Character Sheet app or program

[KnightlyKnave]

So I have a bit of money saved up and I was thinking that it would be great if I had something like an ipad that I could use instead of a character sheet when I'm gaming either as a PC or if I'm running a game I wrote. I'm sick of using a piece of paper and I tried just putting it in a plastic sleeve and using dry erase markers but now I was something more elegant. Also being able to pull up any pdfs of 3.5 manuals would be handy.

But, I've never owned a mac product and I'm not sure if the ipad would have what I want. Originally I was thinking that I'd want a program that would let me open a pdf and then type in or write on the screen in the various areas and then save it just like it was a piece of paper. But, now I'm thinking that maybe there's an app that could make it more user-friendly than that, something with drop down menus where I could fill in equipment and have some calculations worked into it to help sell gear or something like that.

Maybe a small laptop would work just as well if there wasn't an ipad app for that but a program.

I need some advise if anyone has any.

[Kuma Kode]

I use Xournal to open a PDF, write on it with my wacom tablet, and save it. It doesn't support PDFs with forms, but generally you won't get that. PDFs are not really designed for saving and editing, they're mostly for distribution of something that should be printed, or edited slightly within pre-programmed variations, then printed.

Xournal also lets you type, if you are ashamed of your handwriting (like me).

[OracleofWuffing]

Maybe a small laptop would work just as well if there wasn't an ipad app for that but a program.

For what you're looking for, a small laptop (or even possibly a 14-15" laptop) would probably be the best in terms of just having your bang for your buck. For example, I don't know if they've changed things, but I can't put pdf's on my iPod Touch without jailbreaking it; I have to store the PDF's on an e-mail account and download them every time I want to look at it.

The big problem with character sheet applications is, unless they involve Wizards of the Coast, they can only have SRD material in them by default, so you have to add additional options in by yourself.

The formerly "Official" 3.5 Character Sheet program was eTools, which is a Windows-only program that Wizards stopped supporting. It's difficult to obtain legally, but if you can get it, it had a bunch of expansions to cover a bunch of 3.5 books.

PCGen is an open-source character sheet program for many RPGs, including D&D 3.5. It kinda-sorta forked off from eTools when the contract with Wizards expired. As I said before, it doesn't have official support for anything outside of the SRD, but on the plus side, it's compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

You could create a character sheet normally, and copy it to Myth-Weavers. As long as you have internet access where you're playing your games, you'd have access to your character sheet. Here's and example of what your sheet would look like (this is for a 4e character, but you can also create 3.5e characters). Free for registration, so you could try it out and see how you like it.

Finally, there's HeroForge, which is a honking huge spreadsheet that makes a character sheet. It's an xls, so you might need Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice to make use of it.

[KnightlyKnave]

Wow, thanks guys. HeroForge is rediculiously complex. I may use it if I can wrap my head around it. It looks good for precreating character sheets and then printing them I think.

PCGen seems a bit simpler. I may go with that one.

I certainly got what I asked for!

[KnightlyKnave]

Me again.

With PCGen that seems to be just a creation of a 1st level character sheet. I'm guessing you can't use it mid game to record your current hit points after taking damage? I don't see anywhere to put magical equipment once you find that and I also don't see any of the classes from non-core books (like Hexblade or Warlock) nor any prestige classes. Am I right about that?

[Moginheden]

If you have net access on your ipad try this site http://pifro.com/pro/

It doesn't let you write on the sheet, (only type as it's designed for a computer) but unlike most other generators it lets you change everything to what you need just like you would with pen & paper.

It does some of the calculations for you, but you can over-write what it does if you've got a houserule or some weird feat/item whatever that doesn't normally fit.

If you use a spell/feat from the srd it links to the details, but it allows other feats/spells so you don't have to worry about being limited to it's list.

edit: and it does save to their servers so you can write your current HP, etc in it and save it between sessions.

[nylanfs]

Me again.

With PCGen that seems to be just a creation of a 1st level character sheet. I'm guessing you can't use it mid game to record your current hit points after taking damage? I don't see anywhere to put magical equipment once you find that and I also don't see any of the classes from non-core books (like Hexblade or Warlock) nor any prestige classes. Am I right about that?

Check out the Character sheet tab once you have your char open, Change the dropdown to the preview.html sheet, many of those forms are fillable. And the totals that are underlined are rollable. If you click on the initiative score it will give you your roll.

Magical equipment is made via right-clicking on the base item ie chain shirt. and adding different equipment modifications to it. Remember you have to have a +1 enhancement before adding most magical effects. If it's something that is a little more involved than the standard magic creation system can handle join the PCGenListFileHelp group and we'll help you manually create it, but that is generally too slow during a game. :)

And yes anything that isn't part of the SRD for 3.5 (ie almost everything other than what's in the 3 core books) wasn't released by WotC under the OGL. But again we'll gladly help you create your own versions at the above yahoo group.

Hope that answers your questions ;)

[LansXero]

maybe this will help?: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2739526/Char...ll%20In%5D.pdf
originally from:
http://www.mad-irishman.net/pub_dnd_...#3e_sheets_225
but I cant find the exact link anymore =/.

Or maybe:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2739526/Char...5BSSAX2%5D.pdf
Originally from:
http://www.ssa-x2.com/
but it seems its no longer working.

[OracleofWuffing]

Me again.

With PCGen that seems to be just a creation of a 1st level character sheet. I'm guessing you can't use it mid game to record your current hit points after taking damage? I don't see anywhere to put magical equipment once you find that and I also don't see any of the classes from non-core books (like Hexblade or Warlock) nor any prestige classes. Am I right about that?

Seems like nylanfs handled most of the stuff, but you can adjust your level using the "Levels to Add/Remove" and +/- buttons on the Summary tab.

[nylanfs]

Umm, yea I forgot to mention that. But then there's LOTS to talk about with PCGen. :)

Like my favorite (especially as a cleric) setting up different spell lists of memorized spells for say combat, Social, undead etc. Really saves on ingame prep.

[Swooper]

I've been using an iPad for gaming since christmas. It works great. Assuming you either have the 3G version or play somewhere with a wifi connection, you can just use a site like TTW or Mythweavers to store your sheet, and run it from a browser. PDFs aren't a problem either, you can even get a pdf reader app for free (iBooks), but I'll recommend GoodReader personally. Or you could use Dropbox for easy importing, but I find the pdf reader part of it lacking, plus it takes a while to download each pdf when you need it.

Finally, I'll recommend Dicenomicon. It's a diceroller app that actually rolls 3d dice with a physics engine. Very tweakable and fun with lots of additional features, totally worth the $5 purchase.