Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Player Character Folio

I hope Hero Lab adds this sheet as a printing option so I can track characters in the tool and print sheets to insert in the folder.

Any chance of these sheets covering the optional UC rules?

The only optional rules that have an expressed, reserved space are the hero point rules from the Advanced Player's Guide. We wanted to avoid pushing the message that the optional systems were necessary for everyone to use by making them a default part of our character sheet.

That being said, there are large sections for detailing both offensive and defensive abilities you rely on the most, where notes and optional rules fit perfectly.

The only optional rules that have an expressed, reserved space are the hero point rules from the Advanced Player's Guide. We wanted to avoid pushing the message that the optional systems were necessary for everyone to use by making them a default part of our character sheet.

That being said, there are large sections for detailing both offensive and defensive abilities you rely on the most, where notes and optional rules fit perfectly.

THE GODDESS HAS SPOKEN!

Has there been any official word from Paizo on whether or not the PDF will be fillable? Savable? That would increase the utility a thousandfold.

Has there been any official word from Paizo on whether or not the PDF will be fillable? Savable? That would increase the utility a thousandfold.

+1

I am eagerly awaiting my subscription copy. If it meets my character needs, I could see buying one for each of my characters from the FLGS. Based on the amount of money I spend on PFRPG from HC books to supplements, a few more ten-spots for this is marginal.

The PDF version of the Player Character Folio will not be fillable. Form fields and saving options are not compatible with the security settings used for our pdf products. Should Adobe adjust their security features to provide finer control options, we'll revisit that feature.

Well that sucks.

Bummer. That makes it a 90s product in the XXI century.

I hope it's not made of the same glossy paper as regular Paizo products, because I doubt you can safely use an eraser with them.

I dont think I saw an answer to this. Is the paper inside matte instead of the usual glossy?

DragonBelow wrote:

I hope it's not made of the same glossy paper as regular Paizo products, because I doubt you can safely use an eraser with them.

I dont think I saw an answer to this. Is the paper inside matte instead of the usual glossy?

They did. It isn't glossy.

Thanks.

If it isn't fillable is it really useful as a .pdf?

I think the benefit is that you can print out as many copies as you need, albeit they won't all be in the handy folder. That is, it's for making more physical copies, not for manipulating digitally.

I see. So basically HeroLab is more useful?

For character creation, definitely. This one won't do any math for you; it's just someplace to enter all the data after your character is created, whether by software or by hand.

Which is precisely what I do now. I update my character in herolab, where all the options are nicely laid out for me and it does all my math, and then I take the info and update my handwritten character sheet. I hate having to reprint things over and over. It's such a waste. Plus, the old-fashioned me still just loves the feel of pencil on paper for my characters.

Honestly, the idea of this pdf being fillable never even entered my brain, as it's not a feature I'd have used anyway. All in all, this is exactly the character record product that I've been looking for for years. Yay Paizo!

If it was fillable and SAVABLE, it would save a lot of time updating, since you would only have to change/add the things that were actually changed/added. Meh. I'll stick to Hero Lab / my Excel sheet.

If it was fillable and SAVABLE, it would save a lot of time updating, since you would only have to change/add the things that were actually changed/added. Meh. I'll stick to Hero Lab / my Excel sheet.

Assuming this is in response to me.

Saving time is not an issue for me. I ENJOY filling out and updating my character sheet. It's just part of the hobby to me.

I seem to be of a dying breed though.

I see. So basically HeroLab is more useful?

Unless you have an old character sheet you want to transfer numbers from.

HeroLab is okay, but I've found errors in it far more often than I would like.

I can't stand the 'auto-fill' character sheets like HeroLab (if it's what I'm thinking it is, I've tried a bunch of sheets). First, it feels lazy and impersonal. I like actually working on the character. Besides, the math is never that hard. Second, I like being able to hold up a sheet with hand-written notes. Again, it feels more personal.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned (started with D&D 3rd edition) and have always loved having a physical sheet that is my character. Eventually it would get so worn and stained you would need a new one. I liked having a series of worn and stained sheets. It told a story. That was a food stain from the pizza during the epic boss fight atop the mages tower of Redcliff. That was from when Sneaky spilled his soda in the middle of the time-travel boss fight in the Pre-Fields of Havensforth while they were still the Fortress of Aldain the Black King (he wore black adamantine armor and had a black adamantine evil weapon, was undead and had a black dragon, not being racist as one of my friends thought when I first told them about it).

Having a physical sheet with notes, lots of eraser marks and stains and such tells a story. I like my papers marked up and worn down. That said, I cannot wait for these sheets. Would have been nice to have options for Piecemeal armor and Defense rather than AC (and the alternate HP rules) but even so, I like having a space for everything. I always complain about sheets being too bunched together or not having enough space or options.

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

...

Maybe I'm just old fashioned (started with D&D 3rd edition)...

Heh.

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

Your paper had LINES?? Spoiled whippersnapper.

Shadows_Of_Fall wrote:

...

Maybe I'm just old fashioned (started with D&D 3rd edition)...

Heh.

Yes, heh.

Dark_Mistress wrote:

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

Your paper had LINES?? Spoiled whippersnapper.

Paper? You was lucky. We had to tear skin off our backs, and draw on it with ink we made by chewing charcoal.

Rathendar wrote:

Dark_Mistress wrote:

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

Your paper had LINES?? Spoiled whippersnapper.

Paper? You was lucky. We had to tear skin off our backs, and draw on it with ink we made by chewing charcoal.

Charcoal! You had charcoal? We had to use our own blood. Only our blood was too thin because we all had anemia from oly eating scraps of pizza that fell under the table when the GM wasn't looking, so we had to mix it with dirt and write it onto our own flesh with shards of our shattered dreams!

Old Fashioned by todays standard of 'digital sheets' and 3rd edition simply being mentioned as when I started as a reference point. Not implying 3rd edition is truly old fashioned. No, 1st and, IMO, 2nd edition claims that title.

That said, 3rd edition DID come out 12 years ago IIRC which is almost half a lifetime ago for me.

Old Fashioned by todays standard of 'digital sheets' and 3rd edition simply being mentioned as when I started as a reference point. Not implying 3rd edition is truly old fashioned. No, 1st and, IMO, 2nd edition claims that title.

That said, 3rd edition DID come out 12 years ago IIRC which is almost half a lifetime ago for me.

That does make me feel old. :p

I wasnt meaning to mock, I just found the comment amusing (when taken out of context, like all good misquotes). FWIW, I'm with you 100% - it's not a real character sheet until the space for experience is just a gray smudge and you've rubbed out the hit points so many times you go through the paper.

Shadows_Of_Fall wrote:

Old Fashioned by todays standard of 'digital sheets' and 3rd edition simply being mentioned as when I started as a reference point. Not implying 3rd edition is truly old fashioned. No, 1st and, IMO, 2nd edition claims that title.

That said, 3rd edition DID come out 12 years ago IIRC which is almost half a lifetime ago for me.

That does make me feel old. :p

I wasnt meaning to mock, I just found the comment amusing (when taken out of context, like all good misquotes). FWIW, I'm with you 100% - it's not a real character sheet until the space for experience is just a gray smudge and you've rubbed out the hit points so many times you go through the paper.

Exactly. I have a folder of old characters and character sheets. It's nice to look all the way back to my very first character (NG Human Fighter dual wielding flaming sunblades with wings of flying) then to the last character I actually played in a full 3.X campaign (I believe it was an undead warmage) to my first PF character (Barbarian) to my most recent PF character (the same barbarian...I'm stuck in a loop as a GM for all eternity). I like seeing the story of the marks on the paper and the evidence of the work I've put in. I wholeheartedly believe it's a part of the tabletop RPG experience.

Except for Call of Cthulu. Your characters don't mean crap in that game. You shoot things then go insane, new character. Fun but every character is designed to go insane.

'Old-fashioned' is a mindset, separate from any edition.

Except for Call of Cthulu. Your characters don't mean crap in that game. You shoot things then go insane, new character. Fun but every character is designed to go insane.

Yet I've probably gotten more invested in most of my CoC characters than I ever have with any D&D (or D&D variant) characters.

'Old-fashioned' is a mindset, separate from any edition.

I'll give you old-fashioned! Get your mindset off my lawn, you meddling kids!!

So, am I the only one who "wears out" character sheets when using pencil and paper? Constant erasing and refilling makes them slightly worse and worse after every single use. Especially EXP, HP, and Spell Prep sections.

I usually find myself redoing character sheets every half dozen levels or so. That way I get a crisp version, can organize things (like gear, spells, and abilities) more efficiently, and I can do a self-audit to make sure everything is correct.

But are there actually people out there who can use, for example, a single spell prep sheet with pencil and paper for 20 levels?

I ask this, because since the 10 dollar sheet isn't laminated, what kind of state will those constantly erased and refilled sheets be in after that much use?

I've had to learn to use light strokes of both lead and eraser to preserve my sheets.

Sadly, I've rarely had a character last more than ten levels, so new sheets haven't been necessary. :(

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

And we sketched our own character images rather than copy-pasting from some clip art source. :-)

Dark_Mistress wrote:

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

And we sketched our own character images rather than copy-pasting from some clip art source. :-)

And we had to Deal with THAC0, weapon and non-weapon proficiencies, dual classing, races as classes(Elves and dwarves), each class advancing at different rates, and crazy charts for each of our 5 saving throws.

JohnF wrote:

Rathendar wrote:

Dark_Mistress wrote:

Bah kids, why I remember back in the day. We used white line paper for character sheets, had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in 6ft deep snow to play a little DnD and was damn glad for it and get off my lawn.

Your paper had LINES?? Spoiled whippersnapper.

Paper? You was lucky. We had to tear skin off our backs, and draw on it with ink we made by chewing charcoal.

Charcoal! You had charcoal? We had to use our own blood. Only our blood was too thin because we all had anemia from oly eating scraps of pizza that fell under the table when the GM wasn't looking, so we had to mix it with dirt and write it onto our own flesh with shards of our shattered dreams!

Whatever, gramps.

*Goes back to comfortably reading the Advanced Race Guide Lite on his iPad with onlookers being none the wiser*

So, am I the only one who "wears out" character sheets when using pencil and paper? Constant erasing and refilling makes them slightly worse and worse after every single use. Especially EXP, HP, and Spell Prep sections.

I usually find myself redoing character sheets every half dozen levels or so. That way I get a crisp version, can organize things (like gear, spells, and abilities) more efficiently, and I can do a self-audit to make sure everything is correct.

But are there actually people out there who can use, for example, a single spell prep sheet with pencil and paper for 20 levels?

I ask this, because since the 10 dollar sheet isn't laminated, what kind of state will those constantly erased and refilled sheets be in after that much use?

I think it depends partly on what comparisons one makes when purchasing the product. Compared to blank paper, this is obviously poor value. Compared to a night of entertainment though it's ten bucks for what? Thirty or forty hours?

The character folios I've owned over the years have ranged from halfway decent to downright awful. No matter how pretty the cover is...nothing makes you feel more cheated than shelling out $10 for what amounts to a glorified character sheet stapled together with lined and graph paper.

The production value on this folio is the best ive ever seen...but its still not without the typical space taking fluff. I will likely get more use out of the PDF than of the folio itself...allowing me to print out what I will use and leave the rest on the hard drive.

The PDF version of the Player Character Folio will not be fillable.

Boooo. It seems clear to me that many in this community would welcome/are looking for a "fillable" "auto-calculating" sheet with all the discussion of HeroLab on this topic. It seems to me that Paizo may be penny wise but pound foolish on this approach.

HeroLab is Paizo's "official" character creation software. I'd be surprised if they chose to compete with their own endorsed product.

And we sketched our own character images rather than copy-pasting from some clip art source. :-)

This is why all of my characters looked like Sloth from The Goonies wearing the Tin Woodman's body.

Dark times.

Boooo. It seems clear to me that many in this community would welcome/are looking for a "fillable" "auto-calculating" sheet with all the discussion of HeroLab on this topic. It seems to me that Paizo may be penny wise but pound foolish on this approach.

I would be far more interested in getting a print template I could output my HeroLab characters into.

So, the PDF is in my downloads, and I looked it over. It looks really decent, and I am happy to see the printed version with non-glossy paper. (I am also woefully anxious to finally get to hold my Advanced Race Guide, which the post office kindly lost from my subscription shipment, so there's a double-happy here.) I think people from all walks can use this product, and especially the player who really likes documenting things like this about their character. As with any PF product, it seems to allow pick-and-choose playing style (that's called flexibility, whiners - and it's a good thing).

My only digs are design-oriented: there seems to be no disclaimer text anywhere in the document (really, it should be on any printable page) allowing a person to print copies for personal use - that's a big bummer, considering the hassle I put up with from FedEx to print off multiple copies of a PFS module Chronicle Sheet when I was experiencing some hassle between their printers and my flash drive, and I had to ask for some help. Also (and this is a nitpick) - the goblin illustration is great, but the lines behind it are deterring visually. I would screen-transparency them from the goblin's outline, or cut them back to a shorter length across the page. (Also, I only add the input because giving a problem without a solution is really just nagging.)

Love you all, Paizo - hope you haven't worn yourselves out too thin on the con! ;)
-will

PS: HeroLab is not a Paizo product, and I think calling it Paizo's "official" character creation software is a bit of a misnomer. I think it is more likely that they hold a great respect for the product and help to support it because it is more of an "industry-leading standard."

PS: HeroLab is not a Paizo product, and I think calling it Paizo's "official" character creation software is a bit of a misnomer. I think it is more likely that they hold a great respect for the product and help to support it because it is more of an "industry-leading standard."

I respectfully disagree. IIRC, SKR said something about working with Lone Wolf to get Hero Lab to where it can do the same as his (in)famous spreadsheet for generating statblocks. (Oh, here it is.) That's pretty darn official.

These look great (though I haven't seen the hardcopy yet). I particularly like the back four pages of "useful tables". I'm definitely I'm quite taken with the section for mapping your hideout/home base, as well.

Very glad I got multiple copies. :)

Heck, the "Actions in Combat" table! Why oh why is it not on the GM screen?