What's the best format for 4e pregens for Origins?

[catsclaw]

I'm prepping the next two mods for the Harvestlands setting (more info at Harvestlands) which are running at Origins and GenCon, and I need to create the character handouts. I've found a decent "cheat sheet" is essential for playing a pregenerated character in 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, and I thought I'd ask if people had any particular suggestions or recommendations.

I don't need the full character sheet with all the spaces to sum up your various bonuses or workspaces for attacks and damage, and I've been disappointed with a lot of the autogenerated character sheets. I'd use the DDI character builder, but there's just enough custom content to make that too difficult for five of the characters. (The sixth is a completely custom class, so there's no way to get it to work with the character builder. More's the pity.)

Any suggestions?

 

[billd91]

My main suggestion has less to do with format of the information and the nature of the information you choose.

Avoid too many feats that are conditional. Favor the ones that just add to the stat block or require a specific action to use (and then print out the power card). Having played a pre-gen (well into the paragon tier) with a lot of conditional feats that I personally didn't choose, I had a hard time keeping abreast of them and using them effectively, and this was with cards printed out for each of them. It was a royal pain in the butt.

 

[catsclaw]

Having played a pre-gen (well into the paragon tier) with a lot of conditional feats that I personally didn't choose, I had a hard time keeping abreast of them and using them effectively, and this was with cards printed out for each of them.

That's a good point. The pregens we've got are 5th level, so there's limited potential for that, but I'll see if there's not something we should adjust. I'm hoping to be able to summarize each power so there's less to remember at the table (e.g., pre-add the Cleric's wisdom modifier to their Healing Word ability).

I guess I'll just use the format WotC uses for their Delve characters as a jumping off point. It's passable, at least, although the formatting could use some serious work.

 

[Rechan]

Ask the Houserules forum. I bet a bunch of those guys have tons of character sheet designs.

 

[Piratecat]

In addition, only list active feats and class abilities -- those in which the player needs to make a conscious choice. If something is already worked into the character, like extra languages or a defense bonus, just include it in the stats and don't list it. This helps reduce information overload.