character-wizard
A native interactive command-line wizard for creating level-1 D&D characters
from SRD 5.2.1. It saves a validated canonical JSON record and fills the official
character-sheet.pdf AcroForm.
Install and run
Download the archive and matching .sha256 file for your platform from the
latest GitHub Release:
character-wizard-linux-x86_64.tar.gzcharacter-wizard-windows-x86_64.zipcharacter-wizard-macos-arm64.tar.gzfor Apple Siliconcharacter-wizard-macos-x86_64.tar.gzfor Intel Macs
Verify the archive before extracting it:
# Linux
sha256sum --check character-wizard-linux-x86_64.tar.gz.sha256
# macOS
shasum --algorithm 256 --check character-wizard-macos-arm64.tar.gz.sha256
On Windows PowerShell, compare Get-FileHash with the hash in the downloaded
.sha256 file:
Get-FileHash .\character-wizard-windows-x86_64.zip -Algorithm SHA256
Extract the archive and place character-wizard (or character-wizard.exe) on PATH. No
Python runtime or package manager is required. The binaries are unsigned, so
Windows SmartScreen or macOS Gatekeeper may warn on first launch.
character-wizard downloads and validates the supported official fillable character sheet when needed. For manual or offline use, it is available from:
The direct URL may change. The native renderer validates the exact supported two-page AcroForm before prompting or writing outputs.
character-wizard create
character-wizard create --template character-sheet.pdf
character-wizard validate character.json
character-wizard show character.json
character-wizard create --template character-sheet.pdf --from-json character.json --force
Creation writes character.json and character-sheet-filled.pdf by default.
Use --json, --output, and --draft to choose other paths. Existing outputs
require confirmation unless --force is supplied. Interactive creation saves a
checkpoint after every completed stage, supports final review and editing, and
resumes from the same draft path.
The template is resolved in this order: an explicit --template, a
character-sheet.pdf in the current directory, or the application cache. When
none is available, character-wizard visibly downloads the supported official sheet,
validates it, and saves it to the user cache. Set CHARACTER_WIZARD_CACHE_DIR to choose
a different cache location. Use --template for offline or reproducible runs.
Character JSON is the canonical current-schema record. The PDF is a rendered view; older or unknown JSON shapes are rejected rather than silently migrated.
Build from source
The project pins Rust 1.88.0:
rustup toolchain install 1.88.0 --profile minimal --component rustfmt --component clippy
cargo +1.88.0 build --release --locked
target/release/character-wizard --version
The complete development gate is:
cargo +1.88.0 fmt --check
cargo +1.88.0 clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo +1.88.0 test --locked
cargo +1.88.0 audit
cargo +1.88.0 deny check
The current scope covers all 12 SRD classes, 4 backgrounds, and 9 species at level 1, including suggested/standard arrays, rolled scores, 27-point point buy, background increases, class and origin choices, equipment, combat values, spellcasting, checkpoint/resume, and the full supported character-sheet mapping.
The completed Python-to-Rust parity and performance results are summarized in
docs/rust-migration.md. The legacy Python
implementation and migration-only generated artifacts were retired after the
verified v0.3.0 native release.
See CONTRIBUTING.md, CHANGELOG.md, and the roadmap. SRD attribution and template terms are in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
License
character-wizard's original source code is available under the MIT License.