Character Sheet Storage Solution Suggestions

[Aotrs Commander]

Okay, open question for the playgrounders.

Currently, all the character sheets (and assorted PC guff) go in plastic wallets in this plastic folder-doofer.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-BQxt35f/0/78b83745/X3/Charsheetquery%20%281%29-X3.jpg

This is a pain, the players never put all their character sheets in a seperate folder like they should, the folder keep falling apart and it's difficult to put it away in the bag (see below).

I have recently started putting the rules stuff (and, as I had a spare box and experiemented, the Actual Rulebooks) in these plastic boxes.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-JRLkr2N/0/61b0bc93/X3/Charsheetquery%20%282%29-X3.jpg

The folder-doofer will not fit in there, and just slapping the character sheets and stuff in willy-nilly will not be helpful.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-Cr3NvRD/0/23586c38/X3/Charsheetquery%20%283%29-X3.jpg

I need a clever solution for better PC storage that must fit into one of those boxes, or at least be of similar dimentions because everything has to go in this:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-TCvc5bs/0/79b56d38/X3/Charsheetquery%20%284%29-X3.jpg

90-litre backpack (not pictured: my pencil case, mouse, and USB HUB in case one day we ACTUALLY use my tablet down the club).

(Currently empty, since I now NEVER leave stuff in my backpack where we're away, because that one time we were broken into, it was stolen to carry the loot off in and I lost figures in the pockets i'd had since I starting gaming.)



What can the playground suggest for us?



(To pre-empt a couple of things that I feel if I don't rule out will be brought forwards: Digital is not under consideration; we don't play online (nor will we ever, since even to start, it would require me porting all 2100 pages of 3.Aotrs onto a digital system, and I ain't doing that for what I hope should be obvious reasons).

The players don't keep their own sheets (except for the one guy who does, and he leaves us with a physical copy on the very rare occasions he doesn't turn up), nor would this be a practical solution to even attempt, since attendance - even with eight players - varies four minimum viable four to full on a week-by-week basis.)

[Grod_The_Giant]

Maybe one folder or binder per player? Pass them out at the start of the session and collect them at the end; in the meantime, your players can use them to take notes, print out spell descriptions, stuff like that.

[Buufreak]

We've gone digital. No printing. No mess of erasing. Quick and easy access for anyone who needs to check anything on the sheet(s).

[GreenDragonPage]

One of the reasons I bring an iPad to my games now is because it has every rulebook I need on it, and I can take notes on it. So it clears out a lot of space in my backpack. There is not a great work around for lugging all the books around, sadly. Books just take up so much physical space. Have you considered using a cart instead of a backpack? They have a huge variety of light weight, durable, foldable carts these days.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/0c92c33f-690e-4c5f-b0a3-e7b99ede2f24.ff5bc409eac981c16712a7cfecba67a5.jpeg

Another option might be to photocopy the pages your players specifically need, rather than lugging an entire book with you when the player is only using 10 or so pages from a 200 page book.

For your stance cards, it would save a bit of space if you made the card slightly smaller, then set them into a trading card binder sheet. I use them to store magic items and spell cards as well. Saves some space and is better for organization. https://media.gamestop.com/i/gamestop/20002295/GameStop-Trading-Card-Binder-Sleeves-25-Pack?$pdp$

[gbaji]

Honestly? For character sheets (and loose paper stuff, printed stuff for adventures, loot lists, whatever), I just bore down and went to an office supply store and purchased a nice leather portfolio case. One that is relatively deep on one side with a 3 ring binder thingie (and plenty of space to just pile papers in there if I want), and little slots and spots to slide various sized stuff (including pencils, cards, whatever) on the other, and that has sides that zip closed. (something like this (https://www.officesupply.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/binders/holders-portfolios/samsill-professional-zippered-holder-ring-binder-pockets-writing-vinyl-black/p23094.html?request_type=mlt)

I used to always feel like I was lugging around stuff, and constantly worried about dropping things, being disorganized, etc. Since I bought one of those, my game life is simplified 100x. Just put the papers, sheets, etc that I need in there, and stack it up with whatever boxes of game materials I'm bringing. Everything is nicely sealed up, and isn't going to spill. There's also enough depth typically to put other small lose items in there (like a dice bag/box, or small box with minis, etc).

Does this put you out 30-50 bucks (you can spend more if you really want to get fancy)? Yeah. But, I've been using the same one for like 10 years now. No sign of wearing out and no problems. And it has the bonus that it will make you look like a serious person, rather than someone fumbling around with papers strewn all over the place. And has the plus that it actually stores your stuff right there for you on the table (if you want). Also serves as a decent dice rolling surface. I typically bring three things to a game session. Game box. Portfolio. Cheap notepad (usually not in the portfolio, cause it's full of "lose" papers, and the notepad stacks just fine). I arrive. Game box goes to the side to be used when needed. Portfolio opens, pull out dice box, mechanical pencil, and the papers/sheets I'm using for the session (GM notes if running, character/reference sheets if playing). Portfolio goes in front of me. Notepad on top of portfolio. Character sheets on top of notepad. Dice box and pencil off to the side. Now I have a good surface for writing on the sheet (the notepad acts as a good writing surface). Also good die rolling surface (dice are rolled on surface in front of me, and kept in box when not being rolled). And anything can be accessed, by just picking up what is now a neat stack of things in front of my seat, and setting to the side to get at anything lower (more relevant if playing in a tight space).

Oh. And it has the amazing benefit that on the off chance that some exhuberant player knocks their drink over in their excitement, none of my gaming materials will be damaged (leather portfolio just wipes clean, and it's on the bottom).

[SpyOne]

We've gone digital. No printing. No mess of erasing. Quick and easy access for anyone who needs to check anything on the sheet(s).
And we were specifically asked not to suggest that.

I wish I could offer a constructive suggestion, but everything that I can think of has a "and test-fit to see if that fits in the box" phase.

Someone above suggested sheets for cards that are designed to fit in a 3-ring binder. If those will fit in the boxes, that seems an excellent start. Perhaps even a 3-ring binder for all the character sheets.

And I will second the idea of getting some manila folders for each character's stuff, and passing them out and collecting them. Pretty soon your players will start decorating their folder.

[GreenDragonPage]

And I will second the idea of getting some manila folders for each character's stuff, and passing them out and collecting them. Pretty soon your players will start decorating their folder.

Whenever I start a new campaign as a DM, I always go to Office Depot and get nice, cardstock-quality character sheets printed for my players. I also buy a folder and a basic/cheap notebook for each player. I can definitely confirm that decorations do wind up all over the folders :smallbiggrin:

[Aotrs Commander]

Thanks for the suggestions (no reply since as I noted in the OP, I think, I was away by the time they came in!); I also had a few replies on the mirrored thread on Reddit before I went away and there were a couple of suggestions for folder-like things that I will be looking at the next time I go to Hobbycraft... Aaand that Reddit thread seems to have unilaterally vanished and I can't even see it in my internet history (what the hell?) though I can still see the products people linked me in my history to at least remember what they suggested and to prove I am not, in fact, going mad.

(This (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Expanding-Organizer-Folder-Letter/dp/B01B25NN64/ref=sr_1_1_ffob_sspa?crid=1IDWQU7AS49C8&keywords=accordion%2Bfolder&qid=1691781117&sprefix=accordion%2Bfolde%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1), or at least a locally-sourced equivilent, is the first option I will be investigating, since unlike a ringbinder, it might be compact enough to do the job.)

The TL:DR is that what I am specifially looking for is, basically, something that is exactly the wrong size for any standard or common options to be useful (no surprise there).

Edit: *headdesk* No, it wasn't reddit, it was the D&D et al thread on SpaceBattles, which I did since it was a wider cross-platform than reddti's edition-specific subreddits, of course (which I normally cross-pollinate with rules equestions.) Duh. It's been a long day coming back.



But to address some specific comments:


Have you considered using a cart instead of a backpack? They have a huge variety of light weight, durable, foldable carts these days.

I hadn't, but mostly because it would be significantly less portable than my backpack, though. It'd be more awkward to put into and out the car, and up the steps into and out of the house (and the wargames club) and it's be more of a pain even if I was walking. (Dad has a sacktrouck, which we use to lug the terrain boxes to and from wargames shows, but that's a different kettle of fish to a weekly RPG session.)


One of the reasons I bring an iPad to my games now is because it has every rulebook I need on it, and I can take notes on it. So it clears out a lot of space in my backpack. There is not a great work around for lugging all the books around, sadly. Books just take up so much physical space.

Another option might be to photocopy the pages your players specifically need, rather than lugging an entire book with you when the player is only using 10 or so pages from a 200 page book.

3.Aotrs IS essentially that, the remaining number of hardcopy-books (as opposed to printed stuff) is now very small (mostly SpC/CR1/CR2/Rules Compedium/Inner Sea World Guide and currently Shackled City; PHBII is currently there, but as soon as I finish the next pass and do a reprint of the spells document, that'll be gone too.




For your stance cards, it would save a bit of space if you made the card slightly smaller, then set them into a trading card binder sheet. I use them to store magic items and spell cards as well. Saves some space and is better for organization. https://media.gamestop.com/i/gamestop/20002295/GameStop-Trading-Card-Binder-Sleeves-25-Pack?$pdp$

The manouvre cards (which we have just re-done, printed and laminated a few weeks ago) are currently stored in the black boxes (and one small folder) as provided by one of the players, divided in the former case by simple 3D printed inserts. That's currently good enough, and if the cards were made any small than they are, we would be running into issues where more than think only one or two would start having to go down to type 7 font or less.

It in any case wouldn't help the issue of the maneouvres for the PCs specifically, since absolutely nobody wants to be going through and picking a character's cards out of a master storage of any type every week.




Honestly? For character sheets (and loose paper stuff, printed stuff for adventures, loot lists, whatever), I just bore down and went to an office supply store and purchased a nice leather portfolio case. One that is relatively deep on one side with a 3 ring binder thingie (and plenty of space to just pile papers in there if I want), and little slots and spots to slide various sized stuff (including pencils, cards, whatever) on the other, and that has sides that zip closed. (something like this (https://www.officesupply.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/binders/holders-portfolios/samsill-professional-zippered-holder-ring-binder-pockets-writing-vinyl-black/p23094.html?request_type=mlt)

I used to always feel like I was lugging around stuff, and constantly worried about dropping things, being disorganized, etc. Since I bought one of those, my game life is simplified 100x. Just put the papers, sheets, etc that I need in there, and stack it up with whatever boxes of game materials I'm bringing. Everything is nicely sealed up, and isn't going to spill. There's also enough depth typically to put other small lose items in there (like a dice bag/box, or small box with minis, etc).

Does this put you out 30-50 bucks (you can spend more if you really want to get fancy)? Yeah. But, I've been using the same one for like 10 years now. No sign of wearing out and no problems. And it has the bonus that it will make you look like a serious person, rather than someone fumbling around with papers strewn all over the place. And has the plus that it actually stores your stuff right there for you on the table (if you want). Also serves as a decent dice rolling surface. I typically bring three things to a game session. Game box. Portfolio. Cheap notepad (usually not in the portfolio, cause it's full of "lose" papers, and the notepad stacks just fine). I arrive. Game box goes to the side to be used when needed. Portfolio opens, pull out dice box, mechanical pencil, and the papers/sheets I'm using for the session (GM notes if running, character/reference sheets if playing). Portfolio goes in front of me. Notepad on top of portfolio. Character sheets on top of notepad. Dice box and pencil off to the side. Now I have a good surface for writing on the sheet (the notepad acts as a good writing surface). Also good die rolling surface (dice are rolled on surface in front of me, and kept in box when not being rolled). And anything can be accessed, by just picking up what is now a neat stack of things in front of my seat, and setting to the side to get at anything lower (more relevant if playing in a tight space).

Oh. And it has the amazing benefit that on the off chance that some exhuberant player knocks their drink over in their excitement, none of my gaming materials will be damaged (leather portfolio just wipes clean, and it's on the bottom).

I'm basically only looking for something to put the character sheets in; everything else fits in the existant boxes/cases. I am running a hybrid of 3.5/PF1 (with very sustantial chunks of both, though not exhaustively everything); short of digital (which I find more time-consumning to search on my kindle than flipping through paper), we're about at the limit of physical mass reduction; added to the fact that my campaign are all about 18 month's worth per stint, it wouldn't all fit in one of those cases.

And for just the characters, they are in the unhappy middle ground where the plastic wallets are sort of okay, but the soft folders kind of aren't, but the amounrt of paperwork is too small for something like ringbinders not to waste too much space in the backpack. (Unlike, say, my Accelerate and Attack! and BattleTech record sheet folders, which have enough guff in them to actually, be, like, square, not triangular in cross-section.)

Binders are also still not going to be as durable as the plastic boxes.



I wish I could offer a constructive suggestion, but everything that I can think of has a "and test-fit to see if that fits in the box" phase.

Someone above suggested sheets for cards that are designed to fit in a 3-ring binder. If those will fit in the boxes, that seems an excellent start. Perhaps even a 3-ring binder for all the character sheets.

No, they're far too big, the boxes are just barely over A4-size. (If they weren't, the point would be moot, as I could just have dunked the current plastic folder in one!) And as noted, ring-binders are not space efficient enough on their own.


And I will second the idea of getting some manila folders for each character's stuff, and passing them out and collecting them. Pretty soon your players will start decorating their folder.

Someone of the ghost-thread positied that idea too, but it has the same problem as the current storage device - not durable enough to withstand being stuffed in the backpack every week and too big to fit into the boxes.

[Kraynic]

It has been a while since I have run games in person, but I was using a backpack just as you are. The route I went for character sheets was a 3 ring binder, which I know you aren't too keen on..

I didn't plan on the binder lasting, I just went with the one that looked like it had the toughest or most convenient to operate rings. Then I filled the thing with the heaviest/most durable dividers (that included pockets), and the plastic sleeves to stick individual things in. The idea was to be able to use the divider pockets for maps, and then the following sleeves would hold individual or categorized pc or npc sheets for that region. I used the pockets in the cover of the binder itself for blank character sheets, both pc and npc. My goal was to be able to easily transfer the contents from a binder that was falling apart to a new one as easily as possible. Basically, I just treated the binder as being disposable.

If you don't find something else that exactly fits your desires, you could give a similar setup a shot.

On another note, If you or someone you know does any leatherwork, you can get a binder you like, cut it apart for the mechanism and cover stiffeners, and then remake it with leather instead of plastic. By the time you do that, there is definitely a monetary investment in materials, not to count the time. On the other hand, things can be customized when going that route if it is available to you, including having it snap or zip shut to keep loose things contained.

[Jay R]

I'm the DM; it's not my business how the players store their character sheets.

I tell them they owe me an up-to-date copy before each game, send an email reminder out about three days before the game, and repeat it the day before the game.

[Aotrs Commander]

I'm the DM; it's not my business how the players store their character sheets.

I tell them they owe me an up-to-date copy before each game, send an email reminder out about three days before the game, and repeat it the day before the game.

We meet every week, for about two-to-two-and-half hours. With one exception (who keeps us supplied with a hardcopy for the rare weeks he's not there), the players don't store their character sheets, the DM does. (True for the past thirty years in every game I've played as PC or DM, bar the one or possibly two occasions I went to a local roleplaying gaming show for the like one or two times it ran.) If that wasn't the case, it would be impossible for me to run at all, as attendance varies on a week-by-week basis sufficiently that even with eight players plus DM again, we have to take a headcount to make sure we have at least the minimum four players (to manage eight characters). "That character just isn't there this week" is not an option; leaving aside that that kind of stuff is so immersion breaking for me personally I'd rather just not play at all if that was the enforced rule (and, as the only person willing to DM currently, purely on practical considerations that would likely mean no-one else would, either), the combats are all prepared and planned (well) ahead of time and balanced for that party size.



(Hell, these days I have enough of a hill to climb to organise the on-top quarterly day sessions (which I host and also mostly DM and we've missed the summer one already), without having to continually chase them to remind them to bring their character sheets and/or dice.)



But, flipside, as long as I can actually get them to the door, they don't whittle about what ever it is I choose to run (I basically have free reign to say "this is what I'm running next") or about dealing with 2116 pages of 3.Aotrs house-rules. Swings and roundabouts.

[SpyOne]

Someone of the ghost-thread positied that idea too, but it has the same problem as the current storage device - not durable enough to withstand being stuffed in the backpack every week and too big to fit into the boxes.
I'll point out that scissors exist, so being too big for the boxes is one problem that manila folders don't have.

[Aotrs Commander]

I'll point out that scissors exist, so being too big for the boxes is one problem that manila folders don't have.

Unless there is something I'm completely missing here, the issue is that they are wider than the width and the length, so cutting them to size would mean cutting off two sides... Which I suppose it a marginal improvement over them being loose, granted, but I'm not sure how helpful that is.

Back burner, though, since it technically sort of semi-files them away individually.

Really need to get to the crafting shop to assess what I can get.

[pocketwatch]

I keep my character sheet in a mini binder. I just folded the pages in half, and punched holes through the ends. There's enough of a border on the design that you don't lose anything.
For the cards, you could probably make something decent to hold them with a Manila folder and a stapler. Punch holes in it and stick that in the binder too.
If you just want to put them in a box, folding them in half first is still a good idea. You can control the card clutter with a row of pockets made of a cut up folder, suited to the dimensions of your cards and box.

[gbaji]

On another note, If you or someone you know does any leatherwork, you can get a binder you like, cut it apart for the mechanism and cover stiffeners, and then remake it with leather instead of plastic. By the time you do that, there is definitely a monetary investment in materials, not to count the time. On the other hand, things can be customized when going that route if it is available to you, including having it snap or zip shut to keep loose things contained.

That's more or less exactly what you get with the portfolio I linked earlier (or something similar). Except it's professionally constructed, has a small binder on one side (enough for a game's worth of papers), and sleeves/pockets of different sizes on the other. The whole thing is enclosed in a leather outer case that zips closed. It sits flat (unlike a binder by itself), is about 2.5" high/deep, and fits easily into a backpack for carrrying.

The alternative the OP linked also works. Just has a flap on the top and is top loaded (all sheets slide in one side), versus something that opens up into two halves. But basicaly the same concept. Something you can put papers and other "stuff" into so they wont slide around and get lost or fall out.

My general issue with bare binders is that they don't protect the papers within them and they are angled. So stacking up game material becomes an excersize all by itself. And they don't really work with odd sized papers at all. Having something you can slide loose papers into and know they wont fall out when you carry your stuff from pointA to pointB, or slide out when stacked up, or when your gaming materials are inevitably knocked off the table, or whatever, is always a plus.