A whole party from one seed. Species, class and background are drawn; ability scores are rolled
the way the SRD says to roll them — four d6, keep the highest three — and then
every other number is computed: armour class from the armour actually worn and
the Dexterity actually rolled, hit points from the hit die and Constitution, every save and
skill, attack and damage per weapon, spell save DC. The seed is the permalink, so
#s=oak-fen-317 rolls these same people forever.
What is the SRD's, and what is ours
The dice are the SRD's. "Roll four d6s and record the total of the highest three
dice" is the book's own random method — the other two it offers, the standard array and point
buy, are not random and so are not what a roller is for. Open the dice on any sheet
to see all four of every throw, including the one that was dropped.
The arithmetic is the SRD's. Armour class, hit points, proficiency bonus, save and
skill modifiers, spell save DC — all derived from the rules, from the same numbers printed on
the sheet, so the sheet cannot disagree with itself.
The choices are ours, and they are choices. The SRD leaves assignment open, so we put
the best roll on the class's primary ability and the background's +2
where the class wants it. Gear is picked as the best the class is trained for,
weighing hit chance and not just the damage die. A real player would sometimes decide
otherwise, and should.
Balanced mode searches, it does not construct. It rolls forty parties from your
seed, scores each on coverage, and keeps the best — so the seed still decides everything and
the permalink still works. Building one of each role would have been easier and would have
quietly answered a design question we have no business answering yet; searching only claims
"of these forty, this one has the fewest holes".
Multiclassing is the SRD's, and it is real. "You must have a score of at least 13 in
the primary ability of the new class and your current classes" — so the branch is
only offered when the character qualifies, hit points roll rather than take the die whole,
proficiency bonus comes from total level, and spell slots add full casters at full and
Paladin/Ranger at half. The Warlock contributes none, because Pact Magic is counted
separately. How often anyone branches is ours: a quarter of eligible level-ups.
Four backgrounds is all there is. The SRD publishes Acolyte, Criminal, Sage and
Soldier where the full game has many more, and one subclass per class where the game has
several. That is the document being a subset, not the roller being lazy — and it is why every
party of six here shares backgrounds.
Not modelled yet: subclasses (chosen at level 3), feats beyond the one your
background grants, spell lists, and the class features that change these numbers — a
Barbarian's Unarmored Defense in particular, so barbarians here wear armour like everyone
else. Each is named rather than quietly approximated.