-
Choose the
File>New
menu item to create a
new character, or
File>Open
button to load a
previously created character. You may also use the "New"
and "Open"
toolbar buttons just below the menu bar.
-
PCGen will open a new character tab and display the
Summary
character creation tab.
This tab contains a number of basic fields such as
Name
,
Alignment
,
Race
, and
Class
. This tab also
includes fields for your character's
Ability
Scores
.
Enter your ability scores in the
Score
[Editable]
field.
You should also enter a character name and player name at this
time, and you must select an alignment for your character in order
to select a class later.
You can enter a Tab Label if you wish the tab for your character
to be designated with something other than your character's
name.
If you click on the
Random
button, the
Random Name Generator
will appear. Select the
ruleset
(Name Type) from the left pane and then
click the
Generate Name
button. A random name will
appear in the right hand pane. Keep clicking the
Generate
Name
button until you are happy with the name and then
click the
Accept
button to return it to the
Summary
character creation tab.
-
Select the
Race
character creation tab.
This screen is divided into two sub-tabs,
Races
and
Templates
. The
Races
ab
display the available Races the character can belong to. The
Templates
tab display the available templates that
can be added to the character. You can apply templates to your
character at any time.
When you select a race by clicking a race in the top frame of the
Races sub-tab, information about the race is displayed in the lower
frame of the Races sub-tab.
Once you have chosen the race for your character, click the
Select
button or double-click the desired race
name. [You could also have selected a race on the Summary
tab]
Note:
You must select an alignment on the summary
tab before choosing a race.
-
Select the
Class
character creation tab.
In the upper left frame you will see a list of classes available
for use. [Some of these may be red, indicating that you do not
qualify for them.]
Now click a class. You will again notice that information about the
class is displayed, this time in the lower left frame. [If you do
not qualify for a class, the reason your character doesn't qualify
for a class is indicated in red on the class description.]
Either click the
Add
(">") button or
double-click a class to add a level of it.
The level appears in the upper right frame.
With your first class level, you will be asked to select a set of
clothing (which you get for free), and may be asked to make other
selections if the class includes any.
Note:
When making a choice (or choices) from a
pop-up dialog, you will see how many choices you have remaining at
the bottom of the popup.
Click an item of interest from the upper frame, and click the "Add"
button to add it to the lower frame of the dialog and decrement
your number of choices by one. (You may also double-click an item
in the upper dialog to add it to the lower frame.) You may then
continue to make choices if you have some left (such as for feats
that can be taken multiple times), or you can Close the dialog
saving some choices for later.
Once you have added your first class level you will notice that the
information in the lower right frame has changed. It now tells you
how many Hit Points your character has, how many skill and feat
selections it has remaining, what your base attack bonus is, and
what your saving throw values are.
You can adjust your Hit Point total by clicking the
HP
button as per the summary page. All characters
gain maximum hit points at first level, but thereafter you will
need to tell PCGen how many hit points you gained with each level
increase.
You can also add your
Experience
total and
Next Level
amount so it can print on the character
sheet. This is done by clicking on the
Adj XP
button.
-
Select the
Skills
character creation
tab.
This is where you can add ranks in skills.
The skill names appear in the upper left frame, their descriptions
appear in the lower left frame, the skills you have added appear in
the upper right frame, and you add skills by selecting them and
clicking
Add
(">") or by double-clicking the
skill or by clicking on the "+" button.
If you change your mind about a skill, you can remove a rank in the
skill by clicking the skill in the upper right frame and clicking
the
Remove
("<") button or double clicking the
skill in the right hand frame or clicking on the "-" button. You
may also right-click a skill in the upper-right frame to add or
remove ranks from that skill.
The number of skill points you have left to spend is shown in the
lower right frame.
If your character has more than one class, you will need to select
which class you will purchase your skills as and then purchase them
as listed above.
There are a few other useful options for adding skill points that
are accessed by right-clicking a skill and using the popup menu.
One of these is to assign the skill the maximum possible
ranks.
-
Select the
Feats
character creation tab.
Note:
The Feats Tab now has a Salient Divine
Abilities sub-tab where you can select Divine abilities when you
have extremely high level characters.
Feats appear and are selected just as classes and skills are.
Feats you do not qualify for are listed in red.
-
Select the
Domains
character creation
tab.
Here you can enter a deity for your character to worship if desired
and choose clerical domains if your character is a priest.
To create a deity, select the "None" deity and right-click on it,
you can then select
Create New Deity
. You should
enter a name, favored weapon, domains, and allowed worshipper
alignments for your deity as a bare minimum. Other information is
useful but not absolutely essential to creating your character.
Once you have entered all the desired information, click the
Save
button on the deity editor.
Note:
More detailed information on deity creation
is available in the Deity List Editor section of this Guide.
If your character is a Priest, you will be able to select domains
after choosing the deity. Select your domains from the upper right
frame by highlighting them and clicking Select, or by
double-clicking.
Note:
The deity "None" allows the selection of any
two domains.
-
If your character is a spellcaster, select the
Spells
character creation tab. The Spells Tab is
divided into three sub-tabs: Known Spells, Prepared Spells and
Spell Books.
On the Known Spells sub-tab the left frame contains a complete list
of spells for each spellcasting class you possess. The right frame
displays spells you "know" (the ones your deity grants, the ones
you know due to class, or the ones in your spell book, as
applicable) and are able to cast.
If your spellcasting class has a list from which the character can
prepare without a spell book, all spells on the class list will be
included in the Known Spells "spellbook" if the check box -
"add auto known spells on level/load"
is checked.
If your spellcasting class has a number of spells the character
knows and can cast without preparation, you may choose these from
the upper left frame (info on each spell is displayed in the lower
left frame when it is selected) and use
Add
(">") or double-click them to add them to the upper right frame
into the Known Spells "spellbook".
Information on the selected spellcasting class from the upper left
frame is displayed in the lower right frame.
If your spellcasting class uses a spellbook to store spells which
you prepare daily, you can add spells to it in the same fashion.
Once you have added the spells you "know" you can switch to the
Spell Books sub-tab to record which of your known spells are in
which books.
To indicate which spells you have prepared (for those classes which
prepare spells), (i.e. different sets depending on if you're in the
city or in a dungeon) switch to the Prepared Spells sub-tab to
create your prepared spell lists.
you can create Spell Lists by typing a name in the Spell List text
box and clicking on the
Add
button. Next, select
it in the Right Hand Frame. When you do this, the left hand frame
will change to the listing of your Known Spells and you will now be
drawing from that list to populate the list of prepared spells.
Additionally, if you are a divine spellcaster with domains, you
will be allowed to prepare one of your domain spells
specifically.
Warning:
PCGen will allow you to add lower level
spells into higher level slots (per the rules) but this will
prevent you from adding you full compliment of spells in those
higher slots if a lower level spell is in its place. An easy way to
avoid this is to add your highest level spells first and work your
way down.
If your class uses a Spellbook to record spells in you can use the
Spell Books sub-tab to track your spellbooks. First you will need
to add one of these items to your inventory. The Spellbook
(Wizard's/Blank) and the Blessed Book items are specifically set up
for this purpose, when either item is added to your PC's list of
equipment they will also appear on the Spell Books sub-tab. It is
suggested that you customize the Spellbook (Wizard's/Blank) item to
give it a unique name (such as "Merlin's Spellbook Vol 1") making
it easier to keep track of. Once you have a spellbook in your
inventory you can add your known spells to it, each spell will take
the proper number of pages according to the rules making it easy to
know when it's time to buy another spellbook.
-
Select the
Inventory
character creation tab
and then the
Gear
sub-tab.
Here you can purchase items, set up different equipment sets and
add resources (familiars and the like).
You can purchase items in the same way you purchase skills, as you
purchase items you will see the amount of money you have available
in the lower right frame diminish.
You can modify this total by editing the "Gold:" field.
-
In some cases you will need to customize an item before it can
be used by your character. If your character is not Medium sized
you will need to create custom Armor to fit that size. If you are
in 3.5 mode you will also need to create custom weapons sized for
your character. The customizer also allows you to create
Masterwork, Magical and other special items. To create a custom
item select it in the main gear list and right click it, then
choose "Create custom item" from the pop up list. The customizer
will appear:
You can change the size of the item from the size pop up menu in
the lower left side of the window. You can change the name and
other properties of the item with the buttons next to it. Add
special properties to the item by selecting them from the list on
the left. When you are finished click Buy and the item will be
added to your gear list. Customized items also appear in the main
gear list for any character to select.
-
Once you have selected the items your character owns on the
Gear
sub-tab, select the
Equipping
sub-tab.
Here you will allocate what items are equipped or stored.
Select locations for the items your character owns on the upper
right frame.
Some items are containers and can hold other items.
Every item your character is carrying should be marked "Carried" so
your encumbrance will be figured correctly.
Armors, weapons, shields, and magical items need to be marked as
"Equipped" so that PCGen gives you the appropriate benefit for
using them. Weapons that are carried will appear on the character
sheet in the weapons section.
You can add additional equipment sets by typing in the name of an
equipment set and clicking on the Add button (in the Upper right
hand frame).
You can then select equipment from the left hand frame (this
contains what you bought in the gear tab) into the equipment sets
you chose (e.g. Dungeon, City etc). You can do this by selecting an
item and double clicking on it or clicking on the
Add
(">") button.
-
Once you have equipped the items your character owns on the
Equipping
sub-tab, select the
Resources
sub-tab.
You must save your character before proceeding.
You can then select the type of resource you'd like to add to your
character on the Right hand frame (Animal Companion, Familiar,
Follower or Special Mount). You can then double click on the
resource in the left hand frame to add that resource as a
particular type or click on the
Add
(">")
button.
If you already have an existing character saved that you wish to
use as a resource for another you can double click the resource
type in the right pane and a dialog window will open allowing you
to select a .pcg file to use as that resource.
Note:
For familiars, animal companions and special
mounts to show up, your character has to be of a class that allows
those resources (e.g. Wizard for a familiar, Druid or Ranger for
animal companions and a Paladin for a special Mount).
You will be asked to enter the name of the resource and then the
resource will be saved a as a separate character.
You will then be asked for the save location of the followers PCGen
file.
PCGen will then prompt you for hit points for its monster levels
(if applicable).
It will then swap you to that new character and you can flesh them
out as required.
You can then save that new resource and go back the resource tab on
the original character. You should then see the new resource added
under the resource type in the right hand frame.
-
Next go to the
Temporary Bonuses
sub-tab.
The
Temporary Bonus
Sub-Tab can be used to
apply conditional bonuses to your character such as Spell effects,
bonuses due to Rage, having a familiar within 5 feet of your
character and more. These bonuses are situational and are useful to
see how they would effect your characters stats. Rage, for example,
has a number of bonuses and penalties associated with it and this
provides a convenient way to apply them in one step. You can then
output a separate sheet for when you character in enraged.
Some Temporary Bonuses like Rage are only available to those
characters who have acquired the ability. There are many Temporary
Bonuses which are available to any character when the situation
calls for it. There are conditional templates such as Fatigued and
Exhausted. Many spell effects are available this way because they
can be cast on characters by other characters and thus you would
not need to have the spell on your spell list to benefit from it.
The craft skill and some others have penalties which can be applied
if your character does not have the correct tools for the job.
Apply any Temporary bonuses you want by selecting the bonus and
clicking Apply Bonus. Certain Temporary Bonuses have to be applied
to weapons or other equipment, when you select that type of bonus a
list of qualifying equipment your character possesses will be
displayed in the right side pane of the tab.
-
Now go back to the
Summary
character creation
tab and click the "Lang, Weap Prof & SA" button.
If you click the
Lang, Weap Prof & SA
button,
the
Lang, Weap Prof & SA
window appears. This
is where you can select the starting
languages
,
special abilities
and
weapon
proficiencies
that your PC has. It is also where the
languages from skills can be selected.
Languages
- You can select the additional
languages your character knows due to spent skill ranks ("Skill")
or high ability scores ("Other") now, by clicking the relevant
button and selecting them.
Special Abilities
- This currently shows any
special abilities granted by your character's race. As you gain
levels in classes, the names of special abilities granted by the
classes will show up here. You can also add and remove your own
Special abilities at will.
Weapon Profs
- This shows all the weapon
proficiencies you have. If your race or class grants you weapon
proficiency, click "Optional Profs" to select it here.
-
Select the
Description
character creation
tab.
Here you can type in lots of role-playing info on your
character.
Use the
Check All
button to tick all the options
and then press the
Random
button to have PCGen
generate random attributes. Take the ticks off the results you like
and keep clicking on
Random
until all fields are
filled to your satisfaction.
Advanced:
You can use HTML tags to modify the
appearance of the text on a character sheet intended to be exported
as an HTML file. Using HTML tags on a character sheet will not
function correctly when exporting to a PDF file.
Note:
Please do not use the colon
("
:
") character in any fields on this page since
it can cause problems with opening your character. (this will be
addressed in a future release)
The Notes frame has pre-defined sections for your character's
biography, description, companions, other assets, and magical
items. PCGen can't apply bonuses to your character or figure wealth
using the items here, but they will be noted on your character
sheet.
The DM Notes node is special as notes put in here will not be
printed out on character sheets, keeping those particular notes
safe from prying eyes!
You can also make any sort of notes you like in this frame. You can
use this as a record of your adventures, notes on particular NPCs
or locations, or anything else you wish.
Right-click a folder and select
Add
to add an item
beneath that folder. Right-click an item and click
Add
to add a new folder above that item. With an
item selected, you make any notes you like in the giant text field
to the right.
To add a Picture to your character simply click on the browse
button in the bottom right hand corner and select a jpg file, this
will add that image to the list of images you can select from.
Click on the refresh button next to the name of the image to have
it display in that pane.
-
Save your character!
Use File>Save, File>Save As..., Use the Save icon in the
button bar, or right click on the character tab and then choose
Save or Save As.