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Sep 7, 2010 -- 9:35AM, ADMphenom wrote:

After thinking about it I think my plan right now is:

- Get a more final design, visually, done, with a different color scheme and maybe a few pieces of eye candy to tweak the quality up

Sweet. I recommend looking at existing 4th Edition aesthetics for the look. That's how colour scheme makes a sheet even better.

- For the first page, get rid of the seperate racial/class features, feats, and paragon/epic boxes and combine them into one for Non-Combat Feats & Features, with the option to fill in what the benefits of the feats are if people want to. This box can be for feats/features that affect skills, defense, ability scores, equipment, or for weapon proficiencies and the like. Also, add in a Power Points and Theme line at the very top to go along with the Character Name and other info. I may add in a "Number of Feats" line as well, so that people can keep track of the number of feats they have without having to be confused over the separated Combat and Non Combat Feats. The general layout will remain the same. Ill put the Non-Combat Feats/Features most likely along the bottom where the Racial/Class/Paragon/Epic Features are, and leave the area that now houses the Feats box as an empty box for people to write random things in

Sounds good. A simple "number of feats" box might do the trick. Personally, I hope 5th Edition D&D takes after this type of design, but dedicates space in character construction to combat and non-combat without requiring to sacrifice either/or. Not really relevant to this, but y'know... now you know why I approve.

- For the second page, try to take the Equipment Worn box and spread it left to right along the top to open up more space. If I can do that, Ill spread the Items Carried box from left to right under it, and try to fit the Magical Items in more at the bottom with enough room for people to write down what the properties/effects of the items are. Also, I will take Rituals off the bottom of that page and make a separate page for them. Ill take the Weapons Inventory and put that onto the Combat/Powers page as well.

Sounds good.

- For the first Powers page, I will get rid of having each attack line have the math boxes. Instead, Ill take the Attack and Damage bonus bits and put only one of each along the top of that box, so that way you only have to do one thing of math rather than fill in 6 separate lines.

I don't know that I follow. If you mean that you're taking what is currently the Combat section and removing 1/2 level, ability mod, class, prof, feat/enh, and misc boxes from all but the first one, I must ask: what is going in their place? Just open space? I guess I can get on board with that. Basic attacks can vary a lot between the handful one might actually use, so I do think there needs to be space for adding up each. What I was suggesting previously was that you don't need more than six basic attack spots because after about six weapons, you're probably able to substitute any bonus you have with at least one of your listed six weapons with the bonuses of any random weapon you pick up. A greatsword fighter using a singing stick can say "same bonus as my short sword."

Then underneath I will put the basic attacks section, which will effectively be the Weapons Inventory, only it will also be able to be used as a mass Basic Attacks section so that you dont need to write down a list of the weapons you have, the same weapon in the Equipment Worn area, and the same weapon again for the Basic Attacks area. I will also add on that property tab for weapons as well. The Combat Feats/Features I will have at the top of the page, then the Basic Attacks/Weapon List under it, then start with the Power Blocks as the final piece

I dunno if this pans out as altering how people will use the sheet. People will probably still write their weapons down in the equipment section, because the whole point of that section is to consolidate the amount of weight you're carrying -- and if that information is dispersed across the pages, that's not very convenient. A way that may alleviate this is to include a "total weight" box for the weapons, because people would be a lot more inclined to not bother writing their weapons into their equipment lists if they can just get two sums of weight -- their weapons and non-weapons -- and add 'em together. This might also be a good way to help people keep track of feats ("Total combat feats" and "total non-combat feats" boxes).

- The power blocks I will keep the same, with the exception being that I will take out a good chunk of the boxes as you suggested, and have a more open and blank box for people to fill in with what  they think they need to jot down.

Sweet. Boxes full of pre-allocated space seem like a good idea at first, because it makes writing down the powers that fit in them a breeze. But take a look at powers like the cleric's Astral Storm (PH, p.72) or Giant's Wake (PH, p.81), and you'll find that they just wouldn't fit comfortably in the limited space those boxes provide. There's no way to allocate space for Misses, secondary attacks, secondary targets, aftereffects, tertiary attacks, tertiary targets, and effects, and yet have all the space you need for each of these things. Best choice: leave it wide open for someone to fill in, allocating space for what you know every power has and in one tiny box.

It all looks good. I hope it turns out well; lots of thought and good ideas are going into it.

Sep 9, 2010 -- 5:51AM, ADMphenom wrote:

With the Attack and Damage bonuses, is there only one of each that gets used for every basic attack, or is there a melee attack bonus and a damage attack bonus? I kind of got stuck at that part, because I had planned on just copying and pasting the stuff from the first draft onto the final draft, but then I realized I didnt know if the attack bonus got used for every weapon/attacking item for basic attacks or not, since one of the things needed to figure the Attack bonus out is an Ability Mod. 

A basic attack bonus is composed of the following:

Half level + Strength/Dexterity modifier + Proficiency Bonus + Enhancement Bonus + Feat Bonus + Misc Bonuses

The Strength/Dexterity modifier is flippy because Dexterity is used instead for ranged weapons and light thrown weapons (though not heavy thrown weapons). It can also be replaced, for melee basic attacks, by any other ability score with the Melee Training feat in the Player's Handbook 2.

A basic attack's damage roll is composed of the following:

1[W] + Strength/Dexterity modifier + Enhancement Bonus + Feat Bonus + Misc Bonuses

Again, Strength and Dexterity are flippy and for melee basic attacks in particular, it can be an entirely different ability score due to Melee Training. The difference in one's basic attack with a greatsword and their basic attack with a club can be substantial. For one, greatswords have +3 proficiency and clubs have +2. For another, you might have Weapon Expertise (Heavy Blades), giving another +1 to your greatsword attacks but not your club attacks.

So, when it comes to basic attacks, you can't have just one add-up-the-damage section for all weapons. Most characters have considerably varying attack and damage modifiers between weapons.