1. First, go to the campaign link (your DM will send it to you).

   If you don’t have an account, you will be prompted to make one. This is REQUIRED in order to make a character on D&D Beyond.

2. If you’re creating your own character from scratch, click “CREATE UNASSIGNED CHARACTER” then click “CONFIRM”.

   

3. Feel free to name your character and choose a portrait, but this is the easiest part and you can change it at any time! (Just one note about the portrait — if you upload a custom portrait, it won’t show up as a thumbnail. Not a huge deal but just something to be aware of!) Click the blue right-pointing arrow.

   I’m going to name my character Eggsam Pull because I’m hilarious and choose a sad-looking hobbit portrait since it’s unlikely anyone will choose that portrait.

   Uncheck ALL of the Sources.

   

Uncheck ALL of the Partner content EXCEPT Free League (that’s the company who made the LOTR Roleplaying 5E game).

1. Now, click the blue next arrow to choose your CALLING. These are listed under the Class options. This is the most important choice you’ll make in character creation. Do NOT choose a normal class (Bard thru Wizard). Scroll all the way down until you see the “Free League” options in red, then select one of those:

   

2. Review the info if you wish, then click the green “ADD CLASS” button.

   

3. The choices you need to make should always have a blue exclamation point above them, but this is where D&D Beyond gets frustrating, because it won’t stop you if you miss this part. Click the dropdown selection for the class choices you need to make.

   

   • Should my level be Level 1?

4. The choices at 1st level, for most classes, have to do with Skill Proficiencies. These are things your character can do that get a little bonus to do your d20 tests (this is your Proficiency Bonus, which stays at +2 until 5th level).

   LOTR Roleplaying has a few skills that we’ll have to manually add later. They are highlighted in blue. I may just give everyone a bonus proficiency since it won’t let you finalize character creation until you make a selection. (For example, if you chose Travel

   

5. SKIP “CHOOSE ORIGIN: BACKGROUND.” Because of the 2024 update to the rules, your DM may ask you to select an Origin Feat since the Backgrounds come with those. This is explained later in the guide.

6. This part is completely optional and you can always fill it out later! I usually finish my character to get it saved, then go back and fill this part out:

1. Now choose your Species, which, in Lord of the Rings Roleplaying, are called Heroic Cultures. For this game, you MUST choose a species from Free League > Lord of the Rings. If you don’t, you’ll miss out on your Cultural Background selection, a LOTR-specific concept that D&D Beyond has linked to Species.

   

   

   Choose your Heroic Culture and click “CONFIRM”.

   

2. Once selected, scroll all the way down to see the blue exclamation points, indicating options such as Starting Virtue and Skill in Language and Song. Your background in LOTR Roleplaying is really important because it comes with 2 skill proficiencies and a tool proficiency.

   

   

3. Now for the next confusing part of creating a character, no matter what form of D&D you’re playing: Ability Scores (finally!).

   There are a few different ways to do it. The most traditional is to roll, but the fastest is Standard Array; if these seem low, keep in mind you chose a couple ability score improvements earlier that will be added to the total. I’ve never done Point Buy but feel free to play around with it.

   

4. Now it’s time to pick your stuff! Make sure you choose the weapons and such listed under “Free League”, NOT “Core Rules.”

   Once you’ve make your selection, click “Add Starting Equipment”.

   To make sure your armor, weapons, shields, etc. show up in the “Attacks” section of your inventory, click the green “USE”, “WIELD”, or “WEAR” buttons next to the items you want to be able to use.

1. Now you should be almost ready to go! Click “VIEW CHARACTER SHEET” and make sure everything looks good.

   

2. (OPTIONAL, depends on your DM) Now, to keep in line with 2024 D&D Rules, add an Origin Feat.

   1. View your Character Sheet.

   2. Click “FEATURES & TRAITS.”

   3. Scroll down to “FEATS” and click “MANAGE FEATS”.

      

   Now, choose any Feat EXCEPT the Magic Initiate feats. Magic options don’t work in LOTR Roleplaying — or, at least, they’re not intended to: