Start with an idea
Before any number, picture the hero: a stubborn dwarf cleric, a curious elf wizard, a rogue who is bad at lying. A one-line concept makes every later choice easier, and it is the thing you will still remember in a year.
Choose a species
Your species (called race in older books) gives your character a size, a speed, languages and a few traits, and in the SRD 5.1 it also adds to some ability scores. The SRD includes the dwarf, elf, halfling, human, dragonborn, gnome, half-elf, half-orc and tiefling, some with a subrace such as the high elf or the hill dwarf.
Choose a class
The class is what your character does: fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric and the rest of the twelve classes of the SRD. It sets your hit die, the saving throws you are good at, the armor and weapons you can use, how many skills you pick, and the features you gain at each level.
Some classes choose a subclass right away (a cleric picks a domain at level 1), others at level 2 or 3 (a wizard picks a school at 2, a fighter an archetype at 3).
Assign your ability scores
There are three usual ways to get the six scores:
- Standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8, in the order you like.
- Point buy: 27 points to spend on scores between 8 and 15, before the species bonuses.
- Rolling: four six-sided dice, drop the lowest, six times.
Put your best scores where your class needs them: Strength for a fighter, Intelligence for a wizard, Dexterity for a rogue. The modifier of a score is the score minus 10, divided by 2, rounded down.
Pick a background
A background gives two skills, some tool proficiencies or languages, starting equipment and a feature, and it tells where the hero comes from. The SRD includes one, the Acolyte. Other backgrounds come from other books: in Heroquill you can import the content files you already own, or write your own with the homebrew editor.
Skills, proficiencies and equipment
Choose the skills your class allows, and take the equipment your class and background offer. Your armor class comes from the armor you wear plus your Dexterity modifier (with some limits), and every weapon you carry has an attack bonus made of your ability modifier and, if you are proficient, your proficiency bonus, which is +2 at level 1.
Spells, if your class casts
Casters choose cantrips (spells you can cast at will) and, depending on the class, spells known or spells prepared each day. Spell slots limit how many leveled spells you can cast before resting. The save DC of your spells is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier, and a spell attack is your proficiency bonus + that modifier.
Hit points and the finishing touches
At level 1 your hit points are the highest number of your hit die plus your Constitution modifier. Then give the hero a name, an alignment, personality traits, ideals, bonds and flaws, and a few words on how they look. They cost nothing and make the character come alive at the table.
Level up
Each new level brings hit points (roll your hit die or take the average), new class features and sometimes new spells. At levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 19 most classes can raise their ability scores or take a feat. You may also multiclass, if your scores meet the requirements of both classes.
How Heroquill helps
Heroquill follows these steps one at a time and works out every number for you: modifiers, saving throws, skills, armor class, hit points, spell slots and save DCs, with feats and multiclassing applied. You can override any value by hand, play the character on the same screen with hit points, spell slots, rests and dice, print the sheet and the spell cards, or share the character with a link. It is free, needs no account and works offline.