I just ran into trouble with the definition of a character sheet over at the Doing Away with XP (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11469&start=30) thread. Perhaps this term should be added to the glossary?
In summary (if you don't want to read the thread), a character sheet was known as two different things by myself and tiego.rodrigues:
- Tiego: I guess one could call the friends list you used as an example as a character sheet, though it would be strictly through catachresis, as it says nothing about the character herself, except through her connections to other people. I would call it a relationship list, karma list, or whatever name sounds cool to the players...
- Zak: A character sheet holds anything relevant to a group's play concerning a player's character's uniqueness within the game.
So how's this:
Character Sheet: Anything that makes the player unique (resources, descriptions, etc) as recorded on paper(s) (or similar medium).
Quote from: Zak ArntsonCharacter Sheet: Anything that makes the player unique (resources, descriptions, etc) as recorded on paper(s) (or similar medium).
To be candid, I don't really think this definition works. Aside from concern about the use of the term "unique" (which implies that, in
AD-&-D for example, only one character may have a Strength attribute since if more than one had that attribute, it would no longer be unique), I don't think it fits the use of character sheets. Also, I've played games wherein everyone was given identical character sheets so that the only discernible differences between our characters were our individual interpretations of said character sheets.
More importantly, if anything which makes
the player unique and is recorded could be considered a character sheet, then my business card is a character sheet and a napkin with my telephone number on it is a character sheet.
Consider this instead :
Character Sheet: A record of the formalized interactive points of contact between the player and the game system, historically by way of the formal quantifications within system of the options (resources, attributes, character name, et al.) of the player's particular game persona (hence the term 'Character Sheet').
The above definition works for gamist, narrativist, and simulationist games equally well (and even for war games), and it works for all three stances and for all the possible variations of game-mastered and game-master-less gaming. Yet it makes it quite clear the functional relationship between character sheet and system without reifying it.
Doctor Xero
Here's how I would define character sheets:
A document containing all of the data which describes a player character or non-player character.
How is that?
Quote from: Doctor XeroConsider this instead :
Character Sheet: A record of the formalized interactive points of contact between the player and the game system, historically by way of the formal quantifications within system of the options (resources, attributes, character name, et al.) of the player's particular game persona (hence the term 'Character Sheet').
Well, nevermind. That pretty much blows my definition away ^.^
Quote from: Zak ArntsonI just ran into trouble with the definition of a character sheet over at the Doing Away with XP (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11469&start=30) thread. Perhaps this term should be added to the glossary?
Quote from: Doctor XeroConsider this instead :
Character Sheet: A record of the formalized interactive points of contact between the player and the game system, historically by way of the formal quantifications within system of the options (resources, attributes, character name, et al.) of the player's particular game persona (hence the term 'Character Sheet').
The above definition works for gamist, narrativist, and simulationist games equally well (and even for war games), and it works for all three stances and for all the possible variations of game-mastered and game-master-less gaming. Yet it makes it quite clear the functional relationship between character sheet and system without reifying it.
So, is this the definition now?
Doctor Xero
Quote from: Doctor XeroCharacter Sheet: A record of the formalized interactive points of contact between the player and the game system, historically by way of the formal quantifications within system of the options (resources, attributes, character name, et al.) of the player's particular game persona (hence the term 'Character Sheet').
Is this really necessary? It seems to me that needlessly confusing to call something a "character sheet" if it has absolutely nothing to do with the character. So I'm with Tiego here. The player can have game-relevant documents which are not "character sheets". For example, a player's Drama Cards in Torg are not "character sheets".
If you want to come up with a term for any game-mechanical document, call it something else. Maybe "player record"? For that matter, is there a need for formal jargon for this as an umbrella term? i.e. Can't Drama Cards just be called Drama Cards, and relationship maps be called relationship maps, and so forth?
Though I like the definition Doctor Xero provides, I think the lack of discussion in this thread means a lack of need for the item in the glossary. It would be nice for a term that covers all the player-relevant information players hold in front of them, though the lack of a term doesn't bog down discussion (the thread linked from this one is the only time it's tripped me up).
That said, "player records" is a good one (and one I'll wind up using, probably), but it doesn't need to be formalized.
Quote from: Zak ArntsonThough I like the definition Doctor Xero provides, I think the lack of discussion in this thread means a lack of need for the item in the glossary.
<shrug} That works for me. I was more curious than anything else, after reading the jargon thread. <laughter}
Doctor Xero