Firstly I hope this is the right spot to be posting this. I want to make my own character sheets. When it is done I want to make it into a pdf and post it here for everyone to use. The problem is I have no idea how to start to make a character sheet. Do I just type it up in notepad? How do I add boxes? When I do the skills list is there a "table" for that already or do I have to make a box, list the skill, make the lines to put your ranks, attribute mod, & misc bonus on? I really have no idea how to start this.
I do have an idea of what I like tho. The beginner box character sheet. I like the big print, big areas for info that will be used often. I don't need the icon legend like it has on the left side. I need to add things, like cmd &cmb. I am sure there are other things I need to add but that is all I can think of at the moment. I don't need the pictures or the pathfinder logo. I really like the text "con mod" above the box in the fort save area.
Is this something that is just too difficult to do? I mean, I am just some kid from Cleveland, Oh. I don't work at a publishing company, I don't have $500.00 programs to make pdf's. Should I just give up? Or can the collective minds on the message boards point me in the right direction? Give me tips, tools, tutorials? I have been looking for three days now online and almost always what I find is info on how to fill out a spreedsheet character. I want to make a character sheet basically the same as the bb one with some additions. Please help.
Thanks,
+J
My Character Sheet: Example of Blank Excel Sheet
Personally my preference is to use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. One trick I employ for the layout is to size column to a width of "2" and rows to a height of "14.25". This results in a square grid. I then form the boxes in which to write/type information by merging cells, applying border or background formatting etc.
In terms of layout, you can either mimic the format used on another sheet, or you can try to come up with a layout that you think makes things easier. Using mine as an example, I wanted something that would reduce the clutter of lots of fill-in and modifier fields while allowing me to display a greater amount of information. Part of the reason for this is that my player would often get confused about which numbers were the important ones.
- In the middle of it all is who your character is: A brief bio, physical description, etc.
- Following that we get into what constitutes them: Ability Scores.
- As we get into play, encounters become relevant. Yet before you can participate in an encounter, you must first perceive it: Passive senses (i.e. Take-10), and vision.
- OK, you're in an encounter, can you speak with the other party? Languages.
- For the inevitable case where diplomacy fails and combat results, I used color-coding. Everyone learns the color of the spectrum as a child, so that seemed a good way to go:
- Violet for initiative and map/mini setup =>
- Blue for attack when you come up in initiative or Cyan for spellcasting =>
- Green for defenses against spells (i.e. saves) =>
- Yellow for defenses against physical attacks =>
- Orange for damage/energy resistances, and lastly =>
- Red for HP damage.
There were a couple other considerations. First, flipping sheets over at a table when they may have dice, minis or other stuff on them can be annoying. To avoid the need to flip it over, but not limit the space I have available, I employed fold-overs:
The "Feats" view gets printed on the reverse of the "Front" page. It is then taped at the top and bottom centers to a cardstock "Tracking" sheet (not shown). When in combat, skills can be folded over the center of the sheet. This reveals your combat feats on the fold-over, and the HP/XP tracking area behind the foldover (on the cardstock). Since AC, saves, etc. are duplicated on the cardstock, and all attacks are on the left-hand foldover, you don't hide any pertinent information.
When you are out of combat, you can fold-over the attacks section revealing your signature equipment, wealth tracking, and non-combat feats/abilities.
So, in addition to learning how to use whatever tool you are interested in (you could even use a ruler, markers, and paper then photocopy it), you'll want to give consideration to what the sheet is going to accomplish that the 100s of others that are already out there can't. Just be aware that the more you try to accomplish, the longer you'll be working on it and the less energy you'll have to play or GM. ;) Also worth noting is that many times GMs will want all their players to use the same style of sheet so that they can more easily double-check info.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Since you mentioned notepad, it now occurs to me that you might have been asking about character sheets for the forums. In that case, here's are links to the template I created for the PbP character sheets my group uses along with an examples of what they look like when filled out:
- PbP BBCode Character Sheet
- Alis Kirmoon, Gestalt Bard (NPC)
- Felmor Traker, Fighter/Rogue (Eric Swanson)
- Amhranai, Cleric/Rogue (LusipherPE)
Nope, you were right at the start. I want to create a character sheet that is similar to the bb one. Stuff is big, easy to read, and all relative info is on the front top half with skills being in the front bottom half. I think that putting the info that is used often (read as during combat/skill checks) on the top half in big writing will help me, and the players find it faster. Also going to see if my nephews want to play so it needs to be simpler for them. I don't have excel but I do have open office so I will try and use that. thanks for your input.
Thanks,
+J
Happy to help. Have fun and let us know what you come up with! :)