Character Sheets: How are you using them?

When it comes to the form and function of the new character sheets feature, I'm really curious how people are using them in play. Are you using them as a more robust version of the Attributes/Abilities feature, filling them out and then letting token actions do all the heavy lifting? Do you keep your sheet minimized on the desktop, opening it up to make dice rolls? A bit of both? Something completely different? Do you use a hard copy of a character sheet, too, or have you moved all your character info onto your Roll20 sheet? I get why the Devs here are encouraging character sheet submissions to mirror their paper counterparts when possible. But I do wonder if that is the most efficient and useful presentation in this medium. So please tell me how you are using your character sheet in play. Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I haven't seen any threads on it specifically.

We use as a slightly easier way to enter the Attributes/Abilities. 90% of the rolling still occurs from token macros.

It's pretty much just a faster way of finding skill rolls and attribute values. There's probably a more efficient way of showing everything but it helps if the sheet looks similar to something people are already used to.

Sam said: It's pretty much just a faster way of finding skill rolls and attribute values. There's probably a more efficient way of showing everything but it helps if the sheet looks similar to something people are already used to. I really hope we get the ability to have multiple custom sheets on a campaign. Add a drop down to the token edit to assign what sheet the token uses. I can see my self using this for all sorts of things, PC and NPC sheets (obviously) but also something like a master roll sheet.

I use 2 pages hand-in-hand, the Character Sheet tab and the Bio tab. My experience so far is mostly with AD&D 2E Char Sheet. There is a lot of Character information that isn't well-tracked on the character sheet, for my tastes, so certain fields are moved to the Bio page instead. (XP, Gold, and backstory-background, for 3 examples that work better for me typed out on the bio page rather than in fields of the character sheet). For example on XP, I don't use the single field in the Char Sheet, because I actually like a list of all the XP awards from every game session, such as: +500 XP for killing the orcs. So I don't want to keep just one number which is my Total XP. I actually want to write out an ongoing list, line-by-line for every XP award we've had, with a tally at the bottom to total it up. Sure, the total XP can still be written on the Sheet, but I ask my Players to put the list-style XP on their Bio page where it fits. We do the same for Gold Pieces, keeping a list of where we gained & where we spent, on the Bio page instead of just keeping 1 total for Gold in a single slot on the Sheet. As for Rolling macros ---- we are starting to roll certain limited macros off the character sheet directly. Because those macros work so well. For example we do Saving Throws and Thief Skills off the Sheet macros directly. So we pop open the char sheet, and hit the dice roll for the Saving Throw. For other macros, we still use hand-made Roll20 macros that pop up along the bottom of the screen, OR can pop up as Token Actions, regardless of the sheet. One reason is we already pre-made those macros before Sheets came out. Another reason is we like how our macros appear in the chat, better than the "To Hit" macro of the Sheet. A third reason is our minor house rules, where the Sheet is built on the traditional by-the-book rules. I keep the Char Sheet open and minimized on the tabletop. You double-click the top line of the Sheet, to make it minimize to a little floating bar, that is then easy to reopen with a double-click. We double-click open the Char Sheet whenever we need to write down new treasures, or to roll certain macros that are on the sheet, or to refer to a stat that the GM asks.

Great feedback so far guys! Keep it coming, please! In case any of you are wondering why this is important, I've noticed a couple of different sheets that do cribbed or quick access macros. The Savage Worlds sheet, for instance, has a small column of quick macros. Likewise, the World of Darkness/Exalted sheets all have a "dice pools" box where you can assemble your own dice pool combinations to roll. These are both great ideas, assuming the players are dropping into their character sheets to roll from them. But if that's the case, why aren't these at the top of the sheet where you could access them immediately and quickly. In fact, I think a lot of character sheet logic would be reversed for Roll20, as most of the hard crunch is currently concentrated at the bottom of the sheet when it should be at the top, while the basic descriptors (name, class, level, etc) should be at the bottom since this would usually be the last stuff you'd need to reference during play. If people are using character sheets as a robust version of the Attributes/Abilities tab, then the familiar layout makes sense. But why would you need any information on it that does not inform a roll. If people are ditching their hard copy character sheets entirely for the digital realm, then all bets are off. Anyhow, the utility of character sheets is something that's very important to me. I know how to make a sheet work in the physical realm. This is a whole new ballgame with a bit of a learning curve. I don't want to spend all my time struggling to make a character sheet look pretty when I could be dreaming up new, more horrible ways for the players to commit their characters to certain death. And I'm not holding my breath for another subscriber to cook up a sheet for our game system any time soon. :) So this sort of feedback helps me dearly while I muddle through the conceptual stage. Thanks!

my group replaced our google docs sheets with them because being able to macro everything is beautiful.

We are using them as a typical paper sheet for all the stats/attributes/equipment etc. (with some of the auto calcs for ease). Not using any macros buttons on them. We haven't found anything that would be good to put on them as a macro. We cant think of anything thats in that 'grey' area where its not used enough that opening your sheet and scrolling/finding the macro is constantly annoying and a token/bar macro is better, or not so rarely used that a sheet button is just wasted space on the sheet 99% of the time.

Since there is no sheet created for my system, I'm not using them for my game.

Pat S. said: Since there is no sheet created for my system, I'm not using them for my game. Using sheets is the fast way to populate your attributes.

Roll20 character sheets are the most beautiful thing in the world. For players, it means they can fill out their character sheets once. No need to find a separate PDF file and THEN re-enter it for macros, it's all in one place where the GM can quickly bring it up. No need to google anything, all your players have easy access to a form-fillable character sheet that tallies up all their esoteric stats for them. They've got all of the convenient macros on there already so no one needs to create custom macros for absolutely everything, it's great for rolling skill checks or initiatve. They greatly reduce the need for all your players to get a PhD in your system of choice, they can press a button and it'll happen without requiring you to eat up all the session time explaining and looking up rules. It makes really crunchy systems a lot more palatable to narrative-focused groups. As a GM, it means everyone's character sheets are standardized. If I have a macro to secretly roll someone's Perception, it'll work no matter who I select. No more worrying if one of my players messed up a macro, no more having to do someone's macro for them because they don't want anything to do with macros. It speeds up combat because I can make macros to check someone's AC and saves in the same roll as a monster's attack, removing the time wasted while I wait for someone to notice I asked them for their stats. The only thing causing us grief right now are the math limitations (preventing sheets from doing stuff like calculating max DEX from armor) and the need to keep a sheet open to use its macros. Definitely want the ability to turn a character sheet macro into a token action, especially as a GM who otherwise has to have several character sheets open to make use of the premade macros.

Helmic, I'm down for character sheets. I've read the ad copy. What I want to know is how PLAYERS are using character sheets now that they've been released in the wild. I'm in the same boat as Pat S. it's not like I can choose one of the options from the current list-I'm going to have to build this puppy from scratch, along with a fair share of Frankenstein-Ian patchwork. And my HTML experience is about a decade in the past, so there is a learning curve involved. So I want to create a sheet that has features my players and I get the most mileage out of. This is part of my learning process - and I'm hoping I'm not the only person who cares how people are using this feature and how that interfaces with the principles of design.

Tom said: The Savage Worlds sheet, for instance, has a small column of quick macros. Likewise, the World of Darkness/Exalted sheets all have a "dice pools" box where you can assemble your own dice pool combinations to roll. These are both great ideas, assuming the players are dropping into their character sheets to roll from them. But if that's the case, why aren't these at the top of the sheet where you could access them immediately and quickly. I also wonder this, when I created the savage worlds' sheet the Quick macro area was basically just an empty space where I just threw my collection of SW macros that I had been using as bar macros. If a different position would be more advantageous I am open for suggestions. I had tried to rank the information in order from most useful to least useful. The only exception I think is the skills area which went to the bottom because of the sheer size of it all.

Josiah, I don't know about you – it may be a weird Safari thing – but every time I minimize and then re-open the character sheet window, it returns me to the very top of the character sheet. Is this how it works for everyone else? If so, I would think things like the SW Quick Macros, or the WoD Dice Pool builders, should sit at the very top of the character sheet. Anything that you want to get to IMMEDIATELY upon opening it should be right there, above the fold, and maybe even above the game logo. Because the last thing you want to fiddle with in the heat of RPG combat is a scroll bar. This is what I mean about conventional thinking about character sheets could be counter intuitive when it comes to creating Roll20 sheets. Character creation generally assumes you start at the top and work your way down. With a Roll20 sheet, the reverse might make more sense in actual play. But then, if players aren't actively using their sheets IN PLAY, there's no benefit to reshuffling the established order. Anchor points would be a fantastic feature, but whether or not the sheets support them is currently a mystery if I go by a forum search. I'm guessing not since I haven't seen a single sheet that uses them.

Michael P. said: Pat S. said: Since there is no sheet created for my system, I'm not using them for my game. Using sheets is the fast way to populate your attributes. Yes it is but when there is no sheet for my system created, I don't use them. Simple as that.

Bump for the post-Origins weekday crowd.

I created my character sheets just recently, so I cant say for sure that how I use them now is how they will continue to be used. You are absolutely right that having everything in the same order as the official character sheet is kinda silly if you are going to be opening and closing the sheet to make rolls from it. It still helps for character creation though, and I dont know of a way to re-order sections of the sheet to fit the individual character, so i just made it possible to hide/show any section directly from the top of the sheet. As far as using the character sheets goes, I think they are great for setting up all your auto calc fields, and attributes, but far less convenient to actually roll things from than the token action bar, so I will be changing some things on the sheet to be token actions (repeating weapons, initiative, maybe perception and 1 or 2 other things based on my players input).

Roger A. said: I will be changing some things on the sheet to be token actions (repeating weapons, initiative, maybe perception and 1 or 2 other things based on my players input). Repeating sections can't be made into token actions

bummer

I sometimes use paper sheets, and use the journal for notes. Games where multiple stats can be tied to multiple skills macros don't work for me. Other games, we use only the sheets with macros, etc. depends on the system.