein, if you have a homebrew magic item that requires attunement, the item MUST be attuned to in order to receive the effects from your modifiers.
Example 1:
Here are some examples of the cool stuff you can achieve with Modifiers!
Let’s go beyond the Ability Score limit of 20 and also grant ourselves a +4 to Intelligence (for a total of 24). Here’s what the modifier screens will look:
As both of these specifically refer to a numerical bonus, both of these falls under the “Bonus” type. We set both of these to +4 as the Fixed Value as we’re extending the Ability Score Maximum for INT to 24 and wanted to give ourselves a +4 bonus to our Intelligence score. This is what the final result will look like:
Example 2:
Let’s set up the modifiers required from my teapot example in the opening! Our teapot will be providing us a language and proficiency with Cook's Utensils. However, I think it would be pretty thematic to add another effect – Resistance to Fire damage (we don’t want to burn ourselves!) Here’s how we’d configure it:
As we wanted to grant ourselves a language (I went with Draconic) we would use the Language modifier type, with the Draconic modifier subtype. We also wanted to give ourselves proficiency with a specific artisan's tool, so we’d use the Proficiency modifier type (since we can grant ourselves proficiency with skills, tools, and the like) and we used the Resistance modifier type to be able to select Fire damage as a resisted damage type. This is what the final result will look like:
Modifiers are among the more difficult aspects to our Homebrew system so they can be tricky to get right. If you’re having some difficulty with getting the effect just right, I always recommend (as with any homebrew element) that you create a homebrew copy of official content in order to see how the team approached it (as the tools we use is largely the same as the tools that all users have access to).
I hope that this guide helped to better explain and illuminate the various components that go into our Modifiers so that you can create amazing homebrew items to run in your own games!
Magic – a tricky endeavor in its own right, becomes even trickier when you throw our Homebrew systems into the mix. Luckily, you don’t need to be a practitioner of the arcane to understand how to use and implement Spells within your homebrew.
One of the biggest things to keep in mind when you’re working with spells in our Homebrew is to be aware the Spells form for Feats have less fields than the one used for Races & Subclasses. The former is a more focused approach, whereas the latter requires more control and a more expansive reach. To simplify a bit more – both utilize the same overall form, however Feats take a more focused approach, and doesn’t show all of the same fields that Races & Subclasses do. Here's what the forms look like together:
The fields marked in orange are available in both forms (Feats and Races/Subclasses), whereas the fields marked in Blue are ONLY available for Races & Subclasses. Both will be covered in this guide! Finally – while the Spells form is present for Magic Items, they won’t be covered in this guide due to how different they are in nature. The Spells form for Magic Items will be covered when I go over Magic Items in greater detail.
Feats:
When you go to add a spell for Feats, this is what it will look like:
A. Spell: This lets you specify or otherwise enter a specific spell or multiple spells. If you list multiple spells, the character builder will prompt you to choose between them.
B. Spell Levels: This lets you list which spell levels to choose from (Cantrip – 9th level spells).
C. Spell Class: This provides the option to choose from class’s spell list (such as Druid). You can select multiple spell lists.
D. Attack Type: This lets you specify whether the choice will allow between Melee, Ranged, or both Melee and Ranged spells.
E. Level Divisor: You would use this to restrict spells to a level greater than the character/class level divided by the value (rounded up). For example, if you set the level divisor for a Level 9 Wizard to 3, the Wizard would only be able to select 3rd level spells or lower.
F. Only Ritual Spells: Allows you to restrict the spells to Ritual spells only. When selected, a new form appears at the bottom:
f. Ritual Cast Type: Allows you to choose between “Can cast…” and “Must cast…”. “Can cast” means you can still cast the spell like normal – “Must cast” means it can ONLY be cast as a ritual.
G. Ability Score: This lets you specify which Ability Score the spell would utilize for any bonuses/saves/etc.
H. Number of Uses: If you want your spell(s) to have a set number of uses, you would specify that amount here.
I. Uses by Ability Modifier: If you would like your spell(s) to have a set number of uses utilizing an Ability modifier instead, you would utilize this instead of Number of Uses.
J. Reset Type: This determines how the feature is reset. The options you can choose between are Short Rest, Long Rest, Dawn, or Other.
K. Cast at Level: This lets you specify which level the spell(s) would be cast at (1st -9th).
L. Casting Time: Lets you specify a specific number to represent the amount of time the activation type requires. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
M. Activation Type: This lets you specify the type of action/time it will take. You can choose between Action, Bonus Action, Hour, Minute, No Action, Reaction, or Special. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
N. Spell Range Type: You can specify how the spell is delivered. You can choose between Self, Touch, Ranged, Sight, or Unlimited. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
O. Range Distance: The range of the spell. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
P. Additional Description: If the granted spell has an additional description, it would be added here.
Q. Is Infinite: If your spell has parameters that allows you to choose between a number of spells (from either Spell/Spell Levels/Spell Class/Attack Type), you would check this in order to select any number of them. An example of this in action is the Warlock’s Book of Ancient Secrets.
Races & Subclasses:
In addition to the fields shown under Feats, this is a list of fields that are present for Races & Subclasses:
1. Consumes Spell Slot: This determines whether your spell would consume a spell slot or not.
2. Counts as Known Spell: This determines whether the added spell counts against the maximum amount of spells your character can know.
3. Always Prepared: This determines whether the spell itself is always prepared (i.e. Domain spells) or whether they would need to be prepared.
4. Available at Character Level: Allows you to specify a level that the character must be in order to access it.
5. Minimum Spell Charges Expended: This defines the amount of charges it costs to cast the spell. Requires the “Reset Type” field to be used.
6. Maximum Spell Charges Expended: This defines the amount of extra charges you can use to upcast the spell. *Does not work currently work.
7. Save DC: Allows you to specify a Save DC for a spell. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
8. Restriction: You can describe any restrictions here.
Let’s look at some of this in action, shall we?
Let’s say we have a feat that allows us to add any 1st level spell from the cleric spell list, that we can use a number of times equal to our Wisdom modifier. For added fun, let’s say that regardless of the spell, we’ll cast it as a bonus action! Here’s what it’ll look like:
We listed 1 for our spell level (to allow us to choose 1st level spells), added Cleric as a Spell Class so that we can choose between any 1st level Cleric Spell. We then set the Uses by Ability Modifier to Wisdom. Finally, we specified 1 as the casting time, and the activation type to be a Bonus Action (as it’ll only take 1 bonus action to cast). Here’s what it looks like in the character builder:
Here's what it looks like in the character sheet (for reference, our character has a Wisdom modifier of +3):
For our second example, lets make things a bit more complicated! Let’s allow for the option to choose between multiple spells. We’re going to set it so that regardless of the spell we pick, the range will be 30 ft. (even if the spell normally has a range of Touch). Since this will be for a Wizard subclass, we’ll make sure that regardless of the spell we choose (none of them are on the Wizard spell list), it will work off INT (our Wizard has a +4 INT modifier and a +0 WIS modifier). Let’s make sure it consumes a spell slot like normal and for fun allow it to always be prepared. Oh, let’s make sure to note that we glow orange when casting one of these spells! Lastly, let’s set it up so that at any point, we can add the other options right from the character builder! Sounds complicated, but thankfully all of what I just described is possible without much fuss, like so:
So as you can see, we specified several spells (all of which are Touch and not normally available for Wizards). When we select this class in the character builder, this is what it'll look like:
What happens if we select one? Take a look:
It lets us pick multiple, just like I wanted it to! Now, once everything's said and done, here's what one of the spells will look like in the character sheet:
Spells can certainly get a bit unwieldy can be tricky but once mastered, they can be an immensely powerful tool in your Homebrew arsenal. Whether you want to give your homebrew Wizard subclass the ability to cast Inflict Wounds using Intelligence, or allow whoever takes your feat the ability to cast fireball a number of times equal to their Charisma modifier, I hope this helps you wield Arcane and Divine magic with much more ease within the Homebrew system!
Last but certainly not least, we have the Creatures form! The Creatures Form allows you to set up a specific set of rules that controls and actively filters the Extra sections of the character sheet. The Creatures form is currently available for Feats, Races, and Subclasses.
Add a Creature Rule:
When you first add a Creature Rule, this is what you’ll see:
A. Rule Type: How the monsters are specified/will be filtered by. You can choose between Create a Rule and Choose Monsters.
B. Creature Group: Determines the category where this appears in the Extras section of the character sheet. You can choose between Wildshape, Familiar, Beast Companion, Mount, Pet, Summoned, Battle Smith Defender, and Sidekick.
Create a Rule: Lets you define rules in which monsters appear/are filtered by.
Monster Type: Lets you specify which type of monster (ie Fey, Undead).
Max Challenge Rating: Lets you limit the max CR of the monsters that appear.
Challenge Rating Level Divisor: Set a divisor to restrict a monster divided by your level. For example, if your character is level 8 and you set your divisor to 2, then the max CR that appears will be CR 4.
Restricted Movement Types: Lets you filter out monsters that have a certain movement type (ie flying).
Monster Sizes: Lets you specify a particular size.
Choose Monsters: Lets you choose specific monsters.
Monsters: Lets you choose specific monsters to be added via this feature.
As always, let’s take a look at an example!
Let’s say that we have a Wizard subclass feature that provides us with the ability to select a specific type of creature (let’s go with Fey) as a familiar. Just so that we don’t provide this subclass the ability to summon Fey that are too powerful, let’s make sure that there’s a limit to the maximum challenge rating – say half of our character’s level. Thankfully, with the Creature rule in place, we can achieve that with ease AND find it in the character sheet Extras tab with even more ease! Here’s how the setup would look:
And when we select Familiars in the Extras section of our level 6 character, this is what we see:
As you can see above - a checkbox labeled "Filter Using Familiar Rules" appears - and while checked, will pull the list of Fey that matched our rules.
The Creatures form is a simple but useful form to master – whether it’s expanding the list of Wildshapes for your Druids, or specifying a particular set of monsters that can be selected as a Mount, this will surely prove to be a useful tool in your arsenal!
Finally, this guide is the last Form Specific guide that I’ll cover in this series. We’ll be moving onto the more exciting elements of our homebrew next – starting with Feats!
Despite being an optional rule, Feats are an essential part of the current edition; they help characters by allowing further customization and offer more ways to empower themselves. This guide will empower you to create homebrew Feats using our homebrew tools!
Basic Overview:
When you first create a feat, you’ll see this screen:
1. Name: This is where you name your feat.
2. Description: This is where you describe the feat – it’s what will appear when viewing it.
3. Snippet: This is a summary of the feat itself – and it appears on the character sheet when looking at the character sheet from a glance. You can use calculations to enhance the description (more details about doing so can be found here). It’s important to note that snippets do not affect the feat in any mechanical way!
4. Feat Tags: This is where you would specify any relevant tags for your Feat.
After you create a feat, you will see a new field underneath Feat Tags:
5. Total Number of Feat Options User Can Select: If your feat contains options (which will be covered later in this guide), you can specify the number of options that a character can pick.
Once we finish filling out the details of the Basic Overview, we’re able to get into the nuts and bolts of it; how the Feats will interact with the Character builder and Character sheet.
6. Prerequisites: This is where we define and enforce the requirements a character must meet in order to take the feat. I cover prerequisites in greater detail below. Prerequisites are entirely optional – you don’t need to add them if you don’t want to!
7. Options: This lets you set up and create options that a character can pick between after choosing the feat. These options can be further defined by the Actions form. The amount of Options you can pick between can be defined by the ‘Total Number of Feat Options User Can Select’ (the fifth field in the Basic Information section for Feats). I cover Options in greater detail below.
8. Modifiers: This is where you can specify any bonuses or added benefits the Feat may provide (such as an increase to Ability Score). I cover Modifiers in much greater detail here.
9. Spells: This is where you can specify any spells granted by the Feat. I cover Spells in much greater detail here.
10. Actions: This is where you can specify any actions provided by the Feat. I cover Actions in much greater detail here.
11. Creatures: If a Feat allows for a range of creatures that you would want to surface on the Character Sheet via the Extras section, you would use this to specify the parameters. I cover Creatures in much greater detail here.
Prerequisites
When you first go to add a prerequisite, this is what you’ll see:
A. Description: Plaintext description of the prerequisite. If your feat has multiple/combined requirements, you would list them all here.
B. Prerequisite Type: The type of prerequisite – basically the category for it.
Ability Score: If your feat requires a specific ability score, you specify it here.
Custom Value: This specifically adds the prerequisite for “the ability to cast at least one spell”.
Character Level: Requires the character to be a specific level (overall level, not class level).
Proficiency: Requires a particular armor proficiency.
Race: Requires the character to be a specific race.
Size: Requires the character to be a specific size.
Subrace: Requires the character to be of a specific subrace/variant race.
C. Subtype: This further expands and specifies the requirement based on the Prerequisite Type selected. For example, if ‘Ability Score’ was selected as the type, the subtype would be your specified ability score (such as Charisma).
D. Value: If your prerequisite has a numerical value, you would define it here.
Multiple Prerequisites: With prerequisites, you can also specify whether a character needs to meet multiple requirements or whether they only need to meet one of several requirements.
Meeting multiple requirements: If your feat requires a character to meet multiple requirements (for example, their Wisdom AND Dexterity must be at least 13 or higher), you would do so from the Prerequisites page itself. When you click ’Edit’ on an existing prerequisite from the Feat overview, you have the option of defining additional prerequisite types, subtypes, and values.
Meeting one of several requirements: If your feat has multiple requirements, but a character only needs to meet one of them (for example, their Intelligence must be at least 13 or higher OR they must have the ability to cast at least one spell), you would add a new prerequisite from the Feats overview itself.
Options
When you go to create an Option, this is what you’ll see:
A. Name: This is where you would name the selectable option.
B. Description: This is the description of the option itself – it explains what the option means and what taking it will do.
C. Snippet: A condensed, data driven summary that will appear at first glance on the character sheet. This does not affect the option otherwise.
D. Actions: This is where you would set up and define the Action granted by this feat. You can add multiple Actions to a single option. I provide a more detailed breakdown of the Actions form here.
As always, let’s take a look at an example of all of this in action!
I have a Feat I want to create that has an overarching Nature theme. Much like other feats, I’d like it to have an increase to an Ability Score (let’s say Wisdom), allow the character to choose between two nature-themed attacks. I’d also like to allow the character taking it, access to a very minor version of Wild Shape, in addition to some Nature-like spells! Now that it’s all laid out, this Feat is sounding pretty strong – so we’ll add some requirements in. Let’s say the character is required to have a Wisdom score of at least 13 or the ability to cast a spell. In both instances, let’s require the character to be at least level 4. It sounds like a lot – but let’s break it down (each section and example is in a spoiler tag due to the amount of screenshots):
Basic Overview
This is where we set up the description, the information that we’re conveying about our feat! Here’s what my example looks like:
Prerequisites
So as we outlined in our opening paragraph, we want to set up two distinctly different set of requirements for a character to take this feat. For both sets of requirements, the character would need to be at least level 4, but we can specify that the character needs to have a Wisdom score of 13 or higher OR the ability to cast at least one spell. Here’s how both prerequisites are set up:
Wisdom 13 or higher:
Ability to cast at least one spell:
In order to ensure that the requirement for the character to be at least level 4 is maintained across both options, we would need to add it to both set of prerequisites. This is how it would be set up:
Here’s how it will look from the Feat overview page:
Options
The name, description, and snippet for these options largely mirror the Actions presented in the Basic Overview section (except it’s just limited to that particular option). Here’s what the Actions looks like when they’re fully set up:
Nature’s Hindrance:
Lashing Tail:
Modifiers
This is where we set up our +1 our Wisdom and grant proficiency with Nature checks.
Nature Proficiency modifier:Bonus to Wisdom modifier:
Spells
This is where we set up and define the two spells, Druidcraft and Animal Friendship, that are granted with this feat.
Druidcraft:
Animal Friendship:
Action
This is how we’ll set up and define our Minor Wildshape action:
Creatures
This is how the list of creatures for the Minor Wildshape is set up:
And that’s how you can build out homebrew Feats within the D&D Beyond homebrew system! I hope this provides you with the clarity and knowledge to allow you to create epic Feats of your own!
Recently - we made a change to how Warlocks function across the board to support the 2024 Pact of the Blade that affects how 2014 Warlocks (and the Hexblade patron) function. We also wanted to add the ability to allow you to create your own Pact/Hex Weapons using the Homebrew tools.
New Modifiers
The new (and old) Pact of the Blade and Hexblade are supported via modifiers. You'll see two new modifier groups:
Enable Feature
Replace Weapon Ability
The Enable Feature modifier group has the following:
Enable Pact Weapon (this adds the Pact Weapon checkbox to your sheet, and allows you to specify a weapon as a Pact Weapon).
Enable Hex Weapon (this adds the Hex Weapon checkbox to your sheet, and allows you to specify a weapon as a Hex Weapon).
The Replace Weapon Ability modifier group has the following:
Strength Score
Dexterity Score
Constitution Score
Intelligence Score
Wisdom Score
Charisma Score
It's important to note that the Replace Weapon Ability modifier only works with modifiers from the Enable Feature modifier group. We're looking at expanding its usage in the future.
Implementation
Now, here are the combos you would use to implement the various rules:
2014 Warlock
For the 2014 Warlock’s Pact of the Blade, you’ll want to use the following modifier (by itself):
Enable Feature - Enable Pact Weapon
2024 Warlock
For the 2024 Warlock’s Pact of the Blade, you’ll want to use the following combination:
Enable Feature - Enable Pact Weapon
Replace Weapon Ability - Charisma Score
The Hexblade
To use the rules for the Hexblade's Hex Weapon, you would use the following combination:
Enable Feature - Enable Hex Weapon
Replace Weapon Ability - Charisma Score
Further Customization
In addition to supporting the existing rules for the Warlock (Pact of the Blade and Hexblade), you can further customize the Pact features!
You can use this with any subclass! If you add any of the modifiers listed above, it will appear for that character - even if it's not a Warlock.
You’re not just limited to Charisma for your Pact/Hex weapons! If you swap the Replace Weapon Ability option with any of the other ability scores listed above (such as Constitution Score), that Pact/Hex Weapon will use Constitution.
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Backgrounds
You have a wonderful idea for a Background and want to bring it to life on D&D Beyond, but you’re not sure how to do it effectively while making sure that all the benefits and features show up on your character sheet without any issues. Well, this guide will aim to resolve that - I will be going through the full homebrew creator for Backgrounds and explaining what each section (and subsequently each option) does and how to utilize them. To clarify, this is NOT a guide to conceptualize or design a background - this is to work out the nitty-gritty details and working within the forms of D&D Beyond. If you’d like to read a guide that helps with designing homebrew backgrounds, I would recommend checking out this article from James Introcaso.
Basic Information:
The majority of these fields are what will appear and show up on the actual background page itself. Think of it as what shows up when another person looks at your homebrew background (we’ll delve into the mechanical aspects later on in this guide).
Version: You can use this to signify changes you’ve made to your homebrew.
Modifiers:
Once we’ve saved our homebrew (after filling out the required fields in the Basic Information section), we see these:
This is the real meat of it; this is how we tell our homebrew background how to function with and interact with the character builder and sheet! Let’s go through each one:
Skill/Tool/Language Proficiencies
These sections are how the background tells the character sheet what our character has learned as a result of taking this background. I’ve lumped them together because they follow the same core process (and are largely interchangeable).
This screen is what we see when we click on “Add a Skill Proficiency”. When you click in the white field underneath “Skills to choose from”. You’ll see a list of all of the current skills in D&D with the option to click on one in order to have it appear in that empty field. The same will apply on the Tools Proficiencies and Languages pages. It’s important to know the following:
Let’s take a look at some of our examples:
Equipment
This is how we tell the character builder and character sheet what items you get as a result of your background.
A. Equipment Phrase: This is how the equipment phrase appears on the “Edit Background” page – it’s something that only appears for the editor (this will not appear in the character builder or to other users).
B. Equipment Phrase Individual Choices: This is how it will appear in the character builder itself when you’re being granted any equipment that comes with the background. If you would like the character to choose between certain options, you can create multiple instances of these choices.
C. Individual Choice Text: This section will actually determine HOW the item(s) are added to the character sheet. It’s how we get the items to appear for characters (once they add it in the character builder). However, I acknowledge that the various data types can be somewhat confusing, so let me break it down further:
i. Specific Armor: This will allow you to designate a particular piece of armor (ie plate). You can opt to make sure it’s only granted to those with proficiency in that item by clicking on the “Requires Proficiency” checkbox.
ii. Types of Armor: This allows the character to choose between armors of a specific type (i.e. light armor).
iii. Specific Gear: This lets you choose a specific mundane item to grant as part of the background.
iv. Types of Gear: This allows the character to choose between specific gear types (ie Artisan’s Tools).
v. Specific Weapons: This provides the character with a specific weapon that is specified here. You can also make sure that its only granted to those with proficiency by clicking on the “Requires Proficiency” checkbox.
vi. Types of Weapons: This lets the character choose between various types of weapons (i.e. martial weapons).
vii. Gold: This lets you specify the amount of gold the character will receive.
viii. A Custom Value: This allows you to specify (and create) a custom item that will be added to the character sheet’s “Other Possessions” section.
ix. Instructional Text: This is used when you want to provide specific instructions to the character (such as rolling on a specific table found elsewhere).
It’s also important to note that you can add multiple choice data options and add multiple instances of choice text as well. Multiple instances of Choice Text (within one Modifier) will prompt the user to choose between those options. Multiple instances of Choice Data will allow you to have multiple items within Choice Text. To help provide some more context as to how this can be used, here are some examples:
Here’s a more complicated example. We’re going to set up an equipment option wherein characters will be able to choose plate armor but ONLY if they’re proficient with it. The other option will be an instructional text indicating to choose any light armor.
This is how it will show up in the character builder:
As you can see, because this character isn’t proficient in Plate Armor, we can’t choose that as an option. However, our instructional text gives expectations as to what we should do as an alternative, and because we set it up like the previous screenshots, it allows us to choose between any light armor.
Background-Specific Table
This is the table that accompanies the previously mentioned background table, except entering an option here will allow you to generate the table with each additional entry increasing the number of rows on the table. For example, having 8 entries would make the table show up and have the character roll 1d8). Ultimately, you can just enter text here, click save, then add entries until you get the desired amount of options you’d like. Here’s how the process would look:
Suggested Characteristics
Contacts
This allows you to generate a table of contacts that your background may provide - again this will follow the same principle of the previous two sections. *Please note that this table will only appear on the background page itself – it won’t appear in the character builder or character sheet.
And that’s how you utilize and create homebrew backgrounds using the D&D Beyond homebrew system! I hope it’s been helpful getting a comprehensive look at how to use these forms - and just as a reminder: You do not need to publish your background to share it with other players in your campaign.
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Actions (Forms)
When creating homebrew on D&D Beyond, you may run into a dilemma where something you’ve created looks good based on the description, but you can’t quite nail the interactions on the character sheet. The grittiest parts of the Homebrew creator are most certainly the various forms that tells the character sheet what to look for and how to display the relevant information. The next few installments of Demystifying Homebrew aim to break down some of the more common forms.
Actions define what your character can do at any given point in time. The Actions form allows you to convey that information within the character sheet and help users interact with it – this can be especially helpful if your action requires dice rolling (meaning it will integrate with Digital Dice). The Actions form show up for Feats, Races, and Subclasses.
Action Type:
When you first add an action to one of the above mentioned homebrew elements, this is what you'll see:
(You may have noticed that Weapon and Spell both have a symbol preceding them. If you see that symbol preceding another form name, that means it's only available to that specific action type).
A. Name: This is what your Action will be named.
B. Ability Score Type: If your Action uses a specific ability score, then you would specify it here.
C. Level: This is where you specify what level a character needs to be to use this action.
D. Is Proficient: If this checkbox is checked, the character’s proficiency bonus is added to the Action.
E. Attack Range: This is where you specify whether it’s Melee or Ranged.
F. Save Type: If the Action requires a saving throw, you specify which type of saving throw here.
Fixed Save DC: This allows you to enter a specific number (rather than basing it off of your ability score).
G. Dice Count: If the Action uses dice, then you specify the amount of dice here.
Die Type: What type of die the action will use (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20).
H. Fixed Value: This lets you specify a number that would be added to the dice roll or if there are no dice, it would be utilize this value.
I. Effect on Miss: A description for what happens if the Action misses. This field is only available if an Attack Range is specified.
Effect on Save Success: A description for what happens if the Action has a saving throw and the save was successful. This field is only available if the Save Type is specified.
Effect on Save Fail: A description for what happens if the Action has a saving throw and the saving throw failed. This field is only available if the Save Type is specified.
J. φ Weapon Attack Subtype: Lets you specify whether an attack is Natural attack or Unarmed attack. This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Weapon.
K. Damage Type: If your Action deals damage, you can specify what type of damage here.
L. Display as Attack: You can specify whether the Action appears as an Attack action on the character sheet.
M. Affected by Martial Arts: This lets you specify whether it scales with the Monk’s Martial Arts ability.
N. ☼ Spell Range Type: Determines the spell range (ie self, touch, etc.). This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Spell.
O. Range: Allows you to specify the range of the Action. This field is only available if the Attack Range or Spell Range Type is set to Ranged.
P. φ Long Range: This allows you to specify the Long Range of a ranged weapon attack (typically the second value of a ranged weapon such as a Longbow). This field is only available if the Action Type is set to Weapon and if the Attack Range is set to Ranged.
Q. Area of Effect Type: If your Action is an Area of Effect (AoE), you can specify what type (ie Cone, Cube, Line, etc.) it is here.
AoE Size: You can specify the size of the AoE here (measured in feet).
AoE Special Flag: Checking this will put an asterisk (*) next to the Action to indicate that the full description should be checked.
R. Activation Type: Specify what type of action is needed to activate this Action.
Activation Time: Lets you specify a specific number to represent the amount of time the activation type requires. This field is only available if the Activation Type is set to Hour, Minute, or Special.
S. Reset Type: How the Action is refreshed/restored (if it’s a limited use action).
T. Snippet: This is a text summary of the Action itself. You can enhance it by using specific types of calculations to appear in this description (such as displaying the amount of uses it gets). This ONLY shows text and doesn’t affect anything within the action itself. For a list of all the snippet codes you can utilize, check out StormKnight's guide here.
Description: This is where you would describe the action and talk about what it does, what it’s about, etc.
U. Limited Use: Once your action has been defined, you can specify the amount of uses it has here (as long as there's a reset type set).
Level Overrides: This is where you would specify how the action changes at various levels (for example if the damage increases at level 5).
Limited Use:
This is where you define the limited use aspects of your action.
Level Overrides:
This gets used when your Action changes at specific levels. If you want it to scale multiple times, then you would add a level override for each level an override would take place.
Let's take a look at an example, shall we? Say we want to set up an Action that works like and functions as an Attack. It'll be based on our Strength score and will do 1d4 bludgeoning damage at level 1, scales up to 2d4 bludgeoning damage at level 10, then finally 2d6 at level 20. For added fun, lets make sure that it would be affected by a Monk's Martial Arts feature. Here's what the first Action form will look like:
With the underlined parts being the parts we changed from the default forms. Now this is what it'll look like in our character sheets:
Now as we stated before, we wanted to make sure that this Attack scaled with the Monk's Martial Arts die as well. Well, here's what it will look like if this character was a Monk instead of their current class:
As you can see, it appends "Martial Arts" to the end of the Melee Attack and also changes the die from 1d6 to 1d8 in order to correctly correspond with the Monk's scaling Martial Arts Die.
Actions are a very powerful and extremely useful tool to make use of when using the Homebrew system on D&D Beyond. Hopefully this guide helped you to understand the ins and outs of the forms and will further help you bring your various homebrew elements to life!
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Additional Spell List
This is where you can specify any number of spells that would be added to the list of spells that a character can pick between (assuming your character can learn spells). It’s important to note that while you can define any spell, these aren’t automatically granted – its added to the list of potential spells your character can pick from (if they can cast spells). An example of this being used is the Dragonmarked race variants from either of the Eberron source books. There are two distinct fields for Additional Spell Lists:
The Additional Spells form currently shows up for Backgrounds, Races, and Subclasses.
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Modifiers (Forms)
Picture this: You’ve spent a decent chunk of time working on your homebrew, it gives really cool bonuses and benefits, and you’re ready to play some D&D with it! Then, full of excitement, you bound toward your character sheet in order to bring up your new homebrew goodies, only to find out that the mechanical bonuses don’t show up! Maybe you found a magic teapot that grants you a language and proficiency in Cook's Utensils – but the character sheet isn’t reflecting that! This is where modifiers come in.
Modifiers define all the mechanical bonuses conferred to you by a homebrew element. Whether that means giving you a bonus to an ability score, letting you choose which artisan’s tools your character will be proficient in, how far the distance of your darkvision goes, and many more (pretty much anything that confers any sort of mechanics-related effect for your character sheet). The Modifiers form appears within Feats, Magic Items, Races (both Subraces & Variants), Spells, and Subclasses.
Add Modifier:
When you add a modifier, you’ll be brought to a screen that looks like (or similar to) this:
A. Modifier Type: This is how the modifiers are categorized and effectively serve as broad umbrellas that will contain the effects that you’re looking to achieve (i.e., if you wanted this modifier to provide a language, you would select the Language type). I cover every modifier type below.
B. Modifier Subtype: This is used to grant specific effects which in turn will affect the character sheet. Each subtype is specific to a particular modifier type, but won’t be individually covered due to the sheer amount of them.
C. Ability Score: If a modifier is affected by or otherwise affects an ability score, you would specify that here. You can choose between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
D. Dice Count: If your modifiers involve dice, you can specify the number of dice here.
E. Die Type: The type of die that will be utilized. You can choose between a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20.
F. Fixed Value: If there’s a value associated with the modifier then you would specify that value here. This includes things like a fixed number (such as setting a base value) or a specific bonus (such as specifying a +2 bonus to a weapon).
G. Additional Bonus Types: This allows you to add dynamic bonuses based on the following:
i. Proficiency Bonus: This will scale based off your character’s proficiency bonus.
ii. Attuned Item Count: This increases the bonus based off the number of magic items your character is attuned to. Does not work with Magic Items.
H. Details: If your modifier has a specific detail that you’d like to mention (such as indicating a range for a sense or clarifying a restriction, you’d indicate it on this field).
I. Duration Interval: If there’s a numeric component to the duration of the modifier, you would indicate the number here.
J. Duration Type: The length of the duration. You can choose between Round, Minute, Hour, or Day.
Modifier Types:
As previously mentioned, the modifier types are how all of the bonuses and various effects are categorized. It’s important to note that not all modifier types will work with all homebrew types – I will specify which ones work with which element and whether there are any weird interactions. I should note that Magic Items and Spells both have unique natures that prevent them from fully taking advantage of all of the various modifiers. I’ll outline why in the section following this.
The following Modifier Types don’t work at all (or have no visible effect on the character sheet):
As I previously mentioned, Spells are in a unique situation for D&D Beyond. Currently there’s not much to them due to the inherent nature of how spells work; largely that spells that would affect a character sheet would do so in a temporary fashion (or any period of time). For this reason (as the character sheet doesn't support temporary effects), Spells are only functional when they include rolling dice in some fashion or if specific values are affected (some examples are Cure Wounds or Scorching Ray). Specifically, the Bonus and Damage modifiers work (and have a tangible effect) for Spells.
Another thing to note is that Magic Items doesn’t currently support any choice-based modifiers so those will not work as expected. In that same vein, if you have a homebrew magic item that requires attunement, the item MUST be attuned to in order to receive the effects from your modifiers.
Example 1:
Here are some examples of the cool stuff you can achieve with Modifiers!
Let’s go beyond the Ability Score limit of 20 and also grant ourselves a +4 to Intelligence (for a total of 24). Here’s what the modifier screens will look:
As both of these specifically refer to a numerical bonus, both of these falls under the “Bonus” type. We set both of these to +4 as the Fixed Value as we’re extending the Ability Score Maximum for INT to 24 and wanted to give ourselves a +4 bonus to our Intelligence score. This is what the final result will look like:
Example 2:
Let’s set up the modifiers required from my teapot example in the opening! Our teapot will be providing us a language and proficiency with Cook's Utensils. However, I think it would be pretty thematic to add another effect – Resistance to Fire damage (we don’t want to burn ourselves!) Here’s how we’d configure it:
As we wanted to grant ourselves a language (I went with Draconic) we would use the Language modifier type, with the Draconic modifier subtype. We also wanted to give ourselves proficiency with a specific artisan's tool, so we’d use the Proficiency modifier type (since we can grant ourselves proficiency with skills, tools, and the like) and we used the Resistance modifier type to be able to select Fire damage as a resisted damage type. This is what the final result will look like:
Modifiers are among the more difficult aspects to our Homebrew system so they can be tricky to get right. If you’re having some difficulty with getting the effect just right, I always recommend (as with any homebrew element) that you create a homebrew copy of official content in order to see how the team approached it (as the tools we use is largely the same as the tools that all users have access to).
I hope that this guide helped to better explain and illuminate the various components that go into our Modifiers so that you can create amazing homebrew items to run in your own games!
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Spells (Forms)
Magic – a tricky endeavor in its own right, becomes even trickier when you throw our Homebrew systems into the mix. Luckily, you don’t need to be a practitioner of the arcane to understand how to use and implement Spells within your homebrew.
One of the biggest things to keep in mind when you’re working with spells in our Homebrew is to be aware the Spells form for Feats have less fields than the one used for Races & Subclasses. The former is a more focused approach, whereas the latter requires more control and a more expansive reach. To simplify a bit more – both utilize the same overall form, however Feats take a more focused approach, and doesn’t show all of the same fields that Races & Subclasses do. Here's what the forms look like together:
Feats:
When you go to add a spell for Feats, this is what it will look like:
A. Spell: This lets you specify or otherwise enter a specific spell or multiple spells. If you list multiple spells, the character builder will prompt you to choose between them.
B. Spell Levels: This lets you list which spell levels to choose from (Cantrip – 9th level spells).
C. Spell Class: This provides the option to choose from class’s spell list (such as Druid). You can select multiple spell lists.
D. Attack Type: This lets you specify whether the choice will allow between Melee, Ranged, or both Melee and Ranged spells.
E. Level Divisor: You would use this to restrict spells to a level greater than the character/class level divided by the value (rounded up). For example, if you set the level divisor for a Level 9 Wizard to 3, the Wizard would only be able to select 3rd level spells or lower.
F. Only Ritual Spells: Allows you to restrict the spells to Ritual spells only. When selected, a new form appears at the bottom:
f. Ritual Cast Type: Allows you to choose between “Can cast…” and “Must cast…”. “Can cast” means you can still cast the spell like normal – “Must cast” means it can ONLY be cast as a ritual.
G. Ability Score: This lets you specify which Ability Score the spell would utilize for any bonuses/saves/etc.
H. Number of Uses: If you want your spell(s) to have a set number of uses, you would specify that amount here.
I. Uses by Ability Modifier: If you would like your spell(s) to have a set number of uses utilizing an Ability modifier instead, you would utilize this instead of Number of Uses.
J. Reset Type: This determines how the feature is reset. The options you can choose between are Short Rest, Long Rest, Dawn, or Other.
K. Cast at Level: This lets you specify which level the spell(s) would be cast at (1st -9th).
L. Casting Time: Lets you specify a specific number to represent the amount of time the activation type requires. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
M. Activation Type: This lets you specify the type of action/time it will take. You can choose between Action, Bonus Action, Hour, Minute, No Action, Reaction, or Special. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
N. Spell Range Type: You can specify how the spell is delivered. You can choose between Self, Touch, Ranged, Sight, or Unlimited. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
O. Range Distance: The range of the spell. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
P. Additional Description: If the granted spell has an additional description, it would be added here.
Q. Is Infinite: If your spell has parameters that allows you to choose between a number of spells (from either Spell/Spell Levels/Spell Class/Attack Type), you would check this in order to select any number of them. An example of this in action is the Warlock’s Book of Ancient Secrets.
Races & Subclasses:
In addition to the fields shown under Feats, this is a list of fields that are present for Races & Subclasses:
1. Consumes Spell Slot: This determines whether your spell would consume a spell slot or not.
2. Counts as Known Spell: This determines whether the added spell counts against the maximum amount of spells your character can know.
3. Always Prepared: This determines whether the spell itself is always prepared (i.e. Domain spells) or whether they would need to be prepared.
4. Available at Character Level: Allows you to specify a level that the character must be in order to access it.
5. Minimum Spell Charges Expended: This defines the amount of charges it costs to cast the spell. Requires the “Reset Type” field to be used.
6. Maximum Spell Charges Expended: This defines the amount of extra charges you can use to upcast the spell. *Does not work currently work.
7. Save DC: Allows you to specify a Save DC for a spell. Leave this blank if you want to use the spell default.
8. Restriction: You can describe any restrictions here.
Let’s look at some of this in action, shall we?
Let’s say we have a feat that allows us to add any 1st level spell from the cleric spell list, that we can use a number of times equal to our Wisdom modifier. For added fun, let’s say that regardless of the spell, we’ll cast it as a bonus action! Here’s what it’ll look like:
We listed 1 for our spell level (to allow us to choose 1st level spells), added Cleric as a Spell Class so that we can choose between any 1st level Cleric Spell. We then set the Uses by Ability Modifier to Wisdom. Finally, we specified 1 as the casting time, and the activation type to be a Bonus Action (as it’ll only take 1 bonus action to cast). Here’s what it looks like in the character builder:
For our second example, lets make things a bit more complicated! Let’s allow for the option to choose between multiple spells. We’re going to set it so that regardless of the spell we pick, the range will be 30 ft. (even if the spell normally has a range of Touch). Since this will be for a Wizard subclass, we’ll make sure that regardless of the spell we choose (none of them are on the Wizard spell list), it will work off INT (our Wizard has a +4 INT modifier and a +0 WIS modifier). Let’s make sure it consumes a spell slot like normal and for fun allow it to always be prepared. Oh, let’s make sure to note that we glow orange when casting one of these spells! Lastly, let’s set it up so that at any point, we can add the other options right from the character builder! Sounds complicated, but thankfully all of what I just described is possible without much fuss, like so:
So as you can see, we specified several spells (all of which are Touch and not normally available for Wizards). When we select this class in the character builder, this is what it'll look like:
What happens if we select one? Take a look:
Spells can certainly get a bit unwieldy can be tricky but once mastered, they can be an immensely powerful tool in your Homebrew arsenal. Whether you want to give your homebrew Wizard subclass the ability to cast Inflict Wounds using Intelligence, or allow whoever takes your feat the ability to cast fireball a number of times equal to their Charisma modifier, I hope this helps you wield Arcane and Divine magic with much more ease within the Homebrew system!
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Creatures (Form)
Last but certainly not least, we have the Creatures form! The Creatures Form allows you to set up a specific set of rules that controls and actively filters the Extra sections of the character sheet. The Creatures form is currently available for Feats, Races, and Subclasses.
Add a Creature Rule:
When you first add a Creature Rule, this is what you’ll see:
A. Rule Type: How the monsters are specified/will be filtered by. You can choose between Create a Rule and Choose Monsters.
B. Creature Group: Determines the category where this appears in the Extras section of the character sheet. You can choose between Wildshape, Familiar, Beast Companion, Mount, Pet, Summoned, Battle Smith Defender, and Sidekick.
Create a Rule: Lets you define rules in which monsters appear/are filtered by.
Choose Monsters: Lets you choose specific monsters.
As always, let’s take a look at an example!
Let’s say that we have a Wizard subclass feature that provides us with the ability to select a specific type of creature (let’s go with Fey) as a familiar. Just so that we don’t provide this subclass the ability to summon Fey that are too powerful, let’s make sure that there’s a limit to the maximum challenge rating – say half of our character’s level. Thankfully, with the Creature rule in place, we can achieve that with ease AND find it in the character sheet Extras tab with even more ease! Here’s how the setup would look:
And when we select Familiars in the Extras section of our level 6 character, this is what we see:
As you can see above - a checkbox labeled "Filter Using Familiar Rules" appears - and while checked, will pull the list of Fey that matched our rules.
The Creatures form is a simple but useful form to master – whether it’s expanding the list of Wildshapes for your Druids, or specifying a particular set of monsters that can be selected as a Mount, this will surely prove to be a useful tool in your arsenal!
Finally, this guide is the last Form Specific guide that I’ll cover in this series. We’ll be moving onto the more exciting elements of our homebrew next – starting with Feats!
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Feats
Despite being an optional rule, Feats are an essential part of the current edition; they help characters by allowing further customization and offer more ways to empower themselves. This guide will empower you to create homebrew Feats using our homebrew tools!
Basic Overview:
When you first create a feat, you’ll see this screen:
2. Description: This is where you describe the feat – it’s what will appear when viewing it.
3. Snippet: This is a summary of the feat itself – and it appears on the character sheet when looking at the character sheet from a glance. You can use calculations to enhance the description (more details about doing so can be found here). It’s important to note that snippets do not affect the feat in any mechanical way!
4. Feat Tags: This is where you would specify any relevant tags for your Feat.
After you create a feat, you will see a new field underneath Feat Tags:
Once we finish filling out the details of the Basic Overview, we’re able to get into the nuts and bolts of it; how the Feats will interact with the Character builder and Character sheet.
7. Options: This lets you set up and create options that a character can pick between after choosing the feat. These options can be further defined by the Actions form. The amount of Options you can pick between can be defined by the ‘Total Number of Feat Options User Can Select’ (the fifth field in the Basic Information section for Feats). I cover Options in greater detail below.
8. Modifiers: This is where you can specify any bonuses or added benefits the Feat may provide (such as an increase to Ability Score). I cover Modifiers in much greater detail here.
9. Spells: This is where you can specify any spells granted by the Feat. I cover Spells in much greater detail here.
10. Actions: This is where you can specify any actions provided by the Feat. I cover Actions in much greater detail here.
11. Creatures: If a Feat allows for a range of creatures that you would want to surface on the Character Sheet via the Extras section, you would use this to specify the parameters. I cover Creatures in much greater detail here.
Prerequisites
When you first go to add a prerequisite, this is what you’ll see:
B. Prerequisite Type: The type of prerequisite – basically the category for it.
C. Subtype: This further expands and specifies the requirement based on the Prerequisite Type selected. For example, if ‘Ability Score’ was selected as the type, the subtype would be your specified ability score (such as Charisma).
D. Value: If your prerequisite has a numerical value, you would define it here.
Multiple Prerequisites: With prerequisites, you can also specify whether a character needs to meet multiple requirements or whether they only need to meet one of several requirements.
Meeting multiple requirements: If your feat requires a character to meet multiple requirements (for example, their Wisdom AND Dexterity must be at least 13 or higher), you would do so from the Prerequisites page itself. When you click ’Edit’ on an existing prerequisite from the Feat overview, you have the option of defining additional prerequisite types, subtypes, and values.
Meeting one of several requirements: If your feat has multiple requirements, but a character only needs to meet one of them (for example, their Intelligence must be at least 13 or higher OR they must have the ability to cast at least one spell), you would add a new prerequisite from the Feats overview itself.
Options
When you go to create an Option, this is what you’ll see:
A. Name: This is where you would name the selectable option.
B. Description: This is the description of the option itself – it explains what the option means and what taking it will do.
C. Snippet: A condensed, data driven summary that will appear at first glance on the character sheet. This does not affect the option otherwise.
D. Actions: This is where you would set up and define the Action granted by this feat. You can add multiple Actions to a single option. I provide a more detailed breakdown of the Actions form here.
As always, let’s take a look at an example of all of this in action!
I have a Feat I want to create that has an overarching Nature theme. Much like other feats, I’d like it to have an increase to an Ability Score (let’s say Wisdom), allow the character to choose between two nature-themed attacks. I’d also like to allow the character taking it, access to a very minor version of Wild Shape, in addition to some Nature-like spells! Now that it’s all laid out, this Feat is sounding pretty strong – so we’ll add some requirements in. Let’s say the character is required to have a Wisdom score of at least 13 or the ability to cast a spell. In both instances, let’s require the character to be at least level 4. It sounds like a lot – but let’s break it down (each section and example is in a spoiler tag due to the amount of screenshots):
Basic Overview
This is where we set up the description, the information that we’re conveying about our feat! Here’s what my example looks like:
Prerequisites
So as we outlined in our opening paragraph, we want to set up two distinctly different set of requirements for a character to take this feat. For both sets of requirements, the character would need to be at least level 4, but we can specify that the character needs to have a Wisdom score of 13 or higher OR the ability to cast at least one spell. Here’s how both prerequisites are set up:
Wisdom 13 or higher:
Ability to cast at least one spell:In order to ensure that the requirement for the character to be at least level 4 is maintained across both options, we would need to add it to both set of prerequisites. This is how it would be set up:
Here’s how it will look from the Feat overview page:
Options
The name, description, and snippet for these options largely mirror the Actions presented in the Basic Overview section (except it’s just limited to that particular option). Here’s what the Actions looks like when they’re fully set up:
Nature’s Hindrance:
Lashing Tail:Modifiers
This is where we set up our +1 our Wisdom and grant proficiency with Nature checks.
Nature Proficiency modifier:Spells
This is where we set up and define the two spells, Druidcraft and Animal Friendship, that are granted with this feat.
Druidcraft:
Animal Friendship:Action
This is how we’ll set up and define our Minor Wildshape action:
Creatures
This is how the list of creatures for the Minor Wildshape is set up:
And that’s how you can build out homebrew Feats within the D&D Beyond homebrew system! I hope this provides you with the clarity and knowledge to allow you to create epic Feats of your own!
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D&D Beyond StaffDemystifying Homebrew: Warlock Pact Weapons
Recently - we made a change to how Warlocks function across the board to support the 2024 Pact of the Blade that affects how 2014 Warlocks (and the Hexblade patron) function. We also wanted to add the ability to allow you to create your own Pact/Hex Weapons using the Homebrew tools.
New Modifiers
The new (and old) Pact of the Blade and Hexblade are supported via modifiers. You'll see two new modifier groups:
The Enable Feature modifier group has the following:
The Replace Weapon Ability modifier group has the following:
It's important to note that the Replace Weapon Ability modifier only works with modifiers from the Enable Feature modifier group. We're looking at expanding its usage in the future.
Implementation
Now, here are the combos you would use to implement the various rules:
2014 Warlock
For the 2014 Warlock’s Pact of the Blade, you’ll want to use the following modifier (by itself):
2024 Warlock
For the 2024 Warlock’s Pact of the Blade, you’ll want to use the following combination:
The Hexblade
To use the rules for the Hexblade's Hex Weapon, you would use the following combination:
Further Customization
In addition to supporting the existing rules for the Warlock (Pact of the Blade and Hexblade), you can further customize the Pact features!