I have been working on a new character sheet for my group in my spare time, and I have the main portion of the sheet completed, so I figured I'd make it available to y'all for suggestions and critique.

TheOOB Character Sheet(Latest Version)

The sheet is still not completed, I still need to make a sheet for awakened characters, hackers, technomancers, and an expanded gear sheet for people who like to mod lots of gear(namely riggers).

EDIT: The file will be posted in .xlsx, .xls, and .pdf format choose the one the works for you.

Whats .xlsx? Can this be opend with OpenOffice too?

It's the new extension for the newest MS office suite. Not usually backwards compatible. Recommend the author re-save the file as a standard .xls file.

new file extension for Micro$ Excel sheets. Open Office can open them, but there are usually some problems getting the macros to script properly.

I forgot that many people don't have office 2007. Anyways, the link is updated to have both the xls format, and the pdf format in case you still have trouble viewing it properly.

TheOOB Character Sheet v0.1.1

I checked out the PDF version of the sheet. It looks decent for those who like a very compact format.

My biggest concern with it is that the different sections of the sheet tended to blend into each other and might make it harder to find things (thus potentially slowing down play). Even something as simple as having the border within a 'section be a little lighter and the border of a section being darker might give the eye a better framework by which to separate one part of the sheet from another.

Yeah it needs more colour. I would pick a different distinct colour for each of the various sections in order to make them stand out.

My original intent was to keep it black and white only for ease of printing, but I can see how people would have trouble with everything so monochromatic. I will defiantly splash a little color on the sheet for the next version I put up.

Any other other comments on the design of the sheet, obvious mistakes and omissions?

Alright, the next version is up, now with more color hopefully increasing readability.

Version 0.1.2

Please note, open office reads the colors of the .xls document a little different then excel does, which means it looks a little different. The .pdf version should show the proper colors, as should the .xlsx, Pick whichever you prefer.

I like the basic format, and most of the changes I would make are purely personal preference; a separate sheet for cybernetics and drone-related items, another for any magical information. This way the user could mix and match sheets for the needs of the character, rather than have large sections simply left blank. The Mad Irishman has character sheets similar to what I suggest, but he hasn't covered Shadowrun, of any edition, yet.

I would suggest, as a means of differentiating the various sections, that you vary the line-width in the various sections. Thin lines inside each area, thicker lines defining the sub-areas, and an empty double-line for the section borders. Also, darken the graying of the headers as compared to the areas to be filled in. Or, perhaps, simply have the headers the only gray areas, with the fill areas left white. It would save a good bit on printer ink, for those of us who tend to print out multiple copies. Again, I would recommend The Mad Irishman for examples.

Damage

edit re v.0.1.2 - Much better definition on the sections, but almost too brightly colored. And I wouldn't be printing these at all, for fear of running through ink cartridges too quickly.

This fits better over in Community projects, so it's getting a move.

I like the sheet. It's very functional, which is a plus for me. My only criticism is that the different sections could use a little more delineation. The lines between unrelated sections could be a little darker.

Yes, I think darkening the borders between unrelated sections is the next logical step in making the sheet more readable, I will be sure to implement that next time I have some time on my hands. I am planning on adding more sheets(this is a work in progress), namely a magic sheet(for magicians, adepts, and any combination of the two), an expanded equipment sheet (for people who like to have lots of moded weapons, vehicles and drones and stuff), a hacker sheet, and a technomancer sheet. I am also thinking about a sheet with more space to fill in info about implants as well as your vision and audio items. The idea is that the three sheets that are present right now are appropriate for every character, and characters can take whatever other sheets are appropriate for their character, a mundane doesn't need space wasted by magical info, and a normal character doesn't need slots for half a dozen modified drones or detailed stats on commlinks and agents.

EDIT: Alright I posted a new version that increases the size of the borders between sections, and does so to a lesser degree between items within the same section(It should now be easier to see when one weapon ends and another begins for example)

Version 0.1.3

I will look into making the sheet less ink intensive(perhaps as suggested making the headers to each section grey as heavy colors tend to use lots of ink and bleed) but I'll have to experiment a little to see what looks right. Thank you all for the great feedback so far, I think I'm getting close to a design I am happy with so I can work on the other sheets(I would rather finalize my design work before I have 7+ sheets to deal with).

Once again, .xlsx is the native format of the file and shoot appear correct in microsoft excel 2007. Using the .xls or .xlsx file in another program may change the appearance of the sheet some, so I provided a pdf which i directly ripped from office 2007 should you have problems.

And because I'm bored today, another update:

Version 0.2.0

While the changes to the three previous sheets are minor(fixing a few minor errors), a new fourth sheet has been added: Magic. It should have everything you need for a magician, adept, or should you feel so inclined, a mystic adept. Once again, I will happily accept any feedback and/or criticism you have, and be sure to point out any mistakes or major omissions there may be.

Once again, .xlsx opened with office 2007 is the files native format, using the .xls or the .xlsx in any other program may cause visual errors(namely with colors). The .pdf is pretty darn close to the original and should be readable by everyone.

Looking cool. The sections are certainly easier to pick out in color though I have not printed it in black-and-white to see how it looks that way.

If you are looking for typo corrections at this point:
Pg 3 (Data): Acounts (at the top of the page) should be Accounts
Pg 3 (Data): Backround (at the bottom of the page) should be Background

I didn't see any other typos that stood out to me.

When you do additional sheets are you looking at variant on the existing four? I can think of several possibilities based on different types of characters:

Pg 2(Gear) Variant: Replace the Augmentation section with more of the gear section for those characters that aren't going to augment themselves.
Pg 4(Magic) Variant 1: No Adept Powers, more rows in spells or spells and spirits (though I suspect that may be enough room for all the spirits someone is likely to be tracking)
Pg 4(Magic) Variant 2: No Spells/Spirits section...many more rows for Adept abilities

Thank you for the corrections, they will appear in the next version of the sheet I put up, which will probably also include the hacker sheet.

Those variant sheets are all good ideas, and I may well implement them all at some point(especially since they are easy changes to make), but my focus right now it to make the other sheets that other common character types(namely rigger and hacker) need.

EDIT: Speaking of the hacking sheet:

Version 0.3.0

The hacking sheet is rather simple, only having space for commlinks, programs, and agents, but it has lots of space for those and most other things a hacker might possess could be placed in gear or noted in the margin. Once again, feedback is always welcome, the file was created in office 2007(.xlsx) version, using the .xls version and/or another problem may cause problems, but the .pdf version should look proper regardless of your computer.

And for all you technomancers out there:

Version 0.4.0

As always, feedback is more then welcome, three file types included, suggest using .pdf if you don't have office 2007.

And the sheet is finally finishes, well finished until I get an idea of something to add/change.

Version 1.0.0