After running my first Dungeons and Dragons session as a DM, I’ve come to the realization that making manual character sheets is a much better alternative than automated sheet systems, as convenient as they may be. I’ve been actively involved with TTRPG games for a fairly short amount of time, but even though I’m still a new player at D&D tables, the game has become an obsession of mine.

I’ve spent the past few years crafting different sorts of characters, aided by the convenience offered by automated systems, like D&D Beyond, for example. Systems like these are great, as they break down the need for reading longer guides and put exactly what you need to choose for your character in a very organized way. As such, creating your character in D&D can be extremely easy and quick. However, it comes at a cost.

You Can Learn So Much About D&D With Manual Character Sheets

I Skipped Automated Sheets, Like D&D Beyond

While I was preparing to run my first session as a DM, I helped my players with their character sheets, as they, too, were new players. A couple of them asked if they could be Dhampirs, a lineage that is part of Van Richten’s Guide To Ravenloft, a book that I don’t own on D&D Beyond. Similarly, one of them wanted to be an Oathbreaker Paladin in D&D (we were running a level 3 adventure).

However, I also don’t own the virtual copy of the Dungeon Master’s Guide from 2014. I wasn’t ready to invest in virtual books that I could borrow from friends or whose information I could find online, only to lift a paywall, so I thought it’d be best to make these character sheets manually. I carefully went step-by-step through the character creation, helped them outline and pick their feats, abilities, spells, and more.

This process was much more time-consuming than simply picking automatic options on certain online systems, but it did allow the players to create the characters that they originally envisioned. Moreover, it was an extremely beneficial learning process that had me better understand everything that I was doing on D&D Beyond up until that point – something that I didn’t actually pay too much attention to when using the tool.

D&D Players Should Use Manual Character Sheets

You’ll Get A Better Understanding Of The Game’s Rules

During this process, I came to the realization that I should have been making manual character sheets from the beginning. While the automated systems did help and quickly introduced me to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, I didn’t fully understand why I was getting certain choices; I merely accepted them. Now, I know why characters get certain feats, where some of the extra Ability Score Points come from, and much more.

Making manual sheets, accompanied by the Basic Rules and the Player’s Handbook, for example, gradually guides you through your character’s Origin and what they get from it, in addition to their Species and respective characteristics, and even their Proficiencies. This was subtly known to me before, but because it was automatically included in the character sheet, I didn’t pay much mind to it.

Another thing that you can learn, like I did, is exactly what you should be paying attention to when leveling up characters. This is another thing that happens automatically on systems like D&D Beyond, and you only really need to pick the extra bonuses at certain times. By reading the books, you’ll have a clearer view of how your character gets stronger, at which levels they get subclass features, and when they get stat bumps.

While filling out a character sheet with a pencil may not be for everyone, there’s actually an official fillable PDF sheet offered by Wizards of the Coast. This allows you to manually create your character, print it out, and play. If you level up, all you have to do is open your saved PDF file again, make the level-accurate adjustments, and print the new one.

This process really changed the way I view D&D as a whole, and I highly recommend it for new players interested in better learning the ropes. Filling out a character sheet manually can be a lot of work, especially if it’s your first time, but it will give you a lot of knowledge about the game. All of this may seem irrelevant to seasoned players, but for new adventurers it’s almost a necessity.

Automated Character Sheet Systems For D&D Are Convenient For Veterans

If You Have A Clear Understanding Of Character Creation, Use These Tools

Custom Image by Ben Brosofsky

While I do believe that manual character sheets are a great source of learning for players, automated systems like D&D Beyond and many others are fantastic for veterans and even players with a medium understanding of the rules in D&D. Because you know what you get with every character creation process, as well as the leveling process, you can cut down time spent making manual calculations.

Moving forward, however, I feel like I’ll spend a lot less time relying on these systems and create my characters manually, as this will also enable me to pick species and subclasses that would be locked behind certain paywalls, for example. As complex as it is, Dungeons and Dragons is a fascinating and expansive world of possibilities, and if you learn the rules, you can truly be whatever you like.

Original Release Date

1974

Publisher

TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast

Designer

E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson

Player Count

2-7 Players