Good sheet for tracking PC's companions for PFS?

[Rycaut]

So as a GM, event organizer and player while I love classes that have companions (familiars, animal companions, mounts or eidolons) I haven't seen a standardized form to help players, especially players new to creating/tracking a companion to track them for PFS play.

Players who use Hero Labs have a big advantage here - but many players, including myself, don't have access to Hero Labs (especially with all the assorted PFS legal books).

Is there a character sheet people use that I could both use myself and point my players to for their use?

Ideally one that helps track:

Companion's stats, attacks, equipment, feats, archetypes, HP, special abilities (including from being a familiar/animal companion etc), tricks known etc.

If the sheet also included the basic important rules for running an animal companion in PFS play that would also be really helpful (i.e. DC's for common handle animal requirements for example)

Lots of players find leveling up their companion alongside of their characters a lot of work (especially Eidolon's but as a primary class feature of summoners most players of a summoner anticipate that effort) - but I've seen many paladins, witches and cavaliers who nearly ignore a big class feature for confusion over how to track and level it.

One universal form would be helpful - or four different forms might even be more helpful - one for familiars, one for mounts, one for animal companions (very similar to mounts in most respects) and one likely rather different form for Eidolons.

[BigNorseWolf]

Use a full on character sheet for them. There's little reason not to.

Quote:

If the sheet also included the basic important rules for running an animal companion in PFS play that would also be really helpful (i.e. DC's for common handle animal requirements for example)

The Only DCs you need to know during the game are dc 10 to get the animal to do a trick it knows, or a 25 to get it to do a trick it doesn't know, with a -2 penalty if the animal is hurt. The listed DCs of the tricks are the difficulty of TRAINING the animal, which are done before or after the session depending on where the DM wants to.

Most critter based characters will have a +9 fairly early on, meaning they legitimately don't bother to roll handle animal until they get some penalties (because a 1 is not an automatic failure on a skill check).

This might help

[Malag]

Hi Rycaut,

I suggest your players check out how monster stat-blocks are written. All my characters are written in simple Word document as NPC stat-blocks and it reduces the amount of papers and grant's you fastest form of information for your character. It might not suit them and it's not for everyone, but since I GM often, I find them simple and effective.

Adam

[Feegle]

There's also a page for companions/pets/familiars in the Character Folio that might suit. You could buy a PDF copy of that folio and just print a few of those pages off.

For a free option, have a look at Happy Camper's character sheets; if memory serves, one of the page 4s is for companions etc.

[FLite]

I'm fairly fond of Dyslexic Studios Character sheets, and there is an animal one in there.

http://www.pathfinderdb.com/character-sheets/static-character-sheets/1158-d yslexic-studeos-pathfinder-character-sheet

(Fair warning, their home site is raising red flags with my anti virus, but the file linked above seems to be all right.)

[Rycaut]

Personally I find NPC stat blocks very awkward - as a player or GM I find that they are all too often eliding information that I need in the course of an adventure (for example how a skill rank was calculated - different stat blocks occasionally already adjust for say armor check penalties or specialized equipment (masterwork tools, climbers kit etc) which in a real game may not always apply (armor may be off, tools may not be available for a given check etc).

(or in many other cases it is important to know the types of bonuses that are being applied to a given stat - AC for example)

And yes, I know the rules about handle animal - but many players don't remember (techncially being hurt increases the DC it doesn't actually apply a penalty). More crucially for a player would be remembering which tricks a companion knows vs which tricks it does not know. (and what other checks a given companion might need to make - flying checks for a flying companion or ride checks for a mount etc).

(I have the player folio but only as a print edition not a PDF at the moment). I'll look at the character sheets you linked to - however at the moment I can't seem to get them to download - any other fan generated sheets you suggest? (or another source for them?)

[balakus01]

I believe there is a Compainion character sheet in the Community Use downloads named "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Record Sheets" and also in the back of Ultimate Magic.

[Nefreet]

FLite wrote:

I'm fairly fond of Dyslexic Studios Character sheets, and there is an animal one in there.

Linky

(Fair warning, their home site is raising red flags with my anti virus, but the file linked above seems to be all right.)

Fixed that for you ;-)

[CigarPete]

I will second using a full character sheet on them. I keep it to a one-pager, but that keeps things in order and where I am already used to finding them in my main sheet.

[Rycaut]

hmm perhaps I need to find a new character sheet to use but I don't find the PFS (official) character sheets all that useful for companions (or for many of my pcs actually) - for one there are too few lines for attacks (I often have characters with lots of weapons or common combinations of attacks I'd like to precalculate the math on (power attack, flurry of blows, two weapon fighting, two-handing a scimitar etc)

["Auntie" Baltwin]

Rycaut wrote:

hmm perhaps I need to find a new character sheet to use but I don't find the PFS (official) character sheets all that useful for companions (or for many of my pcs actually) - for one there are too few lines for attacks (I often have characters with lots of weapons or common combinations of attacks I'd like to precalculate the math on (power attack, flurry of blows, two weapon fighting, two-handing a scimitar etc)

and most of my PCs find the Weapon sections of the sheet to be wasted space... ;)

yeah, I often don't run combative PCs.

one line for club (cane) and another for thrown shoe... what else do you need?

[Rycaut]

looking at the sheet that Nefreet linked to above, I'm struck by how differently I play Pathfinder from clearly a lot of other people - all of those sheets while excellent have no where near enough space for most of my characters (both my own and for the games I run my player's) skills.

Specifically all of the Craft, Profession, Perform and half of the knowledge skills are missing from most of those sheets (and on others all of the knowledge skills). I have characters with double digit bonuses on all knowledge skills and as a GM I routinely use knowledge skills other than those that can identify monsters in nearly every session (and this is common in PFS play as well). While I don't use Craft, Perform or Profession skills all that often those too come into play (and not uncommonly with NPCs which is a form that is particularly lacking in room for these "extra" skills.

And these forms while great also don't have any where near enough lines for most of my character's attack options (even my casters will tend to have at least a close weapon and a ranged weapon - but frequently may also have a backup option, weapons of various types and perhaps some weapons for special circumstances (special materials, reach weapons etc). Sure my more pure casters may not use them all that often - but they do have them.

I think my character in Rise of Runelords may be my most extreme example - he has over 11 different weapon/attack options (He's a gnome fighter/sorcerer/dragon disciple - and yes his STR is over 18 so weight isn't a bit issue). He has gnome weapons, reach weapons, magical weapons, ranged weapons, claws & bite attacks, and some misc weapons he carries "just in case" like a small whip he picked up and occasionally uses at range for combat maneuvers. He clearly is an extreme example (and if you factor in special attacks and in a few levels his dragon form it will only get more complex).

Even a caster may want to calculate out her attack bonuses for various spell attacks (melee touch, ranged touch etc). Especially if she invests any feats to help her (precise shot/point-blonk-shot, weapon focus (rays) etc)

[Marc Radle]

There are a number of these kinds of tracking sheets in the New Paths Compendium from Kobold Press, including an animal companion sheet