D&D 5E Starter Set Character Sheet Revealed!

[Thaumaturge]

To those who are experiencing an edition change for the first time:

Enjoy these days. You only ever get a first time to pour over a character sheet attempting to decipher the underlying systems.

Soak it in.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Thaumaturge]

I'm probably going to do something similar, though perhaps with less narrative flair. Rather than picking specific skills, I'll just let the player say he's a 'sailor', and any checks that are plausibly related to sailing, he'll get his proficiency bonus. Similar for 'wilderness hunter' or 'bounty hunter' or the like.

This seems pretty easy with the PH(B), even. Just use the backgrounds for this purpose. 'Guide', 'Bounty Hunter', and 'Sailor' are all backgrounds. And then just use your judgment.

As long as everyone at the table is cool with this, it seems a good way to go.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Remathilis]

To those who are experiencing an edition change for the first time:

Enjoy these days. You only ever get a first time to pour over a character sheet attempting to decipher the underlying systems.

Soak it in.

Thaumaturge.

I still remember Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum, Eric's elven "sample" characters that were made out of the 3e leaks.

 

[Agamon]

So I really like the design and layout for this sheet. Basic, clean and effective, and it doesn't have too much on it that you'll simply ignore.

I hope that the final real sheets look something like this, but I expect they will need to be more complicated since you have no room for modifiers or bonuses.

But yes: very nice design. Me likes.

I hope this doesn't sound like fanboi swoon, but I'm pretty critical towards crappy default character sheets that nearly every RPG in existence deploys with it's game. But this sheet is pretty frickin' amazing. I'd use it.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Great axe is no longer a single word.

Hmmm. I only see it as "greataxe" on the sheet. On both the front and back.

I still remember Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum, Eric's elven "sample" characters that were made out of the 3e leaks.

Oh, man. Yeah. I remember. Good times.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Agamon]

To those who are experiencing an edition change for the first time:

Enjoy these days. You only ever get a first time to pour over a character sheet attempting to decipher the underlying systems.

Soak it in.

Even to those of us that can fill a hand using the fingers to count the new editions experienced, this be the awesomesauce.

 

[lkj]

This seems pretty easy with the PH(B), even. Just use the backgrounds for this purpose. 'Guide', 'Bounty Hunter', and 'Sailor' are all backgrounds. And then just use your judgment.

As long as everyone at the table is cool with this, it seems a good way to go.

Thaumaturge.

I agree. It will be very easy to implement. I've done it in playtest games. I might just call them 'Areas of Expertise' and associate one or two with a background (or, as you say, just make the background the expertise area). And, yes, it does depend on agreement at the table. I think I'm mostly fine in this regard, although I do have one player who tends to like more granularity. We'll see how it goes.

My mention of it being in the DMG is just to point out that I think we'll see these sorts of options suggested by the designers themselves.

Cheers,
AD

 

[jcrowland]

This seems pretty easy with the PH(B), even. Just use the backgrounds for this purpose. 'Guide', 'Bounty Hunter', and 'Sailor' are all backgrounds. And then just use your judgment.

As long as everyone at the table is cool with this, it seems a good way to go.

Thaumaturge.

I sort of do both now: Pick the four skills (or use the background skills as written) explicitly AND if it comes up in play that perhaps you should get a bonus, I'll adjudicate.

Character chooses "Sailor" background, then chooses: Acrobatics, Intimidation, Perception, and Slight of Hand. During play, character attempts to tie down a chest on the back of a carriage while said carriage is careening down the road, horses at full gallop. Player says, "I am a sailor, can I get my proficiency bonus to this check since sailors are often securing things with rope in rough seas". I would grant that (whatever the check would be...straight dexterity check? whatever).

 

[Thaumaturge]

I sort of do both now: Pick the four skills (or use the background skills as written) explicitly AND if it comes up in play that perhaps you should get a bonus, I'll adjudicate.

Character chooses "Sailor" background, then chooses: Acrobatics, Intimidation, Perception, and Slight of Hand. During play, character attempts to tie down a chest on the back of a carriage while said carriage is careening down the road, horses at full gallop. Player says, "I am a sailor, can I get my proficiency bonus to this check since sailors are often securing things with rope in rough seas". I would grant that (whatever the check would be...straight dexterity check? whatever).

This is pretty much how it's done at my table.

Thaumaturge.

 

[jcrowland]

This is pretty much how it's done at my table.

Thaumaturge.

I think for many of us, we've always done this since the OD&D/1E days and never really stopped. Back when 3rd came out, there were discussions of "playing 3E like it was 1E". It's why I am jazzed about this edition, stuff I've been doing all along (DM "Hacks") won't seem so jarring to 5E rules lawyers. Playing 5E like it was (insert previous edition number here) won't be much of a thing since it was made to "hacked" that way.