I've been inspired to think about character sheets by the most recent episode of KitDB. Like our favourite fruit-brandishing assassin they're a big deal for me and really frame a system. A bad character sheet can put me off a system/setting and it's always the first thing I turn to in an RPG book to get a flavour of what it's like.

What I'm really curious about, though, is the character sheets that really resonate with people as particularly good or bad. I think some of my own favourites include the Everway (for the light-weight essentials) and the White Wolf ones (they seem to manage a relatively simplistic approach to setting-flavour that just works).

I'm curious. Can you (or any other poster) give specifics on what makes a sheet bad?

I like the QAGS character sheet and the Unknown Armies[i] character sheet. [i]Spirit of the Century has a great sheet as well, which really fits the mood.

D&D 3.5 and 4e are tricky. There's a TON of variations on the core character sheet out there, but those sheets have so much information in there that it's very difficult to find a sheet which arranges everything neatly, cleanly and sensibly. I'd rate them a bit below average, collectively.

Savage Worlds is actually on my "bad" sheet list. They're all cramped, uninspiring and lack adequate space for character advancements.

Unintuitive/inconsistent layout. Not enough space for everything* you need to play the character. Any sheet that can't support top-level characters out of the gate is a bad one, IMO (Savage Worlds, I'm looking at you).

* Everything in this case meaning derived numbers, skill bonuses, etc. I don't expect the sheet to have space for spell descriptions or their equivalent.

Favorite character sheet: a 3x5 index card. If you can't describe the essential elements of a character in that much space, my interest in the system starts to decrease rapidly.
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TAZ

For me it's when the sheet looks hideously complex. Anima is a good example - pages of stats and lists of different types of stats, skill, psionics, magic etc etc. Just looking at the character sheet has put me off ever reading the book.

At least - that's what puts me off a setting base on the sheet. A good sheet, for me, is something that very simply puts in front of me everything I need to play the character 90% of the time. If I have to keep looking elsewhere for information it's a bad sheet for me and if I have to search the sheet for the information I want it's also a bad sheet.

To go from good to great? Nice, simple touches that add setting flavour such as watermark artwork or nice borders.

Yeah, don't read the book either. Anima: Beyond Fantasy exactly as complex as the sheet. Sometimes you roll a d10 and sometimes you roll a d100! And sometimes 1 is -3 and 10 is 13, unless it's not. Likewise, 00, 01, and 02 are -15, -10, and -5 respectively.

When you have to pretend that some numbers are different numbers, sometimes, your system is pretty much unsalvageable.

Now, in order to prevent confusion, I want to point out that Anima Prime is an excellent and simple game in the same genre of anime/JRPG fantasy. It's the exact opposite of Anima: Beyond Fantasy in every conceivably good way.

I like the Pathfinder sheet for the most part.

It's simple and I like that all the skills are on the front sheet.

However, I hate the fact that there's not really a good space for magical gear, spells, or any sort of familiar/animal companion/cohort type creature.

NWoD are probably my favorite. Simple, and space for everything I need right on one page. I also like that it's really easy to look at someone else's sheet and know exactly what that person is playing.

[quote="Saragon"]

D&D 3.5 and 4e are tricky. There's a TON of variations on the core character sheet out there, but those sheets have so much information in there that it's very difficult to find a sheet which arranges everything neatly, cleanly and sensibly. I'd rate them a bit below average, collectively.

Yes -- what he said. I use the CD from the book to map out characters, then rewrite them leaving out everything I won't be needing, but using big block letters visible in lower light conditions and leaving space for notes to add later. I do this not only for my own characters but, as a rule, for characters I generate for convention games. That way, too, the players know what I'm not going to bother with.

I have to say that with crunch0-heavy systems that require a lot on a sheet I tend to design my own to ensure that things get prioritised as I want them on the sheet. It does take a hell of a lot of time though