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Item: Template

Johan Fält edited this page Feb 23, 2026 · 3 revisions

Template Items for PC Actor

Overview

A Splat Item is what transforms your blank PC Actor into a specific character type. Think of it as a character template that tells your PC Actor "you're a vampire" or "you're a werewolf" - and then automatically sets up everything that character type needs.

When you drag a Splat Item onto your PC Actor, it instantly configures your character sheet with all the right abilities, advantages, and features for that character type. No manual setup required!

Available Character Types:

  • Mortal - Human characters (also includes ghouls, kinfolk, and sorcerers)
  • Vampire - (also includes Kindred of the East)
  • Werewolf
  • Mage
  • More World of Darkness character types in development

Page content

  1. Getting Started
  2. What's inside a Splat Item
  3. What's NOT inside a Splat Item
  4. Changing Character Types
  5. Troubleshooting

Getting Started

So you want to create a character? Here's how to add a Splat Item to your PC Actor.

Step 1: Find a Splat Item

Splat Items are stored in the Compendium Packs. You can find them organized by game type.

Where to look:

  1. Click the Compendium icon in the Foundry sidebar
  2. Open the WoD - Character creation
  3. Open the Splat folder, inside they are listed by game and there exist one version per era within each game

Step 2: Add the Splat Item to Your Character

This is the most important step!

  1. Open your PC Actor sheet (only PC Actor will work)
  2. Find the Splat Item you want to use (from the compendium or your world items)
  3. Drag and drop the Splat Item onto your character sheet
  4. Wait for the notification - the system will configure everything automatically
  5. Your character sheet is now set up for that character type!

Without a Splat Item:

  • Your character will be a generic "Mortal" by default
  • Many features won't be available
  • Character type-specific fields won't appear
  • You need to add abilities and advantages manually

With a Splat Item:

  • Character type is configured (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, etc.)
  • All appropriate abilities and advantages are added
  • Character type-specific bio fields appear
  • Powers and Features is configured correctly

Step 3: Start Playing!

Once you've added a Splat Item, you're ready to:

  • Fill in your character's bio information
  • Set attribute and ability values
  • Add powers (Disciplines, Gifts, Rotes, etc.)
  • Add equipment and weapons

Finish tip

If you feel that it seems a bit much to always drag an Splat item each time you want to create a NPC then create one then use that actor as the Base Vampire from which you duplicates all other vampires from.


What's Inside a Splat Item

A Splat Item contains everything needed to configure your character type. Here's what you get:

Game settings

  • What type of creature/game it represent.
  • If it is a variant of that creature, e.g ghoul of the mortal type.
  • What era selected.

Abilities

  • What Talents, Skills and Knowledges abilities used. These are from the WoD - Character creation / Talents, Skills and Knowledge compendiums.

Features

  • What advantages used, and what order these are presented. These are from the Character creation / Advantages compendium.
  • Any shapes the type uses, and what order these are presented.
  • Any automatic powers, and what order these are presented.
  • Health levels and rules.
  • Soak settings

What's NOT inside a Splat Item

Bio Fields

Character type-specific bio fields are not something that can be customized at this moment. These are hardcoded into the system based on what type of Splat item that are added.


Changing Character Types

⚠️ Warning: This Will Reset Your Character

If you try to add a different Splat Item to a character that already has one, you'll see a warning dialog:

⚠️ Warning!
If you change Splat all settings and alterations you have made be reset according to the new Splat added

Your options:

  • Yes - Proceed with changing the character type (many settings will be reset)
  • No - Cancel and keep your current character type

What Gets Reset

When you change character types, the following will be completely replaced:

What Gets Reset Details
Abilities All abilities with value 0 are removed, and all abilities from the new Splat Item are added
Bio Fields All splat-specific bio fields are replaced with the new Splat Item's bio fields
Settings Health levels, soak settings, attribute/ability/power maximum values, era, game type, variant, and other character settings are reset according to the new Splat Item

Specific settings that get reset:

  • Maximum values for attributes, abilities, and powers
  • Health level configuration (total health levels recalculated)
  • Soak settings for all damage types (bashing, lethal, aggravated, chimerical)
  • Character type settings (era, splat ID, game type, variant, variant sheet)
  • Dice settings (cleared)
  • System flags (willpower, virtue, renown, quintessence, spheres) - updated based on new Splat Item

What Gets Preserved (But Made Removable)

The following items are preserved but marked as removable, allowing you to keep them if they're still useful or remove them manually if they don't fit the new character type:

What is Preserved Details
Advantages ✅ All existing advantages are kept, but marked as removable (isremovable = true). You can manually delete them if they don't fit the new character type
Shapeforms ✅ All existing shapeforms (werewolf forms, etc.) are kept, but marked as removable. You can manually delete them if they don't fit the new character type
Spheres ✅ All existing Sphere items are kept, but marked as removable. You can manually delete them if they don't fit the new character type

Note: New advantages, shapeforms, and spheres from the new Splat Item will be added alongside the old ones. You'll need to manually remove the old ones if they're not appropriate for the new character type. You can hide or delete them from the Settings tab.

What is Always Preserved

The following information is always preserved:

What is Preserved Details
Character Name ✅ Your character's name stays the same
Basic Bio ✅ Appearance, background, notes (though splat-specific bio fields are replaced)
Items ✅ Weapons, armor, gear, and other equipment items
Powers ✅ Powers that are not Sphere items (though they may not be appropriate for the new character type)

⚠️ Important: Always make a backup or duplicate your character before changing character types if you want to preserve your current configuration. While advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are now preserved, you may need to manually clean them up if they don't fit the new character type. Powers that aren't Sphere items will be preserved, but they may be specific to your old character type and might not work correctly with the new one.


Troubleshooting

❌ Splat Item Won't Add

Problem: Dragging a Splat Item doesn't do anything or shows an error.

Possible causes and solutions:

Issue Solution
Wrong actor type Make sure you're dragging onto a PC Actor (not a Creature or other actor type). You'll see an error message: "Item type Splat are not supported on this type of Actor {actor type} requires Actor type PC."
No edit permission Check that you have permission to edit the actor (you must be the owner)
Sheet is locked If you're trying to change an existing splat and the sheet is locked, unlock the sheet first. You'll see a warning: "Can not edit as sheet is locked!"
Wrong item type Verify the item is actually a Splat Item (type should be "Splat")
Item not loaded Try refreshing or reopening the compendium

❌ Missing Abilities or Advantages

Problem: After adding a splat, some abilities or advantages are missing.

Possible causes and solutions:

Issue Solution
Not in splat item Check if the abilities/advantages exist in the Splat Item itself (open the Splat Item to view contents)
Incomplete splat Verify the Splat Item is complete and properly configured
Not part of base splat Some abilities might need to be added manually if they're not part of the base splat
Wrong splat variant Check if you're using the correct variant of the splat (some variants have different abilities)
Abilities with value 0 Empty abilities (value 0) are automatically removed when adding a new splat

Note: When changing splats, old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are preserved (not deleted) but marked as removable. They will appear alongside new ones from the new splat. You may need to manually remove old ones if they don't fit the new character type.

❌ Bio Fields Not Appearing

Problem: Splat-specific bio fields don't show up on the Bio tab.

Possible causes and solutions:

Issue Solution
Splat not added Make sure you've added the Splat Item correctly (check for notification: "Splat '{name}' added to '{actor name}'.")
Tab not visible Check that the Bio tab is visible and you have permission to view it
View permissions Some fields might be hidden based on your view permissions
Wrong splat type Verify you added the correct splat type for your character

❌ Warning Dialog Appears Unexpectedly

Problem: Warning dialog appears even though you haven't added a splat before.

Possible causes and solutions:

Issue Solution
Previous splat removed The actor might have had a splat previously that was removed manually
Leftover splat data There might be leftover splat data in the actor's system settings
Actor sheet refresh Try closing and reopening the actor sheet
Check actor items Check the actor's items list to see if there's a Splat item present

❌ Old Advantages/Shapeforms/Spheres Still Present After Changing Splat

Problem: After changing splats, old advantages, shapeforms, or spheres are still visible.

Expected behavior: This is intentional. When you change splats:

  • Old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are preserved (not deleted)
  • They are marked as removable (isremovable = true)
  • New ones from the new splat are added alongside them

Solution:

  • If they fit the new character type: Keep them - they're already there and working
  • If they don't fit: You have two options:
    1. Hide them: Go to the Settings tab and hide the items you don't want to see
    2. Remove them: Go to the Settings tab and delete the old items that don't belong to the new character type
  • Check each item's removable status - old items from previous splat should be removable and can be managed from the Settings tab

❌ Advantage Already Exists Error

Problem: When trying to add an advantage manually (by dragging it directly onto the actor sheet), you get an error: "This Advantage {name} already exist on the sheet and can't be added."

Cause: The advantage with the same system.id already exists on the actor.

Solution:

  • Check if the advantage already exists in the Stats tab
  • If you're trying to add it from a Splat Item, it will be added automatically without error - this message only appears when manually dragging advantages
  • If you need to add it manually, make sure it doesn't already exist
  • You can only have one advantage of each type (based on system.id) per actor

Note: This error does not appear when adding advantages via Splat Item drop. When a Splat Item is added, the system automatically skips advantages that already exist without showing any error message.

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