Character Sheets

[doctorbadwolf]

Hello! As many of you know, I’m working on a playtest draft of my TTRPG, Quest For Chevar.

I really like my current character sheet, but I need to figure out a fillable version, preferably with basic automation. The system isn’t mathematically complex, but I don’t know how to do any of this outside of excel, and I’m far from expert in that.

My current sheet is bade by making sections (widgets, as I call them) in excel, purely boxes and lines, no math, and then copy and paste-as-picture into a word document, and then moving around the widgets to get the final look I want. Then I just export to pdf for ease of printing.

I’m wondering if anyone where knows about the user friendliness of various methods, how someone like morepurplemorebetter makes that incredible sheet, whether acrobat pro is worth the money, etc?

Or even anyone here with the expertise willing to take a commission?

 

[cavetroll]

whether acrobat pro is worth the money, etc?

Or even anyone here with the expertise willing to take a commission?

Acrobat pro is not worth the money, you could buy Nitro though it is pretty expensive. Its not that different from excel, give boxes on the page names and use them in simple javascript formulas.

Or just pay this guy:

https://www.fiverr.com/golkaran/create-a-custom-character-sheet-for-any-rpg

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Acrobat pro is not worth the money, you could buy Nitro though it is pretty expensive. Its not that different from excel, give boxes on the page names and use them in simple javascript formulas.

Or just pay this guy:

https://www.fiverr.com/golkaran/create-a-custom-character-sheet-for-any-rpg

The nice thing about pdf vs excel style is configuration is more fluid aesthetically. I’m curious why you say acrobat isn’t worth it. I know that, for instance, it scans a pdf and creates fields to do stuff with, which is perfect for taking the print sheet and creating a semi-automated fillable sheet from it. Is it just not much more advanced or user-friendly than free alternatives?

 

[cavetroll]

The nice thing about pdf vs excel style is configuration is more fluid aesthetically. I’m curious why you say acrobat isn’t worth it. I know that, for instance, it scans a pdf and creates fields to do stuff with, which is perfect for taking the print sheet and creating a semi-automated fillable sheet from it. Is it just not much more advanced or user-friendly than free alternatives?

I just personally refuse to give Adobe money, their products are extremely expensive due to having a monopoly. Forcing users into subscription models when all you need is a few basic functions that any programmer can write with a little open source code, just annoys me.

Nitro is a little cheaper, doesn't require a subscription, but has all the bells and whistles. Adobe will be a little better, but you sell your soul to the devil.

Either product is leaps and bounds better than Excel.

The guy I linked will create all the formats, including the basic pdf with form fillable fields.

 

[jdrakeh]

If you have the money, definitely check in with Francita Soto, who does amazing graphic design (including character sheets) for reasonable rates.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I just personally refuse to give Adobe money, their products are extremely expensive due to having a monopoly. Forcing users into subscription models when all you need is a few basic functions that any programmer can write with a little open source code, just annoys me.

Nitro is a little cheaper, doesn't require a subscription, but has all the bells and whistles. Adobe will be a little better, but you sell your soul to the devil.

Either product is leaps and bounds better than Excel.

The guy I linked will create all the formats, including the basic pdf with form fillable fields.

Okay that’s fair.

If you have the money, definitely check in with Francita Soto, who does amazing graphic design (including character sheets) for reasonable rates.

I will, thanks!

 

[cvick517]

Okay that’s fair.

I will, thanks!

Hello! Were you able to get your Character Sheet figured the way you want it? I have an Adobe Pro subscription, as I do a ton of work with PDF's, and am willing to help if needed.

 

[aramis erak]

The nice thing about pdf vs excel style is configuration is more fluid aesthetically. I’m curious why you say acrobat isn’t worth it. I know that, for instance, it scans a pdf and creates fields to do stuff with, which is perfect for taking the print sheet and creating a semi-automated fillable sheet from it. Is it just not much more advanced or user-friendly than free alternatives?

Acrobat is one of the most expensive tools, and is subscription only now.

There are many other tools that can do fillable PDFs with calculations - the best known being Libre Office. One can use the drawing or word processing, depending upon your visual needs.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Acrobat is one of the most expensive tools, and is subscription only now.

There are many other tools that can do fillable PDFs with calculations - the best known being Libre Office. One can use the drawing or word processing, depending upon your visual needs.

Yeah I need to check out libre, I just haven’t touched it in a decade since I had a bad experience using it in the past.

Hello! Were you able to get your Character Sheet figured the way you want it? I have an Adobe Pro subscription, as I do a ton of work with PDF's, and am willing to help if needed.

I didn’t, and I’m redesigning it now because a couple major design changes in the game made it necessary.