Draft: Character Creation Guide

[covaithe]

Good question. The final template will live at L4W:Character. I see L4W:CS as sort of a development version, at this point. Soon, someone should copy its code over to L4W:Character, along with a copy of the code for an existing character sheet, with the numbers stripped out. I think Quagmire is ready for that.

I don't think the templates we've got now are perfect, and I hope we'll continue to refine them, but I think what we have now is "good enough" for opening character submissions. Which is my immediate goal.

 

[Graf]

What cov said basically. I'd changed it because there wasn't anything wrong, per se, with GK's original.
But we can change the name of course.

 

[Graf]

This needs to be wiki'd at some point.

I think that a "list" is may be intimidating.

Living 4th Edition Character Creation Guide

L4W characters sheets are stored in the L4W Wiki. To create a new character,

1. Create a Character Page
Go to the Character Sandbox page. Click on the edit button, and at the bottom of the page, add a new link to your character. If your EN World login was "covaithe" and your character's name was Bilbo Baggins and you were making a halfling rogue, the code for your link would look like:

[[L4W:PC:Bilbo Baggins (covaithe)|Bilbo Baggins (covaithe)]], Halfling Rogue 1

Save the page.

2. Prepare your Character Page
Go to your character page (the easiest way to do this is by clicking on the link you just created. This will take you to a blank page edit screen. Open up the L4W Character Template in another window, and copy the code from the white section marked "Copy from below this line" and paste it into the edit window of the character sheet page.
Once you have done this please save the new character sheet, to create a baseline to fall back on in case there are server errors or other problems, and edit it again to fill in the details of your new character.

3. Character Creation
L4W characters are created at level 1, using any material from the PHB, and the races from the section at the back of the MM. Ability scores are created using the point buy rules from pages 17-18 of the PHB, except that we use 25 points instead of 22. Here are some sample ability arrays that are possible with this method:

18    16    10    10    10    8
18    14    13    11    10    8
18    13    13    13    10    8
18    12    12    12    12    9
16    16    15    10    10    8
16    15    15    12    10    8
16    14    14    14    11    8
16    14    14    12    12    10
16    14    13    12    12    12
16    13    13    13    13    12

You can of course create your own starting array. There is a basic 4e point buy calculator online here, which may help.

4. Choose Region (optional)
You may optionally choose a region for your character from the regions list. Each region provides small benefits to characters originating there. Todo: insert better description of the regional "philosophies".

5. Inform Judges you are done
When you feel that your character sheet is ready for submission, send an email to the L4W judge account, l4w.judges@gmail.com, with the subject line "L4W character submission: Bilbo Baggins", replacing Bilbo Baggins with your character's name.

6. Review Process
To avoid errors two people (called character judges), at least one of them a L4W judge, will look at your sheet.

The character judges will review your character sheet as soon as they can, but if you don't hear from them for a week or two, it would be wise to send them a reminder. The judges will edit a section at the bottom of your character sheet, either with details of any changes that are needed, or with a comment indicating approval. In either case, the judges will email you to notify you of the result.
The second judge to approve your character will add a link to the approved revision of your character to the official list of approved characters below.

Editing after approval
You can continue to edit your character sheet after it has been approved, it's your character sheet after all.
So you can notes or details of your current status, or about your adventures, but the changes will have no official effect until you level up and submit your character for approval again. DMs should be aware that the approved version of a character sheet is the one linked to from this post, and that there may be later edits.

Playing before Approval
You can join adventures before you are fully approved, provided you have received the permission of the DM running the game, but you cannot earn experience without having approval from two judges.

Leveling up
When you gain enough experience to level up, edit your character sheet and email the character judges again. The approval process is the same as for the initial character submission.

 

[covaithe]

That's nice; a step by step list helps, I think. Two things: First, I keep meaning to put language in there saying something along the lines of "While you are not required to use the standard character sheet, you are strongly encouraged to do so. If you don't, it is harder for the judges to examine your character, and it may take longer for them to get around to it. Possibly much longer."

Second, it seems to me that this list wants a step between 4 and 5 for filling in the rest of the character sheet. Feats, skills, powers, initiative, etc. I realize that's stating the obvious, but you never know who's going to read something like this and what they'll think of it.

 

[Graf]

Agree with your last point...
Also need to address optional stuff (kickers, etc).

Your sheet works great btw but I think it's more instructive to have people just copy from Quagmire... It's a lot faster and easier....

 

[covaithe]

Oh, yes. Definitely need to have an example of a fully-filled-out sheet for people to crib off of. Quagmire will suffice for now, but I think in the long run we'll need to have a sheet for a character that isn't actually playing. Possibly a wizard, since I think their sheets tend to be the most complex. (spellbook, rituals, etc.) Heck, possibly several sample sheets.

 

[Graf]

Hm. Wizard's dailies are going to be an issue at launch. You'll want to have full permanent approved math for both, but some way to indicate which spell is prepared.

Or maybe that's not feasible from a design standpoint, since it's actually something that changes....?

 

[Phoenix8008]

I would just track the known wizard daily spells on the character sheet. The player can track in the adventure thread whichever one he/she chooses to memorize after any given extended rest.

I was thinking of just having a pre-done sblock of powers saved aside somewhere. I could post that each round and just mark out which ones have been used from the daily or encounter powers. Looks like the *strikethrough* function isn't built into the ENworld interface anymore... After a quick Google search I found this BB code. Use [ s ], [ /s ] without the spaces. Time to see if it works. Yay, it works! So the used powers could just be crossed out that way in the sblock in the adventure thread. No need to make every change to the main character sheet for used powers.

 

[covaithe]

That makes sense, and I think it's good enough for now.

 

[Graf]

I make'n another pass at this. I couldn't bring myself to say "use any character sheet you want to".

[d]--[/d]

Living 4th Edition Character Creation Guide

L4W characters sheets are stored in the L4W Wiki. To create a new character,

1. Create a Character Page
Go to the Character Sandbox page. Click on the edit button, and at the bottom of the page, add a new link to your character. If your EN World login was "covaithe" and your character's name was Bilbo Baggins and you were making a halfling rogue, the code for your link would look like:

[[L4W:PC:Bilbo Baggins (covaithe)|Bilbo Baggins (covaithe)]], Halfling Rogue 1

Save the page.

2. Prepare your Character Page
Go to your character page (the easiest way to do this is by clicking on the link you just created). This will take you to a blank page edit screen. There are two ways to produce a character sheet.

2.1 The Pure Method
Open up the L4W Character Template in another window, and copy the code from the white section marked "Copy from below this line" and paste it into the edit window of the character sheet page.

2.1 The Lazy Method
Open up an existing, clean and easy to understand character sheet. Some examples

Human Wizard
Hobgoblin Warlord
Eladrin Paladin​

Hit edit and copy and paste that to your blank character sheet.

3. Save Backup Character Page
Once you have done this please save the new character sheet, to create a baseline to fall back on in case there are server errors or other problems.

4. Fill in/Change the Details
Press the edit button again to fill in the details of your new character; or change them if you're copying an existing character. Some tips.

• Start with the math section and fill the summary in once you've worked out the correct information
• Follow the players handbook
• If you're not sure what something means or will look like; hit the preview button
• Everything in brackets should either be deleted or filled in with a number
• Periodically save your work
• There may occasionally be errors in the templates, feel free to post about them on the Character Template Errors thread.

You are expected to use the standard character sheet summary; this lowers workload for DMs by having everything in a common, easy to understand format. If you are having trouble, or just feeling frustrated or lost, please post to the Character Template Bugs and Assistance thread with a link to the sheet and a clear explanation of your problem. (People will help you just do the best you can and then post politely explaining your confusion/problem)

The fluff and math sections are not requirements. However if you deviate from the patterns presented, it is harder for the judges to examine your character, and it may take longer for them to get around to it. Possibly much longer.


4.1 Character Creation
L4W characters are created at level 1, using any material from the PHB, and the races from the appendix at the back of the MM.
PLEASE NOTE: Only material from those two sources is available at launch. For the avoidance of doubt: material from Dragon, Dungeon, and other sources is not available (including additional material on races, etc).

4.2 Ability scores
Ability scores are created using the point buy rules from pages 17-18 of the PHB, except that we use 25 points instead of 22. Here are some sample ability arrays that are possible with this method:

18    16    10    10    10    8
  18    14    13    11    10    8
  18    13    13    13    10    8
  18    12    12    12    12    9
  16    16    15    10    10    8
  16    15    15    12    10    8
  16    14    14    14    11    8
  16    14    14    12    12    10
  16    14    13    12    12    12
  16    13    13    13    13    12

You can of course create your own starting array. There is a basic 4e point buy calculator online here, which may help.

5. Choose Region (optional)
You may optionally choose a region for your character from the regions list. Each region provides small benefits to characters originating there. Todo: insert better description of the regional "philosophies".

6. Choose Kickers, Hooks, and (optional)
You may also optionally choose hooks and a kicker.

7. Inform Judges you are done
When you feel that your character sheet is ready for submission, send an email to the L4W judge account, l4w.judges@gmail.com, with the subject line "L4W character submission: Bilbo Baggins", replacing Bilbo Baggins with your character's name.

8. Review Process
To avoid errors two people (called character judges), at least one of them a L4W judge, will look at your sheet.

The character judges will review your character sheet as soon as they can, but if you don't hear from them for a week or two, it would be wise to send them a reminder.
REMEMBER: If you've deviated from the patterns provided, or you haven't used the character summary you may find that it takes the judges a long time to get around to trying to decipher your sheet. Do consider that this is a shared world; and that you are playing with a lot of other busy people (especially DMs). Also remember:the Character Template Bugs and Assistance thread.

8. Notice of Approval Process
The judges will edit a section at the bottom of your character sheet, either with details of any changes that are needed, or with a comment indicating approval. In either case, the judges will email you to notify you of the result.
The second judge to approve your character will add a link to the approved revision of your character to the official list of approved characters below.

Editing after approval
You can continue to edit your character sheet after it has been approved, it's your character sheet after all.
So you can notes or details of your current status, or about your adventures, but the changes will have no official effect until you level up and submit your character for approval again. DMs should be aware that the approved version of a character sheet is the one linked to from this post, and that there may be later edits.

Playing before Approval
You can join adventures before you are fully approved, provided you have received the permission of the DM running the game, but you cannot earn experience without having approval from two judges.

Leveling up
When you gain enough experience to level up, edit your character sheet and email the character judges again. The approval process is the same as for the initial character submission.