RollCamp Guide #1 - Your First Character

Making a character in D&D 2024 means a dozen decisions that all depend on each other. RollCamp's creator walks you through them one at a time, in the order that actually works, and does the arithmetic for you as you go. You don't need to know the rules to get through it. Every screen shows you what a choice does before you make it.

Before you start

Open Create in the top bar and pick Characters. A word of warning first, because it's the one thing that catches people out: the sheet isn't saved until you press Finish. If you close the tab or navigate away halfway through, the character is gone. RollCamp will stop you and ask before you leave, but there's no draft sitting on a server somewhere. Set aside ten minutes and go through in one sitting. Along the way, keep an eye on Show preview. It opens the sheet as it stands right now, and it's the fastest way to understand what a choice just did to your numbers.

Step 1 — Class

Your class is the biggest decision on the list, and it comes first because most of what follows hangs off it: your hit points, your saving throws, what you can wear, what you can hold, and how many of the later choices you'll even be asked to make. The list here is the Compendium's own, so you get the full entry — hit die, primary ability, saving throws, proficiencies, starting equipment, and the features you'll pick up as you level. Open a row to read it, then press Choose in its footer.

The moment you choose, a new section unfolds underneath:

• Skill Proficiencies. Your class grants a set number of your choice. Anything you already have from elsewhere is locked rather than hidden, so you can see why it isn't available.
• Feature Choices. Some classes ask you to decide something at level 1 — a fighting style, an order, a set of weapon masteries. If yours does, it's here.

Both have to be filled in before the step counts as done.

Step 2 — Background

Your background is where your character was before the adventure started. It gives you:

• Ability score bonuses — either +2 to one ability and +1 to another, or +1 to three of them. You choose which.
• An origin feat, which is a real feat, not flavour.
• Skill and tool proficiencies, plus a bundle of starting equipment.

Pick the background first, then make those choices in the section that opens below it. The ability bonuses land on top of whatever numbers you generate in step 4 — you'll see them applied there in their own column, so nothing is hidden inside a total.

Step 3 — Species

Species sets your size, your speed, and your special traits. Choose from the list the same way, and then handle whatever the species asks of you underneath:

• Size, but only if your species offers two. Where it does, the choice is required.
• Languages. You know Common, and you can add a couple more from the standard list.
• Trait choices, where the species offers a branch — a lineage, a heritage, an ability.

Step 4 — Ability Scores

Six numbers, four ways to get them. Pick whichever your table uses:

Once you have the six values, assign them to the abilities in the table below. The table shows the base value, the background bonus, the total and the modifier side by side, so you can see exactly where each number came from. Your class's primary ability is marked — as a rule, that's where the highest score goes. If you're rolling, you can reroll the whole set before assigning. After that the values are yours.

Step 5 — Equipment

Your class offers starting gear as a small number of packages — Option A, Option B, and so on — and your background adds its own on top. Choose the package, and then tell RollCamp what you're actually holding. That last part matters more than it looks. Wielded Weapons decides your attack rolls on the sheet, and the rules about what you can hold in two hands are enforced here: two weapons only if both are Light, unless a feat says otherwise. Armour and shields from your starting gear are put on for you, so your AC is right the moment you finish.

Step 6 — Spells

This step only appears if your class casts. If it doesn't, you won't see it at all. If it does, the header tells you your spellcasting ability, your spell save DC and your attack bonus before you pick anything — all three calculated from the choices you've already made. Then choose your cantrips and your prepared or known spells, with the list filtered to what your class can actually take at level 1.

Step 7 — Details

The last step is the character rather than the numbers: a portrait, a name, an alignment, and as much or as little writing as you feel like doing about appearance, backstory and personality. Name and alignment are required; everything else can wait. The portrait is worth the minute it takes. It's what you'll see on the sheet, in the party panel at the table, and on the token your DM moves around the map.

Finish

Press Finish and the sheet is saved. From here it's a live character sheet, not a document: hit points go up and down, dice roll from it, and the whole thing is ready to join a campaign.

If a step is still incomplete, the button will tell you which one instead of failing quietly. Fill in what's missing and you're done.