D&D 5E A Character Sheet for Beginners

[DM Magic]

Edit: Removed the Proficiency Bonus sidebar (wasn't necessary), fixed a few errors (hit points and hit dice got switched), and added a printer friendly version.

As an Adventurers League DM, I find myself teaching D&D a lot -- often to people who have no concept of what D&D is, or even what an RPG is for that matter.

Things came to a head last month when I taught D&D to three of my young nephews who very much love CRPGs, board games, and genre novels, movies, and television. Nevertheless, as soon as I handed them a 5th Edition pregen, their eyes glazed over -- the same look I've gotten time and time again over the years at conventions and in stores. And even though it's followed by an explanation of the rules, I'm only human; my explanations can range from succinct to confusing depending on where I am mentally when this all takes place.

THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!

Solution: I put my ten years of professional graphic design experience to use and made a character sheet for beginners. What went into this project is a lot of back and forth between new and old players alike; grognard or otherwise. It's come a long way from the first version, but this is it. It's done and ready to be used.

In the two PDFs are the five pregens from the Starter Set, full color and black & white, 11x17 (tabloid), and double-sided. This sheet is meant to replace the pregens while providing an eye-catching, logical layout, as well as giving context to the rules by placing in-line explanations. It is meant for absolute newcomers, but can be useful for people who have a hard time remembering certain rules. It is not meant to be used past Level 1, nor is it meant to replace the DM, who should be on hand to provide answers to questions that the sheets will naturally bring up. It is also not meant for custom characters, though I have included blank versions in both color and black & white, as during its creation that was an often asked for addition. This also means I have no plans to provide form-fillable versions.

I hope this is of some use to the people out there who want a quicker, easier way of teaching D&D 5th Edition!

Lastly, as we are in the digital age, I will never consider it "done." So if anyone has any critiques or suggestions, please feel free to post them!

Color: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxTaDcSMIkaaOThQMGRNcG82aDg
Printer Friendly: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxTaDcSMIkaaWUZROFl5dDdxVUU
B&W: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxTaDcSMIkaaVk90VUY1NGFZREE

 

[LordEntrails]

Fancy
But with all the color background, how is anyone supposed to take notes?

 

[DM Magic]

I don't find a lot of new players take notes in learn-to-play AL games. However, I always bring notepads to hand out.

 

[Tormyr]

I am kind of mixed. I like the colors, the headings, a lot of it really. What I like less is that the descriptions of a game element, such as a race or class have the description of what it means to the game mixed with the actual race or class of the PC. This works really well from an introduction perspective, but it makes it somewhat difficult to find the actual information you are looking for. I think I would prefer this as a "How to Play" document that is paired with one of the WotC pre-generated characters here. http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets

 

[DM Magic]

I am kind of mixed. I like the colors, the headings, a lot of it really. What I like less is that the descriptions of a game element, such as a race or class have the description of what it means to the game mixed with the actual race or class of the PC. This works really well from an introduction perspective, but it makes it somewhat difficult to find the actual information you are looking for. I think I would prefer this as a "How to Play" document that is paired with one of the WotC pre-generated characters here. http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets

A couple other people in other forums have mentioned wanting some sort of border between the general description of race or class and the actual character information. My thought is, as a new player who knows nothing of what these terms mean, the information is meant to be read as one chunk. In other words, there's no reason for them to read or understand the general description and the specific one separate from each other.

I haven't found handing out a pregen with a How to Play cheatsheet has produced any better understanding of the game, usually because the character sheet and the explanations are separate; there's no context or relationship between the two separate documents, which is why I want everything to be together.

I think I'll run some test runs with it done both ways and see what new players think.

 

[DM Magic]

I've received a ton of feedback on Facebook and uploaded a new version.

Changes: New color palette. (Still not final; need to see how the white text looks when printed.) Added Hit Dice. Added my company logo. Fixed wording on casting and initiative.

Version 1.4: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxTaDcSMIkaaZ0lRRVdULWNZNEE

 

[jayoungr]

Would you consider making a form-fillable version?

 

[DM Magic]

Would you consider making a form-fillable version?

Because I'm only making five pregens with it, everything is custom fit. It would be difficult to make it more generalized, but I could certainly just remove all the character-specific text and throw that out into the wilds.

 

[schnee]

Decent idea, but I'd take it in a bit different direction.

First, the look and feel really clashes with the rest of D&D's printed materials. I'd theme it a lot more in line with either the official character sheets, or the PHB.

Second, you provide numbers, then high-level descriptions that are accurate but don't provide further context or illumination, and I'm not sure it goes far enough to really help.

For example, Armor Class. Here's what you have:

ARMOR CLASS: 18
Your armor class represents how well your character avoids being wounded in battle.

Here's some more detailed context that I described to a new player:

ARMOR CLASS: 18

• Your armor class represents how well your character avoids being wounded in battle.
• A typical non-combatant with average dexterity has an Armor Class of 10.
• The most effective non-magical armor and shield provides an Armor Class of 20.

Your character has a very high Armor Class, and is difficult to damage. You are the best-equipped member of the party to charge in to melee combat, fend off attacks, and hold the front line to protect your companions.

See what I mean?

It's a bit verbose perhaps, but a number without context is still not terribly illuminating. Consider telling them what these numbers mean, and how they tell a story.

 

[LordEntrails]

I think I'll run some test runs with it done both ways and see what new players think.

I think it is definitely solid enough to try it and see how it goes. Kudos for putting in effort to help new players learn the game!