DMs - Do you ask for your players character sheets?

[Herremann the Wise]

I always ask for character sheets.

I have no concerns of any of my players cheating - although errors sometimes happen which can easily be picked up. However, my main reason for collecting character sheets is for making sure all character sheets are at the next session. If a player can't make it, I've still got the character ready to rock and roll if needed.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I like to have them to a) reference during adventure creation, and b) make sure they get to the game. I'll note errors if I see them, but I don't study them.

Cheers
Nell.

Same here, at least until a single player seems to have too many errors that favor him/her. (Only once in the last five years. I called for a vote from all present, and the player was invited to leave the game. He had, among other things, listed magic items that were given to other characters, and a few that I never gave out (Rods of wonder and decks of many things do not show up in random treasure in my game... Hit points were higher than he could have, let alone what he rolled, and AC fudged upwards. Not only cheating, but bad at it.)

The Auld Grump

 

[IronWolf]

I just ask for them to post where skill points went, feat, ability score increases, etc went and ask them to post them to the message boards we use. This gives me an idea where they are at skill/ability wise and I just sort of work from there.

As for correcting errors that's easy! When a player misses we generally let our rules knowledge guy play them. We are thinking about getting him a red pen to help him correct the errors he finds!

 

[BlueBlackRed]

In most games I don't worry about it. I tend to remember various facts about their characters and can catch their mistakes.

Since I have adults in my games I don't have to worry about cheating.

 

[devilbat]

I get a copy of each character sheet every time they level. I've never gone over them to verify numbers, I use them when I need to make a "secret roll". Rather then asking their spot roll, I just check the sheet, and have them roll a d20. I also use them when designing adventures.

 

[Quicken]

Yes

Because I always have a short list of key skills I want to roll without their knowledge. I has for their character because I don't always want them to know what skills I'm writing down. Typically I could be noting:

Will Save, Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, Search (especially for Elves) and languages spoken.

 

[Lela]

I once asked but I never could remember to actually read them. At the game there were too many people asking other questions and I figured I'd notice if someone was off (yes, I think I'm that good)--which I usually do. Other times they ask for help or I catch a glimpse. I suppose we find a problem every month or so but I can deal with that. They're powerful enough as it is and the problems are almost allways someone being weaker than they should be.

Often times I'll ask another player to go over someone's sheet with them. Always a vetren and usually the power gamer who's almost as good with the rules as I am (we're roommates for a reason). I've conditioned most players to ask for help from one of the vetrens when making sheets and when someone's working on another person's character they make far fewer mistakes.

Still, you bring up something I should consider. We've just had some major changes to characters across the board and I should try to look everyone's over (or at least have my roommate read through it).

 

[Yair]

I do, but that doesn't mean I actually get it.
I trust my players to do their sheets properly, that's not an issue. I ask for the sheets so I can go over them and remind myself of the characters' abiltiies, so I can tailor adventures to them (their feats, special abiltiies, spells, and so on).
This is really a habit from the old days, when I actually had time to invest in DMing between work. It isn't much use to me anymore, which is why I don't insist on getting them.

 

[MonsterMash]

Yes,

With my Wilderlands Campaign I actually keep the original character sheets in case we have any sessions that people can't make it to and I check everything for errors even though I do trust my players. Partly as I like to have motivations and so on as keys to write adventures for.

With the campaign I play in I keep an up to date sheet on the campaign website, but also have a dm only version that I email including motivations, funds, etc that I don't want to tell the other players outright.

 

[Ranes]

At the end of every game, I scan every player's sheet into my PC and have copies printed in time for the next game. This is not just in case a player forgets his character sheet. Quite often, one of the players can't make it to the game. The backup copy is brought into play, in that case.

I check the sheets between sessions as well. I'm not worried about cheating but it seems I know the system better than my players and I sometimes spot errors they miss (errors that are, as often as not, to the detriment of the character).

I don't use them in-game, though. I have a cheat sheet for that.