The Shielded Lands/Character Creation

These rules cover the rules for creating a new character for the The Shielded Lands campaign.

So you have this soul, but you can't see it or touch it. And when you die, this invisible thing leaves your body and goes to a place you can't see. And you people think I'm crazy?

— Xanathar

General Rules

1. Except as noted in these rules, all characters must conform to the 5e D&D rules for character creation found in the Player's Handbook
2. The following sourcebooks are approved (in whole or part) for use in making a character for The Shielded Lands:
   • Player's Handbook (all)
   • Dungeon Master's Guide (death domain only)
   • Xanathar's Guide to Everything (all)
   • Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (all)
   • Elemental Evil Player's Companion (all)
   • The Tortle Package (all)
   • Volo's Guide to Monsters (non-monstrous racial options only)
   • Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (sub-class and spell options only)
   • Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (sub-class and racial options only)
   • Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (all)
3. Unearthed Arcana (UA) material is subject to DM approval and will generally be rarely given:
   • None Yet
4. Plane Shift (PS) material is not allowed
5. Racial restrictions on classes (e.g., Bladesinger being elf only) can be ignored
6. Anyone taking Fighter at first level gets an extra feat
7. Hit points are to be calculated using Fixed Values

Ability Scores

Total point cost by ability score

Starting Ability Score	Total Point Cost	Starting Ability Score	Total Point Cost
6 & below	0	14	7
7	0	15	9
8	0	16	11
9	1	17	14
10	2	18	17
11	3	19	21
12	4	20	26
13	5	21	32

1. Ability scores are to be generated using a point-buy system:
   • Each character is allocated 27 points that they may assign as they choose according to the cost chart on the right
   • Ability scores at or below 6 are granted an additional boon
2. New characters are created with the same XP as the rest of the party
3. Score modifiers (e.g., racial or feat modifiers) are applied after this point buy
4. Under normal conditions, ability scores may not rise above 20

Backgrounds

1. Characters should have two Personality Traits, an Ideal, a Bond, and a Flaw for flavor
   • This will not be required, but it is highly recommended to help RP the character
2. Characters may use any of the standard backgrounds, traits, ideals, bonds, and/or flaws from the approved sourcebooks, above
3. Characters may use the starting equipment for their class & background, or use the average roll for starting wealth according the chart in chapter 5 of the PHB
   • Players may buy/sell adventuring starting equipment per the standard rules for equipment in the Player's Handbook prior to their character's introduction to the campaign
4. Characters should have a back-story that explains why they have come to the party's location

Starting at Higher Levels

For cases where the character is joining at a level higher than level 1, use the chart below to determine the amount of extra starting gold. This gold is in addition to the normal starting equipment received for the character's class and background.

Extra Starting Gold by Level

Level Range	Amount of extra gold
1 - 4	0 gp
5 - 10	638 gp
11 - 16	6,375 gp
17 - 20	21,375 gp

This gold can be used to purchase equipment at the normal PHB prices prior to the character's introduction.