How to use the appearance generator
- Press New look. You get a race, age and gender, height and weight (in feet and centimetres), build, skin or scales, hair or horns, eyes, face, marks, clothes and something they carry, with a portrait to match.
- Narrow it down if you like: pick a race, gender, age, build, and a clothing style (adventurer, noble, commoner, mystic, rogue or warrior).
- Lock and reroll. Press 🔓 on any part to keep it, then make new looks around it. Press ↻ to change one part only.
- Copy the written description into your character sheet, story or game notes, or save the look in this browser.
How the descriptions are built
Every race has its own look. A dragonborn gets scales and horns instead of hair; a tiefling gets horns and unusual skin; a fairy gets petal or sky-coloured skin and bright hair; catfolk and werewolves get fur. The height and weight use the same sizes as our Height & Weight Calculator, so a halfling is about 3 feet tall and a goliath well over 7, and the build changes the weight. Old characters often turn grey or white, and dwarves almost always have a beard.
The written description then turns all of it into six short sentences: size and build, colouring, face and eyes, the marks people notice, the clothes and gear, and how they carry themselves in a crowd. Three examples from the generator:
- Young elf man: They have flawless ivory skin, with copper-red hair cropped short. Their face has a strong brow and a straight nose, with narrow storm-grey eyes, and looks permanently surprised.
- Adult dwarf man: They have deep brown skin, with dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun, and a forked beard. Their face has a small, pointed chin, with heavy-lidded storm-grey eyes, and lights up completely when they laugh.
- Adult tiefling man: They have dusky blue skin, with one horn, the other broken off long ago, and ash-grey hair cropped short. Their face has round cheeks and a button nose, with deep-set dark brown eyes, and creases into a frown when they think.
Skin, scales and fur by race
| Races | Covering | Some colourings |
|---|---|---|
| Dragonborn | Scales | bright red scales; brassy gold scales; deep blue scales; bronze scales; copper scales with a green tarnish |
| Tiefling, Demon | Skin | deep red skin; violet skin; ash-grey skin; dusky blue skin; crimson skin with darker freckles |
| Fairy | Skin | petal-pink skin; pale mint skin; sky-blue skin; honey-gold skin; lilac skin |
| Minotaur, Catfolk, Werewolf | Fur | tawny fur; black fur; striped orange fur; silver-grey fur; spotted golden fur |
| Merfolk | Skin | sea-green skin with scales on the cheeks; pearl-white skin; deep blue skin; coral-pink skin; silvery skin like a fish’s belly |
Tips for describing a character
- Pick two details, not ten. When a character first appears, mention the two things people would notice first. The rest can come later.
- Make one detail tell a story. A burn scar on the back of the hand, or a nobleman's jacket that's slightly too big, makes readers ask "why?"
- Show it in action. "She pushed her spectacles up her nose" is stronger than "she wore spectacles".
- Match the clothes to the life. A rich merchant in a patched coat is either hiding money or hiding from someone.
- Mind the size. A 3-foot halfling and a 7-foot goliath can't share a tent, a horse or a disguise. Use the height to make scenes funny or tense.
Guess the race
The game under the tool shows five descriptions with the race taken out. Read the clues (scales, horns, skin colour, height) and pick the right race from four. Each round uses races that look clearly different, so a careful reader can get all five. It's a good way to learn what makes each race recognisable, which helps when you describe your own characters.
Frequently asked questions
What does the character description generator make?
A full description of how a character looks: race, age and gender, height and weight, build, skin or scales or fur, hair or horns, eyes, face, marks, clothes and gear. It also draws a matching portrait and writes a paragraph you can paste.
Which races can it describe?
All 24 of our races: humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, dragonborn, tieflings, half-elves, half-orcs, orcs, goliaths, goblins, fairies, centaurs, giants, lizardfolk, merfolk, minotaurs, catfolk, demons, vampires, werewolves, ogres and trolls.
Is it good for writing a story?
Yes. The written description is plain, vivid and short. Lock the parts you like, reroll the rest, and copy the paragraph into your draft.
Can I get a picture of my character?
Every look comes with a portrait in the colours of the description. To change every detail of the face, open the Portrait Maker.
How tall will my character be?
It depends on the race: about 3 feet for a halfling, 4 to 5 feet for a dwarf, 5 to 6 feet for a human or elf, and over 7 feet for a goliath. The build then changes the weight, so a heavy dwarf can weigh as much as a human soldier. Every result shows feet and pounds as well as centimetres and kilograms.
Is it free, and does it use AI?
It's free with no login, and it doesn't use AI. Every description is put together in your browser from lists written for this site.
Can I save or share a look?
Yes. Save keeps it in this browser, and Share copies a link that opens exactly the same look.
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