I think the tax form sheet was the main reason I thought 4e was really easy to learn and play on the fly when it came out. I remember coming from 3.5 and having such a hard time teaching new players there and 4e was basically get the book and fill the sheet, following the book step by step. I think this was the main reason it became so popular on events here. My group never really converted, but a friend of mine was an event organizer and would often call me to play or gm 4e. My experience with 4e was more like that, with one shots mostly played and sometimes dmed on small events here.
I can definitely see the appeal of having a clean, simplified character sheet, especially if it's something like a pregenerated character for new players. But at the same time, with 4th edition one of the issues is that as you get higher in level you do tend to start picking up all sorts of little +1 and +2 bonuses from feats, items, etc., so having that tax form style sheet is very convenient because you can just slot them all in and make sure that you aren't missing anything.
I still do character sheets hand written. Old school!
Thanks Greybeard! ❤
Love me a good character sheet
I think the tax form sheet was the main reason I thought 4e was really easy to learn and play on the fly when it came out. I remember coming from 3.5 and having such a hard time teaching new players there and 4e was basically get the book and fill the sheet, following the book step by step.
I think this was the main reason it became so popular on events here. My group never really converted, but a friend of mine was an event organizer and would often call me to play or gm 4e. My experience with 4e was more like that, with one shots mostly played and sometimes dmed on small events here.
I can definitely see the appeal of having a clean, simplified character sheet, especially if it's something like a pregenerated character for new players. But at the same time, with 4th edition one of the issues is that as you get higher in level you do tend to start picking up all sorts of little +1 and +2 bonuses from feats, items, etc., so having that tax form style sheet is very convenient because you can just slot them all in and make sure that you aren't missing anything.
I gladly go with the core 4th edition style: everything is open to read and you know where that +x comes from.