Aldo Regalado Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Hey folks! I'm trying to publish some third party material for Champions and have a question about what works best in terms of layout. I've posted a complete character write-up here (along with a couple of questions) and would love any feedback that you'd be willing to provide. All the best, AJR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadDomain Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Hey, I missed that here! For everyone there is a discussion on rpg.net and Aldo has posted an updated layout (which is pretty good in my opinion). Freedom Star take 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amorkca Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Hello Aldo I really like the Multi-Page format, the single page is great but I'm old and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be... ? Did you get it from the downloads section? Which one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 I gotta level with ya: I _love_ the character. Don't know if it's yours or from some other work or not, but I love it. It reminds of me of first character my daughter asked me to hammer out for her (origin-wise, that is), so right away just reading it gave me great memories. I love the name "Dragonfly Studios," because quite frankly, I'm a bit nutty about dragonflies. They are beautiful, and so cool, and it's fun when one lights on you when you're drifting down the river. Dragonflies are some of my favorite things. Neither of those answer your question, but they immediately make me want to help you in whatever way I can. On to the question! Like Amorkca above, my eyes aren't what they used to be. However, I'm assuming that the single-page blurb will be be "page size" in the book, as opposed to the imbedded image, so it will likely be easier to read. Traditionally, in the published works from HERO, The characteristics, powers, etc-- the "character sheet," if you will, are in one place, usually with a character portrait beside it. If not beside it, then somewhere very close to it. Then one with all the background, etc, that makes the character interesting. I personally prefer the block of write up, even though it's not terribly helpful to me. You see, I have played, like many others here, from the very first edition and up. Time-wise, that is. I never really moved beyond second edition-- it was nigh-perfect for me. We've incorporated bits of stuff here and there from 4th (which was, I think, the most perfect edition ever produced, but thick enough to make it a bit of a nuisance as a reference, and intimidating to new players, so 2e was more or less my well-worn groove. All that means that just about every character I've ever created, or run for, or had submitted to me was on not just a character sheet, but a 2e character sheet. I discovered a few years ago (when I finally started hunting up old 4e books, as I never had the money for anything beyond the core Champions book when I was younger) that I have looked at 2e sheets for so long (like, say, for the youth group game coming up this afternoon! ) that I actually can't even _understand_ a character that's not on one! Yeah, it's okay to laugh at me; I do it, too. But I am serious. If a published character from 4e interested me enough, I would write it onto a 2e sheet so I could "take a good look at it." I have, since the release of 5e, made a bit of progress reading some of the newer formats, but it's still like reading something in French, then studying it a bit in my head, repeating it in english a couple of times, doing some re-phrasing, etc, until I have finally "interpreted" this bit of hieroglyph into a language I understand. (It's still faster and easier to write it onto a 2e sheet, but I really do need to move beyond that eventually). Short version: I can't even comprehend distributed sheets. I can read a block of characteristics over on this page, scroll down to the next page and read some skills, find a couple of powers over here in the margin of another page-- and find myself totally unable to comprehend how they interrelate, what their actual effects are, and what impact they will have on my game. Show me an 80STR on one page and 4D6KA on another, and I simply will _not_ make the connection. This is undoubtably a personal shortcoming related to over thirty years of "personal training" and the oncoming hardening of the thought patterns that accompanies old age, but as you are opinion shopping-- well, there's mine. And thank you for asking. Duke Tech 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 Duke, you're not alone. I've used my own character sheets for years -- but they're based on those old 2nd/3rd ed sheets. Because those were right. Dean Shomshak Tech, Duke Bushido and massey 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 As much as it is possible, I like to see stats/powers/skills/etc on one page. Of course, if there is alot, then 2 pages. I simply cannot follow the S.l.D.s layout and will not buy anymore of them. So, yes Aldo, I like it on one page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Walsh Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 Yeah, I don't do two-page character sheets. If you want to draw a pretty picture and write up a detailed history, fine: use extra sheets. But for the stats? Fit 'em on one page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massey Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 When I print them out, I use the 3 column character sheet in Hero Designer. But when I write them out by hand I use my own method. I'm not sure if I picked it up anywhere or if it's just something I did on my own. It looks something like this (I'm sure I'm gonna mess up the formatting here): Quote Superguy Str 60 PD 30 Dex 20 ED 30 Con 28 Spd 5 Body 15 Rec 20 Int 18 End 56 Ego 14 Stun 60 Pre 20 Com 12 25/25 DR 10 pts Power Defense 5" KB Resistance Double knockback on Str, x2 Endurance 25" Superleap x8 10" Running +2 w/ HTH skills Disads Stats first, with primary stats on the left and figured characteristics on the right. Defensive powers come next, followed by offensive powers and then movement. Next is skills, leading off with any combat levels. Finally you've got disadvantages at the end. If the character sheet is long enough to get to the bottom of the page, the disads go into the second column several lines down from the figured stats. This setup worked for me for years and years before I got a computer. Edit: Hey, the formatting worked out pretty well. I'm amazed. Now that I think about it, I think this is sort of how I hand-wrote my D&D character sheets, with stats on the left, saves on the right, and then AC and HP right underneath. Duke Bushido 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 I prefer a one-page format if at all possible, and I think the way you have it in the link Dread Domain provided is well done. I agree with Amorcka that the font used is a bit small. My personal preference is the 3-column sheet from Creation Workshop and (I believe) the 4th edition rulebook. Early on I tried to update CW to 6E , but eventually gave up and created a 3-column sheet in Word and use it (typing everything in and doing all the math manually) for all the villain groups in my Champions game. I actually tend to have 2 pages for each character, but the second page is generally the Background, Quote, Personality, Powers/Tactics, and Appearance. (I used to have Campaign Use in there, but since it's for my own personal use I don't include that anymore.) If the character has a VPP, one or two columns of the second page are generally example powers for the VPP, so I don't have to create everything on the fly. With that in mind, Aldo, you may want to have a 1-page version for the character writeup, either preceded by or followed by a page (or more, if necessary) of the text writeup (Background, etc.). That's how I tried to do it when I wrote up stuff for the Haymaker! Hero APA-zine (for which mine was admittedly not the 3-column sheet but rather a two-column with sidebar). I think that text info is just as important as the characteristics / skills / powers writeup. Kudos to you, Aldo, for trying to publish more stuff for Champions. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadDomain Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 7 hours ago, BoloOfEarth said: I prefer a one-page format if at all possible, and I think the way you have it in the link Dread Domain provided is well done. I agree with Amorcka that the font used is a bit small. Aldo has provided an updated sheet (which looks much better in my opinion). He said he would try to reduce the gap between the two columns. Character Sheet take 3 It looks like a somewhat modernized take of the 3 columns sheet. Joe Walsh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 Sweet. Best so far, Aldo. And bonus! It's like a slightly shuffled 2e sheet! (Sorry; personal favorite, there. ). Again, I take it as a given that the actual printed page / PDF page will be more... page-sized, and thus a bit easier to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amorkca Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 I like Take 3!! Will you be making it publicly available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Regalado Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 On 12/29/2018 at 9:47 PM, Amorkca said: Hello Aldo I really like the Multi-Page format, the single page is great but I'm old and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be... ? Did you get it from the downloads section? Which one? Howdy Amorcka! Thanks for the feedback! These are not from the downloads section, but are InDesign files that I created. All of the character info is cut-and-pasted from the HeroDesigner rtf export and then tweaked by me in InDesign. All the best, Aldo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Regalado Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Hi Duke Bushido! Thanks SO MUCH for the kind comments about Freedom Star! He is definitely my creation, and the first character that I made for the setting. (The art was done by Joe Singleton, however, since I'm not much of an artist.) Also, thanks for the kind comments on the name Dragonfly Studios. It's actually a reference to my character Dragonfly, who was an homage to the Blue Beetle. All the best, Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Regalado Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Hey all! I was responding to the posts one-by-one when I realized that the discussion on my character sheets had developed quite a bit over multiple posts. First, thanks to ALL of you for your feedback! Second, I too prefer 1 page sheets, but I didn't think I could get it done. DreadDomain gave me wonderful advice over on the rpg.net forums, and I now have something that I'm REALLY happy with (which is that third attempt that DreadDomain mentioned above). I still have to shorten the space between the two main columns, but that won't be a problem. It'll get done soon. Third - will I make it public? What's the best way for me to do that? The file is not a HeroDesigner export format - it's an InDesign file. Finally, if you are interested in the greater project, I just launched The Superverse Kickstarter. You can check it out here if you're interested. All the best, Aldo (A.K.A. Dragonfly) Amorkca 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 10:50 PM, DreadDomain said: Aldo has provided an updated sheet (which looks much better in my opinion). He said he would try to reduce the gap between the two columns. Character Sheet take 3 It looks like a somewhat modernized take of the 3 columns sheet. I like this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadDomain Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 3 hours ago, starblaze said: I like this one. That's good because based on the latest Kickstarter comment, it'x the one we will get in the book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 I prefer one page character sheets too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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