character-wizard

Create a complete level-1 D&D character in your terminal. character-wizard walks you through the choices in the SRD 5.2.1, saves the character as JSON, and fills the official two-page character sheet for you.

character-wizard create

At the end, a character named Legolas produces:

legolas.json
legolas.pdf

The JSON file is the source of truth; the PDF is a convenient, filled-in view.

Get it

Download the archive for your computer and its matching .sha256 file from the latest release.

Verify the archive, extract it, then run character-wizard (or character-wizard.exe on Windows). You can place the executable on your PATH to run it from any folder. No Python or package manager is required.

# Linux
sha256sum --check character-wizard-linux-x86_64.tar.gz.sha256

# macOS
shasum --algorithm 256 --check character-wizard-macos-arm64.tar.gz.sha256

In Windows PowerShell, run Get-FileHash .\character-wizard-windows-x86_64.zip -Algorithm SHA256 and compare it with the downloaded .sha256 file. The binaries are unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen or macOS Gatekeeper may ask for confirmation the first time you open one.

Create a character

Run character-wizard create and answer the prompts. Your progress is saved after each completed stage, so closing the terminal does not lose your work; rerun the command to continue from the checkpoint. The final review lets you go back and change a section before writing the files.

The official fillable character-sheet PDF is found in this order:

1. The file passed with --template.
2. character-sheet.pdf in the folder where you run the command.
3. A validated cached copy.

If none is available, the program downloads and validates the supported official sheet, then caches it. For offline use, download the sheet yourself from the official character sheet and pass its path explicitly:

character-wizard create --template /path/to/character-sheet.pdf

Set CHARACTER_WIZARD_CACHE_DIR to use a different cache location.

Choose file names and paths

By default, output names come from the character name, lowercased and made safe for a filename: Legolas becomes legolas.json and legolas.pdf. Use --json and --pdf whenever you want different names or folders:

character-wizard create --json saves/legolas.json --pdf sheets/legolas.pdf

Existing outputs require confirmation. Add --force for scripts and other non-interactive use.

Work with saved characters

Validate a JSON record or print a quick character summary:

character-wizard validate legolas.json
character-wizard show legolas.json

You can render a known JSON record without completing the wizard again:

character-wizard render legolas.json --force

That command uses the name stored in the JSON for the default PDF name. Pass --pdf to choose a different destination.

The current directory is the default character collection, so bare character names resolve to JSON files beside the command invocation:

character-wizard list
character-wizard show legolas
character-wizard edit legolas
character-wizard render legolas

Use --directory ./party to select a different collection. list ignores JSON files that are not valid character records, so it can safely run in a directory that also contains unrelated JSON files.

Export a collection character as a compact copy-and-paste code and import it back into canonical JSON:

character-wizard export legolas
character-wizard import <code>

Explicit JSON paths remain supported. See portable character sharing for destinations, data-pack handling, format limits, and security guidance.

Build from source

This project uses 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 --help

For contributors, the complete check 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 includes all 12 SRD classes, four backgrounds, and nine species at level 1. See CONTRIBUTING.md, the changelog, and the roadmap for project details. SRD attribution and character-sheet template terms are in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

License

The original character-wizard source code is available under the MIT License.