Hi Haley, I just found this thread. I know it is a month old but I rarely visit the lower forums. YEa, I got stuck in the "tell something about you" thread and haven't left. go figure.

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]What is your opinion on character sheets?[/quote]

I believe character sheets should remain dynamic. They are written by the individual author and are in no way property of the thread moderator. Any moderator who asks you to PM the CS to them and then posts them as is, is doing a great injustice to the author. They must be posted by the author so they can update and make changes to the text as the character they are writing about develops. Hopefully, authors are writing character development to make this quality possible.

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]Faceclaims?[/quote]

IMHO, I believe a written description of the character is more important than the image. I usually leave the posting of images as an option. If an author chooses to post an image, I prefer face claims with credit given to the real person over all other images. If an author cannot locate a real life image to use, then hand drawn images are acceptable if drawn by an artist that appear lifelike. Animations with exaggerated features are unacceptable (i.e.: Anime/Manga).

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]Color codes?[/quote]

Each section of a CS should be clearly divided in some manner. Using a single color to denote the title of each section is a necessity. An author can delineate the sections by increasing the size of the title with an h3 tag or not. Or possibly by using an underscore.

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]What's the 'right amout' of images?[/quote]

If more images are used in addition to the face claim, they should be placed inside hider tags so they do not clutter up the CS.

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]Freeform or GM provided code?[/quote]

Honestly, I prefer Freeform, but given the responses above, I would be inclined to provide some guidance to the structure of the Character Sheet.

[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]Things that should be be included/excluded?[/quote]

The items to be included or excluded would be situationally dependent upon the nature, theme and universe of the RP. Some folks believe the CS can do without the Personality section. For me, that is a key component of the CS. There are so many different personality traits and some people have different personalities around specific characters while others are the same consistent personality regardless of present company.

I generally post the character's name and optional image at the top. They give the reader an identity to cling onto. The description comes next and should state the character's race, skin color, age, height, weight and body style. If the character is of a race other than human, a detailed description of differences in body style should be illustrated here. If the character is a rock hard mass of muscle of a heaping pile of flab or maybe just a typical soft Joe like most real people in the world. This information should be contained in the first paragraph. 

The second paragraph should include a description of how the person dresses. If they wear a uniform or prefer specific individualistic tastes in dress. Maybe they wear something all the time; an article of jewelry or a ball cap.

The biography should be detailed to include location of birth, family life as a child and how specific events in their history created the person we see today. If they have scars, tattoos or other identifying features should all be explained in the biography/history. Any social status or special abilities should be explained in the biography/history. If this is done properly, it would contain more than five paragraphs; more if the character is older.

Once I've written all this, then I write the character's personality description. I've actually been thinking of their personality as I write the bio. Experiences in their biography will have an impact on the personality. They may be quite significant.

One of the last things I like to include are individual perceptions my character has of the other characters in the RP. When I read other author's Character sheets, I read them as though I am the character I just wrote. I try to imagine how they would perceive these other characters. Do they like them? Why? or Why not? What does the character like or dislike about the other characters? I describe these perceptions in this final section. I refer back to when in conversation with said character. It helps me determine what tones I use when addressing these characters in the Role Play.

I hope this helps. I know I get a bit detail oriented. It comes with age and experience.