(+)What Do You Want In A Character Sheet?

[The Green Hermit]

I want the bare minimum on the character sheet: proficiencies, hit points, AC. I then basically have a ledger with all my gear and money, where it is stored, how heavy it is, and what the attacks are. After my list of spells and spell slots, I have a print out of all of my spells.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As little as possible. The character sheet should contain everything you need to reference, and nothing else.

I've been fiddling around trying to make a one-page sheet for 5e, including the spells. Obviously it's impossible to put on there spell descriptions as well, but I would hand out spell cards for those. First draft is not great as I find you have to write some things really really small to fit, but I think it's doable as long as you remove all the extraneous stuff. Thankfully I think I have a much broader definition of 'extraneous' than most, so there's a lot I'm happy to cut.

Every 5e character sheet I've seen, even the most slimmed down, includes a space for passive perception, for example. Aside from it being trivial to figure out on the fly, I can't actually come up with any reason a player would ever need to reference their passive perception. Save the space for something relevant.

I'll share the finished version if I get a form I'm happy with, but be warned it will be functional and not pretty.

I’d be happy to help you make it into a more visually pleasing form, if you want? Without adding anything unneeded.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I want the bare minimum on the character sheet: proficiencies, hit points, AC. I then basically have a ledger with all my gear and money, where it is stored, how heavy it is, and what the attacks are. After my list of spells and spell slots, I have a print out of all of my spells.

Interesting. You Old School or playing 5e?

 

[Li Shenron]

I am not familiar with the game this character sheet is for, so I can't comment much on it.

On the general topic of character sheets for RPGs, I prefer utility over flare anytime.

I think a character sheet should be as concise as possible, but it also needs to be complete, so I want enough room to fit all abilities the PC will gain in the course of the campaign.
It can contain short (1-2 lines) summary description of special abilities, but not full details.It should avoid duplicate information, certainly.

Ideally, there should be only ONE page in front of you all the time. In D&D it's not possible, except for non-spellcasters, and at fairly low level. Unless you focus on character mechanics on that page, and move non-mechanical information and stuff you use in downtime (equipment and possessions, roleplay fluff, lists of all known spells) to other pages.

Perhaps you can achieve the best by designing different character sheets for each class, but so far I have managed with a common template:

Quickstart 5e character sheet (beginner friendly)

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and...

www.enworld.org

 

[Ixal]

I prefer utilitarian sheets.
I also do not need space for pictures and backstory. Those spaces are usually not large enough anyway and when I want to write a backstory I do that elsewhere.

On the other hand, equipment lists are nearly always too short.

 

[Neonchameleon]

But also, in general, what do you want from a character sheet? Do you prefer very simple sheets, very informative and throrough sheets, do you really want style and flair on the sheet or do you prefer plain utilitarian sheets?

What I look for from a character sheet is two things:

1. Everything that's not a basic rule being on the character sheet (including e.g. spell text) so there's almost never a need to look things up in the rulebook
2. The character sheet grouped thematically by how things are used in play. So, for example all the combat stats plus the combat skills are in one section that the player can turn to when combat starts with obvious numbers being obvious. If this leads to numbers appearing twice so be it as long as one number defaults to the other.

Time maintaining a character sheet between sessions is cheap compared to time spent at the table faffing with rulebooks when everyone is waiting.

 

[The Green Hermit]

Interesting. You Old School or playing 5e?

5e

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I am not familiar with the game this character sheet is for, so I can't comment much on it.

On the general topic of character sheets for RPGs, I prefer utility over flare anytime.

I think a character sheet should be as concise as possible, but it also needs to be complete, so I want enough room to fit all abilities the PC will gain in the course of the campaign.
It can contain short (1-2 lines) summary description of special abilities, but not full details.It should avoid duplicate information, certainly.

Ideally, there should be only ONE page in front of you all the time. In D&D it's not possible, except for non-spellcasters, and at fairly low level. Unless you focus on character mechanics on that page, and move non-mechanical information and stuff you use in downtime (equipment and possessions, roleplay fluff, lists of all known spells) to other pages.

Perhaps you can achieve the best by designing different character sheets for each class, but so far I have managed with a common template:

Quickstart 5e character sheet (beginner friendly)

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and...

www.enworld.org

Yeah honestly even fairly simply games can have a hard time fitting everything on one page. I prefer to have the "what you use the most" stuff on page one.

I prefer utilitarian sheets.
I also do not need space for pictures and backstory. Those spaces are usually not large enough anyway and when I want to write a backstory I do that elsewhere.

On the other hand, equipment lists are nearly always too short.

yeah I like to have an extra space on a second or third page for detailed equipment lists, but the front page is for the things you use a lot.

What I look for from a character sheet is two things:

1. Everything that's not a basic rule being on the character sheet (including e.g. spell text) so there's almost never a need to look things up in the rulebook
2. The character sheet grouped thematically by how things are used in play. So, for example all the combat stats plus the combat skills are in one section that the player can turn to when combat starts with obvious numbers being obvious. If this leads to numbers appearing twice so be it as long as one number defaults to the other.

Time maintaining a character sheet between sessions is cheap compared to time spent at the table faffing with rulebooks when everyone is waiting.

Yeah for 2 I do try to put all the stuff with numbers that change during play up top.

5e

Okay, so are you usually able to fit all your features on one page?

 

[The Green Hermit]

Okay, so are you usually able to fit all your features on one page?

Proficiencies, hit points, and AC. I don't want the rest on the same page. As I said, I have a ledger that works for me much better.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Proficiencies, hit points, and AC. I don't want the rest on the same page. As I said, I have a ledger that works for me much better.

Huh. No saves?

edit: seems like a good usage for a character card, where it stands up in front of you with art and name on one side and the little bit of info you need on the other.