I love a good character sheet.  Portrait or landscape doesn't really matter, as long it is designed well.  Having said that, IMHO, all other things being equal, landscape is better.  

On the left hand side, you have stuff that doesn't change much - attributes, advantages/disadvantages, skills or whatever.  On the right hand side, you have stuff that changes a fair bit, like hit points (or whatever), equipment and notes.  

Unless of course, you're left handed in which case you might want to reverse that

Quote from: Tyberious FunkI love a good character sheet.  Portrait or landscape doesn't really matter, as long it is designed well.  Having said that, IMHO, all other things being equal, landscape is better.  

On the left hand side, you have stuff that doesn't change much - attributes, advantages/disadvantages, skills or whatever.  On the right hand side, you have stuff that changes a fair bit, like hit points (or whatever), equipment and notes.  

Unless of course, you're left handed in which case you might want to reverse that

I might try that out (static information on left, dynamic on right) as a design strategy. I love being able to Group items and shuffle them around

I'm pretty fond of the landscape layout, A4. That's because I'm usually writing them up on a computer, and they're easier to read that way.

Another reason is that I like to have two columns, with the game stats stuff on the left and the character background or notes on the right. Then you can fold it over in the middle, and be able to focus on the stuff you need now, in the small A5 size - which also fits neatly in my cargo pants pocket. You can also fold it the other way and the A5-sized piece is good to write on. When you write on portrait A4, there's a lot of wasted space, stuff crossed out, etc.

Some systems don't need even a full A5, in which case you can have two characters per page, or extra note space.

Ideally my game books would be A5-sized, too, and with just the rules in them. Then rulebook and character sheets could all fit in those leg pockets as I trundle off to game sessions.

Quote from: JimBobOzIdeally my game books would be A5-sized, too, and with just the rules in them.

I love the A5 size and have been investigating the possibility of getting some of my PDF books printed on A5 paper and bound with spiral binding.  The spiral binding makes it easier to lay out the book when reading at the table.

Quote from: Tyberious FunkI love the A5 size and have been investigating the possibility of getting some of my PDF books printed on A5 paper and bound with spiral binding.  The spiral binding makes it easier to lay out the book when reading at the table.

In spite of everything else I found unlikeable about Living Steel, the spiral binding was great. When my Aria books fell apart, I had Kinko's spiral bind them and it was glorious.

I like to take a full size sheet of paper, lay it out landscape-style, and then fold it in half to form a character-book thingie. I do that because I like different pages for different things, like a page for spells memorised and one for gear, and a third for feats and skills, and the fourth for stats.

Quote from: PseudoephedrineI like to take a full size sheet of paper, lay it out landscape-style, and then fold it in half to form a character-book thingie. I do that because I like different pages for different things, like a page for spells memorised and one for gear, and a third for feats and skills, and the fourth for stats.

That's another genius idea...see, the player already knows their character's name and all that pizzazz. So the "fluff" information goes on the outside of the sheet, while the system info goes on the inside. When playing, the sheet is opened up bookstyle for the information they need. I like that.

Thanks. I find it's really handy for crunchy stuff like D&D.

Quote from: WilThat's another genius idea...see, the player already knows their character's name and all that pizzazz. So the "fluff" information goes on the outside of the sheet, while the system info goes on the inside. When playing, the sheet is opened up bookstyle for the information they need. I like that.

Just noting that I do this in Portrait sheets by having the fluff on the back of the sheet, while the front has the most frequently consulted stats and tables.  It's the same idea.

Quote from: jhkimJust noting that I do this in Portrait sheets by having the fluff on the back of the sheet, while the front has the most frequently consulted stats and tables.  It's the same idea.

Yeah but the other way has panache! :haw:

since I store my chatacter sheets in a binder, I prefer portrait becasue it will take up less space on the game table.

QuoteIdeally my game books would be A5-sized, too, and with just the rules in them. Then rulebook and character sheets could all fit in those leg pockets as I trundle off to game sessions.

First time I looked at and picked up an A5 sized RPG rule book I thought "W...T...F?" But very shortly I really got used to it and would like to see more of it.  Of course some games as they exist now printed to that format would be somewhat awkward I think. It seems to work with rules that are brief, otherwise too much page flipping.

Not that pressure on writers to go back and craft dense, concise versions of rules would be particularly bad. :hehe:

Quote from: NYTFLYRsince I store my chatacter sheets in a binder, I prefer portrait becasue it will take up less space on the game table.

Now that's funny - I prefer landscape because it will take up less space on the game table.

They don't use valuable space towards the middle of the table where floor plans, handouts, and munchies get shuffled around.

Dirk

Quote from: blakkieFirst time I looked at and picked up an A5 sized RPG rule book I thought "W...T...F?" But very shortly I really got used to it and would like to see more of it.  Of course some games as they exist now printed to that format would be somewhat awkward I think. It seems to work with rules that are brief, otherwise too much page flipping.

Not that pressure on writers to go back and craft dense, concise versions of rules would be particularly bad. :hehe:

Exactly the same for me, the first time I encountered smaller rulebooks I thought wtf?  Then once I got used to the idea, which didn't take long, I saw that actually it was in many ways an improvement.

AFMBE, BW, Sengoku revised, all of these cut the size and benefit from it.  By contrast, I couldn't fit Nobilis on my shelves, which in the end was part of why I sold it.

Quote from: BalbinusExactly the same for me, the first time I encountered smaller rulebooks I thought wtf?

You mean like....Traveller?