D&D 5E Eyes? who cares

[MortalPlague]

Eye color actually came up in a game of mine once. My halfling rogue Wick was in a low-magic game, but we'd crossed into the Feywild, where Woad the Cyclops ran a shop that sold rare and fantastic items. There were potions and mundane magical things, like spice that made any food taste of apples, and tanglefoot bags. But there was also a list of things which had no cost. A pair of boots, dubbed "Boots of Peerless Stealth" caught Wick's attention. He asked Woad, "How much for the boots?" The cyclops looked at him, and after a few moments of consideration, replied, "Woad trade boots for color of eyes."

Wick's eyes became white, without any pupils at all. And after a time, he began to lose the color of his sight too. But by that point, he was able to go track Woad down and re-negotiate the terms of the deal.

 

[Sunseeker]

I like the idea of a "standard appearance statblock." Or maybe a three-bullet-point list of distinguishing features (that you could roll for on a table if you didn't have an idea!). At the very least, it can be a useful thing to lean on, look at, and reference when narrating scenes: "The orc's bloodshot grey eyes stare straight through you as it seeks the wizard in the back row," or "Mialee's frazzled hair singes in the wake of the fiery dragon's breath, but she is safe behind her magic."

It's a little cheesy, but I threw this together. Didn't even bother to edit the bottom out, 'cause this is the important idea. It's got your usual physical features, and then allows players to write in additional info, or even draw a picture(yay no lines!) if they so choose. Quick and dirty reference material for a DM or even other players without having to move character sheets around or try to browse said sheets for the relevant information.

 

[Grazzt]

Early character sheets had blanks for eye color, hair color, skin color...I guess its a bit of a retro nod.

Yep. Agreed on the retro thing. I'll be happy when they put a spot on the sheet for your Will "I _______ do hereby leave all possessions to ________ upon my death"

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I always include space for plenty of biographic information on ever character sheet I make. At Apathy, we even provide a several page system neutral sheet for nothing but biographical info.

 

[frankthedm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E&t=1m38s

 

[the Jester]

I was just looking at the character sheet, and something struck me.
Why is there a box for writing down the color of your eyes? It's such a minor and totally irrelevant thing. I can understand with hair, they are easily visible on a character and can add to his uniqueness. But eyes? And at the same time, there isn't a box to write down the color of your skin or your compexion.
I know this is a minor complaint but I wanted to raise it anyway.

Why bother writing down your character's gender? It has no mechanical effects.

The answer is, a pc is more than a set of combat stats. Many of us actually have family trees or histories that don't really matter, too.

 

[PinkRose]

I am shocked and yet not surprised that this question is asked in this day and age.
Out of all things talked about with D&D Next, not including some spaces for biography and appearance would be a Non-starter for me.

 

[Sunseeker]

I am shocked and yet not surprised that this question is asked in this day and age.
Out of all things talked about with D&D Next, not including some spaces for biography and appearance would be a Non-starter for me.

But I have to ask...why?

Obviously, these things matter to you...well it's not like you can't write all over the back of the page, or on a separate piece of paper until your fingers fall off.

It's not like you're NOT going to write these things down somewhere if they don't include some boxes for very random aspects of your character that certain folks might find totally irrelevant in terms of importance. Perhaps it is the scars, or some other feature.

It's not like lacking those boxes are going to keep you from RPing...and really if you forget what you wanted your character to look like....well that's a different issue that I doubt hair-color, eye-color, or gender boxes will help.

 

[PinkRose]

1. History.
2. Kamikaze has it right. By putting those on a sheet, it says, these are important. By omitting them, they are extra. I want my D&D to say details are important.
3. D&D is a Role-Playing Game. And details help novices and veterans alike to Roleplay. By adding them on the sheet, you are encouraging roleplaying.

Hair Colour, Eye Colour, Height, Weight, Age, Gender
I think that's what I want to see. Even on the back page. But better specific than generic.

 

[Libramarian]

I'd like to have both eye colour and skin colour on the sheet. The problem with the latter is avoiding the assumption that your fantasy world has the same race categories as ours, so you have to make it clear that it's not asking for race. I think "e.g. pale/tan/dark" would work.