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Item: Template
A Template 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 Template 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
- Getting Started
- What's inside a Template Item
- What's NOT inside a Template Item
- Changing Character Types
- Troubleshooting
So you want to create a character? Here's how to add a Template Item to your PC Actor.
Template Items are stored in the Compendium Packs. You can find them organized by game type.
Where to look:
- Click the Compendium icon in the Foundry sidebar
- Open the WoD - Character creation
- Open the Templates folder; inside, items are listed by game and there is one version per era within each game
This is the most important step!
- Open your PC Actor sheet (only PC Actor will work)
- Find the Template Item you want to use (from the compendium or your world items)
- Drag and drop the Template Item onto your character sheet
- Wait for the notification – the system will configure everything automatically
- Your character sheet is now set up for that character type!
Without a Template 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 Template 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 are configured correctly
Once you've added a Template 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
If you feel that it seems a bit much to always drag a Template item each time you want to create an NPC, create one and then use that actor as the base (e.g. Base Vampire) from which you duplicate all other vampires.
A Template Item contains everything needed to configure your character type. Here's what you get:
- What type of creature/game it represents
- Whether it is a variant of that creature (e.g. ghoul of the mortal type)
- What era is selected
- What Talents, Skills and Knowledges abilities are used. These come from the WoD - Character creation / Talents, Skills and Knowledges compendiums.
- What advantages are used, and in what order they are presented. These come from the Character creation / Advantages compendium.
- Any shapes the type uses, and in what order they are presented
- Any automatic powers, and in what order they are presented
- Health levels and rules
- Soak settings
Character type–specific bio fields are not something that can be customized at the moment. They are hardcoded into the system based on which type of Template item is added.
If you try to add a different Template Item to a character that already has one, you'll see a warning dialog:
⚠️ Warning!
If you change Template, all settings and alterations you have made will be reset according to the new Template added.
Your options:
- Yes – Proceed with changing the character type (many settings will be reset)
- No – Cancel and keep your current character type
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 Template Item are added |
| Bio Fields | All template-specific bio fields are replaced with the new Template 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 Template 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, template ID, game type, variant, variant sheet)
- Dice settings (cleared)
- System flags (willpower, virtue, renown, quintessence, spheres) – updated based on new Template Item
The following items are preserved but marked as removable, so you can 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 Template Item will be added alongside the old ones. You may 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.
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 template-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) |
Problem: Dragging a Template 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 may see an error message that the item type is not supported on that actor type (PC required). |
| 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 template and the sheet is locked, unlock the sheet first. You may see a warning: "Can not edit as sheet is locked!" |
| Wrong item type | Verify the item is actually a Template Item (item type should be "Template") |
| Item not loaded | Try refreshing or reopening the compendium |
Problem: After adding a template, some abilities or advantages are missing.
Possible causes and solutions:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Not in template item | Check if the abilities/advantages exist in the Template Item itself (open the Template Item to view contents) |
| Incomplete template | Verify the Template Item is complete and properly configured |
| Not part of base template | Some abilities might need to be added manually if they're not part of the base template |
| Wrong template variant | Check if you're using the correct variant of the template (some variants have different abilities) |
| Abilities with value 0 | Empty abilities (value 0) are automatically removed when adding a new template |
Note: When changing templates, old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are preserved (not deleted) but marked as removable. They will appear alongside new ones from the new template. You may need to manually remove old ones if they don't fit the new character type.
Problem: Template-specific bio fields don't show up on the Bio tab.
Possible causes and solutions:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Template not added | Make sure you've added the Template Item correctly (check for notification: "Template '{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 template type | Verify you added the correct template type for your character |
Problem: Warning dialog appears even though you haven't added a template before.
Possible causes and solutions:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Previous template removed | The actor might have had a template previously that was removed manually |
| Leftover template data | There might be leftover template 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 Template item present |
Problem: After changing templates, old advantages, shapeforms, or spheres are still visible.
Expected behavior: This is intentional. When you change templates:
- Old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are preserved (not deleted)
- They are marked as removable (
isremovable = true) - New ones from the new template 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:
- Hide them: Go to the Settings tab and hide the items you don't want to see
- 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 the previous template should be removable and can be managed from the Settings tab
Problem: When trying to add an advantage manually (by dragging it directly onto the actor sheet), you get an error: "This Advantage {name} already exists 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 Template 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 Template Item drop. When a Template Item is added, the system automatically skips advantages that already exist without showing any error message.