Excel character sheet for 3.5 (updated!)

[rrwoods]

The sheet: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~woorich1/rrwoods'%20Sheet.xlsx
Sample character: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~woorich1/Alth%20Shrenan%20character%20sheet%20(level%204).x lsx
Original thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?444336-Excel-2013-character-sheet-for-3-5

If you like this but wish it had "that one thing" -- tell me!

Quick summary: This is an Excel 2013 character sheet for D&D 3.5 (that should open in LibreOffice 5 just fine). It is designed for the smoothest possible at-the-table experience, auto-calculating all sorts of effects and correctly implementing the stacking rules. It is not at all laid out like a paper character sheet (because honestly I'm not a fan of that layout anyhow). It doesn't have any awareness of class/feat data; it *does* lay down a solid framework on which to build a character using such data.

What's new as of 2015/12/19:

The "Fx in" sheets use "x"/"?"/ for on/dynamic/off, respectively (rather than all effects that are "off" showing up in the dynamic dropdown).

[B]Variable effects (like Power Attack) are easy. In the effect definition, you can grab the cell in the "Value" column and use it in your modifier; the "Value" column is a lookup into the Dynamic Effects table on the Summary tab.

New affectable values: Max HP; Natural armor; caster level of spellcasting classes.

Custom effects values. There is a new effects table specifically for creating effects on values the sheet doesn't yet know about. Initiator level is the example used on the linked sheet.

Most conditions in the d20srd condition summary are available as dynamic effects.

Lots of things relating to weapons: extra damage dice are fully supported, and weapon properties with basic value adjustments (attack/damage/threat range, and extra damage dice) are supported. The weapon properties framework is now how "mwk" and "+1" etc. weapons work.

Number of bonus languages is computed automatically. The Basics sheet got a slight redesign layout-wise, and during this I figured out a simple way to accomplish this, so I did it.

Color-coded headers in the Summary sheet. This is the sheet where you're spending most of your time at the table; the headers for all the values you'll want to look at are color-coded according to where those values would be in a "modern" stat block. Black is section 1 (before encounter), green is section 2 (enemy turn), blue is section 3 (your turn), and silver is section 5 (miscellaneous).

And my favorite two new things:

Special Action uses-per-x tracker. When you create an effect whose miscellaneous text includes something like "3/day:" ... magic happens. The specific characters needed are the '/' and the ':'. Check out the sheet for examples -- the Chronocharm of the Grand Master is one such example.

Maneuvers and stances have full first-class support. Yeah, I know -- I use maneuver cards for these, which is why I said I didn't want to do these before. There's a critical thing that's going on with these, though: The new Mnvs and stances sheet has slots at the bottom labeled "Current stance discipline" and "Current strike discipline". These values get automagically updated when you switch stances or indicate which strike you're executing -- allowing you to reference those schools in the effects table! Check out how Shadow Blade and Insightful Strikes (Diam) are implemented now (specifically the value in the "On?" column).

Maneuvers and stances appear on the summary tab, and I'm super-proud of how that table gets built, so this is getting its own paragraph. No matter what order you enter your maneuvers in on the Mnvs and stances sheet, they're always listed in strikes-boosts-counters-others order on the Summary sheet, and their names are highlighted to reflect what school they're in.

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All in all this sheet streamlines the at-the-table experience really well, and (I think) it's pretty easy to get your character set up in it.

As always, you can also crack open the hidden cells and dig into how it works, and change it if you want. Weapons got a little harder to add; there's more work to do if you want to have more than 12 weapons, but I'd be happy to say what's needed (or heck, just post a sheet with as many weapon slots as someone requests if anyone really wants more).

[GilesTheCleric]

I might give this a go for my latest build since I haven't put that on a sheet yet. I've got a 3.P Mystic Ranger using the standard AoO/ karmic feats; does that sound like it would work well with the sheet? Wiz spells would also provide buffs. It looks like I can easily add the PF skills list, and there's even a "forms" section on the basics tab that should handle my wildshaping, right? I'm going to have to find where to add power attack (is it on the weps/armr tab?), but otherwise it looks good. I'll probably have more questions as I get to actually putting the build on it; that will probably be in at least a week once I've got it finalized.

Edit: fair warning, I usually go with in-cell calculations over lookup tables (as you might remember from my sheet), so I might have a bunch of silly questions about that since I'm not as used to it.

First question: I like to make my builds 1-20 (or in the case of the ranger, 1-8) prior to playing, then just change tabs on my sheet to "level up". Is there a similar functionality available here, or will I need to keep a master sheet and a play sheet which I would update at each level?

Second Question: Is there a link to the hosting page and version number somewhere on the sheet, for those who might not bookmark where they got it?

[rrwoods]

I might give this a go for my latest build since I haven't put that on a sheet yet. I've got a 3.P Mystic Ranger using the standard AoO/ karmic feats; does that sound like it would work well with the sheet? Wiz spells would also provide buffs. It looks like I can easily add the PF skills list, and there's even a "forms" section on the basics tab that should handle my wildshaping, right? I'm going to have to find where to add power attack (is it on the weps/armr tab?), but otherwise it looks good. I'll probably have more questions as I get to actually putting the build on it; that will probably be in at least a week once I've got it finalized.

I'll need to look at "the standard AoO/karmic feats" -- what are they?

Power Attack is easy enough. Go to the "Fx in (other)" sheet, and add two lines (I've listed the relevant headings first) --
[Effect/item name, Stat to modify, Type, Modifier, On?]
Power Attack, Attack rolls, untyped, -J103, ?
Power Attack, Damage rolls, untyped, +J104, ?

Column J is the one labeled "Value" -- adjust the row numbers so they're the same as the one you're entering.

The '?' in the "On?" column adds it to the Dynamic Effects dropdowns on the Summary tab. Now you should be able to select Power Attack from the dropdown, and enter a number into the box to get that number subtracted from your attack bonuses and added to your damage.

Wizard spells that provide buffs should be similarly easy. Let me know if you have any questions about how to do a specific spell.

The PF skills list will take a small amount of doing; this is a 3.5 sheet and the "skill consolidations" in place for my game don't completely compress them into one skill, therefore this sheet doesn't do that either. However what you *should* be able to do, for example, is to simply delete the Move Silently row, and replace the name Hide with the name Stealth. If you want, you can reorder the rows so they're alphabetical again (in fact, you can order them however you want; the order they are on the Skills sheet is the order they'll appear on the Summary sheet).

The ability score changes for a form go on the Basics sheet. Type the name of the form in one of the blue boxes in he first column. By default it assumes your mental scores don't change but your physical ones do; if that's the case just enter your new physical scores. If there are effects that take effect only in specific forms (or only in your "normal" form!), that's where the Form column on the Fx in sheets comes in handy. Leaving that column blank means the effect applies in all forms; specifying one means it applies only in the one form.

[EDIT] Second answer: ... yes! (which I just uploaded a minute ago.) On the "Notes" sheet I've added a note as to where the file came from. It does occur to me that, since I'm sharing this, I should probably implement some sort of versioning, and maybe a help-document... What have I gotten myself into :-P

[GilesTheCleric]

I'll need to look at "the standard AoO/karmic feats" -- what are they?
[snip, I'll deal with that when it's less way past midnight]
[EDIT] Second answer: ... yes! (which I just uploaded a minute ago.) On the "Notes" sheet I've added a note as to where the file came from. It does occur to me that, since I'm sharing this, I should probably implement some sort of versioning, and maybe a help-document... What have I gotten myself into :-P

A standard package of feats like Combat Reflexes, Robilar's Gambit, Karmic Strike, and other things added to-taste like Clever Opportunist, or even the zoning package of Defensive Sweep, Thicket of Blades, Short Haft, what-have-you. The goal is to use a ton of AoOs to get out double or more the attacks per round, whether your opponents move, don't move, hit you, or miss you. It's a lose/lose/lose/lose for the foe.

For mine I just use a simple text file with versioning info and some help info. There should be a link to the file at the bottom of my sheet (it's in the same dropbox).

[rrwoods]

Oh I didn't see the first part of your edit earlier. Re: "fair warning" -- feel free to ask as many questions as you want, I encourage it! Questions will hopefully give me insight as to how people-that-aren't-me find the userfriendliness. I want it to be as userfriendly as possible, so please, ask away :-) That said, regarding in-cell vs lookups, you shouldn't have to muck with any nitty gritty to get a character into this thing (I hope).

Re: "first question" -- It does not at all support the sheets-as-levels concept, since the work is spread across many sheets. Copying the file is the next-best thing I can think of.

As far as the AoO feats, it's a question of how much do you want the sheet to handle. For Combat Reflexes, my preference would probably be to just make an effect whose miscellaneous text is "[atk options] Combat Reflexes (make a number of additional attacks of opportunity equal to your Dex bonus)" and call it a day -- this will cause "Combat Reflexes" to show up under the "ATK OPTIONS" table in the Summary tab (the text in parentheses won't render; if you forget what an effect does, go back to the Fx tab where you entered it). However if you want actual tracking throughout the round, you could instead make an effect where the *name* is Attacks of Opportunity, and the miscellaneous text is:

="[atk options] Combat Reflexes (" & (DexMod + 1) & "/rd: attack of opportunity)"

Then the magic happens -- "Attacks of Opportunity" should be selectable in the SPECIAL ATTACKS/ACTIONS table (which has newly appeared), and you can track the number of AoOs you've made there.

My general philosophy is that feats you build your character around are things that you (generally) know what they do -- so I usually just make a miscellaneous text effect and call it a day. If there's a desire for something more complicated, I'm all ears though! Looking at Robilar's Gambit I'm not even really sure what else I'd want from that (for example).

[GilesTheCleric]

Oh I didn't see the first part of your edit earlier. Re: "fair warning" -- feel free to ask as many questions as you want, I encourage it! Questions will hopefully give me insight as to how people-that-aren't-me find the userfriendliness. I want it to be as userfriendly as possible, so please, ask away :-) That said, regarding in-cell vs lookups, you shouldn't have to muck with any nitty gritty to get a character into this thing (I hope).Userfriendliness, haha. I think you're in luck that you're sharing a work like this on a site like the playground, where there's a whole lot of smart, technically-minded folks who aren't afraid of a spreadsheet. Anywhere else and I can see users throwing up their arms and saying "why isn't there a wizard/ .exe that can fill this in for me?".


Re: "first question" -- It does not at all support the sheets-as-levels concept, since the work is spread across many sheets. Copying the file is the next-best thing I can think of.No worries; that's the nature of something complex like this. Trying to get it all on one tab would probably lose a lot of organization and functionality.


As far as the AoO feats, it's a question of how much do you want the sheet to handle. For Combat Reflexes, my preference would probably be to just make an effect whose miscellaneous text is "[atk options] Combat Reflexes (make a number of additional attacks of opportunity equal to your Dex bonus)" and call it a day -- this will cause "Combat Reflexes" to show up under the "ATK OPTIONS" table in the Summary tab (the text in parentheses won't render; if you forget what an effect does, go back to the Fx tab where you entered it). However if you want actual tracking throughout the round, you could instead make an effect where the *name* is Attacks of Opportunity, and the miscellaneous text is:

="[atk options] Combat Reflexes (" & (DexMod + 1) & "/rd: attack of opportunity)"

Then the magic happens -- "Attacks of Opportunity" should be selectable in the SPECIAL ATTACKS/ACTIONS table (which has newly appeared), and you can track the number of AoOs you've made there.

My general philosophy is that feats you build your character around are things that you (generally) know what they do -- so I usually just make a miscellaneous text effect and call it a day. If there's a desire for something more complicated, I'm all ears though! Looking at Robilar's Gambit I'm not even really sure what else I'd want from that (for example).

Okay, that seems reasonable. It's late so I'll have to think about this later.

[rrwoods]

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~woorich1/rrwoods'%20Sheet.xlsx

Just put this up -- it's the same sheet, but with no data, so you don't need to go through emptying it out before using it.

[daremetoidareyo]

Here's a crazy idea:
Take this feat chart (link removed) from an sqlite data base and incorporate it into your Excel Character sheet. You might want to concatenate the description, pre-reqs, special, and normal together. I'tl be ugly/great. Choose your feats and they'll populate a new sheet.

[rrwoods]

Here's a crazy idea:
Take this feat chart (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8V7huqu8tAKS2pCdVhHcGI1SnM/view?usp=sharing) from an sqlite data base and incorporate it into your Excel Character sheet. You might want to concatenate the description, pre-reqs, special, and normal together. I'tl be ugly/great. Choose your feats and they'll populate a new sheet.

I don't have any data baked into the sheet at all right now, and I'd prefer to keep it that way -- no looking through a bunch of stuff your character/party doesn't have -- BUT what I might do is bundle a separate sheet that you can easily copy/paste effects from. I'll have to think about it, as getting all the numerical stuff working would be quite a task, and as it is any individual can just type up the ten or so effects at a time they need, which takes just a few minutes.

[daremetoidareyo]

I don't have any data baked into the sheet at all right now, and I'd prefer to keep it that way -- no looking through a bunch of stuff your character/party doesn't have -- BUT what I might do is bundle a separate sheet that you can easily copy/paste effects from. I'll have to think about it, as getting all the numerical stuff working would be quite a task, and as it is any individual can just type up the ten or so effects at a time they need, which takes just a few minutes.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I'm gonna borrow what you have and see if I can make a fully automated sheet. Now that I'm finished with feats, I'm working on modifying all of the spells to fit into an excel file. It would be neat to be able to just populate a cheat sheet with all the spell description stats onto by typing the name of the spell on the spells known field. But first I need to clean the spell database data up for conversion into .xls

I pm'ed you the feat file, so I'm going to go ahead and delete the link here in the forum, just in case.

[GilesTheCleric]

I'm gonna borrow what you have and see if I can make a fully automated sheet.

Isn't that what Heroforge is? However, I don't think it's free.

[rrwoods]

Isn't that what Heroforge is? However, I don't think it's free.

Heroforge is free, I think, and also very good at what it wants to do. However it also is loaded with macros from what I remember, making anything that's not compatible with VBA a problem.