HYPERBOREA » Who wants to try my Smart Character Sheet?

Maezar · 3/31/2014 10:34 pm

Greetings...

I'm almost finished on a smart Excel-based character sheet for AS&SH and I'm looking for some players to test it out with me in a shared-screen session. Ideally, I'd like to see how your established characters can be fitted into this format. Alternately, we could create some new characters and see how it flows. If you're interested in this, let me know below. I'll post a link to a PDF once I can upload one.

That we might spend our time writing new words instead of transcribing old numbers ;-)

-M

flumph · 3/31/2014 10:38 pm

I am interested

Maezar · 4/02/2014 11:41 pm

Here's a sample PDF generated by my new smart sheet. Almost everything is handled automatically except for the creative bits. A character sheet like this can ge generated in a few minutes.

http://www.mysticworks.com/AS-SH-Character-Sheet.pdf

Page 2 is class specific. I've finished condensing notes and abilities for all classes so they populate automatically. All values, bonuses, etc. are calculated automatically.
The Spellbook page is optional per class. I've finished condensing spells into "reminder notes" up to "D".
An earlier version used gray and white zebra tables, but I find this version prints more cleanly and legibly on a variety of printers.
I'd love to have some more volunteers if anyone wants to try this with me.

Last edited by Maezar (4/02/2014 11:47 pm)

Maezar · 4/02/2014 11:46 pm

Oh, and I forgot to mention... As you're generating the character, the sheet communicates with popup help, color coding (for "illegal" armor/alignment, attributes too low for your selected class etc.). Though you can enter any values you like for height/weight/eyes/hair, the sheet presents a dropdown with suggested values based on the Masks and Height/Weight works by Colin Chapman. A future version may include a race-specific random name generator. (I see these things more as Ref's tools than as replacements for the more enjoyable player experiences of choosing or rolling dice).

Ghul · 4/03/2014 5:28 am

This looks like it is going to be an incredible resource for players and referees alike. For my own part, I foresee generating dozens of characters, especially for convention play.

francisca · 4/03/2014 6:21 am

Please pass it along, and I'll give it a look. PM me here, please.

Chainsaw · 4/03/2014 6:41 am

Nice, thanks!

Santaj · 4/03/2014 7:30 am

I'd love to try out the sheet!

Handy Haversack · 4/03/2014 7:34 am

Sign me up, too, if you need more testers!

Iron Ranger · 4/04/2014 8:08 pm

Count me in!

4/04/2014 11:53 pm

This is great. I'd be grateful if you'd add me to the list.

Crisippo · 4/05/2014 2:53 am

The PDF looks cool. Great for introducing new players and the like. I would love to try it out as well

Maezar · 4/05/2014 7:12 am

Hi All,

I can't send out the Excel sheet just yet, but if anyone wants to try it before it is ready, I'm happy to do a shared screen session. Send me a private message and we'll connect.

mabon5127 · 4/05/2014 8:47 am

Sweet looking sheet!!!
What a time saver this would be!

Maezar · 4/08/2014 12:40 am

So I threw our Paladin (from the CHARACTERS thread) at my the latest version of the smart character sheet. Here is the result.

For those who have been watching this project, this version of the sheet has the following improvements: Large NAME, CLASS, RACE, LEVEL, area, larger SKETCH OR SYMBOL area, extra left margin allowing for 3-hole punch. EQUIPMENT is the next and last thing to tackle.

http://www.mysticworks.com/Dyathnu-Paladin-7.pdf

I'm free nights (EST) this week and weekend if anyone else would like to connect for a live test. PM me.

Handy Haversack · 4/08/2014 8:33 am

It's looking great! We have often foundered on the gear section in character sheet design. I like having a "location" area just so one knows whether that potion is in a pouch or buried in the backpack, but then sometimes I think that's *too* fiddly (or, rather, that I'll never get my players to cooperate!) and just fall back on "logic" and fiat. AS&SH has standard carrying items, I'd say:

Backpack (50 lb. cap.)
Pouch, small soft (6-9 cubic inches; a potion? a flask?)
Pouch, large hard (6 potions or three scrolls)
Sack, small (20 lb. cap.)
Sack, large (40 lb. cap.)

Obviously sacks with anything in them need to be carried or jammed in the backpack.

And then the ammunition carriers, too.

I wonder if there's a way to automate any of this "what goes in which container" stuff.

And to mark "gear on mount" so it doesn't count toward character encumbrance.

Those 10 MV penalties for encumbrance can end up being really crucial in AS&SH!

Thanks for your work on this!

mabon5127 · 4/08/2014 9:38 am

Maezar wrote:
So I threw our Paladin (from the CHARACTERS thread) at my the latest version of the smart character sheet. Here is the result.

For those who have been watching this project, this version of the sheet has the following improvements: Large NAME, CLASS, RACE, LEVEL, area, larger SKETCH OR SYMBOL area, extra left margin allowing for 3-hole punch. EQUIPMENT is the next and last thing to tackle.

http://www.mysticworks.com/Dyathnu-Paladin-7.pdf

I'm free nights (EST) this week and weekend if anyone else would like to connect for a live test. PM me.

I was first impressed with the experience section in which you can label the adventures with the experience received. Then I wondered if the large amount of space could be better utilized for other things. Most of the players (in my game) just keep their total on the sheet and campaign details on a separate sheet of paper.

This is really turning out to be a great item. Thanks for your efforts!

Morgan

Maezar · 4/08/2014 11:24 am

For containers, I'd enter a hyphens to create nested "levels".

Belt
Boots
Backpack
- Tinder Box
- Potion Case
- Rope, Silk, 30'
- Small Sack
- - Dice
- - Small vial of poison
Long Sword
Water Skin

In a heavily horse-reliant campaign, a separate sheet for the animal (perhaps my coming "Companions/NPC" offering) may be in order. Or perhaps items could be listed on the main sheet as follows:

"Sack of Coin (41 lbs, mount)"
with a BLANK in the actual weight column.

joseph · 4/08/2014 3:55 pm

I finally got around to looking at this and, WOW, I am impressed! Very much looking forward to using this and I'm sure my players will appreciate it immensely! Great work!

Handy Haversack · 4/17/2014 8:50 am

Hi, Maezar,

Just wondering if you had updated the sheet at all. I could give it a test run and fill in with some of my players' details if you're looking for testers still.