Quickstart 5e character sheet (beginner friendly) 1

Example main character sheet added

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and offering plenty of space for at least the first two tiers of the game. The character sheet encourages minor calculations during the game, rather than trying to pre-calculate a lot of stuff that may or may not be used.

General design notes (UPDATED - 27th December 2017):

- the general idea is having character sheets that are not overwhelming to beginners (e.g. avoid unneccessary or duplicate information)

- the whole set contains FOUR PAGES, but only the "Character Sheet" page is required; the "Spellcasting Sheet" is only for spellcasters; the "Roleplaying Sheet" and "Equipment Sheet" are not essential to the game

- the sheets are derived from WotC official character sheets, with many modifications, as summarized below


Character Sheet:

- SHIELD is separated from ARMOR, to make it easy when dropping/readying the shield

- INIT bonus is removed, it's almost always the same as DEX

- the HIT POINTS and HIT DICE section have small areas for static values (which change only at level up) and larger areas for values that change often

- the ATTACKS section is to be used for weapons and cantrips; it is limited to 5 different attacks under the assumption that most characters don't regularly use more, barring long-term changes; DAMAGE and TYPE are split (they are a bit cramped in the official character sheet); RANGE is added when applicable; NOTES can be used for short reminders (e.g. weapon special properties or extra cantrip effects); the area below can be used for additional weapons or for a few special abilities that should be always at hand when making attacks

- the SAVING THROWS section is used to list their proficiencies, as well special bonuses that should be remembered when making saving throws (such as advantage under specific conditions)

- the PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES section should be a mere list including weapons/armors, skills and tools (but not saving throws), no numbers needed; characters who have Expertise or Reliable can just mark it manually in this section

- EQUIPMENT is meant for really equipped items (including cash), which are ready to use while adventuring; a QUANTITY column is added for ammunition/rations/torches if needed; weapons already included in the ATTACKS section don't need to be listed here

- the FEATURES & TRAITS section is purposefully large to allow players to optionally include a short reminder of how the feature works; an ACTION column is added as a quick reminder to how long does it take to use the feature and hence when it can be used (for an even quicker visual aid, I suggest to use colored markers to color-code different action types); the USES column can be used to mark the amount of uses per short or long rest, in case the feature is not unlimited


Spellcasting Sheet:

- the page supports spells up to 4th level (possibly a second page to be designed in the future)

- the number of prepared spells is added to the general stat tab

- the number of rows per level is increased to support almost every character

- column size is stretched to allocate some quick-reference "flags" as follows:
V,S,M = spell components
X = eXpensive component (which needs to be in the Equipment)
R = Ritual
C = Concentration
S = Scalable (can be cast using higher-level slots)

- the "CAST" section can be used to mark if the spell is cast as a Bonus Action, Reaction, or any other specific time (but it is recommended not to write anything if the spell is cast as a regular Action, so that anything other than that will be immediately more visible on the sheet)

Roleplay Sheet:

- each of the four sections provide some structure, but it is meant to be rather open-ended

- Character Appearance include a short set of details that normally make sense for every character, while the area below can be used for a longer description or more details of any sort

- Character Personality includes Alignment (moved from its original place in the Character Sheet) and all the standard roleplay details from 5e backgrounds; the room should be enough for the full text of almost all cases in PHB; the last "Details" area can include religion, honor, reputation etc. but since these are often campaign-dependent, I decided to leave them open

- Relationships & Organizations is meant for recording titles acquired, groups joined, and NPCs personally important to the character, with "Relation" meant to indicate e.g. an ally, family member, contact, enemy etc. (no grouping here since it's impossible to foresee whether this PC will have lots of contacts rather than lots of relatives or anything else)

- the last Character Backstory section is actually meant to record important events as the adventures unfold, but the first lines can be optionally used for a free-form background description (the size of which is voluntarily left undefined, since some players are prone to summarize it in one sentence, and other players in a few hundreds)

Inventory Sheet:

- The inventory sheet page is meant to expand and complement the Attack and Equipment sections on the main character sheet, more specifically to record possessions that are not equipped and carried around. This depends on gamestyle, but as a rule of thumb, running out of space in the main character sheet is an indication that you might be overequipped.

- The main area "Adventuring Equipment" is for permanent items, whether mundane or magical, that can have direct use in the adventures by equipping them. Instead of moving items back and forth between the main character sheet and the inventory sheet, you can use the "Location" column to mark e.g. "Backpack", "Stash", "Home" etc.

- Consumable items get a separate section with a Quantity indication. Use the "Type" column to indicate e.g. "Scroll", "Potion" etc. (works also as a quick indication about who can / how to use certain items), and the "Effect" column for either the name or function.

- Items under "Treasure & Trade Goods" are supposed to constitute the bulk of cash which is stored safely somewhere and not carried around all the time.

- Additional sections "Vehicles, Estates & Assets" and "Hirelings" are intentionally left more open.

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and offering plenty of space for at least the first two tiers of the game. The character sheet encourages minor calculations during the game, rather than trying to pre-calculate a lot of stuff that may or may not be used.

General design notes (UPDATED - 27th December 2017):

- the general idea is having character sheets that are not overwhelming to beginners (e.g. avoid unneccessary or duplicate information)

- the whole set contains FOUR PAGES, but only the "Character Sheet" page is required; the "Spellcasting Sheet" is only for spellcasters; the "Roleplaying Sheet" and "Equipment Sheet" are not essential to the game

- the sheets are derived from WotC official character sheets, with many modifications, as summarized below


Character Sheet:

- SHIELD is separated from ARMOR, to make it easy when dropping/readying the shield

- INIT bonus is removed, it's almost always the same as DEX

- the HIT POINTS and HIT DICE section have small areas for static values (which change only at level up) and larger areas for values that change often

- the ATTACKS section is to be used for weapons and cantrips; it is limited to 5 different attacks under the assumption that most characters don't regularly use more, barring long-term changes; DAMAGE and TYPE are split (they are a bit cramped in the official character sheet); RANGE is added when applicable; NOTES can be used for short reminders (e.g. weapon special properties or extra cantrip effects); the area below can be used for additional weapons or for a few special abilities that should be always at hand when making attacks

- the SAVING THROWS section is used to list their proficiencies, as well special bonuses that should be remembered when making saving throws (such as advantage under specific conditions)

- the PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES section should be a mere list including weapons/armors, skills and tools (but not saving throws), no numbers needed; characters who have Expertise or Reliable can just mark it manually in this section

- EQUIPMENT is meant for really equipped items (including cash), which are ready to use while adventuring; a QUANTITY column is added for ammunition/rations/torches if needed; weapons already included in the ATTACKS section don't need to be listed here

- the FEATURES & TRAITS section is purposefully large to allow players to optionally include a short reminder of how the feature works; an ACTION column is added as a quick reminder to how long does it take to use the feature and hence when it can be used (for an even quicker visual aid, I suggest to use colored markers to color-code different action types); the USES column can be used to mark the amount of uses per short or long rest, in case the feature is not unlimited


Spellcasting Sheet:

- the page supports spells up to 4th level (possibly a second page to be designed in the future)

- the number of prepared spells is added to the general stat tab

- the number of rows per level is increased to support almost every character

- column size is stretched to allocate some quick-reference "flags" as follows:
V,S,M = spell components
X = eXpensive component (which needs to be in the Equipment)
R = Ritual
C = Concentration
S = Scalable (can be cast using higher-level slots)

- the "CAST" section can be used to mark if the spell is cast as a Bonus Action, Reaction, or any other specific time (but it is recommended not to write anything if the spell is cast as a regular Action, so that anything other than that will be immediately more visible on the sheet)

Roleplay Sheet:

- each of the four sections provide some structure, but it is meant to be rather open-ended

- Character Appearance include a short set of details that normally make sense for every character, while the area below can be used for a longer description or more details of any sort

- Character Personality includes Alignment (moved from its original place in the Character Sheet) and all the standard roleplay details from 5e backgrounds; the room should be enough for the full text of almost all cases in PHB; the last "Details" area can include religion, honor, reputation etc. but since these are often campaign-dependent, I decided to leave them open

- Relationships & Organizations is meant for recording titles acquired, groups joined, and NPCs personally important to the character, with "Relation" meant to indicate e.g. an ally, family member, contact, enemy etc. (no grouping here since it's impossible to foresee whether this PC will have lots of contacts rather than lots of relatives or anything else)

- the last Character Backstory section is actually meant to record important events as the adventures unfold, but the first lines can be optionally used for a free-form background description (the size of which is voluntarily left undefined, since some players are prone to summarize it in one sentence, and other players in a few hundreds)

Inventory Sheet:

- The inventory sheet page is meant to expand and complement the Attack and Equipment sections on the main character sheet, more specifically to record possessions that are not equipped and carried around. This depends on gamestyle, but as a rule of thumb, running out of space in the main character sheet is an indication that you might be overequipped.

- The main area "Adventuring Equipment" is for permanent items, whether mundane or magical, that can have direct use in the adventures by equipping them. Instead of moving items back and forth between the main character sheet and the inventory sheet, you can use the "Location" column to mark e.g. "Backpack", "Stash", "Home" etc.

- Consumable items get a separate section with a Quantity indication. Use the "Type" column to indicate e.g. "Scroll", "Potion" etc. (works also as a quick indication about who can / how to use certain items), and the "Effect" column for either the name or function.

- Items under "Treasure & Trade Goods" are supposed to constitute the bulk of cash which is stored safely somewhere and not carried around all the time.

- Additional sections "Vehicles, Estates & Assets" and "Hirelings" are intentionally left more open.

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and offering plenty of space for at least the first two tiers of the game. The character sheet encourages minor calculations during the game, rather than trying to pre-calculate a lot of stuff that may or may not be used.

General design notes (UPDATED - 27th December 2017):

- the general idea is having character sheets that are not overwhelming to beginners (e.g. avoid unneccessary or duplicate information)

- the whole set contains FOUR PAGES, but only the "Character Sheet" page is required; the "Spellcasting Sheet" is only for spellcasters; the "Roleplaying Sheet" and "Equipment Sheet" are not essential to the game

- the sheets are derived from WotC official character sheets, with many modifications, as summarized below


Character Sheet:

- SHIELD is separated from ARMOR, to make it easy when dropping/readying the shield

- INIT bonus is removed, it's almost always the same as DEX

- the HIT POINTS and HIT DICE section have small areas for static values (which change only at level up) and larger areas for values that change often

- the ATTACKS section is to be used for weapons and cantrips; it is limited to 5 different attacks under the assumption that most characters don't regularly use more, barring long-term changes; DAMAGE and TYPE are split (they are a bit cramped in the official character sheet); RANGE is added when applicable; NOTES can be used for short reminders (e.g. weapon special properties or extra cantrip effects); the area below can be used for additional weapons or for a few special abilities that should be always at hand when making attacks

- the SAVING THROWS section is used to list their proficiencies, as well special bonuses that should be remembered when making saving throws (such as advantage under specific conditions)

- the PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES section should be a mere list including weapons/armors, skills and tools (but not saving throws), no numbers needed; characters who have Expertise or Reliable can just mark it manually in this section

- EQUIPMENT is meant for really equipped items (including cash), which are ready to use while adventuring; a QUANTITY column is added for ammunition/rations/torches if needed; weapons already included in the ATTACKS section don't need to be listed here

- the FEATURES & TRAITS section is purposefully large to allow players to optionally include a short reminder of how the feature works; an ACTION column is added as a quick reminder to how long does it take to use the feature and hence when it can be used (for an even quicker visual aid, I suggest to use colored markers to color-code different action types); the USES column can be used to mark the amount of uses per short or long rest, in case the feature is not unlimited


Spellcasting Sheet:

- the page supports spells up to 4th level (possibly a second page to be designed in the future)

- the number of prepared spells is added to the general stat tab

- the number of rows per level is increased to support almost every character

- column size is stretched to allocate some quick-reference "flags" as follows:
V,S,M = spell components
X = eXpensive component (which needs to be in the Equipment)
R = Ritual
C = Concentration
S = Scalable (can be cast using higher-level slots)

- the "CAST" section can be used to mark if the spell is cast as a Bonus Action, Reaction, or any other specific time (but it is recommended not to write anything if the spell is cast as a regular Action, so that anything other than that will be immediately more visible on the sheet)

Roleplay Sheet:

- each of the four sections provide some structure, but it is meant to be rather open-ended

- Character Appearance include a short set of details that normally make sense for every character, while the area below can be used for a longer description or more details of any sort

- Character Personality includes Alignment (moved from its original place in the Character Sheet) and all the standard roleplay details from 5e backgrounds; the room should be enough for the full text of almost all cases in PHB; the last "Details" area can include religion, honor, reputation etc. but since these are often campaign-dependent, I decided to leave them open

- Relationships & Organizations is meant for recording titles acquired, groups joined, and NPCs personally important to the character, with "Relation" meant to indicate e.g. an ally, family member, contact, enemy etc. (no grouping here since it's impossible to foresee whether this PC will have lots of contacts rather than lots of relatives or anything else)

- the last Character Backstory section is actually meant to record important events as the adventures unfold, but the first lines can be optionally used for a free-form background description (the size of which is voluntarily left undefined, since some players are prone to summarize it in one sentence, and other players in a few hundreds)

Inventory Sheet:

- The inventory sheet page is meant to expand and complement the Attack and Equipment sections on the main character sheet, more specifically to record possessions that are not equipped and carried around. This depends on gamestyle, but as a rule of thumb, running out of space in the main character sheet is an indication that you might be overequipped.

- The main area "Adventuring Equipment" is for permanent items, whether mundane or magical, that can have direct use in the adventures by equipping them. Instead of moving items back and forth between the main character sheet and the inventory sheet, you can use the "Location" column to mark e.g. "Backpack", "Stash", "Home" etc.

- Consumable items get a separate section with a Quantity indication. Use the "Type" column to indicate e.g. "Scroll", "Potion" etc. (works also as a quick indication about who can / how to use certain items), and the "Effect" column for either the name or function.

- Items under "Treasure & Trade Goods" are supposed to constitute the bulk of cash which is stored safely somewhere and not carried around all the time.

- Additional sections "Vehicles, Estates & Assets" and "Hirelings" are intentionally left more open.

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and offering plenty of space for at least the first two tiers of the game. The character sheet encourages minor calculations during the game, rather than trying to pre-calculate a lot of stuff that may or may not be used.

General design notes (UPDATED - 27th December 2017):

- the general idea is having character sheets that are not overwhelming to beginners (e.g. avoid unneccessary or duplicate information)

- the whole set contains FOUR PAGES, but only the "Character Sheet" page is required; the "Spellcasting Sheet" is only for spellcasters; the "Roleplaying Sheet" and "Equipment Sheet" are not essential to the game

- the sheets are derived from WotC official character sheets, with many modifications, as summarized below


Character Sheet:

- SHIELD is separated from ARMOR, to make it easy when dropping/readying the shield

- INIT bonus is removed, it's almost always the same as DEX

- the HIT POINTS and HIT DICE section have small areas for static values (which change only at level up) and larger areas for values that change often

- the ATTACKS section is to be used for weapons and cantrips; it is limited to 5 different attacks under the assumption that most characters don't regularly use more, barring long-term changes; DAMAGE and TYPE are split (they are a bit cramped in the official character sheet); RANGE is added when applicable; NOTES can be used for short reminders (e.g. weapon special properties or extra cantrip effects); the area below can be used for additional weapons or for a few special abilities that should be always at hand when making attacks

- the SAVING THROWS section is used to list their proficiencies, as well special bonuses that should be remembered when making saving throws (such as advantage under specific conditions)

- the PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES section should be a mere list including weapons/armors, skills and tools (but not saving throws), no numbers needed; characters who have Expertise or Reliable can just mark it manually in this section

- EQUIPMENT is meant for really equipped items (including cash), which are ready to use while adventuring; a QUANTITY column is added for ammunition/rations/torches if needed; weapons already included in the ATTACKS section don't need to be listed here

- the FEATURES & TRAITS section is purposefully large to allow players to optionally include a short reminder of how the feature works; an ACTION column is added as a quick reminder to how long does it take to use the feature and hence when it can be used (for an even quicker visual aid, I suggest to use colored markers to color-code different action types); the USES column can be used to mark the amount of uses per short or long rest, in case the feature is not unlimited


Spellcasting Sheet:

- the page supports spells up to 4th level (possibly a second page to be designed in the future)

- the number of prepared spells is added to the general stat tab

- the number of rows per level is increased to support almost every character

- column size is stretched to allocate some quick-reference "flags" as follows:
V,S,M = spell components
X = eXpensive component (which needs to be in the Equipment)
R = Ritual
C = Concentration
S = Scalable (can be cast using higher-level slots)

- the "CAST" section can be used to mark if the spell is cast as a Bonus Action, Reaction, or any other specific time (but it is recommended not to write anything if the spell is cast as a regular Action, so that anything other than that will be immediately more visible on the sheet)

Roleplay Sheet:

- each of the four sections provide some structure, but it is meant to be rather open-ended

- Character Appearance include a short set of details that normally make sense for every character, while the area below can be used for a longer description or more details of any sort

- Character Personality includes Alignment (moved from its original place in the Character Sheet) and all the standard roleplay details from 5e backgrounds; the room should be enough for the full text of almost all cases in PHB; the last "Details" area can include religion, honor, reputation etc. but since these are often campaign-dependent, I decided to leave them open

- Relationships & Organizations is meant for recording titles acquired, groups joined, and NPCs personally important to the character, with "Relation" meant to indicate e.g. an ally, family member, contact, enemy etc. (no grouping here since it's impossible to foresee whether this PC will have lots of contacts rather than lots of relatives or anything else)

- the last Character Backstory section is actually meant to record important events as the adventures unfold, but the first lines can be optionally used for a free-form background description (the size of which is voluntarily left undefined, since some players are prone to summarize it in one sentence, and other players in a few hundreds)

Inventory Sheet:

- The inventory sheet page is meant to expand and complement the Attack and Equipment sections on the main character sheet, more specifically to record possessions that are not equipped and carried around. This depends on gamestyle, but as a rule of thumb, running out of space in the main character sheet is an indication that you might be overequipped.

- The main area "Adventuring Equipment" is for permanent items, whether mundane or magical, that can have direct use in the adventures by equipping them. Instead of moving items back and forth between the main character sheet and the inventory sheet, you can use the "Location" column to mark e.g. "Backpack", "Stash", "Home" etc.

- Consumable items get a separate section with a Quantity indication. Use the "Type" column to indicate e.g. "Scroll", "Potion" etc. (works also as a quick indication about who can / how to use certain items), and the "Effect" column for either the name or function.

- Items under "Treasure & Trade Goods" are supposed to constitute the bulk of cash which is stored safely somewhere and not carried around all the time.

- Additional sections "Vehicles, Estates & Assets" and "Hirelings" are intentionally left more open.

This is my first attempt at a simplified 5e main character sheet (derived from the official WotC 5e character sheet), that is aimed at being the least intimidating to beginners as possible, by minimizing the amount of information included, and offering plenty of space for at least the first two tiers of the game. The character sheet encourages minor calculations during the game, rather than trying to pre-calculate a lot of stuff that may or may not be used.

General design notes (UPDATED - 27th December 2017):

- the general idea is having character sheets that are not overwhelming to beginners (e.g. avoid unneccessary or duplicate information)

- the whole set contains FOUR PAGES, but only the "Character Sheet" page is required; the "Spellcasting Sheet" is only for spellcasters; the "Roleplaying Sheet" and "Equipment Sheet" are not essential to the game

- the sheets are derived from WotC official character sheets, with many modifications, as summarized below


Character Sheet:

- SHIELD is separated from ARMOR, to make it easy when dropping/readying the shield

- INIT bonus is removed, it's almost always the same as DEX

- the HIT POINTS and HIT DICE section have small areas for static values (which change only at level up) and larger areas for values that change often

- the ATTACKS section is to be used for weapons and cantrips; it is limited to 5 different attacks under the assumption that most characters don't regularly use more, barring long-term changes; DAMAGE and TYPE are split (they are a bit cramped in the official character sheet); RANGE is added when applicable; NOTES can be used for short reminders (e.g. weapon special properties or extra cantrip effects); the area below can be used for additional weapons or for a few special abilities that should be always at hand when making attacks

- the SAVING THROWS section is used to list their proficiencies, as well special bonuses that should be remembered when making saving throws (such as advantage under specific conditions)

- the PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES section should be a mere list including weapons/armors, skills and tools (but not saving throws), no numbers needed; characters who have Expertise or Reliable can just mark it manually in this section

- EQUIPMENT is meant for really equipped items (including cash), which are ready to use while adventuring; a QUANTITY column is added for ammunition/rations/torches if needed; weapons already included in the ATTACKS section don't need to be listed here

- the FEATURES & TRAITS section is purposefully large to allow players to optionally include a short reminder of how the feature works; an ACTION column is added as a quick reminder to how long does it take to use the feature and hence when it can be used (for an even quicker visual aid, I suggest to use colored markers to color-code different action types); the USES column can be used to mark the amount of uses per short or long rest, in case the feature is not unlimited


Spellcasting Sheet:

- the page supports spells up to 4th level (possibly a second page to be designed in the future)

- the number of prepared spells is added to the general stat tab

- the number of rows per level is increased to support almost every character

- column size is stretched to allocate some quick-reference "flags" as follows:
V,S,M = spell components
X = eXpensive component (which needs to be in the Equipment)
R = Ritual
C = Concentration
S = Scalable (can be cast using higher-level slots)

- the "CAST" section can be used to mark if the spell is cast as a Bonus Action, Reaction, or any other specific time (but it is recommended not to write anything if the spell is cast as a regular Action, so that anything other than that will be immediately more visible on the sheet)

Roleplay Sheet:

- each of the four sections provide some structure, but it is meant to be rather open-ended

- Character Appearance include a short set of details that normally make sense for every character, while the area below can be used for a longer description or more details of any sort

- Character Personality includes Alignment (moved from its original place in the Character Sheet) and all the standard roleplay details from 5e backgrounds; the room should be enough for the full text of almost all cases in PHB; the last "Details" area can include religion, honor, reputation etc. but since these are often campaign-dependent, I decided to leave them open

- Relationships & Organizations is meant for recording titles acquired, groups joined, and NPCs personally important to the character, with "Relation" meant to indicate e.g. an ally, family member, contact, enemy etc. (no grouping here since it's impossible to foresee whether this PC will have lots of contacts rather than lots of relatives or anything else)

- the last Character Backstory section is actually meant to record important events as the adventures unfold, but the first lines can be optionally used for a free-form background description (the size of which is voluntarily left undefined, since some players are prone to summarize it in one sentence, and other players in a few hundreds)

Inventory Sheet:

- The inventory sheet page is meant to expand and complement the Attack and Equipment sections on the main character sheet, more specifically to record possessions that are not equipped and carried around. This depends on gamestyle, but as a rule of thumb, running out of space in the main character sheet is an indication that you might be overequipped.

- The main area "Adventuring Equipment" is for permanent items, whether mundane or magical, that can have direct use in the adventures by equipping them. Instead of moving items back and forth between the main character sheet and the inventory sheet, you can use the "Location" column to mark e.g. "Backpack", "Stash", "Home" etc.

- Consumable items get a separate section with a Quantity indication. Use the "Type" column to indicate e.g. "Scroll", "Potion" etc. (works also as a quick indication about who can / how to use certain items), and the "Effect" column for either the name or function.

- Items under "Treasure & Trade Goods" are supposed to constitute the bulk of cash which is stored safely somewhere and not carried around all the time.

- Additional sections "Vehicles, Estates & Assets" and "Hirelings" are intentionally left more open.