One Page Character Sheets

[howandwhy99]

So I have a list of 20some stats on a half sheet of paper. The players don't have to use this sheet, but no matter what else they track those stats need to be kept somewhere.

And it's not like these are overwhelming. Included are things like Character Name, Player Name, Class, Class XP, the 6 ability scores, and so on. It's not rocket science, but the equipment, class and racial ability lists can get a little more detailed. That's fine for me. A lot of that is part of playing of the game and if they don't want to track them, I already do.

So 1-page PC Logs are cool to start. I think they should definitely be the default for any starting DMs or players. However, I have an allegory on what these logs really are. They're the player's light saber. At start you get the standard issue, no frills design. But as you grow you customize, you improve it to what you want it to be. For some this may mean a notebook, for others they'll want only a few pages. Still others will just ignore all this and get someone else's sheet to copy their scores and stats onto. None of these are somehow the wrong way, but the level of investment really feeds into the game when your Cleric keeps a copy of "the holy scrolls" on real parchment paper and dowels with designs, layout, and pictures that all can have meaning in the game world too.

I think they should take their game design mantra of "Stay out of the way" and keep applying it here. Provide examples, multiple varieties even, and let the players do as they wish.

 

[Dice4Hire]

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!

And could you still read print that small, I wonder

 

[Dice4Hire]

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

My 4E sheet is a single page. It is not hard to do.

 

[GX.Sigma]

My 4E sheet is a single page. It is not hard to do.

Do you have pictures of this? I play 4e weekly, and I'd love to see how this is possible.

 

[Quickleaf]

Do you have pictures of this? I play 4e weekly, and I'd love to see how this is possible.

You can check out my version of a custom made 1-page character sheet for a 15th level slayer here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4t...9257-paragon-one-one-slayer-versus-world.html

 

[LostSoul]

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

I use a notebook for my 3E character.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Our characters sheets are two pages, not counting spells. The second page is almost all ability descriptions and equipment.

As a side note, I always hated most "official" character sheets because they would take up almost a quarter of the page with big blocks or circles for writing "STR: 17" and tiny little spaces for writing the things that actually require a lot of space.

 

[StarFyre]

i think alot depends on what the sheet presents.

for example, the sheet we use (an excel based sheet that updates most information due to formulae everywhere applicable).

I could cut it down if i removed all the boxes and put the formulae to another sheet itself and just had the outcome on the main sheet.

Issue: if players want to see what makes up a #, it takes more time to explain.

It depends what players want to see. My players want to see all the #s incase something gets added, removed or if something is justplain missing (with 100s of formulae, it quite easy to miss something). That takes up more room.

Most premade sheets from companies have a box for a hit bonus....but not the individual bonuses that make up that total.

if you want to see all those individual #s and then the total sum, it takes up quite a bit more space. (espec if you want larger fonts).

Sanjay

 

[Halivar]

I always managed to fit my 4E character on a single sheet, up to level 20. The back was used for unequipped inventory and campaign notes. I did have to use a separate sheet for rituals, however.

My suggestion is that this can be made easier by doing what has been suggested many times in this forum: KISS for the core. Allow people in increase the complexity of their character (and, therefore, their character sheet) if they so choose.

 

[Trance-Zg]

I always used notebook for my characters with PHB character sheet as a reference what a sheet should look like.

And if I was not a spellcaster it was always one A4 page long(talking about 3.5e ofcourse).