A New Character Sheet for the Emberstorm Setting… and Your Settings, Too!

Not long ago, I posted a new character sheet on FFG’s Genesys RPG boards. The sheet I created was derived from the alternate D&D 5E character sheets, just to get a certain subset of players in the mood for a fantasy game run with Genesys. It was well-received; people liked it and downloaded it and all was well. As a hobbyist designer, however, it bugged me that I was using Wizards of the Coast assets to build a character sheet rather than building one from scratch myself.

So I did.

Behold the Genesys Realms: Emberstorm character sheet, a three page sheet with everything my players need for their characters. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

What’s Under the Hood (Page 1)?

There are a couple design choices for this sheet that should be highlighted. I included Motivation on the front page, because I want my players to have these hints at their characters’ personalities front and center. Well, front and left-column, anyway. The point is, having motivations where players can see them at a glance can serve as reminders to help them get into character. Also included on the front page is a nice, sizable spot for Heroic Abilities. (If my players are reading this – and they probably aren’t – this is a hint. Maybe Heroic Abilities are going to be implemented in our game soon!)

What’s Under the Hood (Page 2)?

On the second page, there are six slots where the player can list “Favored Spells.” Just think of this as piecing together the equation for a spell and writing it all down on paper, along with a snazzy name and the difficulty of the action. For instance, if my elven blade wielding holy assassin regularly uses the Barrier action ( ) with the Sanctuary upgrade (+ ), I can call it Shield of Faith and describe it as a shield of shimmering energy surrounding my target. After I’ve done that, I can fill in the bubbles for a Hard ( ) Divine check, and I’ll be able to refer back to that when I use the spell in the future.

Simple as pie.

Of course, you should feel free to be a lot more creative when you imagine spell names and descriptions, making them setting-specific. That’s all part of the fun!

What’s Under the Hood (Page 3)?

Just a talents pyramid. Geez, do I have to put something special on EVERY page?

Speaking of Settings…

“But,” you might say, “my table won’t be playing in your Emberstorm world!” After which you might ask, “Why should we use character sheets with that logo? And what if we need to list different skills? Or want to replace the Favored Spells section with a list of the stats of oddly-named monsters who live in brightly-colored tennis balls our characters carry around in their backpacks?” And you would make a very good point! Several of them, in fact.

Fortunately, I have included the source files, in Photoshop format, for all three pages of the character sheet. The ZIP file contains three PSD-format files and a PDF explaining the Creative Commons license I’ve opted to use.

Creative Commons License? What?

Oh, right. I did lock the source files behind a brief, non-invasive Terms of Service – essentially a Creative Commons license tailored to the needs of the site – but once you click that little draconian checkbox, the files are yours to do with what you wish (within the limitations of the license, of course). Why a license? Well, while the source files are all my handiwork, Genesys itself belongs to Fantasy Flight Games. As such, I can’t sell Genesys products, and neither can anyone else… except FFG. In order to protect myself, should someone download my character sheet and then include it in a product they are trying to sell, I’ve included a Non-Commercial clause in the license.

That’s pretty much it.

The character sheet can be downloaded below, in both low-resolution (screen) and high-resolution (print) varieties. Beneath them, you’ll see the source file download.

Enjoy!

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