Chronical 002: Character Sheets Pt 2

Sorry for the long wait between chronicles, my gaming experience has been limited so I had to figure out an alternative way to play.  A friend suggested finding a forum and playing on there. So I took it a step further and created my own forum. If you haven't checked it out, here's my forum: Intergalactic. I've started my first ever adventure in this kind of venue, I hope it goes well.

I've also been listening to several podcasts, hoping to scrape together some ideas for future chronicles. RPPR and Happy Jacks are two such podcasts that I have started listening to,as I'm up to date on all Rho Pi episodes. So hopefully in the weeks to come I will have weekly blogs about what's going on in the RPG Podcast world (at least from the perspective of three different sites -- if I tried to listen to every single podcast, I would still be listening and never get to post); they all have their own twists on gaming, so I will add my two cents to what they have to say. Stay Tuned for "My Two Cents".

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So what else can I say about Character sheets? How about, what goes into it's actually creation! Woohoo! Sure it sounds boring. But if you love gaming, and have a creative side this is a great outlet.

There's nothing more beautiful, in gaming, than a blank sheet of paper and an opportunity to create a character sheet (although, I also love creating characters, but the satisfaction of a new character sheet is a larger boost to my ego).

First there's the layout of the paper: Portrait or Landscape. Most games, well, practically all games that I've ever come into contact with use the Portrait layout.  Why? Pros:

1. It's how we write on paper in general (the old adage comes to mind, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it").
2. Skill lists are usually long, so this layout gives ample space for that
3. The two column layout, makes it easier on the eye to follow/look for stats

But it's not without it's cons:

1. Cramped space; one of the constant complaints I hear at my gaming table is that the space provided to write things down is too small. With portrait and two columns, your available writing space in each column is less than four inches -- and many players have large handwriting
2. As most character sheets are reduced to two pages, this style sometimes leaves out important information -- the Dresden Files was one such RPG that could have been edited better.

But I've had a good bit of success with the Landscape layout. Pros:

1. More Space! Your available space going across the page is now eleven inches rather than eight; and believe me, three inches can make a difference when it comes to writing things down.
2. Now introducing three columns! Sure this sounds like it's reducing what I just said above, but depending on the game, three columns can make the difference. Any d6 game comes to mind. 
3. Did I mention Space?! Tables missing from the portrait layout can now be added.

Cons:

1. Two pages can become three or four. Like I said above, the major advantage to portrait is for skills. If you're playing a skill heavy game, and you want ALL skills listed (d6 is notorious for this) then portrait can prevent the skills listed from be presented properly. But I'll never stop at three pages. I'll expand to four, giving players even more space to use.
2. Can become cramped. it's true, sad to say. The altered view can make you want to put too much on each side of the character sheet. Last Unicorn's Star Trek TNG, was one sheet I re-created, and the back page nearly become a garbled mess of stat boxes.

So, as you can see, both layouts have their merits. But the best choice for a re-creation is up to you and your group. Try creating a sheet in both layouts, you will find that certain games lend themselves better to one style than the other.

After you pick the layout, determine the lists of needs. Since each RPG is different, the requirements it has will change. Like D&D has drastically different needs than Dresden Files. Stat heavy games, like D&D and Star Wars, need to have things like Abilities, Base Attack Bonus, Weapons, and Skills on the front page. But in a game like Dresden, stats are minor, and can go on the back of the main page. And don't be afraid to move stuff around with this. Depending on what layout you chose, you might have to flip some things to make it all fit. Like, the general character information that's always at the top of the page. I came across an instance where I had to flip it vertical to the sheet, to make it fit. So in that instance I had a cross between the portrait and landscape layout.

Finally comes graphics. This should be an afterthought to your character sheet. Yes, I know you want it to look stylized, like the ones you see in the book, but that may not always be possible. When I use programs like Word and Excel, I'm limited to what kind of graphics are available to me. I heavily rely on AutoShapes, Columns and Insert Picture/Text. If I know I'm going to have a basic sheet, I try to find a font that's in the style of the game (Dresden was one in which I used Paint to create my text). Or I like to put in backgrounds to add some sort of flavor.

But graphics should be your last concern. Figure out your layout. Determine what goes where and how much space these sections are going to use. And THEN add your graphics. And I've found that AutoShapes does not work well in this context, as it takes a lot of manipulation to get the form exactly like you want. And you should ask yourself, "does this ADD anything to the sheet"? If not, then it's got to go. It's all dependent on what game you're playing.

One day I'll make my creations available to the public. If someone could remind me, that would be great! It would probably help some of you figure see what I'm talking about.

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Next time on RPG: Dioe Harder: Review of the first posts on my forum game The Tides of War.