Neceros' Landscape Character Record Sheet

[Aristotle]

I love looking at other people's sheets for inspiration, but I tend to draw my own up in Adobe InDesign when I am learning a new system. It's part of my "process" to learning a new system and makes me very familiar with where everything is on the sheet for easy reference when helping a lost player.

My Star Wars Saga Edition sheet is by far my favorite. Also landscape, but I left a block blank and placed adhesive "photo corners" on the corners of it. Then I print out a daughter sheet that has all the stuff that changes a lot over a session (i.e. current HP, ammo count, force, etc..) on the daughter sheet (avery inkjet index cards) so that when it gets dirty you can pluck it out and put a fresh one in... sheets stay legible much longer.

I'm thinking about doing something similar for magic items on printable business cards in D&D. You literally equip your cards onto your sheet.

 

[neceros]

I went ahead and added another page to this landscape edition. Fixed up a bit of the sections and fixed more spelling errors. Download it on my new section on my site, here:

http://www.neceros.com/forum/index.php?automodule=downloads&showfile=6

Also, I've changed the link in the original post.

Happy gaming!

 

[vagabundo]

I think landscape is the way to go for 4e. I like your sheet, however I liked the layout of the DNDxp sheets.

I printed them two to a page in landscape and my guys have been using them. I think that style would do for the heroic tier. I'm thinking a new character sheet for each tier...

 

[WhatGravitas]

Looks nice... but I think the inclusion of a second page left the second page a bit blank.

I think the power section is faaar to large - a 30th level character has 15 powers due to class. I cannot imagine that feats and race with up this to more than 20. So it would easily fit where "Class & Racial Abilities, Feats, Notes" is currently - that would also place the powers section below offence, which is a neat touch, as most things a player actively wants to use on his turn would be located in a single column - so switching them around could work.

Also: Since you've already made the jump to the second page, the inclusion of a short section for a character sketch, as well as character details (description, history, notes, allies, enemies, contacts and so on) would be a nice touch - usually I rather have functional material, but seeing the massive - probably - unused space on the second page (esp. after the switch), you could easily dedicate about a quarter page to such details.

Last point: After seeing the photo of the "official" sheet, I've noticed that the defences are next to the abilities, indicating which one tie into which defence - can you try to do this? This would also put "Hit Points & Healing" directly over "Defence" - it's nice to have the stuff that you look up when something attacks you is close to each other (same as with the offence and powers I've mentioned above).

Hope that the feedback is useful!

Cheers, LT.

 

[neceros]

Good feedback. I'll tinker with it some more to see what I can get!

Edit:
Well, I won't be able to graphically position the Defenses next to Abilities without reworking more of the sheet. Possible, but I don't think it's necessary. I did, however, move the defenses up above Movement, so it that does look better.

Will be moving the powers section over, losing the second column for Equipment, and will add a Personal Details feature on the second page. I'm not sure about putting powers on the first page as I need two columns for powers. I could put Feats, etc, on the second page, but it's against my nature right now. I do have a feeling that Powers will be more important then feats, but I like the idea of being able to scratch the second page all together if you don't want the extra info.

We'll see.

 

[thc1967]

Question for Neceros (or anyone with the right skills, really):

Looking at this character sheet (which is really nice), I see lots of fields that are necessary to create a number (such as Int mod, 1/2 level, etc.), but which are not necessary in play. How hard would it be to create a 2-page sheet where the first page is inputs (looks just like this one) but the second page is a condensed version with just the numbers you need at the table? You could save A LOT of space this way on the second page, leaving room for random notes and sketches.

If it was a form-fillable sheet with some simple calculators to add in numbers, the second page sheet could auto-fill in as you fill in the first page one.

Thoughts?

My game has a couple interesting attributes that led me to want a sheet like you described, too. We use software to maintain information about characters, and we can easily print out new records at will. This means we don't really need to see the "numbers that go into making the numbers". The math just adds clutter.

We also have a few "rookie" players who tend to get confused by looking at tons of numbers they'll never need on a character record.

I intend to use power cards when we start with 4e, so we'll require even less detail on the front page of the character record.

I've modified neceros's excellent work somewhat into my first draft of a landscape-based character record to suit my group's needs. It's in HTML format today, but I'll upload it here in JPG format. This is just the front page, and its goal is to hold over 90% of the data that a player would need during an encounter. I intend to design a back page that tracks additional data and more detail.

Ultimately my plan for this sheet, once it's finalized and I'm happy with it, is to convert it into an XSL file. I'll use Excel to manage the character data, spit it out into XML format, and then use XSLT to produce a populated character record.

This probably won't be more efficient than the DDI software, but it's sure going to be less offensive to my wallet.

As a final note, if DDI produces a reasoanble character record and drops their prices to something reasonable given the value it provides, I'll likely drop work on this altogether.

 

[neceros]

Fantastic job. That looks really well done.

 

[Khaim]

"Other": I took your first sheet and am in the process of mutilating it. Specifically:

Removed melee/ranged boxes, since that information ends up in the basic attack area.
Shortened the name box of the basic/at will area (and changed "favorite" to "at will"), increased the size of the range box a little, removed the ammunition boxes, and added an "effect" box (for the at-will powers)
[Reasoning: Encounter/daily powers will probably be listed on power cards. At-will powers don't need to be, as they're never expended, and furthermore tend to have simpler effects.]
Removed the "misc" boxes, replaced the action point boxes with three double-sized ones, and added a line for action point special ability.
Reorganized everything.
Trimmed the extra lines from skills, cut the feats/etc lines to 20 and languages to 4 (that might be excessive, but it makes these three boxes fit nicely).
Added the equipment area to the front side, minus all the columns (I don't much care about tracking weight, etc).
Added a section for conditional abilities that don't fit anywhere else, like Bloodhunt or Stand Your Ground. These need to be written out instead of hiding in the feats section.

A lot of this is personal preference, of course.

 

[neceros]

"Other": I took your first sheet and am in the process of mutilating it. Specifically:

Removed melee/ranged boxes, since that information ends up in the basic attack area.
Shortened the name box of the basic/at will area (and changed "favorite" to "at will"), increased the size of the range box a little, removed the ammunition boxes, and added an "effect" box (for the at-will powers)
[Reasoning: Encounter/daily powers will probably be listed on power cards. At-will powers don't need to be, as they're never expended, and furthermore tend to have simpler effects.]
Removed the "misc" boxes, replaced the action point boxes with three double-sized ones, and added a line for action point special ability.
Reorganized everything.
Trimmed the extra lines from skills, cut the feats/etc lines to 20 and languages to 4 (that might be excessive, but it makes these three boxes fit nicely).
Added the equipment area to the front side, minus all the columns (I don't much care about tracking weight, etc).
Added a section for conditional abilities that don't fit anywhere else, like Bloodhunt or Stand Your Ground. These need to be written out instead of hiding in the feats section.

A lot of this is personal preference, of course.

I'd love to see an image of this.

 

[Khaim]

Here's a character I'm working on for a one-shot. She's not complete, but you get the idea. A lot of what I changed is because it's a one-shot; I don't need exp, campaign, etc.