Character sheets I think are important in terms of game design. Sure, it's nor your priority when designing the system from scratch, but it's something you'll need to tackle eventually. What's vital is to treat it as a legitimate concern and not simply a half-hearted endeavor which you need to finish. It can spell the difference between gathering new players or intimidating them to try something else.
The problem with the current (or default) character sheet in most mainstream RPGs is that they're not optimized for comprehension efficiency. Rather, they're designed to be filled out, for boxes to be ticked off by the player and for blanks to be filled out. It's a great design to help players learn the rules. In actual play, however, it's not necessarily the best method. Take the D&D character sheet for example: in terms of character creation, it's great design. When I'm actually playing D&D, however, it can be confusing when looking for my bonuses to attack, to AC, and the like. It simply doesn't occur as seamlessly as I'd like it to be. Worse, I need to turn the character sheet around to know certain details, such as what my items are, what spells I've prepared, etc.
This problem, I think, is more visible when you're the GM. A GM for example doesn't use character sheets to create his NPCs. Usually he uses the NPC stat block. In 3.0, the stat block was horrible. Sure, it occupies a small chunk of space but finding which is which can be confusing. But it was still a step ahead of the PHB character sheets in the sense that all the relevant information was on one page. The new NPC stat block (which can be viewed here, at the end of the entry) post DMG 2, is clearly much more efficient. Sure, it took up more space than the old stat block but it was far more easy to use and better organized.
Of course I'm not proposing the new NPC stat block to players--at least not initially. Veteran players will have no problems converting their character sheets to the stat block format; it's more prep-work but the rewards in actual game play is worth it. No, the problem is getting new players to use the new NPC stat block. To a new player, filling out those blanks won't be simple: they won't know the answer. That's the advantage of the clunky PHB character sheet; it helps them get off their feet.
The design dilemma I think is reconciling the two or at the very least if there's a way to better streamline the existing character sheet.
Of course that's not to say that actual game design is independent from designing the character sheet. For example Ability Scores having two values (you know, having an 18 really means you have a +4 modifier) seems like a redundant value (when you could simply state it as a +4) and could actually make designing the character sheet easier. (Of course I understand why Ability Scores have two values, everything from it being a hold-over from the previous edition to it aiding in the generation of random stats.)
At the end of the day, the fact that there are several variants of character sheets, both by independent gamers and third party companies, just goes to show that there's room for improvement in this arena.
Currently, the trend at Wizards of the Coast is to develop more GM-oriented products instead of the deluge of character options products that marked the first few years. That's why this year and the previous, you're seeing more large-scale adventures, the new encounter format, the improved monster stat blocks (I mean who else will use this but the GM?), and the environment series (most notable is Cityscape and Dungeonscape).
That's not to say Wizards of the Coast has ignored this market--even early on, they already had their entry-level adventures from The Sunless Citadel to Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. (And let us not forget the hints of Ashardalon in various adventures which culminated in The Bastion of Broken Souls.)
The thing with pen-and-paper RPG design is that it doesn't merely revolve around the designer-player interaction. Pen-and-paper RPGs has a designer-game master-player model. It's not like a video game where once the programmer finishes the game, it's up to the player to enjoy it. And while certain board games like War of the Generals has a mediator (a non-player who judges the players), his participation in the actual game is limited. A game master, on the other hand, isn't just a mere referee--he shapes the game, he shapes the story. From a different perspective, it could be said that the game master is a player too--he engages in the same combat encounters that players face, he participates in the same story they're part of. However, his role is different: he's the yang to the player's yin. I mean it could even be interpreted that the GM is a player and the players are the ones game-mastering for the GM, reacting to him as he is reacting to them.
However, the typical pen-and-paper RPG usually begins with the GM. It's up to the GM to get the ball rolling, to create a story or an adventure, to gather the players around a common time and place to game. Unlike conventional games where players are all that's necessary, in RPGs you need a game master as well. Thankfully, a game doesn't need a lot of GMs: you only need one. Players, on the other hand, can be almost any manageable number, from one to eight (I've even seen games where there's more than a dozen players but that can get unwieldy). Still, at the end of the day, you could be stuck with seven people and all of them are players--no one wants to act as a GM--and thus you have no game. GM's are the backbone of the RPG. There's probably no shortage of players but it can be difficult to find a GM that suits your taste. And perhaps the only way for gaming culture to spread is if the number of GMs increases. It's easier to convince other people to play for example rather than to GM, especially if you're a newbie or simply uninitiated.
The good news is that people aren't divided into GMs and players. There's usually an overlap and a gaming group can have a rotating routine of GMs and players. The other good news is that the transition from player to GM isn't necessarily difficult. Sure, it's a change in perception: you have to prepare the game, plan to cater to your needs as well as your players, etc. But depending on the game, there are lots of tools out there. And perhaps the most important thing for starting GMs is to start with a modest goal--your game doesn't need to be this huge epic or complicated conspiracy: it merely needs to be fun. And when it comes to D&D, this usually entails combat (perhaps the good thing about D&D is that it has no pretensions as to what kind of game it is--it's not The World of Darkness where the focus is role-playing, nor is it GURPS where it could go either way).
The bad news however, is that someone has to actually volunteer. It's easier to be a player rather than a GM, at least in terms of time management. If you want to spread the love of gaming, someone has to pick up the duties of a GM. And when no one is volunteering, perhaps it's time for you to step up.
The classic D&D party assumes that there is a healer in the group, usually a Cleric. Sometimes, however, no one wants to fill this niche -- turns spent healing a companion usually means turns that's not hitting, blasting, or backstabbing monsters. It's rare to find a player that gets his or her thrills from healing.
There have been some "patches" around this dilemma. Some groups acquire a cohort whose job it is to heal the rest of the group. Others stock up on potions and wands of cure light wounds as well as maxing out their ranks of Use Magic Device. Personally, I even had a previous blog entry that dealt with maximizing the party's healing efficiency.
Of course another solution is to tweak the rules itself. Without creating too much confusion and house rules muck, Reserve Points are an excellent way to give players access to healing without relying on healing spells. As much as I like Reserve Points, it isn't perfect. It only effectively gives you twice as much hit points per day. It also limits the number of encounters your party can face. What happens when you've depleted all your Reserve Points and most of your hit points? You're still stuck staying at the inn, spending several days recovering both your hit points and your Reserve Points. Mike Mearls's Iron Heroes has a partial solution to this by extending the uses of the Heal skill. But what if you have a high-action game, one that has at least four encounters in a day and your party doesn't have access to healing magic?
My solution isn't original. I honestly got some of it from one of the message boards at EnWorld and extrapolated the rest from the basic gist. Basically, characters begin each encounter with temporary hit points equal to his current hit points. When he runs out of temporary hit points, the excess damage goes to his hit points but that character remains unconscious for the rest of of the encounter unless he somehow manages to acquire temporary hit points again (via a spell or some other rules tweak).
For example: Rob is a 1st-level Fighter and he has 12 hp. At the start of the encounter, he has 12 temporary hit points. The group encounters some orcs and over the course of the battle he is hit three times. The first deals 5 damage, bring down his temporary hit points to 7. The second deals 6 damage, bringing his temporary hit points to 1. At this point, he is still functioning perfectly. The third time he is struck he is inflicted with 3 points of damage. His temporary hit points is now 0 and he reduces his hit points by 2, bringing it down to 10 hp. At this point, he falls unconscious. At the end of the encounter, he is woken up by his companions and is still at 10 hp. Later on, they meet a pack of goblins and a new combat encounter begins. This time, Rob starts out with 10 temporary hit points, reflecting his current hit points which is at 10.
A character is staggered when his nonlethal damage is equal to his current temporary hit points. In all other respects, the rules for nonlethal damage remains the same. Hit points are recovered at the normal rate while temporary hit points are "refreshed" at the start of each encounter. If your players have access to magical healing, whether as a spell or supernatural ability (i.e. Paladin's Lay on Hands), you may want to limit it to heal temporary hit points rather than a character's actual hit points.
Applying such rule tweaks has several advantages at low levels:
- Players can have more combat encounters without necessarily having access to healing magic, more so than using the Reserve Points rules. It is not without cost however. The more encounters the party encounters, the less likely they'll withstand the next. A character might begin the encounter with 12 hit points but face the next with 10, and then the one after that with 4.
- As a GM, you don't need to hold back on the dice with the fear that you'll kill characters. They might go down in a fight but that doesn't mean they'll die. They effectively have twice as much hit points and the rule that they go down when they exhaust their temporary hit points means that there's little chance that they'll abuse the temporary hit points rule (i.e. continuing the fight because they still have hit points even if they're out of temporary hit points).
- Characters can fall unconscious without being useless for the rest of the day. When characters do go down in a fight, that doesn't necessarily mean that'll be their last fight for the day (unless they are incredibly reckless).
Of course this rules tweak is not without its disadvantages:
- Disparity at high levels. The advantages gained from Temporary Hit Points are lost at high levels. Combat are reduced to one of two encounters: encounters that aren't lethal enough that they never penetrate a character's actual hit points (a possibility when your hit points reach three digits) or encounters so lethal that it's actually capable of bringing down your hit points to single digits (you're down to 1 virtual hit point and the next attack deals 50+ damage in one blow) that leaves you virtually useless for the next few days.
- Much like Reserve Points, it doesn't solve the problem of recovering hit points during combat without access to magic. What happens when a character goes down? He may be up for the next combat encounter but that character is certainly out of commission for the current one, even if it was due to simple misfortune on dice rolls (i.e. a critical hit, a failed save).
- At higher levels, this system still doesn't address a support which only a Cleric can provide: recovering ability damage/drain, "curing" paralysis and diseases, recovering negative levels, reviving a dead character, etc.
Of course this is just a starting ground. Experienced GMs might tweak these rules a bit. You might allow healing magic to actually heal hit points, giving them a bigger bang for your buck. If you find the current Temporary Hit Points rules too generous, you might just award players with temporary hit points equal to half their current hit points, and don't let them go unconscious once they've exhausted their temporary hit points. If you have the time, you might even work on existing game mechanics, such as Feats that might give you extra temporary hit points, Skills and Skill Tricks that let you recover hit points during and outside of combat, or even allow Action Points to bestow additional temporary hit points.
Feats:
Virtual Toughness [General]
When it comes to combat, you are tougher than usual.
Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you gain an additional number of temporary hit points equal to half your level, rounded down (minimum 1).
Special: A Fighter may select Virtual Toughness as a bonus feat.
Surge of Energy [General]
In dire circumstances, you receive a sudden burst of strength.
Benefit: You can spend an action point to gain an additional 10 temporary hit points that lasts until the end of your next turn. Activating this ability is an immediate action.
Skill Trick:
Reviving Hands [Manipulation]
You can revive someone who has fallen in combat.
Prerequisite: Heal 5 ranks.
Benefit: If you succeed on a Heal check against DC 15, you can bestow upon another character whose temporary hit points is equal to 0 (but whose hit points is not less than 0) an additional number of temporary hit points equal to your heal check minus fifteen.
Perhaps one of the sacred cows of the D&D game is rolling for hit points. Now while rolling dice as a game mechanic can be fun, the problem with rolling for hit points is that it has long term consequences. Unlike an attack roll or skill check where the repercussions will only be felt for that particular encounter, rolling for hit points has repercussions that last for the entire campaign. All is well and good when you roll high but what happens when you roll low? And while statistics tell us that it all evens out, sometimes simply bad luck can end us having a 5th-level Fighter who has less than 20 hit points.
3rd Edition gave us a partial remedy to random hit points. First, all characters begin with maximized hit points. So the party wizard begins with at least 4 hit points, instead of rolling a 1d4 at first level. As for the succeeding levels, one could take the average plus one, or even some of the RPGA rules which is a variation of that (8 hit points for d12 classes, 2 for d4 classes). Some players even use the variation of getting three quarters of the maximum hit points per level. The weakness of fixed hit points, however, is that hit points loses its “random” factor. Again, there’s a thrill when you roll the highest number possible in a die but a problem arises when we roll the minimum. Is there a way to have our cake and eat it too?
Mike Mearl’s Iron Heroes has a nice variation when it comes to determining hit points. Everyone rolls a d4 every level but it has a fixed number attached to each class. At the minimum, you’re rolling for d4+2 hit points per level (plus your Constitution modifier). At best, it’s a d4+8. It’s a good system but the focus of Iron Heroes is action/adventure in a world without magic items. Thus characters need all the help they can get. Using the same formula for your regular D&D game might be giving an unnecessary boon to your players (since you’ll almost always be getting better than the average hit points with the exception of those stuck simply rolling d4s). And come on, some people might scoff at rolling d4s for hit points. So what’s a possible solution?
Taking a page from Mike Mearls, one could use this chart when rolling for hit points per level:
d4 = d2+2
d6 = d3+3
d8 = d4+4
d10 = 2d3+4
d12 = d6+6
With this, you’ll be getting at the very least half plus one of your maximum possible hit points. You’ll also be using a variety of die types depending on the classes you take and get the same thrill when you roll the highest possible number. Still, if you want to keep things simple, the formula presented in Iron Heroes seems the neatest although you will have to make some adjustments when it comes to classes with d4 hit points.
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