This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

Template Items for PC Actor

Overview

A Template Item is what turns a blank PC character into a specific character type. Think of it as a ready-made setup that tells your sheet "you're a vampire" or "you're a werewolf" — and then fills in everything that type needs.

When you drag a Template Item onto your PC character, the sheet is configured right away with the right abilities, advantages, and features for that type. No manual setup required.

Available character types:

• Mortal — ordinary humans (also covers ghouls, kinfolk, and sorcerers)
• Vampire — includes Kindred of the East
• Werewolf
• Mage
• More World of Darkness character types are on the way

Note: In the compendium and item lists, these may still be labelled "Splat" in some places. Template Item is the name you'll see on the sheet.

---

On this page

1. Getting Started
2. What's inside a Template Item
3. What's NOT inside a Template Item
4. Creating Your Own Custom Templates
5. Changing Character Types
6. Troubleshooting

---

Getting Started

Here is the quickest way to set up a new character with a Template Item.

Step 1: Find a Template Item

Template Items live in the Compendium packs, organised by game.

Where to look:

1. Click the Compendium icon in the Foundry sidebar
2. Open WoD - Character creation
3. Open the Templates folder — inside you'll find one entry per game, and within each game one version per era

Step 2: Add the Template Item to Your Character

This is the most important step.

1. Open your PC character sheet (only PC characters work with Template Items)
2. Find the Template Item you want (in a compendium or in your world's items)
3. Drag and drop it onto the character sheet
4. Wait for the notification — the system configures everything automatically
5. Your sheet is now set up for that character type

Without a Template Item:

• Your character defaults to a generic Mortal
• Many features won't be available
• Character-type fields won't appear on the Bio tab
• You need to add abilities and advantages by hand

With a Template Item:

• Your character type is set (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and so on)
• The right abilities and advantages are added
• Character-type Bio fields appear
• Powers and Features are configured correctly

Step 3: Start Playing

Once the Template Item is in place, you can:

• Fill in your character's Bio information
• Set attribute and ability dots
• Add powers (Disciplines, Gifts, Rotes, and the like)
• Add equipment and weapons

A handy tip for NPCs

Creating many NPCs of the same type? Set up one character with a Template Item, then duplicate that actor as your base (for example, "Base Vampire") and copy from there. Much faster than dragging a template every time.

---

What's Inside a Template Item

A Template Item holds everything needed to configure a character type. Here is what you get.

Bio Fields

Bio fields are the extra pieces of character information that appear on the Bio tab once a Template Item has been applied. Every character already has the standard Bio fields (Name, Concept, Appearance, and so on). The template adds the fields that belong to that character type.

Standard Bio fields (every character)

These are always available on the Bio tab, with or without a Template Item:

• Name and Player
• Concept, Nature, and Demeanor
• Derangement
• Appearance and Background (longer text areas)
• Roleplay tips (visible to the Storyteller)
• Notes, Gear, and Money

Character-type Bio fields (added by the template)

These appear automatically after you apply a Template Item. Which fields you get depends on the character type:

Character type	Extra Bio fields
Mortal	None — standard fields only
Vampire	Sect, Clan, Bloodline, Weakness, Sire, Generation
Kindred of the East	Balance, P'o Nature, Direction, Wu
Werewolf	Breed, Auspice, Tribe, Pack Name, Pack Totem
Mage	Affiliation, Sect, Affinity Sphere, Essence, Paradigm, Practice, Instruments

Some fields are simple text boxes where you type freely (Clan, Sire, Tribe). Others are dropdown menus where you pick from a list (Breed, Auspice, Generation, Affinity Sphere). Mage characters also get rich text areas for Paradigm, Practice, and Instruments — useful for longer descriptions of how your mage works their magic.

The fields appear on the Bio tab in the same order as defined in the Template Item. If a Template Item doesn't define its own bio field setup, the system uses built-in defaults for that character type and era.

What the template gives you: the fields themselves — empty and ready to fill in.

What it does not give you: your actual backstory text. Appearance, Background, and Notes stay yours even when you change templates; only the character-type fields are replaced.

Game settings

• What type of creature or game the character belongs to
• Whether it is a variant of that type (for example, a ghoul under Mortal)
• Which era is selected (Modern, Victorian, and so on)

Abilities

• Which Talents, Skills, and Knowledges the character uses — pulled from the WoD - Character creation / Talents, Skills and Knowledges compendiums

Features

• Which advantages are used, and in what order they appear — from the Character creation / Advantages compendium
• Any shapes the type uses (werewolf forms, for example), and their order
• Any automatic powers bundled with the template, and their order
• Health levels and how they work
• Soak settings

---

What's NOT inside a Template Item

A Template Item sets up the structure of your character — not the finished character itself. These things are left for you to fill in separately:

Not included	What that means
Dot ratings	Attributes, abilities, and powers start empty. You set the values yourself.
Your written bio	The template adds the fields (Clan, Tribe, and so on), not your backstory text.
Equipment	Weapons, armour, and gear are added on the Gear or Combat tabs.
Most powers	Disciplines, Gifts, Rotes, and similar are usually added by dragging Power items onto the sheet. Some templates include starter powers (Mage templates may include Spheres).
Merits, flaws, and backgrounds	These live on the Notes tab and are added manually.
Experience points	Earned and spent XP are tracked separately.

In short: the template gives you the right sheet for your character type. You still bring the character to life.

---

Creating Your Own Custom Templates

The built-in templates cover standard World of Darkness character types, but nothing stops you from mixing and matching pieces to suit a homebrew chronicle. Want changelings who use Mage Spheres? A mortal template with werewolf shapes? You can build that — no coding required.

This is mainly a Storyteller or GM task. You need permission to edit items in your world.

Before you start

System templates live in compendiums, which are read-only by default. To edit one, first copy it into your world:

1. Open the Compendium sidebar
2. Find the template you want to use as a starting point (for example, Changeling under WoD - Character creation → Templates)
3. Import it into your world's Items (right-click → Import, or drag it into the Items sidebar)
4. Duplicate the imported item if you want to keep the original untouched
5. Give your copy a clear name (for example, Changeling – Sphere Casters)

You now have an editable Template Item in your world. Double-click it to open the template editor.

The template editor

The Template Item sheet has four tabs. Each one controls a different part of what gets applied to a character:

Tab	What you configure
Settings	Game line, era, variant, and core rules (health, soak, chimerical damage, and so on)
Bio	Which extra Bio fields appear on the character sheet, and in what order
Abilities	Talents, Skills, and Knowledges
Features	Advantages, shapes (werewolf forms), and powers (Spheres, Realms, Disciplines, Gifts, and similar)

To add something from another template or compendium, open your custom template and drag items from the compendium onto the right tab and drop zone. To remove something, click the trash icon next to it. Drag the grip handle on a row to change its order — the order here is the order it will appear on the character sheet.

Tip: Items inside a Template Item cannot be dragged from one open template window to another. Open the WoD - Character creation compendium packs (Advantages, Features, Powers, Talents, Skills, Knowledges) as your source, or duplicate a second template and copy ideas from it manually.

What you can drag onto a template

Drop zone	Accepts	Examples
Abilities → Talents / Skills / Knowledges	Ability items	Academics, Brawl, Occult
Features → Advantages	Advantage items	Willpower, Glamour, Quintessence, Renown
Features → Features	Shapeform traits only	Werewolf forms (Homid, Crinos, and so on)
Features → Powers	Sphere, Realm, and Power items	Mage Spheres, Changeling Realms, Disciplines, Gifts

Each dropped item is copied into the template. The original in the compendium stays unchanged.

Two ways to build a custom template

Start from the closest match and add pieces

Best when you want one character type as the foundation and only need a few extras from elsewhere.

1. Import and duplicate the base template (Changeling, in our example)
2. Open it and leave Settings on the changeling game line and era
3. Go to Features → Powers
4. Open the WoD - Character creation → Powers compendium (or the Mage template as a reference for which Spheres to pick)
5. Drag the Sphere items you want onto the Powers drop area
6. If your hybrid also needs Mage advantages, drag Quintessence (or similar) from the Advantages compendium onto the Advantages drop area
7. Adjust Bio fields if you need extra character information — use the + button to add fields, or remove ones that don't fit
8. Save, then test on a blank PC character (see below)

Start from a rich template and remove what you don't need

Best when most of what you want already exists in one template — for example, a Mage template that already includes all Spheres.

1. Import and duplicate the Mage template
2. Change Settings to match your intended game line (game, sheet type, variant, era)
3. Remove Mage-specific Bio fields you no longer want (Bio tab)
4. Remove advantages or powers that don't belong
5. Add changeling-specific pieces from compendiums (Realms, Glamour advantage, chimerical soak settings on the Features tab, and so on)
6. Rename and test

Example: Changeling template with Mage Spheres

A step-by-step homebrew: fae characters who wield Sphere magic.

1. Import Changeling from WoD - Character creation → Templates into your world's Items
2. Duplicate it and rename to something like Changeling – Sphere Casters
3. Open the template → Features tab
4. From WoD - Character creation → Powers, drag in the Spheres you want (Correspondence, Life, Mind, and so on)
5. Optionally add Quintessence from the Advantages compendium if your house rules use it
6. On Settings, confirm the game line is still changeling and toggle Use chimerical damage if your game uses it
7. On Bio, add or adjust fields if your chronicle needs extra detail (for example, an Affinity Sphere dropdown)
8. Create a new PC character, drag your custom template onto it, and check that:
   • Changeling Bio fields and advantages appear
   • Spheres show up on the Powers tab
   • Nothing important is missing

Once it works, keep the template in your world's Items folder (or a dedicated compendium you create). Players can use it the same way as any official template — drag it onto a new PC character.

Tips for custom templates

• Name things clearly — players browsing Items or compendiums should tell at a glance that Changeling – Sphere Casters is homebrew, not core rules
• Test before the session — always try the template on a throwaway PC character first
• Don't duplicate advantages — each advantage type can only appear once per template (same rule as on character sheets)
• Order matters — advantages, shapes, and powers appear on the character sheet in the order shown on the Features tab; drag rows to reorder
• Settings follow the main type — the game line and sheet type on the Settings tab should match your primary character type; borrowed pieces (like Spheres) layer on top
• Back up your work — export your world's Items or duplicate the template before big changes

---

Changing Character Types

Warning: this will reset much of your character

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

Warning!
If you change Template, all settings and alterations you have made will be reset according to the new Template added.

Your options:

• Yes — go ahead and change the character type (many settings will be reset)
• No — cancel and keep your current character type

Always duplicate or back up your character first if you want to keep the current setup.

What gets reset

When you change character types, the following is completely replaced:

What gets reset	Details
Abilities	Empty abilities (value 0) are removed, and all abilities from the new Template Item are added
Bio fields	Character-type Bio fields are replaced with those from the new Template Item
Settings	Health levels, soak settings, maximum ratings, era, game type, variant, and other character settings are reset to match the new Template Item

Settings that are reset include:

• 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, game type, variant)
• Dice colour settings (cleared)
• System flags (willpower, virtue, renown, quintessence, spheres) — updated based on the new Template Item

What is kept (but can be removed)

These items stay on your character but are marked so you can remove them if they no longer fit:

What is kept	Details
Advantages	All existing advantages remain, but you can delete any that don't suit the new type
Shapeforms	Werewolf forms and similar shapes are kept — remove manually if needed
Spheres	Mage Sphere items are kept — remove manually if needed

New advantages, shapeforms, and spheres from the new Template Item are added alongside the old ones. You may want to hide or delete the outdated ones from the Settings tab.

What is always kept

What is kept	Details
Character name	Your character's name stays the same
Basic Bio	Appearance, background, and notes (character-type Bio fields are replaced, as noted above)
Items	Weapons, armour, gear, and other equipment
Powers	Powers that are not Sphere items (though they may not suit the new character type)

Important: Powers that aren't Spheres will survive a template change, but they may belong to your old character type and might not work correctly with the new one. Clean up anything that no longer fits from the Settings tab.

---

Troubleshooting

Template Item won't add

Problem: Dragging a Template Item does nothing, or shows an error.

Issue	What to try
Wrong character type	Make sure you're dragging onto a PC character, not a Creature or other actor type. You may see a message that the item type is not supported (PC required).
No edit permission	You must be the owner and have permission to edit the character
Sheet is locked	Unlock the sheet first. You may see: "Can not edit as sheet is locked!"
Wrong item type	Confirm the item is a Template Item (item type should be "Template" or "Splat")
Item not loaded	Try refreshing or reopening the compendium

Missing abilities or advantages

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

Issue	What to try
Not in the Template Item	Open the Template Item itself and check whether the ability or advantage is listed there
Incomplete template	The Template Item may not be fully configured
Not part of the base template	Some abilities need to be added manually if they're not in the base template
Wrong template variant	Make sure you're using the correct variant (some variants have different abilities)
Empty abilities removed	Abilities with value 0 are automatically removed when a new template is applied

When changing templates, old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are kept (not deleted) but marked as removable. They appear alongside new ones from the new template — remove any that no longer fit.

Bio fields not appearing

Problem: Character-type Bio fields don't show up on the Bio tab.

Issue	What to try
Template not added	Confirm the Template Item was added successfully (look for a notification like "Template '{name}' added to '{actor name}'.")
Bio tab hidden	Check that the Bio tab is visible and you have permission to view it
View permissions	Some fields may be hidden depending on your view permissions
Wrong template	Verify you added the correct template for your character type

Warning dialog appears unexpectedly

Problem: The change-template warning appears even though you haven't added a template before.

Issue	What to try
Previous template removed	The character may have had a template that was removed manually
Leftover template data	Old template data may still be stored in the character's settings
Sheet needs a refresh	Close and reopen the character sheet
Template item still present	Check the character's item list for a Template item

Old advantages, shapeforms, or spheres still present after changing template

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

This is expected. When you change templates:

• Old advantages, shapeforms, and spheres are kept, not deleted
• They are marked so you can remove them if you want
• New ones from the new template are added alongside them

What to do:

• If they still fit the new character type — keep them; they're already there and working
• If they don't fit — go to the Settings tab and either hide or delete the ones that don't belong

"Advantage already exists" error

Problem: When dragging an advantage directly onto the character sheet, you get: "This Advantage {name} already exists on the sheet and can't be added."

Cause: That advantage type is already on the character — you can only have one of each type.

What to do:

• Check the Stats tab — the advantage may already be there
• If you're adding from a Template Item, it will be added automatically with no error — this message only appears when dragging advantages manually
• To add one manually, make sure it isn't already on the sheet

This error does not appear when adding advantages through a Template Item drop. The system quietly skips any that already exist.