Last Updated on January 22, 2023
When I first started playing Dungeons and Dragons 5e I was a little surprised how long it could take to make a new character.
Admittedly, I didn’t know many of the rules or most of the options, but the process was still more complex than I had given it credit for.
Whether you’re making a character for yourself or you’re a DM coming up with NPCs for your players to befriend and fight, sometimes even an expert in DnD 5e can use a little help streamlining the process.
That’s where character builders and generators come in.
They can help speed up the character building process by filling in stats and focusing on the essential questions.
Even if you’re a player who enjoys taking their time crafting a new character to inhabit, character builders can still be useful sources of inspiration.
But there are a lot of options out there.
This guide compiles the best DnD 5e character builders out there into one handy place.
It focuses on those builders that generate all the little details of a character and help provide a single place where you put together your stats with your class and your feats with your spells.
These builders put together characters more than backstories.
The list below is in no particular order and each of these options brings useful traits to the table.
In fact, I recommend picking out a few of these you like for when you need their particular qualities.
If you simply need a quick builder right now or don’t have time to read through the entire article, check out our table below which lists some of the most important features and differences between these top 10 online character builders.
✱ – Levi Blodgett’s Character Builder includes the features listed with this symbol in the table, but only with some additional work on your part. Check out the full entry for more information!
Best Online Character Builders for D&D 5e
1. Aidedd Character Builder
This character builder is great for those new to DnD. It breaks the character creation process into really simple steps that make all the choices that go into character creation a lot easier.
Plus, unlike a lot of other builders on this list it has (as far as I can tell) every spell in all the DnD sourcebooks published so far.
However, it’s not perfect. It’s definitely missing a few things, like a couple of races and some of the backgrounds. And unfortunately, you can’t even add custom features to make up for it.
You can export your character as either an XML file or into the DnD 5e official character sheet though, cementing this builder’s utility for beginners.
Sample Character Output:
2. DnD Beyond
DnD Beyond is a famous DnD 5e reference site, and with a free account you can access its excellent character builder. Admittedly, only the core rulebooks’ content is free, but if you have the money it’s worth the cost.
Not only can you build a character with customizable options at every stage, and generate your stats using one of three methods (4d6 best 3, standard array, or point buy), but your resulting character sheet has access to reference material of DnD Beyond just a click away.
Any shat or item on your character sheet can be expanded to give its full description, which can be really useful when you can’t quite remember what your Ruby of the War Mage does.
And the sheet has a built-in dice roller too, so you can use it when you play!
The character sheet you make can also be exported if you want.
The main downside is that this isn’t a good site for randomly generating characters quickly; you have to go through every step which can get tiresome for multiclass characters.
Sample Character Output:
3. Dungeon Master’s Vault
This character builder has many of the strengths of DnD Beyond’s, and none of its weaknesses! It allows you to randomly generate characters as well as more carefully building your own.
And in addition to supporting multiclassed higher level characters the site will tell you if your character is legal for Adventurer’s League, which has its own rules for character creation in DnD 5e.
The main downside is that this website doesn’t have every spell, background, and subclass. For what’s missing you’ll need to manually input the details with the welcome custom feature.
Once you build your character, you can export it as a pdf into a DnD 5e character sheet ready for printing.
Sample Character Output:
4. Fast Character Builder
The Fast Character Builder is exactly what it says on the tin. You don’t have to select any options if you don’t want to, just skip straight to the random generation.
Building a character yourself is also pretty fast; the selections are made through easy-to-use drop-down menus. And once you’re done, you can choose one of several nice display options for your finished character sheet.
Unfortunately, the site does not support every subclass and doesn’t support multiclass characters. Stat assignment can also be a little complicated if you don’t use purely custom or random stat generation.
This is a builder best for DMs who need a quick character with a few set details.
Sample Character Output:
5. Javascript DDNext Character Generator
Now, this is a character builder built by someone who clearly loves DnD.
It can be a little overwhelming, but a lot of options just mean a lot of power in your hands.
This builder has the most ways you can select your stats (3d6, 4d6 best 3, 5d6 best 3, simple entry, standard array, non-elite array), as well as several homebrew options for everything from ability scores to equipment.
While you can make higher-level 5e characters as well as multiclassed characters this builder sadly does not offer every option in DnD, and you can’t always customize your choices. The homebrew options that do exist are great but locked in.
The UI can also be a little confusing; there are helpful arrows but don’t assume that just because an option is grayed out you can’t select it. In fact, this builder recommends certain choices over others based on what you pick, something that I really like.
This is a great builder for playing around with character options or searching for inspiration, but because it only builds your character “sheet” as a list of text, I can’t recommend it as a quick choice.
Sample Character Output:
6. Levi Blodgett’s Character Generator
One of my favorite character builders, this puts together a DnD 5e character sheet that’s completely editable. You can adjust it as you like and when you’re done simply save it as a PDF.
Where this builder really shines though is its ability to quickly generate random characters. Not only can you build truly random characters (or filter for specific classes, races, or backgrounds), you can use a “Logical Version” which creates a character based on randomly rolled stats that make sense.
So you won’t get a fighter with an 8 in Strength and Constitution, the stats will make sense for the build.
The random generator is extremely fast, and for a quick character, this is one of the best builders. However, if you want to make the character your own or add homebrew options you must edit the sheet directly which can take a lot of time.
You also can only generate higher than Level 1 characters by editing the sheet directly; the randomizer won’t cut it. This builder is a little limited, but great at what it does.
Sample Character Output:
7. MPMB’s DnD 5e Character Tools
MorePurpleMoreBetter has one of the most extensive character builders out there. This builder is really several that work together through MPMB’s PDFs.
You need Adobe Acrobat Reader (which is free to download) to use them, and there is a small fee but it’s worth it. Full access is only a dollar a month on the creator’s Patreon.
Through Java Script the character builder includes sheets from an improved DnD 5e character sheet and spell sheet to detailed sheets for companions, wild shape, and more. There’s even an alternate colored option!
While this character builder is limited to SRD content it does support full customization and is by far the best character builder out there when it comes to customizing your character sheets.
This is not a character builder for beginners, but if you’re looking for something to really put your DnD 5e thoughts down on paper, check this builder out.
Sample Character Output:
8. Ninetale Character Builder
The Ninetale character builder is nowhere near as extensive as MPMB’s, but it is useful in other ways. It excels at providing quick and simple characters.
What I like most about this builder is its convenient stat block.
It doesn’t generate a full character sheet like other builders, but the stat block it does make is much more convenient for GMs
My main complaint is that it’s not very customizable. You are limited to Level 1 characters, and unfortunately, the stats are stuck at a maximum of 15 (not including racial bonuses).
It also doesn’t include all DnD 5e published content, but that’s common to most character builders. This is a site that falls into the “limited, but useful in its area” category of character builders.
Sample Character Output:
9. Roll20 Charactermancer
The Roll20 site is well known for its DnD 5e rule guides and for hosting rpg games of all kinds. If you start (or join!) a free campaign on Roll20 you get access to their 5e character sheet builder.
This entry is focused on their Level 1 Charactermancer, but it’s worth mentioning that you can directly edit your character sheet to create not only higher level and multiclassed characters but characters with homebrew abilities.
And all of these are linked directly to the Roll20 campaign system, allowing you to roll dice directly from the sheet or with a macro that references that sheet.
The Charactermancer is Roll20’s character builder for Level 1 characters. It does require some custom setup for certain subclasses or backgrounds, but these are straightforward.
The builder breaks the process of building a character down into simple questions, but what I really like is the way it sums up your character before you’re finished.
When I was testing it out I accidentally chose a proficiency that my background already granted me and the Charactermancer caught my mistake (which was easy to correct).
Roll20 also has what it calls the Compendium, which hosts many DnD 5e rules and features. What that means is that in most cases you can simply drag and drop proficiencies, items, spells, and more directly onto your character sheet without having to manually edit anything. They simply auto-populate!
The big downside of Roll20 is that you cannot as of yet export your character sheet. However, since you can roll dice and play a whole campaign on the site I don’t mind this so much.
Sample Character Output:
10. 5e Companion App
Last, but not least, we have the 5e Companion App. You didn’t think we were going to ignore apps entirely, did you?
Whether you love the portability of a 5e character builder app, or hate that you can’t access your sheet on your phone, you’ll have to admit that this app has everything you need to put together your 5e character and more.
This app is a little confusing to navigate initially, but once you get the hang of the minimalist design you’ll find a plethora of reference information. More than just a character builder this app also has spell lists, monsters, and more.
The builder is a little cramped, fitting on your phone, but it does include almost everything you could want a character builder to include. Not only does it have all the published content (as far as I could tell), but it’s easy to add your own custom abilities and spells. And while you can’t randomly generate a character as fast as some of the other sites on this list it does include randomizers.
The one thing it doesn’t have is a way to export its character sheets outside of the app. That makes this builder best for reference, and less for play.
Still, for DMs who create dozens of characters and could really use a handy organized list this builder is particularly useful.
Sample Character Output:
Well, That’s A Wrap!
There are a lot of great and not-so-great character builders out there for DnD 5e. It can be difficult to put together a builder that does all the work for you after all.
But a good builder leaves something up to the person too, and these builders walk an excellent line between putting together all the finicky parts of a character that can be easy to forget about and providing enough room for inspiration to thrive.
Whatever you need them for, these builders (or at least one of them) can definitely help you out!
- About Author
- Latest Posts
Rich is an avid D&D player and DM. He has been playing since the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st and 2nd editions. He has run campaigns of various editions with family and friends for over 20 years. Playing DnD 5th Edition in person at local game stores and online with VTT’s over the past 10 years has provided a consistent connection to how the game has grown. He strongly believes in understanding the source material, but catering the games to your individual players. Feel free to ask anything in the comments or drop him an email: [email protected].
