Character Sheet Feedback

[Morrus]

I just slipped this over into the fan creations forum - a much better fit (it wasn't open when you started the thread!)

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I don't suppose that Journal version is on the way?

I haven't made up my mind, yet, and I've moved on to other projects. I wouldn't hold out for a change.

 

[Chaos Disciple]

That is a very nice form Jeff.
I've used InDesign to make a form for my own game system, this is an example of my character sheet.



I know its not very pretty, but I had to integrate the game mechanics into the form to avoid copyright protection.



Thanks for sharing your work, I'm very impressed with your fillable pdf. and I would like to make one for my system but that's going to take some time.

 

[pukunui]

Beautiful sheet, Jeff! Thanks for sharing ~ especially the indesign file. This sheet doesn't have enough space for all my bard/rogue PC's skills and class features, so I might have a go at tweaking it to my own tastes.

EDIT: What version of InDesign do you have? I can't open your file, but then I've got CS3, which is quite old now, so that's undoubtedly why.

 

[HRSegovia]

OP, I just looked the sheet over and I have a few minor things to say:

- First, this is all based off of the original post, so if any of this is covered somewhere in the 11-pages of responses, my apologies.

- I know what goes into making something like this and I can tell this wasn't "thrown" together. It took a day or two of devoting your timer to make something you felt was better than what was available at the time. It wasn't for glory or pride, it was for function. Then when it was finally done, the pride came with it. I know the feeling and good job on devoting yourself to it and then "putting yourself out there" hoping nobody rips your pride to shreds.

- This is less of a character sheet and more of a character folio. It is thorough and designed primarily for players who fall in love with their character expecting to campaign it for the next few years. This doesn't mean it is useless, it means it has a specialized user (that's a good thing because not many folios like this are out there). I would certainly recommend this sheet along side mine:


- Beautiful look. A particularly nice tough on the borders pictograms (like the death rolls and diamond corners).

- Death Rolls are not called Death Saves anymore. It was a hard habit for me to get out of calling them Death Saves, but this was changed when the Proficiency Bonus came in to prevent confusion (since the proficiency Bonus is added to Saves, but not the Death Save, so it is called a Death Roll). And like a jackass I realized after typing this that you got it correct *facepalm. I'll leave this in for humor.

- I don't see a location for languages. I'm assuming the proper location on this folio would be under skill proficiencies but then that would not leave enough room, or in modifiers but then Languages are not modifiers.

Beyond that, this is all around phenomenal. Great Job!

 

[Pauln6]

Well the basic rules are out! Any possibility of the sheet being updated to reflect the changes?

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Well the basic rules are out! Any possibility of the sheet being updated to reflect the changes?

Certainly, though I'm not sure how much updating will be needed.

In addition, I'm very fond of the official sheets, which is not something I expected. I'm considering devoting some effort to making additional optional pages in the style of the official sheets for things like equipment and magic items.

 

[Pauln6]

The official version isn't bad but it's a bit free and easy to lose character notes at higher levels and needs more room for weapon attacks. The Verys Arkon character booklet is cute but needs fillable spells section. Will probably run our first proper play session next Friday.

 

[evilbob]

Just saw this for the first time! What I really like about these sheets over the official ones is that these provide more detail when more detail would be nice - like tracking how the armor bonus is made, what your AC is without a shield, whether or not your speed is different without armor, etc. - and it has less detail when detail isn't important - the official sheets waste way too much space on skills and saves. I especially like how these sheets take the focus away from the limited skill list.

The only things I noticed that could use an update is the 5-7th level spells could use an extra tickmark, and maybe having a passive perception box.

Very nicely done overall!

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Just saw this for the first time! What I really like about these sheets over the official ones is that these provide more detail when more detail would be nice - like tracking how the armor bonus is made, what your AC is without a shield, whether or not your speed is different without armor, etc. - and it has less detail when detail isn't important - the official sheets waste way too much space on skills and saves. I especially like how these sheets take the focus away from the limited skill list.

The only things I noticed that could use an update is the 5-7th level spells could use an extra tickmark, and maybe having a passive perception box.

Very nicely done overall!

Thank you for the praise.

I think it could also use a box for Inspiration. These shouldn't be difficult to figure out. I may wait on an update until we have the PHB, though, in case there's something important that was omitted from Basic D&D. The forms are time consuming to update, so I'd prefer to avoid duplicating effort.