I have not lost a toon since beginning of the game so they seem to be safe from mods and updates.

Hey there,

please remember that as of now modding is not officially supported. It's done at your own risk, there are no guarantees for future compatibility. Please keep backups of your save files before you start modding. If you need technical support, please always include a full list of active AND prior mods, since that can influence the game's behaviour with regard to bugs.

Have a good day!

https://www.nexusmods.com/valheim/mods/44?tab=description make sure to download required things and follow instructions

There are mods to do this, but otherwise it has been ruled out:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/892970/discussions/2/3192485276070254503/