Hello again, fellow Adventurers! This post is all about saving you precious time and providing a healthy dose of inspiration for your next character, village, dungeon, or campaign. That’s right, it’s all about generators and other meta-tools (I use “meta-tool” to avoid confusion with in-game tool kit nomenclature). I can’t tell you how many times these tools have influenced my games during planning phases and saved my bacon when I need to create something on-the-fly.

As a word of caution before we start: don’t expect any generator result to fit the needs of your game from the outset. It’s quite likely you’ll need to fine-tune your result before it’s ready. Also, due to the sheer number of resources I want to cover, this first post is going to only deal with Character and Name generators/meta-tools. Other tools, like map and town generators, will come later. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in!

Character/Name Meta-Tools

Let’s start our tour with the tools geared towards our players: the ones that can help create/inspire names, backstories, and even full characters! Fret not, DM readers, for these resources are great for building minor NPCs or alternative characters in the event of a PC death/departure.

For players who would rather skip the formalities of character creation or simply want to spin the wheel of fortune, Fast Character is your one-stop shop. For a truly unpredictable experience, just press the CLICK TO CREATE CHARACTER button and see what zany adventurer it spits out for you. If, however, you want a measure of control over the PC that comes out the other end, you can pick from a bevy of options in the drop-down boxes. You can also use the radio buttons above the drop-down boxes to produce a random name or use your own.

NOTE: No matter how random you want to make your character, I advise you at least use the Level… drop-down box so your character doesn’t have out-of-scope ability scores or features for the game you’re playing.

The character sheet it generates is 100% game ready, including all of the weapons, tools, features, and spells you’ll need to start the adventure. This generator does not, however, include the optional Sanity or Honor Ability Scores, so you would have to generate these scores separately. Also, while you can export the sheet to PDF, the final result does not natively convert to an editable document.

Fast Character is undoubtedly the most comprehensive random character generator I’ve seen for D&D 5th Edition, and I highly recommend you try it the next time you want to put a character together. However, due to the problem with exporting the sheet to PDF, I would recommend using these for a short campaign or immediately moving it into a more manageable format.

Another meta-tool with a no-brainer name, the 5e Point Buy Calculator helps you keep track of how you allocate your Ability Scores when using the Point Buy rules for character creation. Using the Select Race drop-down box, you can pick a listed race and sub-race and have the racial bonuses/penalties automatically configure into the Ability Scores. As an added bonus, the traits of the selected race and sub-race display below the Ability Scores for your convenience.

While the viability of this tool depends on how your DM is generating Ability Scores, it’s a great resource to keep in your back pocket for Point Buy or if you want a quick reference for racial traits. Like Fast Character, however, this resource does not utilize the Sanity or Honor Ability Scores.

Whether you’ve got a character missing that final touch or prefer to start your concept with the character’s name, this random name generator from Behind the Name is a fantastic resource for players and DMs alike. Use the drop-down boxes, text fields, and check boxes to specify the types of names you want to see. When you’re finished, click the Generate a Name! button.

NOTE: For character creation purposes, I avoid using the generate life story check box as, while nifty, it spits out information like Cause of Death and other unnecessary tidbits.

As a DM, I love using this meta-tool for all of my NPCs, especially when I base the naming conventions on real-world cultures (e.g. my current campaign is using Greco-Roman names, so I usually select the Greek and Roman check boxes under the Ancient section). With the sheer volume of names available through this tool, it’s a perfect source of inspiration for your next PC or NPC.

Albeit similar to Behind the Name, the Fantasy Name Generator in donjon is catered specifically to the fantasy and pseudo-historical names perfect for a D&D or Warhammer character. donjon can even generate town, holiday, ship, war, dungeon, and more names based on the race/culture you select.

Comparatively, donjon has fewer names to choose from (often ignoring last names) than Behind the Name, but the categories you can pick from in donjon can’t be beat. If you’re not picky about your resources, I advise you try them both out and see which one calls to you most for your naming needs.

What’s Up Next?

There are so many resources left to cover, and the map generators alone will be quite an effort to explore/explain! Since we ended on it, though, I feel compelled to dive deeper into donjon and show you all why it’s hands-down my favorite DM resource for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

What are your first impressions with these tools? Let me know in the comments below!

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