Why Can’t Character Sheets Be Awesome?
Take a look at that sheet to the right. Just look at it.
I’ll wait.
Did you fall asleep? Probably. I know I did.
In its defense, it is for Palladium (yeah, I went there). However, most character sheets aren’t any better.
Why not? Why can’t character sheets be sexy?
What makes it necessary that a character sheet look like it was designed in Excel? Why shouldn’t it look like it was designed in Photoshop?
To toot my own horn a little, take a look at my Star Wars Templates. Not to sound arrogant, but those are some sexy looking sheets. They give you all the information, in bright colors and with pictures that draw your eye. Now, I can’t claim full credit. The sheets are inspired by the D&D Encounters character sheets. But it’s a great way for players to really get into their character, seeing the character right in front of them. If I new any kind of programming, I’d make one that makes up those sheets for players, with the art they choose.
So why is it that most sheets look so ugly?
Are there any RPGs out there that look really attractive?
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Justin Alexander made a cool character sheet here:
http://www.thealexandrian.net/dreammachine/roleplaying/samples/ll-beta-character-sheet.pdf
fictive´s last [type] ..“Things Role Playing Bloggers Tend Not To Write About”
If the provided sheets aren’t both awesome and useful for your use, make your own!
The first thing I look at when I pick up a new game system- I flip to the back to see what’s going on. I should be able to get a sense of the basics of the game from that- complexity, stat/non-stat, goofy crap. If it looks dry, then that colors my initial impression and desire to read further.
Having just filled out 8, count them, 8 Mouseguard character sheets (the new ones that come in the boxed set) I can say they are pretty cool. They include a mouse and mouse in profile on the lower lefthand area. It is drawn in a light grey, so it is VERY easy to pencil over it, costuming your Mouse. It is a simple sheet. The front telling me all about my background, and the back telling me of my stats. Not too bad. But, the ons are, you have to know the game system front and back to know what you’re looking at.
Maybe I’m just partial, but I’ve always loved the World of Darkness sheets.
I always hated making Paladium characters — they always had bonuses to things that had no where to go on the sheets. It’s a shame that the world is so rich and the mechanics are just awful.