There is a downside to Character Builder. All of your powers are printed in an array that makes it easy to cut them out and use them like cards, and they include both the default rules for the power and your personal values, calculated for your current build and equipment. Swap out for that +3 Flaming Axe, and everything changes. If you equip a longsword, your 'Basic Mêlée Attack' figures your total to-hit and damage modifiers, counting in every feat, class feature, and magical bonus. The best part of this is that the bulk of the math is done for you. You can have higher attributes than you 'should,' for example the program simply writes 'HOUSERULED' on your sheet so everybody's aware of it. All the rules are enforced, though some can be overridden. Once created, you can level your character up, buy it equipment, and retrain powers. It's designed to create and edit one character at a time, and a wizard style interface takes you through each step, such as picking your race, class, feats, and powers. That said, if you're playing in an active Fourth Edition game, you may want a D&DI subscription anyway.Ĭharacter Builder has a clean interface, though one which varies a bit from typical Windows conventions. The good news is that you don't need a constant subscription to use Character Builder once it's unlocked and updated: You can spend $10 on a one-month subscription and be done with it. To get everything, including monthly updates, you need to subscribe to D&D Insider, a periodical which has varying rates. It does include a small selection of races and classes from supplements beyond the Players Handbook, but by no means all of them. The D&D Character Builder demo covers characters of levels 1 through 3 only-enough to evaluate the full functionality of the product. or see them all at once with D&D Character Builder. You could search through five different sources for all these daily powers. or you can just fire up Dungeons & Dragons Character Builder and see every official rule, for a price. You may need to check four or five hardcover books and a half-dozen on-line articles in Dragon to be sure you're seeing every choice of at-will powers for your new dwarf fighter. We've come a long, long, way from 'Roll 3d6 6 times.' While character creation in Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition is somewhat less intricate than it was in Third Edition, the plethora of sourcebooks and options still makes it a complex process.

Dungeons and dragons world builder