Welcome to Character Creation at Arcadia. Before you start: campaign QR ready, character creation cards and pens out, playlist on, TV plugged in. Read the narrator text aloud if the room is settled - it sets the tone for the whole hour.

Everyone on the Wi-Fi and signed in to D&D Beyond first. The QR is a dynamic code - it's repointed at a fresh link each day, so the deck never needs changing. Guide anyone without the app through installing it.

This is the Home tab of the builder. Go through it on the screen and let people copy it. The Sources split: untick 5e (2014) Core Rules; 5e Expanded Rules stays on because that's where the older species that haven't been reprinted live - Tabaxi, Aarakocra, Goblin, Firbolg, Warforged and the rest.

Privacy must be Public - the Arcadia Discord bot reads sheets through the public link and Campaign Only blocks it.

Beginners: think about whether you want to do magic or run in and hit things. Hit things: Barbarian, Fighter, Monk. Cast spells: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard. Bit of both: Paladin, Ranger. Sneaking and skills: Rogue.

Don't worry too much - the mist has strange effects on memories. There's a grace period up to level 4, roughly the first five sessions, where you can change literally anything about your character.

Everyone starts at level 3, so a subclass gets picked now too. Blue boxes are unmade choices - keep going until they're gone. Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger and Rogue also pick Weapon Mastery weapons here.

Artificer lives in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, so it only shows if the campaign shares that book.

The change most returning players get wrong: under the 2024 rules your ability score increases come from your background, not your species. Three abilities offered - +2/+1, or +1+1+1. Backgrounds also give an origin feat, two skills, a tool, and starting equipment.

Amnesia is on the table - a background can change completely later. If someone wants one that isn't listed, grab a GM and build it together.

Arcadia is a patchwork world - you can be any species, though the ten in the 2024 book are the easiest for beginners. Some older species haven't been updated yet; we use their old rules and the numbers may change when they're rewritten.

2024 species give no ability score bonuses - those live on the background now. Watch for legacy species: they still carry their old bonuses and D&D Beyond will stack them on top of the background's. Flag it to a GM.

Steer first-timers to Standard Array. Rolling is off the table so nobody ends up with a character they resent. Where the 15 goes: Artificer INT · Barbarian STR · Bard CHA · Cleric WIS · Druid WIS · Fighter STR or DEX · Monk DEX · Paladin STR or CHA · Ranger DEX · Rogue DEX · Sorcerer CHA · Warlock CHA · Wizard INT. CON second for nearly everyone. Background boosts add on top, so a 15 usually becomes a 17. Don't let this slide eat the room.

If anyone asks what the six scores mean: Strength - lifting and melee. Dexterity - dodging, sneaking, ranged. Constitution - hit points and stamina. Intelligence - lore and arcane magic. Wisdom - instinct and perception. Charisma - presence and persuasion.

Once both sets are added, everything that can be equipped needs equipping - Inventory page, press the grey buttons until they turn red, or the armour class will be wrong.

House kit to add by hand if we're running it: two Greater Healing Potions, the Adventurer's Key, and the XP item for levelling.

Only for the casting classes - martials can start on name and appearance. Clerics, Druids and Paladins prepare from the whole list and can swap after any long rest, so nothing is permanent. Wizards learn from their spellbook; Sorcerers, Bards, Warlocks and Rangers swap one spell per level-up. Eldritch Blast is the one genuinely load-bearing pick - every Warlock wants it.

Let it breathe. You step out of the archway into a circular plaza at the highest point of a round, rather grand city - pale stone, lush parks, bustling marketplaces, people in brightly-coloured clothes. Behind you the archway stands ordinary-looking, purple mist just dissipating.

Ingrid is a grey-haired elf who runs the Adventurers' Guild and does all the paperwork. When an adventurer perishes, that's more paperwork - so she tries to avoid that. Play her brisk and warm.

Go round the table - Ingrid asks each character’s name. As each one answers, they register: join the Discord, open the Downtime, Trading & Crafting channel, press Register, enter the character name at level 3. Then Sync D&D Beyond with the sheet’s share link - open the sheet, tap Share, copy the link. It only works if privacy is Public.

Top: the world map on the Tavern wall - Keystone at the centre, the regions around it, Waystones for fast travel. Bottom: Ingrid's noticeboard, which in real life is the board in the Tavern. Take a tab off the bottom of a paper to pick your session. Announcements in the Tavern at 7pm, or 2pm on Saturday afternoons.

Read it aloud, then hand over to session sign-up: the board in the Tavern is Ingrid's board - take a tab off the paper for your session. Announcements in the Tavern at 7pm, or 2pm on Saturday afternoons.