New character sheets - work in progress

Games Discussion Ars Magica
#1

I have been using the MI2.0 character sheets from Patrick Murphy (Mad Irishman) for a couple of years and while I think they are quite good, there has always been a few things which have annoyed me (like them not being in A4 format).

I recently started making a new character sheet based on the ones by Patrick Murphy and thought I'd share them here in order to solicit opinions and perhaps someone else will find them useful as well.

The character sheet can be found here:

Rendering is slightly different between Firefox and Chrome, but should be usable in both cases. Print to file is probably the easiest option if you want to save a local copy.

So, what do you think?

Why do modern mages use word processors? For the spell checking!

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#2

It looks very nice, though I'm using Metacreator to generate my characters.

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#3

I already use that charactersheet and I am going to continue using it. It is the best one I have found on the internet. It is nice to have the option to add extra grimore sheets but honestly I could also do that with a printer before and that is likely how I will go on doing it.

#4

I agree that the extra grimoire pages are quite minor, but it was easy to add. Also, if you live somewhere with weird paper sizes ( :wink: ), I suspect the original MI2.0 character sheets will be easier to use.

I'm mainly trying to polish the core ideas of the MI2.0 character sheets while also converting to A4 papersize.

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#5

If this was form-fillable with automatic derivation of dependent scores etc. that would boost its usefulness.

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#6

That's on the to-do list, but I wanted to see if there were any other obvious things first. I'll post an update when I make improvements.

#7

I would have kept the warping on the first page for magus rather than replace that with talisman, which would have made more sense in an equipment section (and with more space for effects). I also would have included a laboratory page based on the covenant book, and agree with automatically derivation. One of the things that made me nuts was calculating my lab and casting totals, everytime, so I built my excel sheet to account for my different scores, and for the lab, calculating my lab totals based on activity type, season (cyclic magic). which lab I'm in, etc. likewise for the casting totals, I have to adjust a bit for things like aura but otherwise it auto calculates.

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#8

How wounderful that be, and what a nightmare to solve!

This game of ours is quite dependent of not-so-automatic things. Where to apply a focus or a speciality or a special circumstances bonus or a talisman bonus or the proper lab specialization or that effect that happens when your familiar snores or etc etc, which is most of the times simple to do (except when it's not) when you are sitting pencil it hand in front of a piece of paper with your brain solving the meaning of words and interpreting calculations, but almost impossible to automate. Considering that, I'd be happy with just a fillable pdf version at this point of IA development.

#9

Interesting - I'd like to counter with a few questions.

  • Do Mages need warping effects? They have twilight scars instead as I read the rules (hence the box with twilight effects on page 3).

  • Which values should be derived? Not all that many values are static (not even characteristics if you use magic to permanently raise them), and that basically leaves wound ranges for size.

  • A page for the lab might be something I add later, but the same question about which values should be derived remains. I'm not sure auto-derivation helps all that much here - that could be a separate project perhaps.

I'll probably start by making some things form-fillable and perhaps derive wound-ranges from size to have a base to build upon if needed.

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#10

Updated!

  • I added a few options to rearrange things by request.
  • Started adding editable fields.
  • Wound-ranges and soak are now derived if "Derive values" is selected when entering size/stamina/protection.

Nothing is saved yet and there are probably some bugs, but this is a work in progress as mentioned in the title :slight_smile: and its released in case it's useful for someone as well as for potential feedback.

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#11

"Do Mages need warping effects? They have twilight scars" True. Maybe I just haven't played a magus that has stacked a long list of them yet, and maybe that space on page 3 is needed. But I still think the talisman space is way too small regardless.

"Which values should be derived? Not all that many values are static" Should is debatable and is going to vary based on usage. Can, can actually be pretty large. Combat totals can be derived from stats, equipment and specialization. Ability/arts score can be derived from experience, lab stats can be derived the sum of lab stats, magic theory, applicable arts, aura. Lab stats could be derived from virtues installed, size and refinement (or it could be derived manually and then auto-computing that which changes all the time, for example Int+Mt+Form+Tech). An example of what I did in Excel: I have 3 labs I can access, detailed per covenant, each with different auras and virtues. So each lab has stats. When I do a lab season, i select the name of the lab, what season (because I coded cyclical magic for some seasons), which activity (based on covenants lab spec stats) and whether I'm experimenting, and my spreadsheet auto calculates my base lab total for the 50 arts combination based on my arts scores, magic theory, the lab stats and local aura and the bonuses from virtues applicable to specific activity. It stops short, of course, of computing bonuses that are too situational to be automated, like similar spell effects, shape and material or magical focus. But it does add things like inventive genius which has the same kind of bonus you can find under lab specialization. And if I had requisites, then I just look at two lab totals and take the lower. But it saves me a ton of time recalculating totals for every season, since I just update my scores and I can glance at my lab total and say "Yeah, its finally time to take on that project" because I know without taking out my calculator that I can finally do it in a season or two.

Of course, there are always interface limitation, and since I'm not sure what they are for the project you're working on, I'll let you figure out how practical those ideas are for that project. I just work with excel :slight_smile:

#12

Well, I think a hermetic auto-lab might be a bit outside the scope I had intended. :slight_smile: I'm mostly aiming for a printable character sheet with a few extras.

I do agree that there should be more space for a talisman, but I'm not quite sure how to achieve it in a good way. I'll probably experiment a bit and see what I come up with.

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#13

I think putting the talisman on the first page is a good idea, but the space you allocated is only big enough to list 3 effects/bonuses, meaning that once a magus has instilled their first enchantment into a talisman they are already out of space. This is somewhat short of what I would expect to be necessary.

I do also think that you are doing a fantastic piece of work with no reward except perhaps a kudos and some added ease of play for yourself. So consider this a kudos.

1 Like
#14

Really nice work!

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#15

Small update again - saving, loading and clearing is now implemented as well as a smaller number of bugfixes.

Talisman placement and size is still a work in progress.

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#16

Another update, probably the last one for at least a week or two.

  • Added an option to move the talisman to page 3, which also frees up some extra space for abilities.
  • Added long-term fatigue to the fatigue panel.
  • Added an alternative layout for the weapons panel. (Should this be the standard layout instead? I think it might be better than the old one)
  • A couple of bugfixes.

It looks slightly better in Firefox than in Chrome too (mostly because of differences in text rendering), but works in both. No other browsers are supported at the moment. :slight_smile:

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#17

Another update - a few changes and cleanups.

The controls (left-hand side of the page) are a mess, but they work and with a bit of experimentation it should be easy enough to figure out what they do.

  • Added an option for more virtue lines at the expense of flaws (Mythic characters)
  • Added a button to sort all abilities
  • Skills are now editable and independant of character type
  • Alternate ability layout is currently a bit broken if you want to fill in before printing :confused:
  • Added lists to fill in abilities and a few other things quickly

And - for the "big reveal", a character sheet for grogs!
https://och.nu/tesla/AM/grog.html