One Page Character Sheets

[Gargoyle]

With D&D Next as a modular rules system, my hope is that with just the basic core modules we can have a one page character sheet again, maybe even with enough room for a small illustration or other notes, and perhaps even a little white space to make it easy on the eyes.

Nothing bothers me more than seeing new players struggle with six page 4e characters. They forget about powers, and can't find anything.

My hope is that the default game will allow this, at least at low levels, and that there will be electronic support for it. Sure, once you're a fourth level wizard, you'll need more room for those spells, even with only the basic rules, but by then, players will be ready for that.

Save some trees dangit.

 

[Stormonu]

Yeah, there's no reason for character sheets to be longer than a page (maybe the back to track equipment, but still...). Of all the role-playing games I've tried over the years, I can't think of any besides D&D that have gone over a page to track the character.

And it'd be nice if spellcasters didn't have to have basically a booklet to track their spells. It'd be nice if spells didn't take up much more space than a weapon block - even for something like invisibility, web or divination.

I'd love to go back to the days I can fit a D&D character on a 3 X 5 index card.

 

[am181d]

I'd love to go back to the days I can fit a D&D character on a 3 X 5 index card.

My character sheet took up multiple pages in 1st edition, but that was written out long hand. Honestly, it's spells and equipment that take up the most room.

It's important that I keep track of whether I carry a bar of soap on me!!!

 

[Sunseeker]

Character sheets should be long enough to clearly present the necessary information, with a little extra room for personal notes. The information should be presented in a legible font large enough for people to read easily. The math should not be hidden, but clearly presented so that players know what bonuses are contributing to their current stats.

If that can be presented in a page, great. However if it needs to take up more space in order to accomplish those goals, I am fine with that.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Character sheets are like resumes. Good ones are either one page or two page, depending upon the wealth of information being presented. Note, that does not include "filler" (in either character sheets or resumes, for that matter). A sheet that goes longer is an indication of either:

• Bloat, or
• Sloppy representation of the critical elements of the system by the character sheet designer.

I'd say the latter is more common than the former.

However, a major caveat is supplementary pages that are not part of the sheet itself, but useful information. Equipment, spells, etc. are often like this, though you should still be able, if inclined, to write the highlights of such on the main sheet. That is, the supplements are reference sheets to avoid looking things up in play. If you've got the details of fireball memorized, then "fireball" on your sheet is enough. If you don't, then you need a reference sheet or the chance to consult the book in play.

 

[Gargoyle]

Character sheets should be long enough to clearly present the necessary information, with a little extra room for personal notes. The information should be presented in a legible font large enough for people to read easily. The math should not be hidden, but clearly presented so that players know what bonuses are contributing to their current stats.

I agree with all that.

If that can be presented in a page, great. However if it needs to take up more space in order to accomplish those goals, I am fine with that.

My thinking is that if it takes up more than one page to accomplish the above goals with just the core parts of the system for a low level character, the system is bloated.

 

[Wiseblood]

With D&D Next as a modular rules system, my hope is that with just the basic core modules we can have a one page character sheet again, maybe even with enough room for a small illustration or other notes, and perhaps even a little white space to make it easy on the eyes.

Nothing bothers me more than seeing new players struggle with six page 4e characters. They forget about powers, and can't find anything.

My hope is that the default game will allow this, at least at low levels, and that there will be electronic support for it. Sure, once you're a fourth level wizard, you'll need more room for those spells, even with only the basic rules, but by then, players will be ready for that.

Save some trees dangit.

I'd give you some XP but I must spread it around.

I think character sheets grew because everything had to be explained. Where did you get this bonus? What type of damage did this weapon do? and so on. I find it odd that ability scores used to take up a lot of space because they did so much more than just give a bonus. Nowadays you have a list of skill that you probably did not spend anything on and wouldn't use unless you were at the end of your rope so to speak. The irony is the only modifier is the ability score bonus you already wrote down on the other part of the sheet. HA!

 

[Rhenny]

When I started playing D&D in the 80s, all we used was a 4"x6" index card. That's all we needed. I'm all for the one pager!

 

[Janaxstrus]

My 3e sheet is a single page, double sided. That includes everything including space for biography stuff.

 

[Sunseeker]

My thinking is that if it takes up more than one page to accomplish the above goals with just the core parts of the system for a low level character, the system is bloated.

To me, this depends on A: the class, and B: the player.
EX: a wizard's list of spells will naturally take up more room than a fighter's list of weapon attacks.
EX2: a player who makes a more complex character will need more sheet space than one who doesn't.


I expect the "core parts" of the system to allow a good bit of versatility in character building and Wizards will likely still have half a dozen spells by lvl 2.