Assessing the Pros and Cons of the Top 6 D&D 5e Character Creation Generators (Plus 7 More You Should Check Out!) 

Edited and updated by Riley Rath

Creating a Dungeons and Dragons character is often a labor of love. Whether you're fishing for max AC or weighing your personality traits, writing your character is an innate part of the hobby. 

However, when you have to be at the able for hours, character generators can be a godsend. Cuz sh*t happens and sometimes your hero gets: 

- Liquefied by an acidic gray ooze 

- Stomped by a Tarrasque 

- Forever enchanted by an Archfey 

Awesome Dice Image

And when worse comes to worst, you can't spend weeks creating the perfect character: you have to rush to pick something during a five minute bathroom break. 

And for newer players, the character sheet is not an invitation to near-infinite creativity... it's just a confusing series of chores that keeps them from experiencing tabletop role-playing (if you need help with yours, go here right now!). 

Our ultimate list ranks the top 6 character generators, providing pros and cons of each. 

So whether you're new to D&D or just need a character sheet in your hands quickly, there are plenty of tools to help you get something ready for your dungeon master before you sit down at the table. 

(2023 UPDATE: Additionally, this post provides 7 more that generate specific aspects of a D&D character particularly well!)

Table of Contents 

• Character Generator Cheat Sheet

• The Best D&D 5e Character Generators

• 7 Niche D&D 5e Character Generators 

• Conclusion

Ranked D&D Character Generator Cheat Sheet 

Here is a table summarizing the major pros and cons of the most important character generators. All of these "best of the best" generators are comprehensive... players can create any character they want from official 5e sources. 

For more information on each click here to skip past the table, or just scroll down. 

Character Generator Cheat Sheet

The 6 Best D&D 5e Character Generators

1. DnD Beyond

No list of character builders would be complete without DnD Beyond for one simple reason: DnD Beyond is king of the hill. 

To start, it offers players 4 different options: 

• On one hand is "Standard," where DnD Beyond walks players step-by-step through customizing their own character.
• On the other hand is "Premade," where players choose from characters already designed by Wizards of the Coast. 
• In between are two different generators: "Random," which generates a character with NO player input... and "Quick Build," which asks players for race and class and then handles the rest for a level 1 character. 

DnD Beyond is simply the most thorough and professional character generator out there. 

Being the only generator officially affiliated with Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition, it is the only one that aesthetically matches the fifth edition style. The characters created seamlessly integrate with the myriad of DnD Beyond features, which 10 million TTRPG players use for their campaigns. 

DnD Beyond has exportable character sheets and many classes, feats, and backgrounds to choose from. Players can build and store up to six characters with a free account and more with a premium account. It has special build modes that save time for new players. 

While not the fastest character builder out there, DnD Beyond rivals DM's Vault as the most in-depth character builder on this list... but even it has its flaws. It's on the slower side, and it doesn't really "generate" characters, and it's "preferred sources" section might be a bit confusing for new players. 

2. 5e Companion App

Unlike most entries on this list, the 5e Companion App travels with you on your phone. This app allows for multi-classing, leveling up, and supports a large menu of classes and races. 

It has recently gotten a user-friendly face-lift... and it's awesome enough that it got a bump in our rankings. On top of the character creator, it also has its own dice roller, bestiary, racial stats, and encounter builder. It has a tab of all feats, races, classes, and backgrounds. 

It's kind of like a D&D encyclopedia: any answer to any D&D question you have is one or two taps away. 

With an easy-to-use interface and highly detailed customization options, this app is good for both beginners and experienced players. If you want the convenience of keeping your character information, notes, and experiments all on your phone, then the 5e Companion App should be on your home screen. 

The main issue? You can't export it to a PDF character sheet... kinda a bummer for pen and paper geezers. 

3. Dungeon Master's Vault

Just because DnD Beyond is best doesn't mean the runners up are lacking... look no further than DM's Vault. Requiring a login (and with an option to give on Patreon), it has a whole slew of generators... from cities to wanted posters. 

But what REALLY sets it apart is its character builder for new players. Rather than showing a screen filled with boxes and options, it reveals just one question at a time, each question only having 3 answers... except for one, which offers LOTR comparisons for simple understanding. It is limiting and far from thorough, but it is the best generator for new players. 

Dungeon Master's Vault makes the character creation process feel less like an overwhelming interrogation and more like close friends chatting. 

I would also recommend this character builder for veteran players and dungeon masters who want to get creative, especially those who want to use homebrew content in their 5e characters. It also allows for multi-classing, spell selection, and custom feats or backgrounds. Unfortunately, most feats and backgrounds must be inserted manually. 

4. Nine|tail 

A character is more than a stat block. However, sometimes you need to get the number crunching out of the way in a rush. 

The Nine|tail character builder walks players through the process of designing a character by not only providing choices, but organizing by example: 

• It groups the character classes into three categories: arms, spirit, and magic. This alone is a wonderful way to organize the classes and should probably be adopted by One DnD. 
• It groups playable races into "common" and "uncommon"... which is helpful to players who do not know that Dragonborn are not the dominant race in a game about dragons. 
• It simplifies the backgrounds, providing archetypes rather than having players painstakingly consider Ideals and Flaws. 

But the "sidebar" really takes the cake (and moved it up from 5 to 4...). As players scroll and make choices, a COMPLETED character sheet along the right side updates based on what is selected. 

A downside is definitely its limited options... like REALLY limited. It only builds level 1 characters, and for those classes that DO offer subclasses at level 1, it only has the subclasses from the Player's Handbook. 

5. AideDD

If you have time, AideDD is the best character builder for new players. While it might not look like much, if you have the time to sit down with new players, this is the builder for you. 

Speaking of new players, check out this post if you want to guarantee their first session is FUN. 

It's on the list, so you know it's good. But the registration is a bit intense... feels kinda like the faculty lounge at a D&D school, with forums to discuss D&D theory. And while it is sufficient, it lacks some of the features of the other, higher-ranked generators. 

6. The Pathology Guy

Created by Ed Friedlander, DDNext is more of a "character generator/creator." Rather than generating a character based on some player preferences, it walks a player through every step of character creation and generates the result. 

It does nothing to help optimize a character, its aesthetically distinct from Dungeons and Dragons, is more time-consuming than other D&D generators, and doesn't help with personality or background. 

However... it does three things really well: 

1. It has a red arrow for you to follow. As soon as you finish a section, you scroll down until you find the red arrow. It blocks/skips options that are unavailable based on the choices you make and won't allow you to continue until you have selected an option from whatever the red arrow is pointing at. 
2. It shows you just how many options are really out there. The simplicity of character generators usually means that it hides unnecessary information. This often has the unintended effect of blinding new players from understanding all he possibilities D&D has to offer... which in turn can make it harder for them to become more proficient at character creation. 
3. GEAR... the vast majority of character creators do not include gear, let alone allow players to pick and choose their own gear. At lower levels and in low-magic campaigns, these details are CRUCIAL... especially if a party is missing a utility caster. 

These features make The Pathology Guy one of the best character creation tools for experienced D&D 5e players. 

I would suggest this for a veteran D&D player that knows how most classes, abilities, feats, etc. work in D&D. They know exactly what they want, need a character that is by the book, and want to prevent themselves from making mistakes. They can zoom through and follow the red arrow and generate a complete character.

7 Niche D&D 5e Character Generators

So those are the best of the best... but what about just the "great" or "good"? 

Some D&D character generators are clearly a step below the big dawgs... but they do one or two things really well. 

Below are 7 "niche" character generators work checking out. 

1. Kassoon

For some players, the numbers and metagaming come naturally... but the BACKSTORY is the hardest part of creating a character. Look no further than Kassoon. It goes so far beyond choosing a background. It establishes where you were born and what your life has been like up until session 0. 

Where it really shines is in the family and friends of your past. It not only says if they are still alive... it gives them A) names, B) alignment, C) professions, D) age, and E) your relationship status. It REALLY helps players get away from the "I'm an orphan" stereotype and provides meaningful NPCs for the DM to weave into the campaign! 

3. Tetra-Cube: D&D 5e Random Character Generator 

Similar to Kassoon, this generator creates characters... not character sheets. But while not as thorough, Tetra-Cube goes a step farther by providing an IMAGE of the character it randomly generates. And a picture speaks a thousand words. 

Other than that, it provides more than enough unique and interesting details to make a character come to life. On top of race, background, and personality, Tetra-Cube adds flairs of unique details... a trinket... a mannerism... past embarrassment... a rival/enemy... flaws... stuff like that. 

There are only 4 categories players can customize before generation, but each of these categories have different "levels" that help control where on the "fantasy vs realistic" spectrum the character lands. In general, Tetra-Cube has more fleshed out characters that spell out EXACTLY how they should be role-played. 

3. Levi-Blogett Generator

Of all the generators, this one is the most "pure" generator. In fact, as soon as the site loads, it already has generated a character. Can't get more "generator" than that! 

This is NOT the generator for anyone who values creative liberty. It only gives you, the player, 4 options of customization: 1) race, 2) background, 3) class, and 4) alignment. 

That's it... it takes care of everything else. 

It chooses your spells, weapons, armor. 

Everything. 

So who is this for? 

DUNGEON MASTERS. 

Are you a DM teaching a bunch of new players how to play D&D? All you need to do is click and this generator will take care of the rest. 

4. LitRPG Adventures: D&D Backstory Generator

This generator is here for one reason and one reason only: artificial intelligence. 

You don't write a complicated prompt... LitRPG provides a few categories for you to choose from. But this goes beyond the standard race, class, alignment, etc. You can also choose styles of D&D characters (ranging from Gary Gygax to Jeremy Crawford) as well as fantasy themes (ex: the Hobbit, the Witcher, and even the politically incorrect Dark Sun campaign setting). And, always, you can select "random." 

As far as I know, this is the only completely-AI character backstory generator. Granted, you could probably get the same results on Chat GPT, but it would take more than a couple of tries before you got something this robust. 

Downside: it's not free. There are one-time payments (starting at $6) and monthly payments (starting at $5). Payment provides access to the generator and ANY character generated (and edited) by other users. There is a sampler option that will allow you to test the generator for a one-time fee. If you use the generators frequently and are looking for something that can do many things well, consider giving this generator a try. 

They have sample generated backstories and a tutorial video (watch here) for anyone hesitant to immediately pay the fee. 

5. Hero Workshop

Years ago, someone mentioned this in the comments, and wow is this a blast from the past. It's not quite "Space Jam website" old, but it is compatible with Windows 2000... for context, my I-Pad 4 (2012) can no longer open Google Docs. 

It is only for Pathfinder (3.5) and costs 2 British pounds to use. I imagine this was a GAME CHANGER for players accessing the world wide web at the turn of the century, and it is good to honor those that come before us. 

6. Fast Character Maker

This site will give you an easy-to-read character sheet to send to your Dungeon Master within seconds. And it allows you to create a character that, rules as written, breaks the rules. 

However, that is about all that it has going for it. Ads, sources, and links are scattered haphazardly. It also has no multi-classing abilities and offers limited control over how your character is created. 

And with a lack of instruction or guidance, the site's extensive list of options somewhat goes to waste by chasing away confused visitors. While this character builder has options to help you organize before you generate, it isn't designed to make high-concept characters. 

7. Who the F*ck is My D&D Character? 

I simply could not finish without including this wildly fun generator by "Ryan and Justin." They do not care about helping players roll stats, choose weapons or spells, or write a compelling backstory. They care about one thing and one thing only: getting the ball rolling. 

Their "generator" is a single sentence. The sentence states A) a personality adjective, B) fantasy face, C) character class, D) where they're from, and E) a flaw. 

Interested in more complex character flaws? Check out this post of ours. 

That's it. I imagine these guys are pretty fun, because the combos it gave me seemed like wildly fun characters to role-play. Clearly, they have a negative experience with players with some serious "player-writer's block" and sought to remedy that! 

And given that the button is something like "That Doesn't Make Any F*ck#ing Sense," you should feel no qualms about clicking until it generates a character idea you love! 

Conclusion 

Building a new character can be stressful for new players and tedious for game masters... especially if they are short on time. 

Thankfully, there are a variety of D&D character generators for everyone to choose from. Some partner with VTT programs... some convert well into PDFs... some are thorough... some excel at one thing. 

Regardless, all character builders exist to take a bit of the work off and free up your time for what's really important: hoarding dice. 

Er... I mean... cooperative storytelling through a role-playing game... def not just dice goblin-ing... 

Our Character Sheet Guide Explains Everything in More Detail! 

Use This Link to Check It Out

By Riley Rath - Freelance DnD Copywriter