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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nogray" data-source="post: 5976424" data-attributes="member: 28028">Simplicity is often attractive to new players (assuming either "new to 4e" or "new to D&D/RPGs" and not just "new to your group), but that might not be the only turn-off. With a 7th level character, you are dealing with at least the following powers: two (or three) at-wills, three encounters (plus possible racial), two dailies, and two utilities. Depending on how the character was built, there could be a lot more, as with divine characters having channel divinity, items with powers, etc. It can be a lot to process, especially when also dealing with the newness of RPGs in general.Contrast this with companion characters (one or two encounters, maybe a daily or recharge, etc.) or an essentials martial character or elementalist sorcerer, and you can see some option overload that can easily lead to analysis paralysis and distract a new player from the fun. Add that to the fact that many default character sheets don't really help out with their presentation of abilities, and you have a real potential problem.The basic character sheet outputs for the various character builders that I've seen or worked with are less than friendly to a new player. They don't organize things in a meaningful way. They are cluttered with things you don't necessarily need to know, and the things you do need aren't necessarily really easy to find or interpret. Even as a veteran player, I prefer my own combat control sheets and an abbreviated skills/other options sheet to any of the character sheet outputs I've seen.  If I were introducing a new player to the game, I'd not only lovingly craft their character, but I would also lovingly craft a page or two to distill all that information down in a similar way. See the sblock for notes and examples of control sheets.[sblock="''How to Make a Character Sheet;'' or, ''Better Presentation for Newbies''"]Generally, one page is enough for a heroic character, but paragons seem to get crowded on just one sheet, so I would likely spread that to two pages for a new player. I think epics will fit on just the two pages, too, but that remains to be seen, and introducing a new player in late paragon or epic might be a stretch, regardless of the presentation.The first page would have the first three "power cards" from the old offline builder. These are the basic attributes (including hit points, defenses, speed, initiative, and passive perception and insight scores), a skill summary, and the action point card. Below that (2/3 of a page for this), I would add a few other circumstantial notes -- resists, defense adjustments, etc --  and a nice, large area for tracking hit points, statuses, and surges, complete with notes for what they mean where needed.The second sheet would be a page about actively running the character. It would group the various powers by their action types along with notes of how the actions can be spent without using powers, like Standard Action: Improvise something cool, possibly calling for a skill check. Notes for the powers are also included, though in abbreviated form.[/sblock]For a really new player, it would be advisable to have a simple character and a friendly format. That is likely one of the benefits of companion characters, too, but also simpler strikers (ranger, essentials elemental sorcerer, slayer) work well here. The more complex the character, though, the more useful a good presentation can be.</blockquote>

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