Borealis FAQ: frequently asked questions

Borealis is a free, open-source character builder for fifth-edition tabletop roleplaying games, for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android. It ships with the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1) and the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1); each character follows the edition you choose for it. Borealis walks you through species or race, class, background, ability scores, feats, spells and gear, levels the character up to 20 with multiclassing, and makes a printable PDF sheet. It imports Aurora XML content, .dnd5e characters and 5etools-format JSON by plain parsing on your device, with no AI. It needs no account and sends no telemetry: characters are files you can copy, back up, or send from a computer to a phone over the same Wi-Fi. Borealis 1.4.0 is the current version. It is licensed MIT OR Apache-2.0 and is not affiliated with any game publisher.

Yes. Borealis is free and open source under the MIT or Apache-2.0 licence, at your option. There is no paid tier, no subscription and no ads, and anyone can build it from the source.

No. Borealis is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast, the authors of Aurora Builder or anyone else. It can read Aurora's file formats and 5etools-format JSON, and it ships with the openly licensed System Reference Documents only.

Borealis includes the System Reference Documents 5.1 (the 2014 rules) and 5.2.1 (the 2024 rules), both under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Anything beyond the SRD comes from content you import.

Borealis works offline and needs no account. The rules, your characters and the sheet generator are all on your device. Borealis goes online only to check for a new version and, on a computer, for updates to index files you added (both can be turned off; the App Store and Google Play versions leave updates to the store), and when you ask it to: downloading content from an address, the optional search model, or the optional AI through your own tool. It sends no telemetry. Every request is listed in the privacy policy.

No. Everything in Borealis except the AI assistant works without one, and the assistant is off until you turn it on in Borealis Settings. It then uses the Claude or Codex command-line tool you already have, with your own account, on desktop only. The importers for Aurora files and 5etools-format data never use AI.

macOS on Apple silicon, Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), Linux (x86_64) and Android 7 or later (64-bit ARM). There is no iPhone or iPad download yet: iOS installs apps only from the App Store, and the listing does not exist yet. See Download.

Borealis for Windows is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen asks once: click More info, then Run anyway. Android asks once to allow installing from outside Google Play. The Mac app is signed and notarised by Apple from 1.3.0, so it opens with a double-click; on an older Mac copy, right-click the app and choose Open, or use Open Anyway in Privacy & Security. Step by step: Windows, macOS, Android.

Install Microsoft's Visual C++ Redistributable for x64 (vc_redist.x64.exe), then start Borealis again. Borealis 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 need it on PCs that do not have it yet; 1.2.0 and later do not, so updating fixes it too. More detail.

Borealis shows Update Available in the title bar when a new version is out. Download it and install it over the old one: your characters, content and settings stay. What changed is in the changelog.

Yes. Borealis reads Aurora's file formats: XML content files, your whole custom content folder and .index files, without AI, and shows a preview of what will be added before you install it. Go to Start, Additional Content, Import files. See Import Aurora content. Import content you own or are licensed to use.

Yes. Borealis opens Aurora .dnd5e character files: File, Load Character on a computer, or Import characters on a phone. A character whose content is not installed still imports; the report lists what is missing, and Re-check missing content picks it up after you import that content. See Import your .dnd5e characters.

Yes. Borealis imports 5etools-format JSON, such as homebrew written in that format. On a computer, scan the data folder; on any device, choose a .zip of it or paste a link to the folder. You pick the books, and the packs stay on your device. Borealis does not include any such data or suggest where to find it. See Import 5etools-format data.

Check the errors, warnings and notes in the import preview or report; each names the file and the element. If that does not explain it, post in the Discord #imports channel or open a GitHub issue with the file and element, what you expected, what happened and your Borealis version. Please don't share files of paid books.

Not with the regular importers, which read Aurora files and 5etools-format JSON. On a computer, the optional AI assistant can turn a PDF, a photo or plain text into a pack that you review before importing.

Yes. Each Borealis character has one rules edition, 2014 or 2024, chosen when you create it. The lists in the builder have an Edition filter (All, 2024 or 2014), and an entry that exists in both editions is one row with a version menu. To keep a character's new picks to its own edition, open the character's menu, choose Edition & compatibility… and turn on Strict mode. See Lists, filters and versions.

Before 1.1.1, the item details offered Equip only for weapons, armour and some magic items, so rings, wondrous items, rods, staffs, wands and similar items could not be equipped there, and Attune asked you to equip them first. Update to 1.1.1 or later. On an older version, use the equip checkbox at the left of the item's row in the inventory.

Yes. From 1.3.0, the Borealis Play tab has roll buttons on abilities, saving throws, skills, attacks and spells. Tap a value to roll it; long-press, right-click or the arrow beside it rolls with advantage or disadvantage. A result card shows the dice and the total, an attack offers its damage roll, and your recent rolls stay on the Play tab. Borealis also rolls ability scores when you create a character (4d6 drop lowest, or 3d6).

Yes. From 1.3.0, Borealis has a Paper setting, Letter or A4, under View > Application Settings > Character sheet (or Character sheet settings on the Character Sheet tab). Until you choose, it follows your device's region: Letter in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines and other Letter countries, A4 elsewhere. An A4 sheet says "· A4" in its footer. See Print the character sheet.

In Borealis's data folder on your device: on macOS ~/Library/Application Support/app.borealis, on Windows %APPDATA%\app.borealis, on Linux ~/.local/share/app.borealis. Borealis saves automatically. For a backup, use File, Export to bundle with All characters and All my content packs. See Back up.

With both devices on the same Wi-Fi, use File, Send to device on the computer and More, Receive from device on the phone, then scan the code. Or export a .borealis file and open it on the phone. See Move characters between devices.

Post in the #bug-reports forum on the Borealis Discord or open a GitHub issue (more on the support page). Include your Borealis version (bottom right of the window), your device, the steps, what you expected and what happened. Logs help: on a computer, View, Application Settings, Data files, Open logs folder; on a phone, Share logs in the same place. Look them over before you share them.