Last Updated on January 22, 2023
D&D is a game that lets you play a wide variety of characters with a character customization system that puts just about any video game you’ve ever played to shame.
In fact, 5e has so many options to consider that sometimes it might get a bit overwhelming.
Between choosing your class, subclass, race, background, and any other decision that might come up along the way, sometimes it’s just a lot easier to jump into a character that’s already put together.
In this article we’re pulling together all the resources we can find to let you jump into play without having to worry about building your character.
Whether you’re a DM looking for some great hand-out character sheets, a new player looking to jump past the overwhelming options, or someone just looking for a little bit of randomness in their life, this is the spot for you.
Premade Characters
There are a lot of premade characters out there. We’re pulling in some of our favorites for you to bring to your table.
Official Pregenerated Characters
We’re starting it off with the basics at a group of officially published character sheets from WotC themselves.
This is meant to provide you with everything you need for a group of four or five level-one adventurers.
The actual starter set includes an adventure: The Lost Mines of Phandelver, which these characters are built for.
Two fighters, a cleric, a wizard, and a rogue make up the composition of this party (or any four of the five), but you can pull any of these characters into another party/adventure and be perfectly well off.
Warriors, Scoundrels, Mages, and Healers
If you follow this link and scroll just a bit down, you’ll see 16 pre-generated characters, four for each category we listed in the heading.
This includes most race and class options available in the PHB with a strong build for each.
What makes these pre-generated characters unique is that they come in downloadable zip files, rather than just being listed on a character sheet.
Each folder has 10 pdfs for the same character, one for each level (1st through 10th). You can use these character sheets to start playing a wide range of characters at a wide range of levels.
Keep in mind, these are presented as stat blocks, rather than actual character sheets. You will probably want to transcribe them onto your character sheet for ease of access.
Stranger Things Starter Set and Dungeons and Dragons vs. Rick and Morty
I’m including these two because technically they have pre-made character sheets.
Both of these adventure modules are highly specific pop-culture tie-ins. However, that doesn’t make them any less real.
If you’re looking for pre–made characters because you and your group are just getting into D&D, these options are just as feasible as the Starter Set characters above, if a bit specific.
Essentials Kit Characters (D20 Day 2021)
As part of D20 day in 2021, WotC released what is essentially a teaser version of the Essentials Kit for new players. This includes a brief start-up adventure and five premade characters.
These are some of the most fleshed-out starter characters you’ll come across and a huge bonus for people who want to play the Essentials Kit module but don’t want to go through the process of character creation before they jump in.
Our Premade Characters
The team here at Blackcitadel will be putting together some premade characters for you to use in your own campaign.
So bookmark this page and check back occasionally!
Random Character Creators
Fully pre-generated characters are just one way to avoid doing any character creation work and still show up to the session with a fully fleshed-out character.
We’ve pulled in some excellent generators that will get you off the ground with a few simple clicks of a button.
D&D 5e Random Character Generator – TetraCube
This excellent randomizer will give you backstories, flaws, personality traits, and everything you need for a fleshed-out character.
Click Generate Character, and you’ll end up with a neat little card with the basics of your character followed by more in-depth class, race, background, and lifestyle information.
This generator also allows you to lock in certain aspects of the characters you generate and keep those in place as you switch around other options.
It’s a really great tool for people like me who will roll 30 times on a random table until they get the choice they really wanted. If you know you want a barbarian and that’s about it, plug that in, and let the generator do its job.
This doesn’t give you all of the stats for your character; you’ll have to fill that in on your own.
If you’re looking for information on the subclass it gave you, check out our subclass guides for more info and simple breakdowns.
Here we have a generator that will do as much or as little as you ask it to.
If you want something that’s completely random, scroll down to the Create Character button, and let it rip.
If you know anything about what you’re looking for, just fill in the appropriate blanks on the page. Everything from name to personality traits and subclass to ability scores is there for you to predetermine.
This generator also has the helpful tool of allowing you to choose different viewing methods for your generation.
You can set it to produce a character sheet, format it for mobile viewing, or even generate the full simple text needed to insert your character sheet on Roll20 or other VTTs that use similar coding language.
Dungeon Master’s Vault Character Builder
If video games have been your main foray into the fantasy RPG genre, the user interface for this generator might feel right at home with you.
Switch through multiple tabs, locking in the character you want and randomizing pieces, or randomize the character as a whole.
Then, on the right side of the screen is a similar set of tabs that allow you to view your stats, proficiencies, features, and more.
This generator is a bit limited in that it only seems to include character options listed in the basic rules.
You can use this as a template, you can generate a simple character, or you can go through the rather simple process of creating new options for races, classes, subclasses, etc.
I would say only do this if there are a few options you’re thinking about that aren’t present and this layout is appealing to you.
For more generators and character builders, check out our article that dives much deeper into these wonderful options here.
As a kid, I was often told to get my head out of the clouds and to stop living in a fantasy world. That never really jived with me, so I decided to make a living out of games, stories, and all sorts of fantastical works. Now, as an adult, I aspire to remind people that sometimes a little bit of fantasy is all you need when life gets to be too much.
