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, Phil Mehl, Wesley Muncy, elijah D. maben, R., bruschkin, Vincent Drone, thea musing, Brian Nunziato, Matt Yates, Elisa Martinez, Ryan Flagg, Jade Arrowood, Angelo Anderson, Dave Walker, Rhonda Seiter, Jonathan Lekse, Katie White, JollyGamer, Tiernan Greenman, Burlyfighter, Gillian Tolbert, David R Abbott, Rick Marsh, Brittany DeNicholas, Phillip Hash, Amanda Kettles, Lou Bliss, Pythor Sen, Bryson Waits, Desedent, Michael Isberg, Nat, Thomas Wilhelm, Krueger82, Irate The Pirate, Mark L, Conall Reilly, Cam Largent, Siren, AstroLass, Lizzie, Michael Hamilton, Vedie V, Mylon Schroder, Nathan, Jordan Florez, Robert Rich, Rodney O'Dell, Robin Ellis-Foster, Jess, Zee Livezey, Kevin, Kerry Melton, Mary Kieser, SallySparrow132, Naomi B, J, Millergendraft, Federica Frezza, Nick Soucy, Ellen Mitchell, Melanie Warga, Jeremiah Walker, Bryan Sheairs, Bryan Kempka, chris wilson, Max Hops, Sarah Holland, Joshua David Maddox, Jennifer Smith, Liz Fontain, Ray Bissonnette, Joe Dalby, Joline Tran, Matt Price, Nicholas Zamora, ShortyMcgibble, Mr. Vinclair, mtnman1979@aol.com, KFB_Patreon, eric sun, Kayleigh Sulin, Dani, Gundar Wez, Nahellion, Nicholas Hanke, bilbens baggo, Stuart, Brysen Packer, Maxwell Mayer, Gannon Dubay, Thobek, Aaron Teupe, Mage1X, XMrMonkyx ., Miss Zilla M, Jordan Brazeal, Kyle Clark, Jake Lane, Adam Ruiz, Phillip P Torchia, Stefan Gottschalk's, Remora Jewel, Alex Harford (VA7OMM), jeremy baisch, Daniel Edwards, Zealot23, Shane Andrews, Brandon Mußiq, CJMAXP, Lisa Tucker, KingHavok1217, Mx Charlie, Justin Snyder, Zachary Burgess-Hicks, Shazear, Steve Rosenlund, Ezzela1891, John Nazario, Gordon Alexander Fallon, Justin Stensgard, Jason Clark, Trey Vickory
Their contribution stands as a beacon of hope for all adventurers!
