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the-sunken-reach/docs/ROLL_YOUR_CHARACTER.md
joshuaandClaude Opus 5.5 18d9e7301c V1.23.0: every subclass, 43 species, the Artificer, and the road to level 20
- All 123 official subclasses (2014 books and the 2024 Player's Handbook), each
  with its book and features up to level 20; one file per class
- The builder has a subclass step after the class: pick one, let a die suggest
  one, or decide later; its gifts arrive at the class's choice level
- 2024 updates (Wild Heart, Warrior of the Elements) offer a one-click switch
- The Road Ahead: a level 1-20 timeline on every sheet and in the builder
- 33 new species (2024 Aasimar and Goliath, Monsters of the Multiverse) with
  chosen +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 bonuses; species roll is now a d8 by family
- The Artificer: class, half-caster slots from level 1, features, Flash of Genius
- Class tables and counters run to level 20; a fifth Boon, Resolve

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-11 16:02:51 +02:00

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Roll-Your-Character Build Flow — Implementation Spec

This is the guided, dice-driven character creation flow referenced in the build prompt. It should work for both a DM building a character for a player and a player building their own, and the UI must tell the user exactly which die to roll at each step (this is the whole point of the feature — it should feel like rolling at a physical table, not filling out a form).

Model this as a state machine on Character.buildStage (see Prisma schema) with the in-progress rolls/choices held in Character.buildState (JSON) until the build is finalized, at which point the real columns (species, characterClass, ability scores, proficiencies) get set and buildStage becomes COMPLETE.

Step 1 — Roll Species (d8)

Tell the player: "Roll a d8." Then offer the family of species that result maps to; keep the flavor text short.

d8 Roll Choose from
1 Human, Half-Elf, Elf, Half-Orc
2 Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Deep Gnome, Duergar
3 Dragonborn, Tiefling, Aasimar, Goliath
4 Orc, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Bugbear, Kobold
5 Eladrin, Sea Elf, Shadar-kai, Githyanki, Githzerai, Changeling
6 Air, Earth, Fire or Water Genasi, Triton, Tortle
7 Tabaxi, Kenku, Aarakocra, Harengon, Lizardfolk, Owlin, Minotaur, Centaur, Satyr, Shifter, Firbolg, Fairy, Yuan-ti
8 Wildcard — pick any species

If the species has chosen bonuses, immediately prompt for where they go — this choice has to happen here, not be silently defaulted. A Half-Elf picks two abilities (other than Charisma) for +1 each; the 2024 and Multiverse species pick +2 and +1, or +1 to three abilities.

Step 2 — Roll Class (d8)

Tell the player: "Roll a d8."

d8 Roll Choose between
1 Fighter or Barbarian
2 Rogue or Ranger
3 Wizard or Sorcerer
4 Cleric or Paladin
5 Bard or Warlock
6 Druid or Monk
7 Artificer, or reroll once (the reroll stands)
8 Wildcard — pick any class

Step 2b — Choose a Subclass

When the campaign uses subclasses, the player now picks the path within their class from its full list (each with its book and a level 1–20 preview), or rolls a die with one face per subclass for a suggestion, or leaves it until the class reaches the level it chooses at. A path chosen here only starts giving at that level.

Step 3 — Roll Motivation (d6, optional flavor)

Tell the player: "Roll a d6" (optional — DM can skip this step for the whole campaign via a campaign setting).

d6 Roll Motivation
1 Revenge for a past wrong
2 Seeking fortune or wealth
3 Protecting someone they love
4 Redemption for a past mistake
5 Driven by curiosity or knowledge
6 Duty or oath to a cause or order

Store this as free text on the character (a motivation field, or fold it into notes) — it's flavor, not a mechanical input.

Step 4 — Roll Ability Scores

Standard method: roll 4d6, drop the lowest die, sum the remaining 3 — six times, once per ability (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA). Let the UI roll these (server-side, so results can't be tampered with client-side) and then let the player assign each of the six results to an ability score of their choice. Show the running math live (base roll → + species bonus → final score → modifier) as they assign, using the calculation module from GAME_RULES_REFERENCE.md — don't let this drift out of sync with the sheet view.

Step 5 — Skill & Save Proficiencies

Present the 18 skills with their governing ability (seed-data/skills.json) and let the player check proficiencies — respect each class's normal "choose N skills from list" limits if you want to be strict, or keep v1 permissive (DM can always correct it). Saving throw proficiencies are not a choice — they're fixed per class (seed-data/classes.json) and should just be set automatically.

Step 6 — Starting Equipment

Pull startingItemCount and startingSpellCount from the campaign's settings (DM configures these when creating/configuring the campaign — see Campaign.startingItemCount / Campaign.startingSpellCount in the schema). Let the player pick that many starting items from the campaign's weapon/item pool and, if their class has spellcasting, that many starting spells from the campaign's spell list.

Step 7 — Finalize

Compute and freeze HP max (currentHp = hpMax on finalize), AC, initiative, and all derived stats via the calculation module. Set buildStage = COMPLETE. From this point the character sheet is editable directly (level up, stat changes, inventory, notes) rather than walking the dice flow again.

UI Notes

  • Every step should show a big, obvious "Roll d_N_" button that triggers a server-side roll (never trust a client-submitted roll result) and animates/ displays the die result before revealing the choice(s) it maps to.
  • The DM should be able to build a character for a player using this exact same flow (same component, different "who is this for" context) — don't build two separate builders.
  • Players building their own characters need the same flow, gated to campaigns they're a member of.