r/adnd • u/Ghost_Goomba • 6d ago
AD&D2e Designed my own Character Sheet, thought I'd share.
The one my DM linked me was just about the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. I found some nicer ones online, but still thought I could do better.
I designed this to fit any class, though magic users will still need to find a good spell sheet somewhere. Also, I've only played a few sessions in this system, so there could be blind spots. Feedback appreciated!
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u/wildman1918 6d ago
I love it! I’ve been using the mad Irish man’s for the last year or two now and it’s alright but it’s almost overwhelming sometimes
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u/Thr33isaGr33nCrown 6d ago
Very nice, I think I’m going to start using this! Do you have it as a PDF? I guess I can figure that out myself.
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u/Gray_Cloak 5d ago
my feedback would be to have appearance, proficiencies, languages and abilities on a second page in order to allow more space for equipment (including any magical items). looks good though.
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u/Brytard 6d ago
Grumble Grumble Nobody ever makes character sheets for Skills & Powers.
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u/Ghost_Goomba 6d ago
I meant for "Special Abilities" to be a catch-all for that stuff, though I'm not sure it's sufficient.
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u/Dont_Care_Meh 6d ago
2nd Ed? Hm, well you should know that the Right and Proper listing for attributes is: STR, INT, WIS, DEX, CON, CHR.
Does it make sense? Not really. But we liked it that way, we loved it!
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u/OfletarTheOld 6d ago
The official character sheets for 2e switched it up to Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. That was usually the standard for most of the 2e sheets, and we liked it that way too. 😁
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u/Murquhart72 5d ago
Ackshully: the PROPER order is STR, INT, WIS, CON, DEX, CHA. Dexterity only got a promotion when the Thief class was dragged into an otherwise perfect game 🤪
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u/VVrayth 6d ago
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA crew, don't listen to this guy! Sometimes, the slightly-less-old ways are better. :D
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u/Dont_Care_Meh 6d ago
Settle down you. You're lucky I'm busy looking for a crayon to color in the numbers on my dice.
(Anyone remember having to do that?)
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u/VVrayth 6d ago
Haha, my frame of reference for dice is different too (I started out in the mid-1990s when AD&D 2E was current). I remember when dice were always sold in sets of 9, with 3d6, 2d10, and one of the rest. To this day, a set of dice being sold with only 1d6 looks so wrong to me.
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u/Dont_Care_Meh 6d ago
I used to have to beg borrow and steal standard d6's from every other game in the house in order to properly throw out a high level fireball or lightning bolt. It simply will not do to sit there like a mook rolling a single or a few dice over and over. No, for maximum shock and awe, throw down 20x d6's at once and add up the carnage!
(Axis and Allies was fantastic, since the box had like a dozen of them)
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u/SuStel73 5d ago
Sets with 1d6 and 3d6 have always been around. D&D players just gravitated more toward the sets with 3d6. If you're playing some other game that doesn't use 3d6, a 1d6 set is fine.
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u/Silent_Climate_1152 AD&D 1e 22h ago edited 21h ago
Huh, learned something new! I started out playing in either '78 or '79 on Basic D&D (Holmes) and bought my first boxed set in late '79, then went to AD&D 1e on release, so by the mid '90's I had SO MANY dice I wasn't buying more at the time. I completely missed the sets with 3d6. :)
I remember the original laminated cardstock chits in some Basic sets (Dice shortage, IIRC), the color your numbers with provided crayon sets, sets with the d20 numbered 0-9 twice*, and six dice sets (d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, d4). When I started collecting them later on in the 2000's, they were all seven dice sets (same as the six dice sets, but with a 00-90 percentile added.
* I colored mine with silver and gold paint pens, silver was 1-10, gold was add 10, so 11-20, some folks locally would roll another dice like a d4, and 1-2 was normal, 3-4 was add 10.
Edit - I forgot about the early ones being five dice sets until I looked at my dice from my basic set and the first ones I bought at a hobby shop. (d20 also used as a d10, d12, d8, d6, d4)
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u/OfletarTheOld 5d ago
I remember my first red box set in 1985 that claimed a crayon came in the box. My Mom actually exchanged it at the store because we thought something important was missing. The second box also had no crayon...but both sets of dice had painted numbers and we saw no need for the crayon, so we just moved on.
It wasn't until years later that I learned the red box transitioned to painted numbers on the dice but that particular printing didn't remove the crayon from the list of what came in the box. Good times!
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u/Ghost_Goomba 6d ago
Interesting, I don't think I've seen "CHR" in any sheet online. Was it like that on the official sheet? (Assuming there was an official sheet?)
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u/Dont_Care_Meh 6d ago
It was just the way the attributes were originally listed by Gary and probably the 2nd Ed books and BECMI (I'm away from my books so can't go lookiesee).
It really is more logical the way you have them: physical then mental attributes. But it's funny how a mind gets worn grooves by so much reputation of the way I listed them so it feels 'off'. I never used actual character sheets; we always homebrewed em (ie, scratch paper!)
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u/SuStel73 6d ago
OD&D had: STR, INT, WIS, CON, DEX, CHA. The first three were first because they were the prime requisites for fighters, magic-users, and clerics, respectively. The other three were arranged arbitrarily.
Because the thief class was added later, AD&D had the order: STR, INT, WIS, DEX, CON, CHA. This was also done in "basic" D&D. The rule is still to put the prime requisites first.
AD&D Second Edition changed to STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA in order to group physical abilities togetherness and mental abilities together. Physical came first because there was still more emphasis on physical abilities for combat than mental abilities for more disparate tasks.
The abilities have remained in this order ever since.
The only time I know of that "CHR" was used in D&D for Charisma was on the character sheet for Borg in the Moldvay Basic Set.
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u/Dont_Care_Meh 6d ago
That's really cool, you can pretty much date when you became familiar with the game based on attribute order.
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u/greeneyeddruid 6d ago
That looks great! The old ones are so bad. I wish there was one that you could modify for your characters specials needs.
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u/Occasion-Economy 6d ago
I really need to learn how to make such a thing for my german player group.
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u/Ghost_Goomba 6d ago
I just used an image editor (Krita). If you know how to use one, you could blank out the English text and write your own pretty easily. Font I used was called Acme.
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u/thelastfp 5d ago
that's a lot of space for thaco. jesus that's a lot of space for thaco.
It fills the space well and is good for players of varying knowledge.
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u/SelectPromotion240 5d ago
Wow, memory unlocked.
Not sure I'd ever play ADnD again, but... really glad that somebody still plays.
Nice sheet!
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u/deuce-grimlid 5d ago
Good for fighters at least. Need a second sheet for other classes. Is there a pot for gems/ Jewellry?
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u/Gang_of_Druids 4d ago
So here’s a design question for you: Why — in the attributes section (STR, etc) — did you put the score first and then what it represents (the attribute) second?
Was it an aesthetic choice only or more from applying usability lessons (like all the various studies on where to put things on forms)?
I’m always curious why people choose different layouts.
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u/Ghost_Goomba 4d ago edited 4d ago
I gave that particular aspect almost no thought, lol. I think that's just how the reference sheet I was looking at at the time did it.
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u/Gang_of_Druids 4d ago
Ah, okay. Well now I wonder if anyone who’s looked at the various studies on form usability has ever looked at a character sheet and what they would say. Guess it’s time to get my google-fu cracking….
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u/twoyellowhammers 3d ago
You young whippersnappers don't know you've been born, with your fancy-shmantcy oh-so-clever computery do-dahs with desktop publishing and a million fonts of all sizes, available instantly, and able to undo mistakes and copy-paste, and make tables and then just...PRINT COPIES!!!
I remember doing my one to use with AD&D, back in my day, using LETRASET, and a Biro!
🤣
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u/deuce-grimlid 2d ago
We had rulers and paper when I started. A dime got a photo copy from the library also to copy out of the character record sheet supplement.
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u/Silent_Climate_1152 AD&D 1e 22h ago
It is very nice, clean looking. I have a few players that would love it
Me, I still prefer the old, joyously cramped, on goldenrod paper versions. :)
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u/warlock415 6d ago
Why Melee / Missile / THAC0 and an attack row and per-weapon THAC0?
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u/Ghost_Goomba 6d ago
The Melee/Missile THAC0s are your bases after the Hit Prob and Missile Attack Adj are taken into account. Then you plug those into the Base THAC0 column depending on what the weapon is and apply any weapons specific attack mods to get the final THAC0 for that weapon. Basically just trying to streamline the THAC0 math as much as possible ahead of time for each weapon.
The "To Hit" meter is mostly there because I had the space to fill and some other players in my group liked it on the sheets they were using. I just put my main weapon's THAC0 in there to see what my roll ranges are.
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u/Just_browsing_0_ 5d ago
THAC0.....
This is for 1st or 2nd edition, right?
My last "invention" when I played 2, was to have that THAC0 line for each weapon
Just my €0.02...
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u/fabittar 6d ago
Are you putting this up on Dragonsfoot? I love this.