Simplified character sheets for D&D 

I've been searching high & low on how to simplify D&D without all the extra stuff including the character sheet. So glad i came across this video.👍

I spent of lot of time in my AD&D days trying to devise a "better" character sheet, even tho I had numerous examples of the many various official ones they made over the years (a whole topic on its own). And now we live in an era where everyone can make their own version available to everyone else. I think for some players it's the mini-quest that never ends. And I think it's a good thing. Make the game your own.

Great video! Love the simplified character sheets! It's aways nice to find new creators coming to RU-vid! Just subscribed and looking forward to new videos.

Not really my cup o' tea since I do like my game to be a bit crunchier. I think it's a structure thing. I really appreciated the part about helping people with certain learning difficulties as I have ADHD and I can relate. I DM my own campaign and need to almost schedule a time to get hyper fixated to do my prep a day or two before the sessions. Overall, fantastic video. Even though I like a bit more structure, I'm sure I can still learn from this. Subbed.

I love finding amazing content creators like you! Always got the real meaty stuff that a DM could use!

I actually enjoy doing hard-core builds and finding interesting ways to min-max. My dm let's me because I know when to hold my character back to not break the game. It's just the mental stimulation of building something to the best of its ability that makes me happy.

That is one reason I still play and run BECMI D&D. The character sheet is very simple. I like keeping sheets as simple as possible.

Agreed this is an important consideration. As a dedicated RPGer, I can say that the off-putting part of playing any kind of magic-user in most systems is that it is more about bookkeeping than actually Doing Stuff. One reason I really liked D&D4 - being a MU in that was FUN.

Awesome video! I love how you’re trying to help make the game accessible to people from all walks of life. Not something you see too often - very cool.

My table is currently running Old School Essentials (basically B/X D&D) and really enjoying the simplicity. But we also enjoy Pathfinder 2e, so…not exclusively opposed to “homework” 😊

Love the production quality of your videos! You've got a new subscriber. Thanks for making awesome DnD content :))

I just arrived and i'm already excited for the next video about higher level characters. Hugs from Brazil!

on one hand, i love creative solutions that aren't punished by bad rolls and/or bad stats. describing how you're fumbling around a dungeon rather than just "i rolled an 18 for investigation, tell me how i find the traps". on the other hand, cold hard mechanics are a super fun way of interacting with the world, and a real, concrete way to demonstrate your characters skills without much interpretation from the DM or you. it's promised outcome with outlined steps to achieve it. i wish there were systems that struck this balance, though i assume it is very VERY difficult to strike. a system is too simple, and it becomes playing pretend with a couple extra steps. too complex, and suddenly all the creative interpretation is sucked out of it until it becomes a computer game.

Good video I may be crazy but I like all the number crunching, probably why I still play 3.5 This would help for kids though I can see that

lots of great ideas here thanks for sharing!

i play dnd with 4 other people and 2 of them are dyslexic so i have to help them with the different things on their character, so the dyslexic character sheets are defiently something i will print out for them.

Great ideas on streamlining the game - especially for new players. Nicely done!

Jo's Custom Character Sheet is my favorite, I started using them for my 5e games and it's beautiful and amazing, and the art has that old school feel. I don't really play D&D anymore though, I've moved on to more roleplay heavy and less combat heavy games.

I subscribed. You are, leaps and bounds, my cup of tea.

I still write my character sheets on lined paper. I haven't used a "printed" character sheet since the mid 2000s. Spells go on an index card with all the pertinent information, as well as rulebook and page where the whole text is available.

Good video! It was understandable throughout and presented some interesting thoughts. As a player with autism that last kickstarter sounds interesting. I've found character sheets in 5e a chore to fill in - though that may be because I've done it a lot while going over ideas. There's a lot of fun in longer character creation, but streamlining it is important to keep newer players going into the actual gameplay. It's an interesting line to walk. Putting the skills into simpler categories is very useful for newer players - I'd probably preserve the traits-bonds-ideals-flaws myself as a personality flashcard, especially for new roleplayers, but even then you'd save a lot of space and work.

Nice to hear someone talk about Critical Core. I caught their panel at a convention many years ago, and backed their Kickstarter. Looked through it and it seems really good, though I am not neurodivergent so couldn’t say how well it delivers on that front.

Thanks Justin! Great video topic for me (a dad leading my 11 year old and his friends in d&d 😁. Loved the character sheet options and the idea of spell cards.

Great video! You tackle a great subject.

Really nice video ty. Fully agree. I grew up with red box Basic too and have gone back to that. Another question is, how to have as simple a game as possible to reduce prep time. Look forward to the next one!

Except the sheets being 'homework' is why 3.5 (for example) and GURPS let's your characters all be wholey unique from one another, and what makes playing them so intriguing. Every single descriptior you can think of putting into your character can have as much or as little importance to the game as you want it to have, and your character gets to be as simple or as complicated as you yourself want it to be. Dumbing down your games not only makes them less satisfying and more narratively simple, but also discourses players from really getting into their characters. In 5e every character is very samey already, every fighter or paladin operates mostly like every other paladin or fighter, and it makes everything into such an archetypal fantasy themed board game experience

if you think D&D looks like doing taxes, wait till you see my Call of Cthulhu sheet

Funny thing is, the largest part of the DnD character sheet is dedicated to 6 useless numbers. AND those 6 useless numbers are larger on the sheet than all the useful numbers. Yes, its ATTRIBUTES. When do you use attributes? Multiclassing progression?, STR requirement on some special item? Both are easily changed to "+1 or +2 requirements". Death to the attribute (but not the modifier it creates).

You know what I'd appreciate? I'd appreciate a video or even just a set of instructions for making an AD&D character (1e or 2e, whatever). The number of times that I've pulled books and pdfs out and just been unsure of whether or not I'm doing it right or if I've missed anything is criminal.

With my homebrew OSR-ish system, DtwenD, my players can fit all of their information on an index card: - Name - Race/Lineage - Attributes (ST, DX, EN, IQ, SE, and CH) and their dice ratings (from d0 to d8) - Classes and their dice ratings - Grit Pool - Armor and Shield durability - Recovery Threshold - Rest Periods (10-minute, 1-hour, and 10-hour) - Inventory and slot location for each item in parenthesis

love it.

I am a total believer to add spells, abilities whatver in a printout to the char sheet or link it to the rules

I like the idea, but I have a feeling this does put a lot more work on the DM to keep things interesting and balanced. For example, I have no clue how to handle a very skill focussed character in a game without skills.

How would you deal with skills if they are absent? Just treat it as ability checks when someone wants to smash a door or track an enemy in the forest?

Try making a Rolemaster character... two hours plus, just to get hit with an E critical. Was always a huge barrier for me

For those wanting to play without skills, consider these variants from the DMG (p263-264). Both of these replace skill and tool proficiencies: --- Ability Check Proficiency --- - Every character selects two ability scores/modifiers and adds proficiency to all rolls made with these abilities. The DMG advises one of them being tied to your Class, and the other tied to your Background. A table is given such as the Ranger being able to select Strength or Dexterity or Wisdom, but combined with backgrounds, it can really be any two for any class. - Expertise: Double the proficiency modifier for one of your two selected ability scores/modifiers. - Gain another skill proficiency: Select a third ability score/modifier to grant proficiency to instead. --- Background Proficiency --- - Brings D&D in line to the game 13th Age - You have proficiency with backgrounds such as Noble, Soldier, Acolyte, Charlatan, Pirate, etc. - Background proficiencies can be very thematic and often offer a wide array of skills. A Soldier can have weapon knowledge (Intelligence), be proficient in military etiquette (Charisma), etc. - When you want to add your Soldier proficiency to a roll, make an argument to your DM why it should apply to your roll. The DM should rule in your favor. - "Years ago when I was a soldier for the royal army, I had to guard the palace grounds for a good while. I think I know my ways around the palace grounds fairly well. Can I add my Soldier proficiency to this roll to sneak around the palace grounds?" - This is great for people who want to make backstories on the fly during a game session. - This is great for flexible or improv-heavy DMs. The player just told you they knew the palace grounds well. Maybe one of the guards stationed here will recognize them as a collegue, or maybe as a known rival. Suddenly, being caught feels a lot more personal! - Taking the game 13th Age as a basis, I can tell you that adding multiple backgrounds (two or three) will not break this system. It might make your game feel more heroic than gritty though. - Taking the game 13th Age as a basis, I can tell you that adding details to backgrounds will not break the system, and might even be encouraged. E.g. Noble -> Waterdeep Noble. Even if it widens the applications of your background. - A Waterdeep Noble is likely to know the streets and the important businesses of Waterdeep, while a regular Noble might not. - If adding details, consider adding locations (Waterdeep Noble), factions (Sailor of House Lyrandar), events (Acrobat at the 100 year anniversary party of the Empire), or combine multiple or all (Professional Gladiator (profession) representing Axis (faction) at the Olympic Arena (event) of Sigil (location))

Thanks, this is an interesting commentary.

I agree, the more simple the character sheet, the better. I still have my D&D B/X set and those were the days! Newer editions of D&D have too much going on to roll up a character quickly and easily. My campaign and I just switched to Shadowdark. Way better for an OSR-like experience with simple character sheets!

Have you checked old school essentials or White box? I got into the old school scene in the last years and they seems to fit your style of play.

Not only should it be homework, it should be mandatory that each player knows all the rules for every class and every spell. No one likes playing with noobs.

Also check out Into the Odd (or any mark of the odd system like Mausritter) still a lot of fun but a bit easier to pick up! 😀🙌 Also some autistic people prefer the rules and homework 😂 makes for a good special interest 🙌

Saw the title and just wanted to comment. All TTRPGs require homework. I mean have you ever learned a system from the ground up, or been a Dm/GM/Keeper/Loremaster/ etc?

genuine question, how many times did you have to roll that d20 to get that nat 20 for the intro? lol

Also, a simpler game is MUCH better for online play, especially since not everyone will be an expert at all the rules. Thanks for a nice video.

Why keep perception as the only skill? It's comfortably the best skill right now so doesn't that just increase the disparity between the haves & have nots in that the latter don't get any compensation? Or do you just mean you call for them so often that wisdom checks to see stuff are called perception checks.

Yeah & no. I know new players that absolutely love heavy crunch.

What I love about 5e is especially how it can be adapted to work for different styles of play. I Hope the new DMG gets deeper into how you can use this modularity into your game

Except for those of us who enjoy the work😊

This is a great video but I'd have to say fixing DnD is a losing battle. Play an OSR simpler system like knave, maze rats. Better yet, a narrative system such as dungeon world. As someone who runs convention games constantly, the number of new players who keep coming back jumped from 40% to 90% when I switched to a simpler system.

I don't get why people still play D&D 5e, when there are games out there that are directly designed with all those considerations. But well, maybe I cannot understand that since I am one of those people who works on her own simple system.

I watched this expecting to disagree, and I was pleasantly surprised that I agreed with almost everything. I am someone who doesn’t mind that there is “homework;” things to do away from the table make this a hobby, while I still can enjoy the spontaneity at the table. But I agree that this can be a barrier for new players. If I differ from you in any way, it’s that I would say that it’s not the rules as much as it is the character sheet. The entire skill section on the character sheet could be replaced with a few lines to list skills that are commonly used (e.g., Perception and Stealth) and those with which the PC has some proficiency (including Jack of All Trades and Expertise). For most characters, that might be five or six lines. Every other skill is just a straight ability check, and the game already reinforces this by calling out skill checks by their ability, e.g., Wisdom (Perception). I personally use a set of index cards for my character sheet, one of which has the main things I might need to know on the spot (abilities, hp, AC, saves, skills) on one side, and on the opposite side I list my main actions, bonus actions, and reactions. I have a separate card for spells, another for gear and gold, and a last one for background, personality, languages, non-combat proficiencies, and tracking xp.

Yes, it should. If it is a new system or new characters, or a new setting. Some homework and effort should be put in by the players alongside the much more complex and detailed journey of the DM. It should be very entertaining homework. THACO boy, ain'tcha?

Funnily enough in our game the adventurers do pay taxes for their gains as well as pay for banking costs, exchange rates, and their trade is affected by the inflation. :) We also like calculating encumbrance and movement rates based on terrain type. All this "work" create fun stories without having to write a script.

I'm all for elegance, but there's only so much you can strip away from a TTRPG character before they're being identified solely by a single combat-related number. Like, if you've already ditched skills (except for perception) why not ditch attributes except for 1? Seriously, half of D&D's terribly designed character classes are SAD anyway, why not just make it one number to track? Ah, that's right. It's because "diversity" is interesting. Any game system should allow for two characters of the same level, character class, and whatever other "core" attributes exist in the game to all be identical, and then have other traits which allow for the players to differentiate their characters in other ways. Game design, and all design for that matter, is about finding the balance between adding complexity which matters vs. removing everything that doesn't. I guess if your entire thing is roleplaying with children, maximizing minimization makes sense, but if that's the case, then why not move to the "single number" method?

Crikets? I deleted classes and went all in on custom Skills. Now the players decide what skills their Adventurer gets within common sense of course.

I just dont get this. 5e is virtually one of the SIMPLEST versions of an RPG I have seen only Basic Boxed set is simpler. What are we teaching people if we are saying even this limited version is too much? OK, maybe 8 yrs this is acceptable. But adults?? Come on. Look at GURPS, 3.5, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, etc. I am sorry, I just cant get behind this constant and obsessive need to keep watering things down to the pt of needing to use less and less braincells than on might use for 2+2 = 4. And if 5e DOES require a little effort, a little thinking and learning then that is a GOOD thing, cause apparently they arent used it these days.