Formatting a Character Sheet
Formatting a character sheet might seem tedious or unnecessary but, if a player has taken time to format a sheet so that it looks nice is displayed in such a form that is appeasing to the reader then most of the time that player will come off as devoted. Some people don't like to format a character sheet simple because it is going to take a while no matter what code you are using. But, it can actually be really simple. So, let's cut the chatter and get to the meat of this.
Organization
Organization is key to designing a well flowing character sheet. Say we are given this character sheet here:
It looks a bit lackluster, yes? It's organization is a bit poor and if left like this the sheet just seems boring. So, let's organize it into three sections. These sections don't need specific names but it is important to have them. Each section can contain anything relating to the character so long as they are organized correctly. The below is how the above sheet should be organized.
Seen, it is displayed in an easier format for a reader to find what they need to. But, it is still lackluster in design and just bland to look at.
Using Bold, Italics and Underline
This is where I believe most people get deterred from formatting a sheet. Using the BIUs is often a lot of work, especially if you have quite a few sections to use them in. But before we go into formatting the sheet, let's cover when it is proper to use either B, I, or U. Most of the times you can use B and U together but I would not suggest using I with B in the same format. Often times it leads to a Bold and Italicized words which isn't that great looking.
Bold, or B as I shall be calling it, is properly used for each separate section. Let's say you have just a bland Name: section and you want to spice it up. Adding bold to Name: will create Name: which is more pleasing to the eyes and nicer to read. But, bold can also be used in other sections. Let's say that you lumped Name and age together to make Name, Age. If you were John Doe, 23 it just seems weird to have it all in bold. Instead, placing 23 in bold separates it and identifies that this is indeed separate from the name.
Italics, or I as it shall be called, is properly used when a character is speaking to her/himself, using a quote or stating a nickname. For example, if your character is named John Doe and he has a nickname like Scrapper, lumping them together and stating John 'Scrapper' Doe just isn't appealing to the eyes. Instead, I prefer to place Nicknames at the end and use I to form it into John Doe Scrapper. See, isn't it more appealing to the eyes that way? Anyway, time to move on to Underline.
Underline, or U as it shall be called, is properly used with B in making sections appear more appealing. For example, a simple B Name: section seems a little bland while using both B and U makes it into something nicer([b][u]Name:[/b][/u]). It can also be used to note specific information in the character sheet that you want the GM to look at.
With all that over and done with we can get to the finished product. With the editions of B, I and U we have made the below.
Finished Product:
Appearance:
Name/Nickname:John Doe Scrapper, 23
Quote: insert witty quote here
Gender:
Personality:
History:
Inventory:
Money:
Other:
For copying and pasting:
[ b][ u]Appearance:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Name/Nickname:[/u][/b]John Doe [ i]Scrapper[/i], [ b] 23[/b]
[ b][ u]Quote:[/u][/b] [ i]insert witty quote here[/i]
[ b][ u]Gender:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]History:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Inventory:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Money:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Other:[/u][/b]
And thus we have a nice looking format that is pleasing to the eyes. But we aren't done yet.
Using Alignments and more organization
Alignments are nice but some times people can over use them. An entire post shouldn't be aligned to the center or right. Things that should be aligned is Name, Appearance, Quote and Gender. But this doesn't look nice when you do so entirely. So what I like to do is remove the Title of Appearance and instead place it above everything else. Then, I combine Name and Gender together so that it simply would state Name Nickname, Age, Gender and would flow nicely when centered. But what about the quote you ask? Well, that is simply, place it below the picture and above the new section. And, in order to make this look nice I often leave the Name untouched and Italicize the Nickname while using bold on the Age and Gender. Thus, when applied this makes the below product.
The rest of the Sheet should remain untouched so as to not over use the alignments. And with that, we have designed what is a nice looking character sheet, which is displayed in full below.
Witty Quote
John Doe Scrapper, 23, Male
Personality:
History:
Inventory:
Money:
Other:
For Copying and Pasting:
[ center][ img]insert image here[/img][/center]
[ center][ i]Witty Quote[/i][/center]
[ center]John Doe [ i]Scrapper[/i], [ b]23[/b], [ b]Male[/b][/center]
[ b][ u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]History:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Inventory:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Money:[/u][/b]
[ b][ u]Other:[/u][/b]
Note from the Author(myself): If you wish to use any portion of this formatted sheet for your own you are welcome to. In order to properly use the formatting, remove the space before the bracket and first letter of the formatting.