New Player Character Sheet for 5th Edition
I've run quite a few games with brand new players who knew absolutely nothing about D&D or tabletop RPGs or even roleplaying at all. Typically I describe it to them as improv with some rules for realism and a narrator, which is the DM. That seems to do the trick to get them to understand and get excited about playing. Then I hand them a character sheet and all the color drains out of their face as they see a dizzying matrix of numbers and math and terms they've never heard of before. What was genuine excitement before is replaced with a "maybe I'll just watch."
How I generally manage to salvage the situation is telling them to ignore huge swaths of the sheet and only focus on the simple lists and character descriptors. I also decided to make this sheet, with the parts players will actually want to focus on at the top, and leaving the stuff that honestly only the DM needs to care about at the bottom for reference.
Shout outs: Stacey, Lj Nielson, Daniel Wise, big jimbo, Conall Reilly, Alex, Violet Floyd, keith oneal rogers, Val Lorenzo Pilapil, Mika, William Bamann, Patrick Natale, Cam Largent, Thaddeus Johnson, Ramona Schjeldal Viking, Mykaela Grube, Donavan Guay, Jack Stevens, Sam Davis, Chandlor Desper, Layha Quinn, Rebecca Wheeler, Masca Boom, Jordan, Rincewind, Michael Hamilton, Rob Hale, Vedie V, Mylon Schroder, Nathan, Conrad Carlson, Tiffany Mathis, Joseph Mitchell, Jordan Florez, Devantre Blackmon, Robert Rich, Mohammed Murtuza, bob leponge, TheFiendSaint, Robin Ellis-Foster, Deanna Pyle, Jess, Meme Pitt-Melton, E.D.F., Lorena Stuart, Zee Livezey, Alexandra Nguyen, KuroKimora, ryan scott, Christianna Schommer, Kerry Melton, SpiritFang, Lizette Marie, DJ_Kelf, Insomic Panda, paige anderson, Cassandra Keyes, Simon Wegerstedt, Naomi B, charles phillips, Darel Boyer, Rupert Borthwick, Anthony Lopez, Nick Soucy, Melanie Warga, Jeremiah Walker, Randall Welker, Shyler Lance, Bryan Sheairs, Koto Sinclair, Max Hops, Sarah Holland, Joshua David Maddox, Jennifer Smith, Ray Bissonnette, Joe Dalby, Joline Tran, Matt Price, Yuki, ShortyMcgibble, mtnman1979@aol.com, Parker VanDerMeide, KFB_Patreon, David Davidson, eric sun, Bruce Willison, Gundar Wez, Ken Shapiro, Matthew payne, Jacob Plummer, RiGarou, Rebecca Montelli, John Karels, Dylan Williams, Nahellion, Serena Verden, Alexander Griffiths, SnipsGTI, bilbens baggo, Stuart, IbKelek, Galygious, T. Alexander, Tim Mason, Maxwell Mayer, Gannon Dubay, Thobek, Aaron Teupe, Celso R Garcia III, Felix Schmäche, John, Miss Zilla M, RRare, Jordan Brazeal, Kyle Clark, Jake Lane, Adam Ruiz, Phillip P Torchia, Conor Quinn, Natalie Luttrell, Balanced Game Review, Stefan Gottschalk's, Matthew Wood, Royce Dillard, DiegoDeath, Remora's Jewel, Bartis Edmond Hawley-Wall, Dawnwolf, Buffonturtle, Christina Majchrzak, jeremy baisch, Ivee Ransford, Zealot23, Bruxius, Shane Andrews, CJMAXP, The Dreaded Squirrel, Chevy Jones, Keaton Permenter, Shazear, Curran Vallejo, Leanna Orr, Ezzela1891, John Nazario, Gary, Gordon Alexander Fallon, Jason Clark, Topher Scott, Max Puplett
Their contribution stands as a beacon of hope for all adventurers!
