D&D 4E Simple Table 4e Sheet

[Etherrider]

First off let me say that my group has been together off and on since "red box" days and with each new edition they always remark at how much stuff gets jammed onto a character sheet....it does not help any more that we are over 40 now and do not always carry magnifying glasses!

I have toyed around and threw together a sheet that has most everything that is needed, but not typically found on the cards from the DDi Character Builder. My group wanted a lean and mean sheet for referencing at the table without all the clutter nor those bonuses that end up being added in a weapon attack or initiative already.

So I am putting this 1st draft out there to anyone who may want to use (or improve/critique) a simplified sheet with cards for powers/equipment (there is a free space for a note or two as well).

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Maybe a few minor layout issues in OOWriter, but sure enough, its pretty basic! I agree with the concept, though I'd rather go with a full letter sized sheet myself. Really if you are using something like CB anyhow to do the math or just do it out on scratch paper I don't see much reason to bother with spelling everything out in detail on the sheet like the WotC sheet in PHB does. Its definitely way too cluttered.

 

[Alisair Longreach]

You need to fix a few layout issues:

Shorten the Name line to match up with Race line.

Have the Class title match up with the Alignment title then lengthen the Class line.

Exchange Attributes with Ability and line it up with the boxes. Add + under modifiers.

Add a + in the Initiative box.

Lower the skill titles to the bottom of their boxes. Add a + at the start of the modifier line.

You need to add the + so your players don't have to.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

I like it!

The official character sheet is really a utility for making character generation and record keeping easier, IMO. It's optimized for making sure you remember all the various bonuses and minutiae of your character. For in-game use, something like your sheet is probably more ideal.

 

[Storminator]

I use the Character Builder to make my PC. I use the power cards. There's not much left after that.

Do you need Name, Class, Level, Alignment? Since I have those in the CB, I don't need to bring them to the table. I highlighted Perception and Insight, so I don't need the passive boxes. Do you really use the abilities that often? I put them on the back side of my "sheet."

I put the At-Will powers and basic attacks on a single card.

What's left is about the size of an index card. I'm going to see if I can shrink it down a little more and have it be the size of a power card.

But it's a good start!

PS

 

[Etherrider]

@Alisair Longreach
Shorten...line... (Thought about that but left them longer due to some people with longer names on their toons and some of my players like to include the build...but I could shorten them as you said to add back room)
Exchange Attributes with Ability (Caught that in 2nd draft too many games in my head I guess.)

Add a +'s to "X box" (Yep...suppose I should)

Lower the skill titles to the bottom of their boxes. (Caught that one too, meant for the whole space to be grey10%.)

You need to add the + so your players don't have to.

@Storminator

Do you need Name, Class, Level, Alignment? Since I have those in the CB, I don't need to bring them to the table. I highlighted Perception and Insight, so I don't need the passive boxes. (That is a good and valid point as you "should know your toon's name" although I may leave the 2 passive boxes).


Do you really use the abilities that often? (Yep, plenty of skill challenges and time for other needs. One of the last encounters, I saw 4 of 6 characters needing athletic or acrobatics rolls due to the battlefield layout and such in addition to some of the skill challenges).

I put the At-Will powers and basic attacks on a single card. I like that idea, but since we are using the CB power cards I have foregone some of that an keeping the melee/ranged basics eliminated the need for the cards.

I really do appreciate the feedback....I tweaking it from what was given and certainly taking time to weigh it against my group's habits. I always hated when my group got some of the 4 pager character sheets as they ended up spread out in front of them so they could see any morsel of backstory....even though it took them time to scan and find the right sheet and often the pages would get scattered all about. So after our last play when I noticed once again how much room they took up....6 players took up an entire 18 person boardroom table!....I finally knew that I had to spend an action point and do something instead of bitching!

When I get time to make a few more touchups after the holidays, I will try and post up v2.

 

[Storminator]

Do you really use the abilities that often? (Yep, plenty of skill challenges and time for other needs. One of the last encounters, I saw 4 of 6 characters needing athletic or acrobatics rolls due to the battlefield layout and such in addition to some of the skill challenges).

Oh yeah, you need the skills, but are you making STR/CON/etc checks? I find those are pretty much never needed. I started marking my sheet with what parts got used, and started pushing the unused blocks down the sheet (in the CB). Feats and stats got moved to the 2nd page, and dropped entirely when I went to the card.

PS

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Do you need Name, Class, Level, Alignment? Since I have those in the CB, I don't need to bring them to the table. I highlighted Perception and Insight, so I don't need the passive boxes. (That is a good and valid point as you "should know your toon's name" although I may leave the 2 passive boxes).

They're not super important in play, but if you have several copies of the sheet to sort through or if you're going through your old stuff, it makes identifying everything much easier.

 

[bagger245]

Wow, thanks for making this. I was going to make a simplified character sheet as well. Is it possible to fit one character sheet into 1 page instead of having two? That will lead to big fonts and easy on the eyes. Gives the impression that 4e is rules light. But anyway great job.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Wow, thanks for making this. I was going to make a simplified character sheet as well. Is it possible to fit one character sheet into 1 page instead of having two? That will lead to big fonts and easy on the eyes. Gives the impression that 4e is rules light. But anyway great job.

It's not perfect, but I hacked this together using screenshotting and expanded the images to page size. It's pretty obviously hacked together, but should work well enough until someone else gets around to it (if someone ever does)