Astromath, you had so many suggestions that they deserve a separate responds.
I just found something that could be fixed dealing with the equipment list. I had an item in the left hand column contained in a backpack (item is preceded by a dash ("-")). I then moved it to the right hand column that does not have a container. The dash came with it. I did not expect that. It would look funny if I moved the rope and now it looks like it is contained in a non-container such as a dagger. Here's an idea: when moving equipment, have it check to see if there is a container above it, then a popup would ask if you would like to put it in that container. If yes, add or keep the dash, if not, delete the dash if any.
You are right about the strange way the equipment list handles the "- " in front of some things when moving between the columns. I like your suggestion of having it be more intuitive. A pop-up is a bit much though, but I think I have a way to do it that feels logical. Look for it in the next version!
The other thing that seems to be still there deals with thrown weapons. Example: I have a dagger in the list. Then I have 2 daggers in the ammunition section. The auto-add feature adds both instances of the dagger to the equipment list. In other words, the equipment list has a line for 1 dagger, then right below that is a line for 2 daggers.
I think it might be better if there was a way to indicate the number of thrown weapons in the list instead of the ammunition section. Something along the lines of Dagger (x2) would indicate 2 daggers or Javelin (x10) to indicate 10 javelins (however, still keep them in the ammo list, or better yet, have the weapon and the number auto add to the ammo list). Then let the auto-add feature skip the instances of thrown weapons in the ammunition section.
Using a multiplier in the weapon section has been discussed before in this forum thread and the big problem with forcing people to adhere to a system such as the "(x2)" that you are suggesting, is that simply too many variations exist and that people are bad at following (strict) guidelines. I have another solution: simply let the ammunition section always overwrite the weapons when adding both to the equipment section. I will add this change to the next version as well! This change includes a nice new feature for the equipment section: it now recognizes plurals, and won't make a new line for plurals (i.e. "daggers" will now be added to an entry that reads "dagger" instead of making a new line below it).
I just thought of something else. Suppose you have more than 2 ranged weapons with ammunition. The ammunition section can only handle 2 types of ammunition. I propose that the third instance be part of the property field of the weapon. Maybe something along the lines of checkboxes that are right justified in that field. I never needed more than 2 types of ammunition, but maybe somebody does.
I think that you are correct, there is very little to no need for more than 2 types of ammunition. I simply can't make the sheet fit every possible need, that is just too much work. Something like what you are suggesting will require a lot of extra fields, extra code, and extra graphics to be added. I am a bit hesitant to add a lot more fields to this sheet as the current number of fields is already making it rather unstable at times. Every field will increase the space and memory usage of this sheet and I am not convinced of the necessity of these checkboxes as there already is an ammunition section that is adequate for 95% of characters.
Another thing, I have a player that has more weapons than there are weapon lines on the front page. My suggestion is this: With the Character Background being so large, you could add a java box that asks if you need more weapon lines and how many. It would then adjust the background section to make room for the extra weapon list.
My answer to this is the same as for the ammunition boxes. There are already a LOT of weapon lines and I even get complaints from people saying that there are too many weapon lines and that that space could be more useful for something else.
You could do the same with feats. The fighter has the possibility of getting 7 feats as that is how many ability improvement scores it has. All other classes can have a maximum of 5 feats if the player so chooses. 4 feats are normally enough, but what about those who take more than those 4?
This has been discussed at length in this thread before and as you probably guessed my answer for this is the same as for the ammunition and weapons, I can't accommodate every variation and I aim to accommodate 95% of the characters being made, not 100%. The A4 version offers more space for both feats and weapons, but that is besides the point. The whole idea of the sheet is that there are a lot of places to write things because nothing is locked. You can move things around and are not limited to what is auto-generated. Thus you get a choice for adding things where you like to see them.
Would it be possible to generate a "DM Sheet"? What I mean would be a sheet showing only the essential information that a DM would require. Examples: Player Name, PC Name, Race & Class (& level), Dex score, Initiative modifier, hp, passive perception, etc. The DM don't need the whole sheet. It doesn't even need to be pretty.
You might want to poll the DMs out there what they would like to see before doing this. Heck, this could even be a half a sheet, or formatted for a 3x5 index card. The same would go for companions, but not wild shaped beasts.
I thought about making a summary sheet before, but haven't gotten around to really making something for this that works. If I add a page that is 3×5" that page would effectively waste a lot of paper. Ideally you would get more of these index cards in one printing (with a different character on each), but that is hard to do considering every pdf will only contain one character... If you have the opportunity, would you want to make a mock-up of your idea for a design for this?
One quick thing about spells. Those races that have "innate" spells, such as the Tiefling. Their spells will never show up on the spell sheet because why produce a whole sheet for just one or two racial spells. My solution/suggestion, reserve a couple of lines in the notes section on page 3 for racial spells and format them similar to that on a spell sheet. I say similar because the notes section is only half as wide as the full length of the spell sheet.
If the only spellcasting your character can do is from a race, you are indeed very unlikely to generate a Spell Sheet for that. If you have spellcasting from somewhere else, you can probably spare the couple of lines that are required to add the racial spells to the sheets.
However, for the reasons mentioned above, I am reluctant to add more information like this on the sheet. I also don't add spell descriptions for class abilities that allow the casting of a spell (e.g. Way of the Four Elements Monks and Totem Barbarians also get features with which they can cast a spell, but the description is just a reference to the PHB where to find that spell). I think that if your arsenal of spells is so limited that you don't want to generate a spell sheet, that you probably don't need the spell description handy like on the spell sheet.
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