Character Sheet Tutorial [Archive] - Wizards Community

Character Sheet Tutorial [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Darth_Singe
05-03-07, 11:11 PM I am interested in creating my own character sheets. I was wondering what kind of software is best for this, and if there are any tutorials `out there to aid me.

thanks
Lixith
05-03-07, 11:32 PM For my wizard i just use an excel spreadsheet.... i can customize it as much as i want... have as many pages... even put a picture on the first page. simple...I'll see if i can upload it somewhere as an example...
But ya... excel is all you need
Lixith
05-03-07, 11:42 PM http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/michael_in1978/lst?.dir=/DD

there try that... it's the only file in there... lix 12. Let me know if you can't get in, but it's set to public, so it should be fine. It's just an example of what you can do, surely there are more options than i used.
CryoSilver
05-03-07, 11:54 PM Do you mean paper and pencil sheets or electronic sheets?

No experience making electronic sheets, but for print sheets, I suggest a CAD based program. There's a couple free ones out there, and they'll let you put everything exactly where you want it.
Darth_Singe
05-04-07, 07:38 AM I guess pen and paper sheets. Something I can print out and take with me to games and such. I want to customize it and stuff, and I see people like the Mad Irishman (God bless his soul) and a few others always creating quality sheets, and I would like to do that.
_Jayne_Cobb_
05-04-07, 09:43 AM Your two best options are a vector-based drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or a page layout program like Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign. The former are the easier option for this kind of layout. None of those are cheap, though.
Darth_Singe
05-05-07, 10:10 PM Thanks, I got the adobe Illustrator, and blundered my way through one. it looks usable at least, heh heh.
Man in the Funny Hat
05-06-07, 01:11 PM I guess pen and paper sheets. Something I can print out and take with me to games and such. I want to customize it and stuff, and I see people like the Mad Irishman (God bless his soul) and a few others always creating quality sheets, and I would like to do that.Of course you ARE re-inventing the wheel then, but everyone does have their own ideas on what they want/need on a character sheet.

As for what to use - well you can use all KINDS of things. CAD software, paint & graphics programs, publishing software, word processors, a typewriter, even blank paper, pens and rulers. I used a typewriter for nearly 10 years to make all my character sheets until home computers graduated from dot-matrix printers to inkjet.

Some of the "how" depends on the "what". You're... unlikely to find a tutorial on how to use MS Paint or Notepad to make a proper character sheet. More of it depends on what it is you think you want on it. Mad Irishman, or anyone who's ever done work on their own character sheets (like me) will tell you that the arrangement of information and the general look/feel of his sheets are based on years of personal use and user-requests. Some people want kitchen-sink character sheets. They care less about appearance than about squeezing every teeny scrap of information into the smallest possible space. Others will want something that looks good over scads of unused data. Still others want functionality - they want the most-needed information in a highly readable format.

The ones I always used to create for 1st and 2nd Edition games included a section for several weapons with a 1-20 chart that you could add all your modifiers to and read off what AC you hit based on the d20 roll - reverse engineering the Thac0. They had house-rule stats that we used like Irrevocablity, or Agility. Skills and scores went on the front, equipment and sections for tallies like xp and money went on the back. Oh, and many of them had a few lines on the back for Last Will & Testament. Before I stopped making them (with 3rd Edition) one of the last permanent additions I made was to add a section on the front to list the date the character was created. I wish I'd always done that so I could go through all my old character sheets and know exactly how long I'd been playing them.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Darth_Singe 05-03-07, 11:11 PM	I am interested in creating my own character sheets. I was wondering what kind of software is best for this, and if there are any tutorials `out there to aid me. thanks
Lixith 05-03-07, 11:32 PM	For my wizard i just use an excel spreadsheet.... i can customize it as much as i want... have as many pages... even put a picture on the first page. simple...I'll see if i can upload it somewhere as an example... But ya... excel is all you need
Lixith 05-03-07, 11:42 PM	http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/michael_in1978/lst?.dir=/DD there try that... it's the only file in there... lix 12. Let me know if you can't get in, but it's set to public, so it should be fine. It's just an example of what you can do, surely there are more options than i used.
CryoSilver 05-03-07, 11:54 PM	Do you mean paper and pencil sheets or electronic sheets? No experience making electronic sheets, but for print sheets, I suggest a CAD based program. There's a couple free ones out there, and they'll let you put everything exactly where you want it.
Darth_Singe 05-04-07, 07:38 AM	I guess pen and paper sheets. Something I can print out and take with me to games and such. I want to customize it and stuff, and I see people like the Mad Irishman (God bless his soul) and a few others always creating quality sheets, and I would like to do that.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 05-04-07, 09:43 AM	Your two best options are a vector-based drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or a page layout program like Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign. The former are the easier option for this kind of layout. None of those are cheap, though.
Darth_Singe 05-05-07, 10:10 PM	Thanks, I got the adobe Illustrator, and blundered my way through one. it looks usable at least, heh heh.
Man in the Funny Hat 05-06-07, 01:11 PM	I guess pen and paper sheets. Something I can print out and take with me to games and such. I want to customize it and stuff, and I see people like the Mad Irishman (God bless his soul) and a few others always creating quality sheets, and I would like to do that.Of course you ARE re-inventing the wheel then, but everyone does have their own ideas on what they want/need on a character sheet. As for what to use - well you can use all KINDS of things. CAD software, paint & graphics programs, publishing software, word processors, a typewriter, even blank paper, pens and rulers. I used a typewriter for nearly 10 years to make all my character sheets until home computers graduated from dot-matrix printers to inkjet. Some of the "how" depends on the "what". You're... unlikely to find a tutorial on how to use MS Paint or Notepad to make a proper character sheet. More of it depends on what it is you think you want on it. Mad Irishman, or anyone who's ever done work on their own character sheets (like me) will tell you that the arrangement of information and the general look/feel of his sheets are based on years of personal use and user-requests. Some people want kitchen-sink character sheets. They care less about appearance than about squeezing every teeny scrap of information into the smallest possible space. Others will want something that looks good over scads of unused data. Still others want functionality - they want the most-needed information in a highly readable format. The ones I always used to create for 1st and 2nd Edition games included a section for several weapons with a 1-20 chart that you could add all your modifiers to and read off what AC you hit based on the d20 roll - reverse engineering the Thac0. They had house-rule stats that we used like Irrevocablity, or Agility. Skills and scores went on the front, equipment and sections for tallies like xp and money went on the back. Oh, and many of them had a few lines on the back for Last Will & Testament. Before I stopped making them (with 3rd Edition) one of the last permanent additions I made was to add a section on the front to list the date the character was created. I wish I'd always done that so I could go through all my old character sheets and know exactly how long I'd been playing them.