Tips for Paper Character Sheets
Though the technology is 5,000 years old, there are new tricks we can learn to more effectively use paper character sheets in our TTRPGs. Using paper character sheets gives us a degree of flexibility…
Michael E. Shea
Lots of folks recently have learned what it's like to have digital tools you rely on and enjoy change underneath you. Which is why I particularly love what Michael Shea has to say about playing TTRPG using analog tools. Here are a few highlights from a post he wrote about it.
Independence. Removing your reliance on digital tools means you never need to worry what direction a particular digital tool takes. If you're comfortable using physical books and paper-based character sheets – nothing can change that situation. No one can remove or edit your existing physical books. If you rely on remotely managed digital tools, you must live with whatever the company running that tool wants to do with it.
Nostalgia. There's something fun about playing these games we love the same way people played them fifty years ago. Regardless of the technological advances in that time, we can still enjoy the game the same way it was enjoyed half a century ago.
And I love this bit:
Write Down Page Numbers. Write down page numbers of spells and class features on your sheet. Use your character sheet like a custom index of the rules in your RPG sourcebook you need to run your character.
The books that RPG makers create to run these games are such amazing artifacts, many of them with excpetional information, flavorful illustrations, and inspiring play ideas. I'm such a sucker for a well made phisical book, and I relish the idea of folks getting more use of them at the table.
He has some "quick tips" in the post as well. These got me excited:
Track damage received, not hit points remaining. It's faster to add than subtract.
Enjoy the soda stains, scribbles, and other bits of wear and tear.
Draw pictures of your character. Let yourself be a kid again.
Tabletop roleplaying games are so different from the digital entertainment that surrounds us. We control our games. We run our games. No one but us and our group decides what game to run or how to run it.
Embrace pencils, papers, and books. Enjoy the game using tools humankind has used for thousands of years and keep your game flexible, resilient, and fun.