Blog (A5E) Let’s Look At The Level Up Character Sheet

A character sheet is your portal into the game world. As a player, it’s your primary interface, and it’s important that a character sheet be clear and useful. Here’s a look at what Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition’s character sheet looks like.

The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s four pages. Well, this is ‘advanced’ 5th Edition, and we have new stuff to include — an entire exploration pillar, and a combat maneuver system, for starters! But that’s not all, and eagle-eyed readers will spot other things, for sure!

This sheet is close to final. It might change a little, but not much.

Let’s Look At The Level Up Character Sheet — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

A character sheet is your portal into the game world. As a player, it’s your primary interface, and it’s important that a character sheet be clear and useful. Here’s a look at what Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition’s character sheet looks like.

www.levelup5e.com

 

[jeffh]

Acrobatics is about agility and Athletics is about might.

It seems to me this is just a way of saying Acrobatics should always be tied to Dexterity and Athletics should always be tied to Strength. But we know that's not what they're doing.

Here's a couple questions that may help you see where the person you're replying to is coming from. Can you explain what you think differentiates these two skills without referring to things that are covered by ability scores? What, if they did it your way, would be an example of (say) a Strength-based Acrobatics check?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If it were up to me I'd honestly go the other way from what LUp has done. I'd try to make the skill system clearly cover all checks (probably including saving throws) and hard-wire them all to specific ability scores (I'd prefer tools to be involved here too, not a vague secondary thing like they are in O5e).

 

[Garthanos]

"Passive _____ " really has me thinking.
"Passive Intimidation" DM "You walk over to his table and he wets his pants."

What other skills would be useful/funny with "Passive" stats?

In Chainmail the hero was able to do that... basically he could ride past a bunch of enemy troops and they turn tail...

 

[Faolyn]

It seems to me this is just a way of saying Acrobatics should always be tied to Dexterity and Athletics should always be tied to Strength. But we know that's not what they're doing.

Here's a couple questions that may help you see where the person you're replying to is coming from. Can you explain what you think differentiates these two skills without referring to things that are covered by ability scores? What, if they did it your way, would be an example of (say) a Strength-based Acrobatics check?

While I have a hard time imagining a Strength-based Acrobatics check, or a Dex-based Athletics check, I could see doing either skill with Constitution (for endurance) or Charisma (for showing off).

 

[Morrus]

While I have a hard time imagining a Strength-based Acrobatics check, or a Dex-based Athletics check, I could see doing either skill with Constitution (for endurance) or Charisma (for showing off).

Or indeed Int for remembering facts about trapeze equipment or famous sports heroes. Con (Ath) for a marathon.

 

[Garthanos]

While I have a hard time imagining a Strength-based Acrobatics check, or a Dex-based Athletics check, I could see doing either skill with Constitution (for endurance) or Charisma (for showing off).

There are artificial distinctions in game between dexterity and strength, tbh. However a running long jump IRL is very skill based activity with high variance but a standing broad jump barely has any skill involved one can almost directly compute with fair accuracy based on body weight, peak leg press amount and shin length (I did some calculations in college and they conformed to fairly basic physics)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

It's not actually possible to be "Agile" IRL without being "Athletic". It IS possible to be agile without being particularly strong, though. Agility tends to come from a core-strength-vs-body-weight ratio. If you get too big, you have to be that much stronger to maintain agility. Rock climbing works exactly the same, making it always strange when you have, for example, a 10-strength halfling rogue wind up not particularly good at climbing (even when proficient in athletics) in spite of being able to lift twice their body weight. (IRL they would most likely be naturally talented at it).

It's an imperfect model, like many things in the game.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

It seems to me this is just a way of saying Acrobatics should always be tied to Dexterity and Athletics should always be tied to Strength. But we know that's not what they're doing.

Here's a couple questions that may help you see where the person you're replying to is coming from. Can you explain what you think differentiates these two skills without referring to things that are covered by ability scores? What, if they did it your way, would be an example of (say) a Strength-based Acrobatics check?

Trapeze catchers use Strength based Acrobatic checks. So do climbers holding their buddy with one hand to stop him from falling.

 

[jeffh]

Trapeze catchers use Strength based Acrobatic checks. So do climbers holding their buddy with one hand to stop him from falling.

I'm still not seeing a principled difference between Athletics and Acrobatics that isn't either Str vs Dex or "because we've always done it this way". Why couldn't those be Athletics checks? What is gained by making it a separate skill?

I'm especially puzzled by your second example. Climbing is already Athletics and I can't see what about your example would change that.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

I'm not saying it should be a separate skill. I'm saying that if it is a separate skill than these are examples of some of the times I would link it to Strength.