Why are character sheets so often badly designed?

[Lanefan]

There are typically two types of gaming groups: those who simply treat everything you own as available, and those who make a distinction between what you have equipped and what you own but don't carry around with you all the time.

How to separate the two is something I am still not done with my own character sheets design.

Might not even need to.

Just mark with an asterisk anything you own that is not with you in the field (or, if using a printed sheet, print it in a different colour), then note somewhere on the sheet what the asterisk represents e.g. "* = in storage at home base" or "red = left for safekeeping at Apollo temple in Praetos".

I already do the different-colour trick for one of my characters, to distinguish what's in his Bag of Holding from what he's actually carrying outside the Bag.

 

[Li Shenron]

Might not even need to.

Just mark with an asterisk anything you own that is not with you in the field (or, if using a printed sheet, print it in a different colour), then note somewhere on the sheet what the asterisk represents e.g. "* = in storage at home base" or "red = left for safekeeping at Apollo temple in Praetos".

I already do the different-colour trick for one of my characters, to distinguish what's in his Bag of Holding from what he's actually carrying outside the Bag.

I have a "location" column in my custom character sheets' equipment page. But I also have the small typical equipment box on the main page.

So essentially I have two places for marking equipment:

• typical equipment section on the main character sheet page
• separate whole page for extended equipment

All players use the main character sheet, while the extended equipment page is meant to be optional, only for characters who own a lot of stuff. Presumably, low-level characters don't need to worry about the other page until they start feeling the section in the main page is getting too full.

I started thinking how big the default equipment box on the main page should be, but soon wondered what would happen if the campaign turns monty-haul where each PC gradually collects magic items. That's why I designed the optional equipment page, and since it was now a whole page I also included some room for less common stuff such as living expenses, hirelings or strongholds. But if you play in a game where each PC has loads of magic items, the DM might decide not to handwave encumbrance, and you have to choose which items to carry with you into the dungeon, then you need a way to mark what is "equipped" that is easier than erasing and rewriting the whole content of the equipment box on the main page, hence the "location" column (an "equipped" checkbox would be clearer, but I thought "location" was more encompassing in case you have multiple choices e.g. equipped, home, bag of holding, secret hiding place...).

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

One thing that struck me yesterday, when my group made characters for the rpg Tianxia, is that the official character sheets often seem to be badly designed, with way too little space to write things.

• It's not as simple a matter as some may think because character sheets typically need to record a LOT of information and graphically present it all in the most useful manner.
• character sheets for RPG's are like the documentation for software - it's a chore that few people enjoy so it just gets thrown together at the last minute by most RPG publishers. It seldom is the game-playing tool it needs to be - one that is carefully DESIGNED after repeated bouts of playtesting to get it right.
• Even if the character sheet itself undergoes its own playtesting (and I'd be floored if that has EVER been done as part of a games development) it isn't being tested by people who necessarily know what to look for in finding its flaws. It's going to just be given to the regular playtesters as something additional to consider, so while they're ostensibly stress testing the game mechanics they're NOT going to be putting a lot of thought into what the FINAL version of the game is going to be like in relation to the version of the character sheet they've been handed.
• Each version or edition of a game is going to change what's important in its mechanics, often radically. Character sheets, I believe, carry a great deal of their own momentum. They're laid out a certain way because they always have been laid out that way and it's really difficult to turn that ship away from icebergs. And players tend to react negatively when they look for information on a character sheet and don't find it because it's been moved from where they expect it to be.
• Every class in a class-based game has different priorities of information that is most useful to the player. These days, a fighter in D&D needs space and clarity for all their combat bonuses and weapons. A spellcaster needs space to list all their spells. Trying to fit both on the same page tends to mean neither is handled well. But it wasn't always that way...
• Different games can fairly well explode with the amount of data to be listed. A middling level 3rd Edition D&D fighter has GOBS of feats and rather fewer skills, but most 3E character sheets take up a huge amount of space listing all the skills whether they'll be used by the PC or not, when the fighter really needs that space to list and briefly describe FEATS. It's more useful, however, for rogues who tend to have more skills and RELY more upon their skills in play rather than their feats. All while casters really need space to list spells right up front because that's what THEY use most often in play but that space is relegated to later pages if given space at all.
• Individual players also have different priorities and different styles of play and approaches to the game. You can certainly play a fighter who tries to devote a lot more effort to diplomacy and communication than to combat. Some players are simply not as organized as others and if it ISN'T given space on a character sheet will forget about it, or will forget about it if the space for it is relegated to back pages of a multi-page character sheet - a choice which inevitably (whether deliberate or not) implies REDUCED importance because it is less prominent.
• Again, character sheets are HUGE information dumps and a character sheet needs to PRIORITIZE that information but those priorities change with every game edition, every player, every character, every style of campaign.
• At the same time a character sheet is going to get looked at CONSTANTLY as it sits directly in front of you. It helps if it LOOKS NICE - it needs good graphic design as well as ability to communicate information and if you CAN squeeze some art onto it, all the better.
• The mention upthread of having a space for a will should not be overlooked. Not that a will is necessarily that important but what seeing it on a character sheet does to your thinking IS important. A throwaway tidbit like that can easily say something about the game world your character is living in, what the specific campaign is prioritizing as opposed to what the rules in general imply. This can be linked to graphic design as well. A character sheet in black and red and covered with skulls says VASTLY different things about a game and a character than rainbows and unicorns (I hope). Graphic design of a character sheet MATTERS a great deal, sometimes even moreso than the information layout.
• The mention of the viability of simple notebook paper is also not to be overlooked. It may be graphically dull but each player can at least write down that information THEY PERSONALLY find most important to have at first glance.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

Professional / Publisher-distributed character sheet :

• D&D 5E (Druid)
• Call of Cthulhu 7E (1920's)
• Numenéra (various)
• DWAITAS
• PF2 (HeroLab online)
• 13th Age (Druid)
• Various GUMSHOE (NBA, TOC)
• Savage Worlds (Flash Gordon)
• Classic Deadlands
• Ghostbusters
• Big Eyes Small Mouth

I note that despite the fact that several people have stated that professional sheets are not as good as fan made sheets, there have been zero examples given of better fan-made sheets than professional sheets. Can we at least have examples for 5-6 of the above? There must be SOME fan-made sheets that stand comparison?

 

[Tallifer]

I always make a customized and unadorned character sheet in Microsoft Word, copying pasting all the relevant spells, class features, special abilities and equipment notes onto it. The first page has the usual abbreviated statistics, but all the subsequent pages are very detailed so that no one has to stop and look up anything in a book in the middle of play. This is especially important for games like 4E, 5E, PF and Star Wars.

 

[Retreater]

There have been some really lengthy responses here that I might've missed some of the details, but I would say that part of the issue character sheets tend to be bad are that they serve (at least) two purposes. Of course you need it to refer to your character in play, but you also use the same sheet to build your character. I think that having one sheet designed to walk you through character creation, showing all the potential skills and how to derive your attack bonuses, etc., is a good idea. Then in play, have a streamlined, organized sheet that shows you just the relevant information (all defenses listed together, all senses listed together, all attacks listed together, etc.) This sheet will of course vary based on your character design.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I wish the character sheet was more often the starting point for game design. I look at certain games that have a high-utility character sheet, and I think a lot of game designers can learn a lot from those games.

Instead, it’s typically a latter stage step in design. Or at least it seems to be. “Okay, we’ve crafted all these rules...now let’s condense it all down to try and fit on one page.”

 

[Campbell]

I note that despite the fact that several people have stated that professional sheets are not as good as fan made sheets, there have been zero examples given of better fan-made sheets than professional sheets. Can we at least have examples for 5-6 of the above? There must be SOME fan-made sheets that stand comparison?

1. Mad Irishman's D&D 3.5 Character Sheet
2. More Purple More Better's D&D 5th Edition Character Sheet
3. Void State's Exalted Second Edition Character Sheet
4. Perram’s Landscape Character Sheet for Pathfinder Second Edition
5. Emarald Samurai's Character Sheet for Legend of the 5 Rings Fourth Edition
6. John Harper's Stars Without Number Record Sheets

Mr. Gone did such a good job making character sheets for White Wolf / Onyx Path Publishing games that Onyx Path started paying them to design their official sheets.

All of the above were made by professional graphic designers as fan endeavors, but they are still professionals. I have used all of these in play and they have stood up to extended use.

 

[GMMichael]

One thing that struck me yesterday, when my group made characters for the rpg Tianxia, is that the official character sheets often seem to be badly designed, with way too little space to write things.

The space problem is just a supply problem. It's hard to get scrolls these days. Legal format paper is a close second, but whose printer is stocked with legal paper? So character sheets are crammed onto 8.5 x 11s, and you get a mess.

I note that despite the fact that several people have stated that professional sheets are not as good as fan made sheets, there have been zero examples given of better fan-made sheets than professional sheets. Can we at least have examples for 5-6 of the above? There must be SOME fan-made sheets that stand comparison?

I'd show you the ultimate fan-made sheet, but my pencil-on-notebook paper doesn't scan very well.

I'll posit that character sheets get worse as the RPG gets more complicated.

 

[prabe]

I'll posit that character sheets get worse as the RPG gets more complicated.

Worse on at least two axes that I can see: uglier and less useful. The latter is unfortunate, I think, because the more complicated the rules are the more likely a player is to need to reference the character sheet.