The best DnD character creators for fast 5e builds

Looking for an online DnD character creator? Building a Dungeons and Dragons character can be a tough, time-consuming process; scouring books to choose a class, race, ability scores, min-max a build, and create a roleplaying background is a lot of work. Our guide makes it all easier by detailing the best DnD character creators free to use online – and showing you where to find them.

These Dungeons and Dragons character creators take most of the number crunching out of your hands. You won’t need to know the ins and outs of all the DnD classes or DnD races – a character creator lets you focus on the fun stuff (and might even add your DnD stats to a DnD character sheet for you so you can get straight into adventuring).

We’ve picked the five best character creators in two categories. Firstly, there’s your standard character build generators. Then, we’ve looked at DnD character creator visual tools that’ll also create your character’s digital avatar. We’ve also listed a few runners up in case you’ve already tried all of our top picks.

The best DnD character creators for builds

First, the regular generators. The best DnD character creators for builds are:

1. D&D Beyond

The best official DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Beginner-friendly interface
• Compatible with major VTTs
• Allows homebrew content

Cons:

• Lots of content behind a paywall

D&D Beyond is by far the most expansive option on this list: a well-supported, integrated character creator that’s likely to offer all the choice, guidance, and customizability you’ll need. Part of Wizards of the Coast’s official D&D digital toolset, it’s free to use (requiring only that you create a D&D Beyond account), and includes all 5e material that can be freely accessed under the DnD Open Games License.

From a player’s perspective, that means all classes (now including the Artificer 5e class), each with at least one subclass, all standard player races, along with a couple of extras thrown in, are available for free.

If you want to use material from other DnD books, you’ll need a member of your D&D Beyond campaign to have purchased it through the platform, and share it with the rest of the party. But even if you want to take the wholly free route, D&D Beyond’s character creator is still a rosy option.

Each step is presented intuitively, new players can use tooltips to navigate the choices, and generic game options, such as selecting a DnD level up system or encumbrance options, can be fine-tuned to keep track of your character’s progression in whatever level of detail feels right for your game. Rules are automatically accounted for, so you can sit back and let the computer do the hard work.

And if you’re totally new to D&D, you can even use the Quick Build feature to create a competent adventurer in a flash. Select a class, pick a race, and choose a name (here are some DnD name generators if you’re stuck for ideas). Perfect for some speedy DnD roleplay.

If you’re not going to be holding your sessions online, character sheets can be exported to fillable PDFs, or integrated into a Roll20 campaign (using the handy Beyond20 browser extension). But it’s D&D Beyond’s digital character sheets that really shine.

Ergonomic and interactive, every ability score, every skill, and every section is clickable, bringing up a panel explaining their rules, and application in-game. And it cuts out the need for physical DnD dice, too. Click on ability scores or DnD skills, and a virtual dice will roll on screen, sharing its score in the central log for all your fellow adventurers to see.

There’s also the option to create and use DnD homebrew content when building a character. D&D Beyond lets you add your own subclasses and races – particularly useful if you’re keen on expanding your campaign beyond official sourcebooks, or want to use the official D&D content you own in a physical format but haven’t bought it digitally. Manually enter a class’s stats in the homebrew panel, and it’s as if they’re available to you as the real deal.

There are some limitations, however. 5e feats aren’t available to players who haven’t bought (or don’t have access to) the digital PHB, and, as you progress, you’ll need to spend some cash to unlock the character creator’s full features. But if you’re only looking for a means of building a level one character, and won’t be recording their progress through D&D Beyond’s automatic leveling system, you’ll be missing out on nothing. 

2. Dungeon Master’s Vault

The best unofficial DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Tools for beginners and veterans
• Highly detailed
• Options for NPCs, towns, and more

Cons:

• Unintuitive layout

Dungeon Master’s Vault isn’t as replete as D&D Beyond, but it’s useful for players who know what they’re doing and are simply after a quick set-up. Particularly handy for homebrewers – with options to add complete custom subclasses, races, and DnD backgrounds in a few clicks – it automates everything in a tidy array.

It also gives short descriptions of each option, and their influence on your characters’ DnD stats – which will come in handy if you’re playing a class or race you’re not so familiar with.

What makes this character creator stand out, however, is that it builds your character in real time. As you’re picking skill proficiencies, or weighing up two subclasses, you can easily see how the choices will influence your modifiers and ability scores at a glance. It’s especially useful if you have particular DnD character builds in mind, or are trying to min/max your character with optimum efficiency.

And for new players, Dungeon Master’s Vault also offers the “character builder for newbies” option, stripping away all the usual D&D jargon, and replacing them with several generic questions. The idea is that you don’t need to know anything about D&D to use it, but can have a vague understanding of fantasy tropes, pick some general character cues that sound like fun, and it will do the work for you. 

3. Fight Club 5th Edition

The best mobile-friendly DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Mobile-friendly interface
• Can add homebrew content

Cons:

• Very limited official D&D content

Often, you’ll want your DnD character sheet to be portable. No one wants to drag a laptop to their weekly roleplaying session just so they can read character stats off a screen.

To save you some stress (and back pain), try creating your character on your phone. You’ll be able to whip it out whenever you need it and impress any passer-by with your incredibly optimized Sorlock build.

For a D&D character creator app that’s smooth and complete, we recommend Fight Club 5th Edition. It’ll speed you through creation in a tight walkthrough, before serving up a neat character sheet that’s compact and interactable.

As well as tracking your stats, DnD weapons, and spell slots, you can also use it as a dice roller. Tap on any ability score, attack, or skill to instantly make a check. The app will automatically include all the relevant proficiencies and bonuses in the calculation, too.

Bear in mind, Fight Club 5th Edition only contains material that’s free to use under D&D’s Open Games License – which doesn’t even cover the full PHB. However, the app does include the function to add your own content or download entire compendiums of user-made resources online. A quick search will show numerous resources for adding homebrew material to the app, so you shouldn’t be left wanting.

If you know you’ll be playing D&D at several friends’ houses, or will be switching between game stores, this is a handy tool. Pack everything you need on your phone, and you’ll be able to play wherever, whenever. 

4. Aidedd Character Builder

The best no-nonsense DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Fast and simple to use
• Free access to non-core DnD books

Cons:

• Not fully automated
• Not always up-to-date

If you want to generate a fairly basic Dungeons and Dragons character real fast, real simple, with no huge lists of options, flashy visuals, or frilly extras to distract you, Aidedd Character Builder is another very viable option for you.

A straightforward, step-by-step online form-filling tool with every word, stat, number, and selection presented in black and white (literally), this tool looks basic, but it’s a smart design that gets the basic job done in a satisfyingly no-nonsense way.

Making a character is super-quick, and when you’re done (assuming you’ve logged in with an email) you get your pick of generating a printable, official DnD character sheet; creating an interactive, online HTML version saved on the Aidedd site; and/or saving it down in .xml format, to re-upload and edit via the tool later on.

The Aidedd Character Builder’s main limitation is that there’s no in-built process for leveling up your character. Whichever of the above methods you’ve chosen, when it’s time to level up your character, you’ll have some of your own admin to do to make sure all your relevant stats are updated, with none of the guidance or guardrails of a D&D Beyond-like experience.

Still, when all we need is to generate a complete, functioning D&D character sheet with minimum stress, Aidedd is often the tool we turn to. 

5. Who the Fuck is My DnD Character

The most fun DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Very entertaining

Cons:

• It’s not going to help with your character build at all

A sillier option, but surprisingly useful in moments, Who the Fuck is my DnD Character isn’t your usual character creator. It doesn’t build a character sheet for you, and it won’t teach you how to fill one.

Rather, it provides random, often tongue-in-cheek character descriptions to serve as a basis for your build. Perfect if hours of adventuring have sucked all the roleplaying imagination from your brain.

Some of the backgrounds it served up for us include:

• A naive Dwarf Fighter 5e character from the Salt Flats who always wanted to be an artist
• A sophisticated Gnome Monk 5e character from a poorly run orphanage who is in way too deep with the wrong sort of people
• A reliable DnD Halfling Sorcerer 5e character from a poor dairy farm who doesn’t speak a word of common

Will it help you to quickly create a character and get adventuring? Probably not. But even a character with the most rigorously balanced stats will be no fun to play if there’s not an engaging roleplaying base backing them up.

Honorable mentions

We’ve reviewed plenty of DnD character creators, so we have even more options if you’re looking for something a little different. Here are our esteemed runners-up:

6. Fast Character

The fastest DnD character creator (obviously).

Pros:

• Clear and easy to use

Cons:

• Not beginner-friendly
• Doesn’t handle more complex DnD mechanics

If you’re looking to waste no time, know exactly what you’re doing, and just want a quick means of automatically compiling a stat sheet, look no further than Fast Character. A web page solely dedicated to creating D&D characters, it’s, as you might expect, mightily speedy and massively streamlined.

Use the drop-down menus to select all the essentials, add any feats that your character has acquired, write some roleplaying notes if you’re so inclined, and, hey presto, you’ve instantly got a sheet. Although it automatically calculates your character’s stats, Fast Character doesn’t track progression, nor is it intended to guide you through the creation process.

If you’re familiar with D&D, or have the PHB sitting in front of you, Fast Character is a useful way of creating your character digitally. But it’s not great for learning how to do so, and it isn’t beginner-friendly.

Spanning the contents of a good few additional sourcebooks, Fast Character includes a lot of subclasses outside of the PHB, but there are a few restrictions to its use. Rough and ready, it can’t cope with DnD multiclassing, and won’t display a list of 5e spells for any magic users, so you’re going to have to keep track of these elsewhere. Use it if you need to quickly create a digital sheet for a new or existing character. 

7. DnD NPC Generator

The best DnD character creator for NPCs.

Pros:

• Offers a tool not many character creators have
• Covers storytelling hooks as well as stats

Cons:

• Can get repetitive if overused
• Binary genders only

Playable D&D characters aren’t the only ones populating your fictional world; there are heaps of non-playable characters (NPC) that the DM needs to bring to life to fill your campaign with conflict and color. Luckily, for any Dungeon Master who needs a bit of creative help, there’s a DnD NPC Generator that can help you create unique and memorable NPCs.

The NPC generator gives each character a distinct appearance and personality, and there are plenty of details that make these characters feel more real. The cowardly Wood DnD Elf becomes more three-dimensional when you learn she’s deaf in one ear – or straight-up unusual when you find out she’s also allergic to DnD Tieflings. As well as a stat block, each NPC comes with a plot hook that provides a jumping-off point for future quests. 

8. Shard Tabletop

A DnD character creator with its own VTT.

Pros:

• Clear character sheets
• Options for tokens and VTT use

Cons:

• Can be confusing to navigate

Few character creators have direct compatibility with virtual tabletops. Sure, D&DBeyond can be hooked up to a Roll20 game, but with fiddly additional software and sometimes patchy results. Shard Tabletop comes with a VTT of its own, so you can go straight from character creation to a campaign.

Even if you’re not ready to give up Roll20, Shard Tabletop is a simple tool with some unique and useful features. All the basics of DnD character creation are available, and Shard Tabletop offers delightful extra details like quick token generation.

That being said, not everything about Shard Tabletop is simple. The names of several concepts in D&D have been changed, which may slow newbies down a little. And it’s not super clear how to add custom content or anything from supplementary sourcebooks. It’s easy to get started with Shard, but mastering the character creator will take significantly more fiddling.

The best visual DnD character creators

Next, here are the best DnD character creators for visuals:

• 1. Hero Forge – For creating detailed character visuals
• 2. Reroll App – Combines text and visual character creation
• 3. Meiker.io – A simple tool for character art
• 4. TitanCraft – A more realistic visual character creator
• 5. DMHeroes – Create flavorful characters at random 

1. Hero Forge

The most detailed visual DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Highly detailed
• Lots of customization options

Cons:

• Complex to use

If you’re looking for a purely visual DnD character creator, custom miniature designer Hero Forge is a surprisingly useful tool. The website is traditionally used to design DnD miniatures for characters you’ve already created, but if you’re looking for some outfit inspiration, there’s no reason you can’t reverse the process.

A few minutes (or hours) dressing and posing a figure might be the inspiration you need. And Hero Forge offers a wealth of customization options for your character’s physical features, clothes, and on-hand items.

All the different sliders and accessories may seem a little overwhelming at first, but Hero Forge is pretty intuitive once you get used to it. Plus, there are plenty of official tutorials (like the one below) to help you get started.

While you’ll need to pay if you want Hero Forge to make a physical copy of your design (or an STL for your 3D printer), it’s totally free to use the character creation tools. You can even save your designs and show pics to others, which comes in handy when describing your character to the party for the first time. 

2. Reroll App

The best combined DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Awesome art style
• Good value for money from paid version

Cons:

• Color options aren’t great

The Reroll App is one of our favorite DnD character creator visual tools. A two-in-one builder, it lets you create either a simple digital character build, or an adorable, customizable miniature pixel art avatar – or both.

Both its free and paid versions generate an interactive digital character sheet (viewable on mobile or desktop) that tracks your stats and inventory for you.

The Reroll app free version offers five character slots and a limited selection of DnD armor, weapons, and mini-bases for your avatars.

The paid version (a one-off purchase at $10) gets you unlimited character slots, and a much wider variety of doodads to deck out your avatar, including over 150 weapons, 300 armor pieces, 20 pets, and 15 mini bases. 

3. Meiker.io

The simplest DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Fast and easy to use
• Surprising amount of customization options

Cons:

• Intrusive ads on the site

Meiker.io‘s Fantasy RPG character maker – the work of sci-fi and fantasy author A.K. Larkwood – is a neat little DnD character creator visual tool which generates charming pen-drawn avatars from a pool of fantasy-themed body types, faces, and accessories.

As you’d expect, this Meiker.io character builder also features a ‘randomize’ button – and it does an admirable job of rolling up a visually distinct, quirky little guy every time.

If you’re big into color, details, or 3D, then this isn’t the DnD avatar maker for you – but its pen-and-ink characters are a lot of fun, and at the very least can offer you a bit of inspiration to start from when putting together an image of your perfect DnD character.

Remember, though, this one is only a visual character creator; you’ll get no stats or character sheets from it, so you’ll need to combine it with one of the other character creators in this guide to be ready to play. 

4. TitanCraft

A more realistic visual DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Huge amount of customization options

Cons:

• No options for color
• Tricky to learn to use

If Hero Forge isn’t your style but you like the idea of a 3D visual character creator, TitanCraft is our preferred option. Its miniatures feel slightly more grown-up, and the site has almost as many customization options as its competitor.

The range of options for your character are enormous. If you want to play a DnD Kobold or something so weird it can’t be found in traditional D&D books, TitanCraft has the options to make that happen. Every mini is fully poseable, and comes with a sea of outfits, accessories, and even animal companions.

Not everything is perfect, of course. It’s not the most intuitive site to pick up and play with, and you don’t have any option to add color like Hero Forge. 

5. DMHeroes

Gives a randomized face and fun backstory to your DnD character.

Pros:

• Quick and easy to use
• Fleshes out character backstory

Cons:

• Minimal customization options
• No longer updated by creator

If you need a source of inspiration, DMHeroes is an excellent choice of DnD character creator. As soon as you boot up the website, you’re offered a handsome character portrait, as well as some unique details about your potential persona. This is a visual character creator that goes beyond skin-deep appearances – defining your character’s voice, goals, and even biases.

Admittedly, this is all a bit simplistic. You might need to do a lot of backstory writing to justify your character’s hatred of Gnomes, and the suggested god you worship might not fit your current campaign. Plus, you can only choose the most basic aspects of your character. If you want to play a rarer D&D race (or even a non-binary gender), this isn’t the tool for you.

But for the right person, that simplicity is a draw rather than a setback. This is for D&D players who know exactly what class they want to play but can’t be bothered to decide how tall their new character is. Draw up a pretty profile picture, and let the gears of your imagination start whirring.

Honorable mentions

We’ve got one more visual DnD character creator we’d recommend. It didn’t quite make the cut for our top five, but it’ll still tickle the fancy of many TTRPG-ers.

6. Charactercreator.org

A speedy, random DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Fast and simple

Cons:

• Limited options for fantasy games

A fairly basic cartoon avatar generator, Charactercreator.org is one of the lighter DnD character creator visual tools out there – but can still be useful in a pinch, when your imagination is a little taxed and/or there are only minutes left before your first RPG session.

There’s a fairly deep selection of customization options – from belts, to Tiefling 5e horns, to pet parrots – but mostly you’ll be using the magic ‘Random’ button to generate bizarre new avatars until you get the combo of features that feels right to you.

Worth noting is that, in our experience with Charactercreator.org, there are far more modern-day or sci-fi-style looks in this avatar generator than there are fantastical options. So, if you’re playing in a traditional, medieval fantasy-themed DnD setting, best dig into the lists manually and pick out the accessories you want instead of randomizing.

7. Eldritch Foundry

A realistic but limited visual DnD character creator.

Pros:

• Highly detailed

Cons:

• No color
• Options can feel limited

Like TitanCraft, Eldritch Foundry is a popular alternative to mini creation website, Eldritch Foundry. You can use this free custom miniatures website to tweak the look of your next character to your heart’s content. There’s a huge amount of detailed customization options available here (though we have to resist the urge to give our Wizard finger guns every dang time).

There are a few downsides to consider, though. Firstly, unlike Hero Forge, you can’t add any color to your creation – which may make you less inclined to use any screenshots as an official VTT token. Additionally, many of the rarer DnD races aren’t available – so if you’re looking to tweak the outfit of your DnD Tortle, you’ll be out of luck.

Looking for more RPG tools? Here are the best DnD dice and DnD miniatures for in-person players. Or, if you prefer digital games, our guides to DnD maps and virtual tabletops can help you play in style.

Source: Wargamer