DMs - Do you ask for your players character sheets?

[scourger]

I use initiative cards that have very basic information. I mostly use them for skill rolls for which they shouldn't know the mechanical outcome. I don't check their work.

 

[Thanee]

I don't ask for them, but if I notice something that seems off, I tell them, so the error can be corrected for future references.

Bye
Thanee

 

[EricNoah]

I like to look them over once a level, make sure their AC adds up, make sure they don't have magic items they supposedly sold, that sort of thing. But mostly it's to see what kinds of skills and abilities they have so I can make sure I present some appropriate challenges.

 

[atom crash]

I don't, though I should probably ask for a copy every time the PCs level, due to the frequency of someone not being able to find their character sheet in time or leaving it at home.

However, I always help my girlfriend -- a novice to the mechanics aspect of the game -- level her character and figure out what she can and can't do. I sit down and go through her attack routines and we make index cards with attack and damage figures for a standard attack, manyshot, rapid shot, etc. I don't go through that stuff with the other guys because they've all played RPGs and computer games for years so they should have a better grasp of the mechanics and their characters' abilities.

I used to play under a DM who kept our character sheets from session to session. He's hand them out at the beginning of the session and take them up at the end of the session. We didn't get to keep copies of our characters. Every week, he'd go through our sheets and modify things and double-check our skill points and whatnot. He'd attach sticky notes with marks in red pen of little nitpicky things, like whether we had 12 or 13 bolts left for the light crossbow. The overall feeling was that the characters weren't our characters, that they were characters in his game that he let us use. Seriously, it felt like we were being graded from week to week. That game was less than fun.

 

[Magonus]

I just keep track of a few things, such as their spot and listen checks, as well as their AC, so I can make rolls without the players knowing somethings up if they fail.

 

[A'koss]

Always.

I keep a sheet of the relavent info of the party hanging off the DM screen so I need to see everyone's characters. It also helps to have a second pair of eyes go over a character to make sure there are no mistakes.

A'koss.

 

[Wormwood]

Yes.

Because players cheat.

They always cheat.

 

[Kuld]

General - DMs - Do you ask for your players character sheets?

Yes. It keeps the honest people honest and the dishonest clear of temptation. It had gotten so bad a few (10+) years ago that I had to incorporate a rule that if you were caught cheating then you would lose d4 to your prime attribute(s). Now that we are older, that rule is no longer needed (I hope).

 

[Warehouse23]

My D&D group's DM collects character sheets every now and then to make sure the numbers add up. For a novice group, this is not a bad idea (D&D requires a heap of book keeping).

I run Shadowrun games, and in my mind, a player's responsibility is to keep his sheet up to date. When a player rolls a skill, I'm happy letting him roll however many dice he needs to feel comfortable. If he needs to cheat, so be it. It's not my place to tell him he's a bad person. He just needs to be aware that for every success, there may be more dangers waiting for him....

 

[MonkeyDragon]

I encourage players to give me copies of their sheets, but I don't require it. If I did, I'd be forever wanting more and more copies as levels were leveled, and perpetually forgetful people would forget them.

I look over sheets now and again for any glaring errors, but I don't go through it with a fine-toothed comb. I would, though, if I suspected chicanery or other such foolishness. If I FOUND badness that could not be a simple mistake, there would be much frowning and head shaking from me, and a hefty XP penalty for them.

I wouldn't like it if a DM insisted on keeping my character sheet and making all the adjustments to it. I like fiddling with my own numbers, and I go through it every once in awhile to make sure that I don't have any mistakes. If they want to check it over, cool. If they want a copy in case I'm absent or to plot some doom, cool. But as long as my information is correct, it's my sheet, durnit, and Ima keepin it.

One thing I DO insist on is that my players have their character sheets on CHARACTER SHEETS. a couple of my players have a habit of scribbling their stats etc onto looseleaf in barely legible chicken-scratch, and I can't cope with that. If I do need to look their sheet over for something, I want to be able to see what I'm looking at.