We'd talked about doing this a while back; so I found a nice simple D&D character sheet for each of us to fill out. I mean, anyone who feels like it. We can link it to personal profiles in the sidebar, or something. I don't know.I started one, and one thing I found difficult was the allocation of ability points. I have no idea how strong I am, but I know I have more dexterity than strength, so maybe if we all decide on a set number of points to allocate (54, say--average) and distribute them among our different abilities, that will be an easier thing to do. It always kind of weirded me out that so much of the game of D&D was decided in those initial rolls, in the same way that Ayn Rand freaks me out.
This is an interesting exercise, and I think it may be best to see this as a résumé, avoiding any modesty, and cataloging our skills. Or maybe it will just be enough to gaze upon the gold standard of D&D CVs, and leave it at that.
27 comments:
i think these sheets would be a lot more accurate if you have 5 of your friends distribute the ability scores for you, and take the average. if you can't find 5 friends to do this, set your charisma at 3 and have your next of kin fill in the rest.
Hah. I was just going to say the same thing.
An interesting take on D&D attributes and levels:
http://www.thealexandrian.net/archive/archive2007-03.html
I think we need to develop our own character sheets. "Nerds & Nonsense"?
Found that unexpectedly fascinating, especially the chapter on levels and fictional heroes. I'm thrown off by a lot of computer-based RPGs, which seem to use a finer-tuned system, for better or for worse.
I'm not as familiar with D&D as I'd like. I read a lot of the books and modules cover to cover, growing up; but I have little practical experience actually playing. Am I right in saying that in the D&D world view, there are actually very few skills, and leveling up allows you to perform more and more advanced versions of those skills? Like how a resurrect spell is just a really powerful cure light wounds spell?
Also wondering about the concept of hit points. Kind of assumes that people are balloons made of a uniform material with a toughness that varies from person to person, doesn't it?
Also, there's no way my dexterity is a 14. Also, there's no way my strength is a 7.
See, there's a fine line that RPGs need to walk:
realism playability
|-----------------------------------|
All of them have to fall somewhere between the two extremes. I really depends on what you're into. I remember one game I picked up called "Living Steel" that was so far toward the realism end that at least 20% of the book was made up of ballistics tables. Unsurprisingly, it was more like studying for a physics course than something you'd want to do in your spare time.
On the opposite end of the spectrum were games like "Teenagers From Outer Space" and "The Chronicles of Talislanta". Super, super simple gaming systems - they chose to focus more on the feel, but people could get up to speed fast, and they were a lot of fun.
On a personal note, I'm still very glad that I read the Tao Te Ching while on acid and gave all of my RPG books away.
Hmm, my formatting didn't really work out, but I suspect you'll get the idea.
My biggest problem with the combat ruleset is this:
If a man fights with a 14 lb 2-handed sword for an hour, and under equal conditions, fights with a small knife for an hour, and someone were to count the number of attacks that would have been made in each, the result would be the same.
The essence, the initiative system is fundamentally flawed.
Thanks for linking that, Kamapuaa! That was a good read that I found myself agreeing with a lot, despite the lack of any true D&D playing experience.
I tended to build games from scratch because I was afraid of the complexity of the game. (I tended to skip all those charts and look at the groovy Jeff Dee drawings instead.) My games tended to fixate on the "less is more" style of leveling. There would be like, four levels and fourth level was like demigod level.
It's a true testament to Al Gore's ego, claiming he was a tenth level vice-president. Is the level system functional throughout all occupations? Do all jobs have the ability to be broken down as simply as that?
Damn... where the hell is my bag of dice? No seriously =/
I like this idea, but that sheet reminds me of the yang chi energy requisition forms I have to fill out at at my other job constantly. Does anyone have an AD&D (circa 198x) sheet they can scan?
I used to have a pretty sweet one. It was orange.
All I have are a few modules I stole off a dude.
I do have a Gamma World one. I'm pretty proud of that. Tim Truman was doing the art in it!
Hmm... maybe like this character sheet? http://piecesofthings.s3.amazonaws.com/adnd1edbasiccharsheet.pdf
hmm...link got cut.. shortened it http://piecesofthings.s3.amazonaws.com/sheet.pdf
This is how much of a nerd I am. This is not only a character sheet I created, but a character sheet from an RPG that I created. The handbook I wrote is 150+ pages. I am a nerd.
Character sheet:
Sheet, save link as and open with an XPS reader
Handbook:
Handbook, save link as and open with XPS reader
To seal the deal on how much of a nerd, I wrote a combat generator with opponent customization modules, random generation of equipment, campaign tracker, in Visual C++ as a Windows application. Comes as a suite of apps.
Here's screens of that:
Screens of the apps
Thanks kamapuaa, that was a seriously good read.
When I used to play RPGs (the paper kind) in college I remember having a character sheet for I think Shadowrun that fit on one page. One page might be good. Man, those were a good couple of years. I think Starwars was my favorite. We captured a bunch of stormtroopers on a borked space station once, and I shot them all rather than transport them to a planet somewhere. I still feel bad about this.
Looking for an XPS reader...
wait, you roll 4 six-sided dice and remove the lowest for attributes?! when i was your age, you rolled three six-siders, and you were stuck with what you got. i demand a do-over of all my campaigns. and this time, i'm going to waste that fucking drow elf and steal his deck of many things...
From 2005
i would like to point out that that picture does not go with those attributes.
That is part of your advantage.
I had no idea that Orcs were Goblinoid. I feel like such a racist.
FAKA! That's very similar to the sheet I had. Mine was orange, though.
Hey, someone has to have done this already. I mean taken real-world office, technical, and social skills and simplified them into D&D-style character classes. Writer, Manager, Technician, Cut-up, etc. Maybe we should start at hotjobs instead of the Player's Handbook. Boy, that doesn't sound fun at all. Please forget I said that last part. But you get what I'm saying.
Pony: I mean this in the nicest way possible, but that sure sounds like something a manager/director type of person would say.
NICEST WAY POSSIBLE.
Crap, you guys have really churned up the base sedimentary layer in my brain. Anyone remember "Paranoia" ? That was another fun one. TRUST THE COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND. Come to think of it, I wonder if that was an inspiration for the "Portal" developers. If you need a memory refresh:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)
@Gals: Gamma World was great. The one image that really sticks in my head was the sad-looking mutant exemplifying a "failed character". Poor guy.
I remember Paranoia being great for a day or so, before a couple of guys almost started a fist fight over some backstabbing event. Geeks fighting is about as embarrassing as geeks dancing.
Hahahaha. Sounds about right. I remember kicking Dan's character into an algae processing vat, and later being in a total state of panic when this place called "outside" was green. Good times, good times.
Seriously though, geek rage is one of the main reasons I stopped playing those games. The worst were the arguments that sprang up near hour six of marathon "Axis and Allies" games.
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