The original 4e Shadowrun character sheet was an abomination. The 20th anniversary edition of 4e Shadowrun was much better.

The favorite that pops into mind is InSpectres. Actual character stats are quite minimal, but the sheet adds just the right amount of flavor and also includes a rules summary.

I also like how Fiasco doesn't have a character sheet, although a name tag/tent is useful during play.

I'd add High Octane to best, as it gets everything across, and is arranged as a dash board on top of it in a game that involves a lot of driving. It's efficient, and the aesthetic of the sheet plays into the aesthetic of the game. I'd add Warrior, Rogue, & Mage to worst - as much as I love the system, the sheet is far larger than it has any right to be. WR&M is a short, simple system, in which there is no reason for the character sheet to be more than one side of one page, where index cards are reasonable. Instead, sheets are two sided, often with a third needed.

I can give you the details on what makes a character sheet bad for me, and my group.

Simple is better: I don't mind a logo, or even some fancy font. But I want space to write notes, add more equipment and doodle on. I play a lot of Shadowrun and it drives me nuts sometimes that there is just too much on a character sheet sometimes, so I end up crossing stuff out or with not enough room.

Please don't kill my printer: I'm not cheap bastard, but if it costs me a buck a pop to print a character sheet then I'll go back to ye olden stand by: graph paper and a pencil. Pictures, graphics, etc...should all gray scale well.

Ease of use: I never got why Shadowrun for the longest time had weapons on the back of the sheet; skills and attributes on the front. I like that 4th edition lets you put a few basic weapons on the front sheet. D&D does a good job of this. I think there has to be a flow to a character sheet, although I am sure each of use would have a different flow since each character is unique.


I'd like to see a program that had all the pieces of a character sheet that let me plug them, and then print. Need more weapons but less spells? Cool we got ya! need more skills and less hacking? We got ya!

It's difficult, and I would argue, almost impossible to create a usable sheet for all character types in a stat-heavy game. The best workarounds I've seen are single sheets for common statistics such as attributes, skills, character personal information, common gear, etc. and modular add-on sheets for equipment, spells, vehicles, computer programs, etc.

In terms of visual appeal I like the Freemarket character sheet but it's stat-lite.

still the best character sheet i have ever used

Really? I have the exact opposite opinion.

I've always liked the origional deadlands sheets. They tracked important stuff on the front and the back.

Also the Dark Heresy sheets are pretty darn good.