Help with "Advanced 1st Edition" D&D Sheet

Hi, I've been running a game here that's into its third year. I'm pretty much a minimalist DM, but some of my players like bells and whistles. I think they are somewhat frustrated with the character sheet referenced above, built by Adam Ness and Vince. Casually populating values and hitting the "roll" buttons can get some unsatisfying results. I was wondering if there was a video or walk-thru description of how this particular sheet needs to be populated. IE, if asking for a damage bonus, does the player type in "+1" or "1", "0" or "+0"? If those fields are populated on the sheet, why do little windows pop up when you press the roll to-hit button, asking again for any modifications to the to-hit or damage roll? No matter how we try, the chat window displays little charts with no values populated after we roll. And so on. So, is there a simple guide I can share with them? Thanks in advance.

Hi Eric. Sorry for any confusion on the sheet.   I did quit a bit of re-working on it last year.  I'll have a look to see if I can explain things a little better.   Off the top of my head...  Positive "bonuses" only need the number since the macro already includes the "+".  If you have a penalty, include the negative.  ie "-2"  The prompts/queries that pop up after a roll allow you to enter any situational modifiers/penalties as needed.  They were added to give some flexability to your rolls.  Just hit enter to cycle thru with out any changes. The To-hit table allows you to enter your to-hit information.  Make sure you have filled out the table on the sheet (To Hit Armor Class) according to the to-hit tables in the DMG.  You adjust the bottom row numbers on the table.  If you enable the "w/ gm?" option on the roll, the DM will also see the table so they can determine a hit. Hope that helps.  Cheers

Thanks for the reply. By going through and removing "+" signs I think I've got the "to hit" rolling to work somewhat. I notice that the +1 damage for Strength isn't getting figured in just from there. Also how did you intend Encumbrance values to be populated, as coins or pounds? No "+" in the Strength line I assume, but if I have a Str 16 then I have a +35 bonus on carrying. Do I just populate the bonus there, or say a total of 70 as what I can carry and still Move at 12"? Actually the best help you could provide would be to completely fill out a sheet as you intended, test to make sure it all works, then screenprint it. I think that might solve most of the problems. If you could also highlight the fields that are actually used for something in the sheet coding, versus just inert empty spaces for humans to reference, that would be even better! IAC thanks for the effort you've already put into this, it's a nice touch.

Other than the button rolls immediately preceding a field/mod, most of the fields in the Abilities section are merely included for visual reference or can be used with custom macros.  BTW, all macro-text fields offered on the sheet user editable and are tied to the button roll.  When you create an attack, you can enter anything you wish for To-hit or Dmg bonuses.  You can make the decision if STR or DEX should apply. Just use the info in the abilities section to help make that decision. Movement is based off of whatever you enter as the Base(normally 12). The encumbrance indicator along the bottom will change depending on your carrying capacity.  Likewise, encumbrance is based off whatever you enter for your carrying capacity(norm, heavy, very heavy).  This allows you to use either lbs or gp, because you make that call.  Again, the encumbrance bonus in the abilities section is strictly for reference, so you'll need to include that when you enter your upper limits for (norm, heavy, very heavy).  example; If you had a STR 18 with a +750gp bonus you would start with a Normal (upper limit) 350+750[bonus]=1100gp Heavy (upper limit) 700+750[bonus]=1450gp Very Heavy(upper limit) 1050+750[bonus]=1800gp I left everything in gp, but you could convert everything to lbs with a division of 10.  Obviously, stick with the same measure(gp's or lbs) for carrying capacity and item weight.  Encumbrance will be based off your total weight compared to the carrying capacities entered.  You will see your encumbrance level under movement and carrying capacity. This sheet started as nothing more than a static text-only character sheet.  Many "old-schoolers" probably liked that.  I've tried to keep it simple but added a few more conveniences without getting into a fully auto-calculated sheet. ;-)  I'll try and get a screen shot. Cheers

Thanks, I think I've got one sheet set up that works the way you intended. If you get a chance to post that screenshot I'd be grateful. Thanks again!

I'll work on a screen shot.  Came down with the cold from hell last night.  Still having to make my saving throws... ;-)

Hope you're feeling better soon. Had a game session today. The "to hit" and "damage" by weapon type worked great, we all really liked it. Even used the saving throw buttons. We shied away from the surprise button, I'm not really sure how that should work mechanically with a die-roll modifier. Sometimes adjusting current hit points on the sheet updated the token, sometimes not. Not sure about vice-versa, either. I even had a case where I was using the "to hit" button on one of the PC's character sheets, and it *didn't* trigger the 3D dice to roll; even though the results appeared in the chat window. In any case, thanks again.