Digital Character sheets, anyone have some/want some Options

[Shadow]

Anyone know of any good looking digitial character sheets? I really like wordmans for paper but you can't really use them for online play? If no one has them would somone be interested in making them?

[Wonazer]

Why don't you use the NSRCG and just email the .sr3 files back and forth?

[Shadow]

Well for one as fabulous as the NSRCG, it doesn't not generate clean character sheets. As a GM you really need nice, clean sheets so that you can peruse them at a moments notice. The NSRCG sheets are cluttered and "busy" to use a the graphic artists word for it. What I do is take my NSRCG html output, copy it into word, convert the tables to text, then use collums to line everything up. After words I go through and edit it all so it looks nice.

Not everyone has the skills or the software to do that. So I am looking for a character sheet anyone can use on any computer and one that looks nice to boot.

This post has been edited by Shadow: Oct 27 2003, 09:34 PM

[Lilt]

I don't think he was talking about the html NSRCG can output, but the character files themselves. I agree that the point is moot as flicking through a character generator when you really just want to see their strength and melee skill is bothersome.

I can also see how a clear electronic character sheet would be useful not-only for internet play, but for any GM who has a computer beside him at a game. I'd be interested in getting involved in a group project on this.

The first question is: what is the best layout for a character sheet? I have often thought that the sheet could be more-easily layed-out and (horror) that the 'weapon' boxes on the DnD 3rdEd character sheets were a good idea (keeping appropriate skills next-to main weapon stats).

The second question is: what format should it be in? If we go for one of the standard file formats: PDF is proprietary, HTML often looks shit (but can be made to look good, and is universally compatible), Rich Text is not versatile enough, and PS needs GhostView to view (which I find limited).

I'd rather steer clear of writing our own program too as then not-only do you have to do work but you eventually would have to do work 3 times as people with macs and linux machines complain.

[Wonazer]

NSRCG HTML sheets are busy? Hmmm.. My players use them and find everything they need quickly and easily.

[Shadow]

[RedmondLarry]

For about 6 months I've been using WORD files for my character sheets. I started when one of my old character sheets was so thin from erasing that it was almost in tatters. I tried using HTML, then tried using Excel, and finally settled on Word. Now I use it all the time. I mark on the character sheet all I want during play, and then update money and items and Karma and stats in the file every month or two and reprint it. As a bonus, I keep a copy of the file every time I update it. This lets me play at a convention or as a visitor in someone else's game any prior version of my character that I have a saved copy of.

Here's a sample character if you'd like to start with my file as a base. It was important in my design to put things in the "right" places so any GM who looked at it could quickly locate the information he wanted. Feel free to use it as you wish.

Shadowrun Character Duck.
When I click on this link, Internet Explorer brings up the file in Word, and I can click on File/SaveAs to put it on my disk. I can E-mail the file to anyone who has trouble copying it from my web site. Ourteam at comcast dot net

[BigKnockers]

Thats a real nice sheet. I've been using excel which is functional but not really pretty. Think I may switch over to that though.

[Stonecougar]

Buy Adobe Acrobat. Use Wordman sheets, adding text in where needed.

Seriously, if I had the money, that's what I'd do. But I like the idea of someone open-sourcing some good e-sheets for us. Who's up for the task, anyone?

[michaelius]

Excel is GREAT. you can compute all the pools, reaction, etc. if you know how to do the equations. it's absolutely necessary for 3rd ed D&D imho. you can do ALL the calculations so all you have to do is add the number of ranks and it automatically figures the rest in so you know what you bonus is...anyhow.

i also use Excel for cyberdeck sheets. it figures program storage amounts automatically and the cost of a deck for design/balance use.

also you can use sheets to keep all the info on one page so you don't have to scroll...

[Sphynx]

You could just take the Wordman file, print-screen it into a graphics editor, put it in Word as a picture that goes under the text, then set tables up over it. I did a quickie for an example using My Character. Might take some time to load as I'm using alot of bandwidth and don't have alot to begin with.

Sphynx

[Wonazer]

The problem I had a few years back doing D&D online was that the other players lacked Word or Excel. I could not afford to purchase Acrobat, and other options, while cheaper than Acrobat, were still expensive.

Shadow, I understand the problem and I wish there was a decent manager like you said. I wish I had the skills to create one...

[Lilt]

The problem that I have is that I don't have word or excel...

[Sphynx]

The alternative to Microsoft (that is FREEWARE) is 602 Suite, it should work just fine. ;)

Sphynx

[Edit]Ok, it's not ACTUALLY freeware, but if you download it without purchasing it, you have to constantly click on a 'Register Later' button. :P[/Edit]

[Spookymonster]

OpenOffice is free (as in beer and speech) and fully compatable with MS Office 2000 file formats (and maybe even Office XP, IIIRC). I've been using it for a year now and haven't looked back. Check it out at OpenOffice.Org. Note that OpenOffice is available on Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX.

Also check out PDFEdit995.com if you want to create your own Adobe Acrobat files on the cheap. This little gem puts a virtual printer on your PC for creating PDF files. Just send your document to the 'printer' and specify the output directory, and BAM! Instant PDF. For $20 more, you can get rid of the advertisements that pop up every time you use the product. Well worth it, in my opinion.

[Wonazer]

[Adam]

Yes. There are numerous free and inexpensive PDF-creation solutions.

[Kagetenshi]

I personally just use a .RTF file, and it's worked well for me. Searching through is easy, and it's fairly well laid out as long as you're organized about presentation. For online play, I just use a seperate thread on a private forum for each player that they can edit at will.

~J

[Sphynx]

If you have an html editor (or don't mind manually editting with notepad) this might help you a ton. :P

Graphical Character Sheet converted to HTML

Sphynx

[Edit]Actually, since I have such a slow connection in this freaking 3rd world country, here's a zip version to make it a bit faster to download and save to your PC.[/Edit]

[Siege]

That's pretty slick: I usually just do my characters up in Word so I can tweak and print as necessary.

-Siege

[Steel Eyes]

I'm currently working on a character generator either in Excel or Access. One of the things that I would like to add to whatever I do is to allow for House Rules. After all of the threads it is obvious that most experienced GM's alter or change alot of the rules, and NSRCG is not freindly in that regard. I still like it for many things but I like to customize and it doesn't allow me to do that. One of the big problems is the time it will take to create. If I can get something working I will see if someone can post as I don't have a website.

[Diesel]

I used Photoshop to overlay Wordman's PDFs.

Whenever something changes, open it up and bust out the text tool, yo.

http://www.geocities.com/dieselelite/sanwhambam.html

Let's not make fun of him now, he's a cheat character. So just back off!

[Digital Heroin]

Notepad is my friend... back when I was actually tabletopping (a cross country move tends to make it harder to get to gaming night), I'd have my character in good old .txt format on my laptop... excellent because you have a calculator right there, and another notepad can go a long way for scratchnotes...

[Shadow]

Thanks for all the feedback, it's good to see people are interested in this. OT and Sphinx both have outstanding character sheets. Sphinx's is a little more clean I think though. A lot of you had good ideas but were still not there yet I guess. Adobe is expensive and I would never recommend someone buying acrobat just to convert work into a pdf. Not to mention editing .pdf's is insanely slow.

Thanks for all the input, if anyone else comes up with a good one post it here!

-Shadow

[Sahandrian]

Personally, I just copy down the info and put it into an HTML character sheet myself.

Here's the layout I use.

I usually make a title graphic, too, but I was being lazy with this one.