[I Am A Survivor] Self Contained Character Sheet / Game

[Zachary_Wolf]

Hey Forge!

So a few weeks back my buddy came into town for the weekend and wanted to get a session going. I asked the crew what type of game they wanted, and they all agreed some kind of zombie survival game. Feeling creative, I decided to make an attempt at a self contained character sheet game. In other words, everything you need to know to play is on the character or on the back of the character sheet with some simple rules. Well, that session fell through due to my fatherly duties, but he's coming back later this month and I wanted to get some feedback from like-minded individuals. This is from the prospective of "what the players need to know." Obviously, there are some gaps as far as game mastering, but I want to make sure this is good enough for the players.

Download the PDF from here...

Here's what I'm looking for as far as feedback:

• Does the design of the character sheet seem balanced?
• Are the character creation guidelines and the rules on the back clear enough for players?
• Is the font easy enough to read?
• Do you notice any blatant issues with the pdf itself?

Thanks ahead of time!
Zachary Wolf

[gtroc]

First off, I must say, I really love your character sheets design. it is very evocative. the sheet looks like something that survived a disaster, and yet it is still very clean as far as information available. the character creation rules might be a bit small, but they are legible, and so long as you take a moment to look for them, it is not much of a hassle at all. there may need to be an explanation of terms(specifically My VIPs). I was reading the character creation and was like, "where are the Relationships?" so maybe change the name from relation ships to VIP dice, and then put a little aside next to the VIP section. unless I misunderstood the whole section. the rules seem simple and well presented, though a definition of terms might be useful here as well. Overall this is a good character sheet. I wish I could design one half as good.

[Daniel36]

YES! The character sheet looks really nice. As said, evocative yet clear. Perfect.

Creation guidelines - I will admit I am tired, so maybe I am just missing everything, but I didn't get how the dice worked and how your Meat and Brain skills start, how much of that you have... (nice names btw), or how many talents...

Didn't really get "My Goal" either. It seems, if you pardon the pun, a bit of a no-brainer. My goal "Survive"... That's easy dice earning...

Font is easy to read. I like it.

No blatant issues.

But... I am very tired so it may just be that...
Let us know how it goes!

[Zachary_Wolf]

Thanks for the feedback guys! You rock socks and whatnot.

Damn Jake, I can't believe I missed the Relationships vs. VIP thing. That one went right over my head. I started out calling them Relationships but wanted to put a more original term on the concept I guess. I went ahead and changed a few things to clearify that.

Daniel, I totally had the same thought about Goal when I wrote up the document but forgot to do something about it. Thanks for pointing that out. I added a clearification in there basically saying, "choose a goal (other than survival)". It's pretty obvious everyone has survival as a goal, it's meant to be something more personal and less primal.

I'll post an AP once the session goes down.

Thanks again boys.
Zachary Wolf

[Sp4m]

Typo: Back Sheet "scavage" should be "scavenge"

This looks very good. I am a big fan of simple rules.
However, I feel like there's some stuff missing (GM Stuff).
Do you have a Rules sheet for the GM?

A Read over has me asking a few questions
What is a Refresh Scene, where do they fit into the narrative?
is your dice pool just a pile of dice you can add to any rolls?
What are the base # of successes required for an action of average difficulty?

I really like the idea presented here, but to run a game, I feel like there should be a short document (1-2 pages) explaining just a little more about the rules system.

[Zachary_Wolf]

Hey Folks!

Just wanted to drop a line and say I uploaded a new version of the sheet with some revisions.

Sp4m, I see where some of the extra information is necessary. I'm considering adding a GM worksheet with some extra rules info, sample enemies, and GM tips. Need to brainstorm that one a bit more. Thanks for the feedback! Didn't catch your "scavenge" typo note, so I'll add that one to version 3.

[gtroc]

I like the new version. I think a GM sheet would be great. if the players get a sheet the GM should get one to. plus it would allow you to have sample npcs, or something in it. maybe laminate the GM screen so they can make the marks on it over and over, for enemy health(or whatever) and stuff.

[aryus]

Love the one sheet idea. Character on the front and rules on the back. I think the game has a good range of options and simple rules, yet they are enough.

I second the comment about GM info as the mention of a Refresh Scene confused me a bit and the Conditions are a little vague in some cases (mostly the ones not mentioned in the Gear and resources section).

Anyway, very cool!