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OGL Fantasy Character Sheets $2.29
Publisher: LPJ Design
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by Andrew B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/06/2007 00:00:00

The perfect character sheet is the holy grail of the RPG universe. There are literally hundreds of d20 character sheets now available on the Internet and elsewhere, all aiming to fill a different gamer need. The aptly titled D20 Fantasy Character Sheets presents a collection of character records virtually identical to the one found in the D&D Player's Handbook. The important difference, however, is that these sheets come with a preselected race. The racial abilities, stat modifiers, size modifiers, etc are all included right on the sheet. This is a rather simple yet remarkably useful change. Unless you're the type that memorizes racial stat blocks, you probably benefit from noting things like dwarven stonecutting on your character sheet. Having these already listed saves a little time and ensures that important racial stuff isn't forgotten during play. This idea seems so obvious, in fact, that I wonder why Wizards doesn't adapt it on their official sheets.

I really like the way the racial ability score adjustments are listed right next to the ability scores. That's a logical placement. Everything else, however, is relegated to a black box on the back of the sheet. The designers would have benefited from following this design pattern for other racial stats. Why not, for example, include a +2 under the Misc. Modifier column of the dwarf's search check? You could put a superscript next to it referencing the racial notes on the back of the sheet so the player could remember that the bonus is only applied in certain situations. Why not do something similar for the elf's +2 racial bonus vs enchantment spells as well? Don't get me wrong, I like having the info on the sheet, but it would be even better to have it in the most relevant spots.

You might find less value in these sheets if you don't use the standard d20 races as written. If your campaign's half-elves have different stats than the norm, you'll lose a lot of the benefit that this product provides. A fairly simple solution would have been to make the sheets editable. Even if you don't have a full version of acrobat, it would be a simple matter to edit the sheet to your liking and print a master copy for your own campaign.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I think that sticking fairly close to the official character sheet was a good idea. I've seen variant character sheets that bring some good ideas to the table, but its hard to beat the official sheet for simplicity and ease-of-use. Having the racial stats already printed on the sheet is an idea so good that it should really become the standard. These sheets will probably find their way into my campaign. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are a lot of free character sheets out there, so asking me to pay for one, even if its only $1.50, demands a little extra bang for my buck. Making the sheets editable would be a big step in this direction. I also would like to see some of the modifiers placed in more logical spots on the sheet.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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[3 of 5 Stars!]
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OGL Fantasy Character Sheets
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