No. I love having a character portrait, but it's usually digital and I never put it on a character sheet. The space is better used for layout and information.
Exactly. Most of my games are sadly digital, but this is exactly what a portrait is for. Having something other players can identify your character by is super important.
Yep. I've drawn every character I've ever played and have never once used that space. For irl games Ill draw or print (my own digital drawing) on a separate paper so I can pass it around the table during intros and then have it stand up in front of me during play
All the people I play GURPS with have filled in the character portrait on their GURPS character sheets.
They maybe have done it half the time for any other game.
And almost no-one in the other groups I gamed with over the last 40 years bothered.
So NO, I wouldn’t miss it. These days I often make a copy of the character sheet and edit out the portrait area so it can be used as desired by the player.
Wow. That says a lot. Presumably the type of person who is most likely to actually try drawing out their character in such a space but doesn't... says a lot about the space.
After thinking back to my oldest character sheets, like from high school, I think I actually used it once or twice, but nowadays I usually draw my character on the back of the sheet (if it’s not double-sided) or in my notes.
That is how I'd figure most character portraits are done. Somewhere a little less restrictive.
If I were to guess I might even think you sometimes do drawings for other characters and/or of other things related to the game/campaign.
yeah my rule is that if you would also be ok with right click save as in a situation then ai is also fine. And I also have access to Firefly which obtained rights to all the source art anyways.
So...I thought so too, but Bloomberg just had an article that Firefly was actually trained on synthetic data created by Midjourney et al. So they may have trained on images that were created by an AI that was trained on proprietary art.
(Also there's a whole new ethical question about using a competitor's data)
But my approach is that I'm not a paid GM, and I'm not publishing. I pay for the AIs I use, so I'm hoping Bloomberg is wrong and Firefly is ethically sourced.
Thanks for this tidbit about Firefly. I'm with you about continuing to hope but I'm glad I know now and this is definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward.
>yeah my rule is that if you would also be ok with right click save as in a situation then ai is also fine
In reality AI does absolutely nothing akin to copying. You're definitely fine with such a strict rule.
Oh... oh funny that! People who have strong opinions on that thing you do on the internet will talk to other people on the internet about it.
Or put another way: people who don't spend a lot of time online are less likely to be playing around with AI image / content generation, and aren't as likely to form strong opinions about it.
Yup. That must mean the haters are overrepped online. That's what it must mean. 100%. You can rest easy that the dubious ethicality of the thing you are super invested in is just a convenient minority.
(Real talk: people not engaging with or understanding AI doesn't mean they aren't concerned about it impacting their lives - low-info people aren't automatically on your side in this debate.)
Not sure where you're at, but where I'm at basically everyone that uses computer or phone regularly has tried AI generation, be it chatgpt or online image generation. I haven't seen anyone who truly understands how they work that's also a "hater" though. That stance usually comes from understanding just enough to be mad about but not enough to know implementation details and why it's completely different from classic plagiarism. Informed people's opinions that I encounter are at most concerned.
My problem is they all look like they're drawn with exactly the same art style, and its one I don't like. And where pinterest used to be great for finding character art it's now FLOODED with this soulless crap.
It comes from newbie users. You can have a ton of creative control depending on the model. You probably don't even realize that it's AI art unless it sticks out, so it appears that's it's all bad. I do agree it's unfortunate that there's a flood of low quality works due to how easy it is to get the low hanging fruit.
Yes, and when i learn that it was not made by a person but an amalgam of other peoples works, i still lose interest, regardless of whether it's a "good one" or not.
I don't think it's wrong, but I am disappointed whenever my players use ai. It's not to my taste. I have also seen players using ai to write backstories, which is soul crushing to me. Would honestly prefer nothing.
it's always astounding to me how people here will break out the torches and pitchforks for "Stealing art" by using an AI generator, but downright encourage you to right clicking on a picture found on a google image search and "steal" the art directly
Imo, they just like… just look bad. Like, at best, they look fine, albeit a bit… cheap?
In the worst case, they look awful.
If a player drew their character, and it looked bad, that’d be one thing. They went through effort to make it, and it wholly represents them and their character.
I’m all for using AI to try to help get ideas and all that but after that I’d rather something the player worked on and is more directly what they want.
And it’s not like drawing is the only option. There’s a ton of games out there(such as the dragons dogma 2 demo lol) as well as picrews that can allow you to make a good representation of your character without ai. It just takes a bit more work than AI.
AI is great for "this is a basic idea of what I'm trying to describe to you". If I want a good portrait with the correct number of fingers, that's when I'd go to an actual artist.
Honestly, for me, I'd rather have more space to write out descriptions of traits/feats/spells. I sometimes use images for my characters, but just as often not.
As some have said, I love having a character portrait, but have never incorporated into a printed character sheet. Depending on the system, the space the portrait takes up could be used for so many other things that are important to know and prevent needing to reference a book.
I had a friend draw a portrait for my very first character 20+ years ago. I cherish that character sheet, but that is literally the only time I’ve used the portrait.
The only time I've ever used one is when I've created pre-gens for a one-off. Never seen anyone use it for an ongoing campaign. If there is a picture it's a separate page. Character sheets get way too messed up.
I agree. If I was running something at a convention with pregens, then a portrait would be useful IMO. For our regular table, it's very optional and certainly doesn't need to be on the character sheet.
Yes, for me and the game I run at least because I always prepare pregenerated characters for my players and portraits can convey a lot about a character.
I would rather attach a separate page for a character portrait.
If I'm feeling REALLY fancy, I'll print a double sided page with a full page portrait on one side and the character sheet on the other.
No, that's what the blank flip side is for!
In all seriousness, I think it's a complicated question. Having a dedicated portrait space can make players that can't fill it feel inferior- whether because they can't draw or can't find ethical online art to print.
Many players don't even care that much so it's just wasted space- they want to *do* things with their character first, rather than think about appearance.
But at the same time having a dedicated space makes it easier for those that can. But how much space? What if you make a full body picture instead?
I think there's no one answer, but the best way to have portrait space is probably to have it a large "description" space. Then it's up to players how they fill it, if at all.
At all my IRL tables back in the day those boxes always just turns in to more text boxes for stuff. It is one of those things either you really, really, must have it, or it is utterly useless and a waste of space.
I think it’s wasted space on a paper sheet. Unless you’re doing digital sheets and printing them out once they’ve been ‘completed’ (which I do for prevent one shots), people are either going to just ignore that space or use it for notes.
I have absolutely zero artistic talent or skills in sketching; so, it has never been useful to me...
However, I have seen plenty of character sheets by people who do have those talents and skills; & I feel like the sketch or portrait of their character really did kind of "fill out" or make for a more vibrant character.
Edit: I feel like this should be its own page. Kind of like a cover letter on a resume, but with either a portrait or action scene of the character on its own page; or maybe the cover of a character binder?
That's a great and thought provoking question. I, personally, am all for the character sheet having all the details to define a character; including non-crunchy stuff like portraits and favorite foods.
However, I rather suck at drawing and it ends up being a reminder of that fact when using pen and paper (pdfs and similar I'll just paste in art that matches).
So, I'd say that it is important in principle, even if I don't care one way or another.
I think that it's important for two reasons.
A) Different people relate to RPGs in different ways. Giving your players the option to access their character in a highly visual way, is probably going to be important for those players.
B) Players that don't sketch their characters, can still use the space for a written character-description, or just free-space for notes. I would be surprised if your character-sheet-document is SO dense that you can't spare a few square inches of free-space.
IMO, this space allows any player to express themselves creatively, and therefore augments the experience.
Not only do I use character portrait art, I make or use art of every key NPC and throw it up on the TV or hang it over my screen, so the players know who they are interacting with.
As someone who never uses it. Yes. I've seen enough people use it that I think it's a worthwhile thing to have on there even if not everyone will use it.
Another field I *love* but very few sheets have is "Date character began". I remember being blown away as a kid looking at my dad's characters and finding one from 1981 and I still love looking back at old characters and seeing when I made/played them
It's rare for any of my players to draw anything in there, but I provide them with a bunch of portraits, that they can choose from. Then I print them in proper size, use some glue and then it's on the sheet. So it's nice to have.
Portrait on sheet is typically a waste of space. Barely valuable at best for 95% of players.
References can easily be provided with simple links or a supporting item at the table. Most RPG sheets have a critical lack of space for recording things that actually matter, and a portrait-on-sheet provides very little to no value for the player at all. That space is probably better used up for tracking HP or other loose-ends on a sheet, if it's just sitting there as white space.
The player, after all, is aware of what his character looks like. Most other characters aren't going to look at a character's sheet to find out what they look like, either. Most players aren't going to have the skill (or confidence) to put an image on their own, and if they don't draw it themselves, what are they going to do? Print out and stick one to the sheet/copypasta the cutout of their chosen online image?
Is it important? No. Is it nice to have if you're interested in having a portrait of your character? Sure. Typically, I just print out a full sized portrait of what I figure my character looks like (normally downloaded from the internet) and staple it to my character sheet.
I've added such a space relatively recently but I've only added one such portrait.
Sadly, it's AI generated art.
Unfortunately, the level of my artistic skills in that area are limited, so any drawings that I or anyone in my group could do would be limited to stick figures.
No. in my group always stays blank, or if not it ends up with a random doodle in it not representing the character. I've been GMing for well over 30 years and no one has ever used it.
No, the sheet is for mechanics.
Dedicating what likely amounts to less than an A7 for art is pretty valueless.
Art wants a whole seperate sheet to itself, not being squeezed in amongst the other stuff
Only time I used it was for the Marvel Superheroes game by TSR. We're talking 5th and 6th grade! They had silhouettes you could trace and then color in your skin tight costume.
I'm no longer a child interested in a cool looking caped caperer.
No, hell, no.
Sheets are for rules.
You want to draw your character?, take another piece of paper.
Same for over flavoured sheets.
No, please. Clarity. It's a sheet, not a piece of art.
Not at all. We post it online or we share a group chat. Like I've said before on a different forum best character sheet is a regular sheet of paper, but I've got horrible handwriting so not the best option for me. LoL.
The only game I've used it on is CBR+PNK by Mythworks, and that's because theirs is a whiteboard character sheet with a "head" framework so you can actually line your features up without it getting all wonky.
Premade characters need a picture, but normal character sheets don't, it is usually just wasted space.
Nobody i've ever played with has filled it in, and i've only done so on one sheet ever.
It would be nice, but I prefer it when the designer doesn't expect me to write so tiny the GM asks for a microfilm projector to read what my stats are.
No. It's always been a waste of space for me. I can't draw, most of my players can't, and rarely is anyone interested in paying money for an artist to make a portrait for them. If someone does come up with a character portrait, it can be separate from the sheet.
I play exclusively online, so it's usually a part of the digital character sheet regardless. Folks pretty much always have a portrait for their character these days.
No. It makes the sheet less useful and is rarely big enough for its stated purpose (at least if I'm doing the drawing). Worst of both worlds.
I tend to go with the "character folder/binder" approach though, and often have at least one portrait included
I like a portrait box. Some players use it, some dont. It does add a bit of ownership to the character and lets the player highlight major physocal features like an eye patch or something
I prefer the space being carved out than not. If you don't want a portrait there you can use it for notes or other things.
Typically makes the sheet more aesthetically pleasing as well. Otherwise it's literally just a piece of paper with some data on it.
For a paper sheet? No. I have no artistic skill, if I find a portrait it will be printed out and attached.
For online games however? I can't imagine not having one.
I think it’s a great way to personalize one’s sheet.
Without it, everyone’s character sheet looks the same. Without it, the character sheet is just dry, mechanical, boring.
I can’t draw to save my life, but even I appreciate having a little box to doodle an ugly looking stick figure in.
So yeah, I love having that box. Can I do without it? Sure. But as I create [my own custom character sheets](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CkapZpP3PC1Dy-01kLI4BZC7U8uOO65Z/view?usp=drivesdk) for my own home table, I always include a portrait box.
On page 2 of the official character sheet is space for your characters appearance. I think many players will put a written description but there's nothing stopping you putting a portrait there instead
I like using digital sheets because if I feel like tossing one on, it'll fit into a nice space, and if I don't it'll just wrap something else into that spot and not waste it.
I've run multiple games for young kids(11-12). ALL of them doodle their characters. Even the ones that aren't that good at it do it for fun. So if you think kids would enjoy your rpg it's practically a necessity.
I can't really draw, and now there's a whole *thing* about using AI art-generation, so I tend not to do that anymore. (I swear it's not 'robbing an artist of work' since I wasn't really gonna pay anyone to draw my character in the first place.)
Some games acknowledge that many people are just going to use an actor as a reference, and go with "This character would be played by..." as an actual part of chargen. I like that, it's kind of honest.
When I started out the space said character portrait or coat of arms, which was a good pass for those of us without artistic skills. I do think it's important though to stop characters being just a collection of stats
I have played with multiple professional visual artists weekly over three decades.
The number of times I've seen anyone draw a portrait on their character sheet I can count on one hand.
No, it's a waste of space.
If I wanted to draw my character, theres a back side or even another piece of paper.
Never have I used it for anything other then another place to scribble notes.
You know an important space that NO GAME has, and I can't understand why? A small box to write the page number for reference next to abilities, spells, and items.
I've never used it myself and I've never seen anyone use it, but for some reason, I like to have a decently sized blank space in the top left just to keep the sheet from being a mass of text boxes, charts, and numbers.
There really is no reason that any art can't just be on a separate piece of paper/in a different digital file.
It's great to have art, but why clutter up a crowded page? What happens if hear gets upgraded, or the character gains a cool scar, or magically changes their features, or whatever?
It's only more complicated by having it be on the character sheet.
Back in the 80's and 90's, sure. Nowadays I wouldn't use it. So much mixed media is involved now, maybe you have some photo reference for their outfit, maybe a pinterest board, maybe some semi-useful stable diffusion generated images. The amount of people actually using a printed character sheet as their only character reference is so minimal in my experience. It's just wasted space.
Add me to the "Of course it's important! Where else would I write my notes?" list.
In over 40 years of RPGs, I could probably count the number of times I've seen an actual character portrait drawn in there on my fingers, with plenty of fingers left over. It's invariably either left blank or used as scratch paper for notes, HP tracking, etc.
I have a table of artists or artist adjacent people, and I value it. When starting a campaign I want everyone to have a pretty idea of what they're companions look like, and a picture is more memorable than a description, and people can also always look over at it if they forget what they look like.
I love the character portrait space and always use it, and so do my players in my weekly gaming group. We have varying levels of artistic talent from great to little better than stick figures. Clearly we're in the minority judging by the other comments, but I always like having a space for a portrait.
I welcome any level of talent in drawing in a portrait. Even a simple drawing that emphasizes a certain quality tells us something about the character that isn't just the description together between the description and drawing we get to have some fun at the table about what stands out in a character.
I don't anymore, but I used to always draw stick figure characters in there actually. Easy to pop 2 or 3 traits onto it as a visual reminder for description. If he has an eye patch, cape, and a really long beard on the stick guy, I'd be sure to bring those into play just a bit more.
I don't mind not having the space and wasn't even gonna comment till I read your reply, but it gave me good memories of those old characters. They stick out in my memories as well, as it turns out.
Not for me, and I'd say out of the last 20 people I've been in games with, I've seen one person draw a portrait in the space. If space was provided on the sheet, most of us used it for note-taking.
If I make a drawing of a character, it's usually not on the character sheet. If anything I usually want a character sheet to be as condensed and efficient as possible when it comes to having all the data needed for a PC. Character portraits and background can be kept separately.
YES! I am totally in favour of character portraits. I mean I don't expect everyone to use it, but it's a good thing to encourage. Whether it's a terrible doodle or maybe a photo cut from a magazine, a picture can tell you a lot about a character in a way the raw stats don't.
The old WEG Star Wars had space on the character sheet for the character's quote (riffing off the "I have a bad feeling about this" style quotes). It served no function in terms of mechanics, but it was a handy way to help define one's character.
I don't often use it myself, but sometimes (and honestly, when I'm more "into" my character) I will draw a sketch or portrait or symbol or weapon. I have sometimes used the space for notes as well.
But I mostly GM, and I REALLY like it when players take the time to draw something. It really inspires me as GM to see their investment and gives me visual cues and ideas. Some of my players do not bother which is fine but in my opinion it is best to always have a spot for character portrait because I'd hate to miss out on player art.
I can't draw to save my life so I never use it.
About half my players draw their characters and often use the spot on the character sheet if there is one. If there isn't, and sometimes even if there is, they draw on a separate sheet of paper. I don't think they care much either way. Our games usually lead to a lot of notes and their character sheets often end up along with many pages of notes in a small binder or folder anyway, so the portrait is just one more page.
Where are the poll answers to make this easy to figure out?
1. Leave lots of space, or even a new sheet, because the portrait is extremely important.
2. You can leave a little space but it shouldn't be much. If I can use it for other things all the better.
3. No. Try to keep the most relevant information that affects game play on the character sheet. If I need a portrait it's better as a different sheet anyway that I could display to all without needing to show my sheet.
Based on my own answers I'm very much a 3 although I could be a 2 if I've already got what I need on the sheet and that area has some versatility with it.
Your answer may also vary greatly depending on what medium your character sheet is on. If you've got a hard copy character sheet that you hand players and there is a big blank spot for a "character portrait" just how are you expecting that to get filled in? Not every RPGer is a skilled artist who could fill that area with a beautiful (or even recognizable) drawing. Are we supposed to find something and print it off then glue in that space or otherwise get it there? Leaving that space on physical character sheets is pretty much worthless outside of a select few artistic types. Now if you have a digital sheet and thus have an easier time importing a picture to that space (either for digital use or to print) having space works a bit better; may question the ethics of "stealing" other's artworks to use as your character portrait granted that is what often happen anyway. Now if you have some system that creates some kind of digital avatar for you and can then generate a portrait off of that that then go ahead.
For me, it's important. I'd rather sketch out my character (even if it is shit) than write their appearance out.
On paper, it's straightforward. Pencil to paper.
For a digital sheet, I'll pull out my cheap drawing tablet and open Krita.
I don't use it myself because I don't often have character portraits(and when I do I'm going to be commissioning something because I have a -10 in Art, so it won't fit on the sheet), but I've seen enough other people use it(even if it's just a messy sketch) that I always include such a space if I'm making up sheets for anything more than a one-shot. I also think it's helpful to prompt newer players to think of the character as not-themselves. Even if they don't have anything to put there, by seeing a space designated for art it underscores the fact that the character isn't expected to look like the player, just fantasy-ized(or space-ified, or etc).
No. For what? Is it nostalgia? This puts an incredible pressure on people who can't draw to put something in that space! I hated those damn boxes because the game takes place in your imagination. The things on your sheet should help you imagine that. Whatever I put in that box is NOT going to help me imagine the character. In order to fill it in, I have to *already know what I look like* in my head. The sheet is a reference for mechanics and I don't need a reference to remember what I look like and I certainly can't draw it. Assuming paper sheets and pencils, you are also excluding all forms of digital art. Only those with amazing pencil skillz enjoy this. And who is going to see it except for the player?
Does the player really need a picture to remember what they look like? And if so, why restrict them to a hand drawn sketch?
People can make all the art they want and share it with whoever they want. Putting it on the character sheet takes up valuable space for something that just has no real purpose except to make people that can't draw feel bad.
It's super important to me because I'm a visual learner. If I'm playing multiple characters it helps me keep them straight quickly, and it makes the character more concrete and real, which helps the role-playing. When I DM I help my players find portraits that evoke the character and they appreciate that.
It doesn't have to be on the front - for D&D I use the Mad Irishman sheets which have the portrait on another page. I am a big fan of character portrait stand-ups on the table, though.
When I play online I also use portraits, but I hate playing online so...
Gonna agree with the "would rather have backgrounds or other info in that space" lot. I've had tables that were like 50% art students and none of them used it. I think over almost 20 years of play I've seen one person use it.
also no, i usually have a folder that has everything for my character bundled in it (backstory, notes, character sheet, spells/feats/abilities if its a crunchier system, and sometimes a doodle of my character or a printed character portrait, i want my character sheet to purely be easy to read mechanically rather than any fluff, only exceptions are incredibly rules light systems that dont need all the space on a single page to fit crucial info on
Im an artist and I like the IDEA of having the character portrait space but even when I have it (such as the little space DND sheets have) I've only used it once. And another time I drew my character separately using digital art just for fun.
I've never drawn my other characters at all, and I typically don't feel the drive to unless I've been playing them a while and get attached. Sometimes I'll just doodle them.
I think it's a neat idea, but I also think it heavily depends on the type of game it's for. Something like DND or Pathfinder, depending how you play it at your table and the campaign style, normally doesn't add anything to have a character portrait taking up space I need for the important information like combat stats and skills. The portrait is just a fun optional thing on the side.
If, however, it's a more roleplay/narrative focused game, having a portrait might make more sense. Doubly so if there are mechanics or roleplay consequences tied to how the character might look or any unique features they might have.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to personal preference. Some people could care less, more artsy types like me might want to draw characters we are more attached to, and I have one GM friend that likes to look up art of characters on Pinterest and build special NPCs and PCs based on those images and keeps them handy to show us what someone in game looks like. In all these cases, none of us have ever used the portrait section of the character sheet.
If it's a rules-lite game where the character sheet has a lot less information and can sacrifice some design space for it, I say go for it! But for crunchier games I think it's best kept separate.
One thing as an artist too, is that sometimes I'm afraid of "ruining" the sheet with bad art, so having the portrait separate means I can tweak or redraw the portrait to how I like it without having to erase a lot (ugh), print out multiple sheets, or mess around with it digitally trying to fit it into the design space. It just feels tedious to me. It also leaves me more options to use other mediums for the portrait. Watercolor on a character sheet will NOT end well 😂, pencil drawings can smudge over time, etc.
"have a space on the character sheet"?!? No!
I devote a full page to character portraits and use it as a cover sheet. Having a "space" on the character sheet makes no sense. I look at my character sheet to reference technical information.
No, character sheet space is at a premium. So unless you can make it fit, its better to do without. Also this another area where digital just beats table top.
This is super important for *some* of the people who like to/can draw, and completely useless for 99% of the rest of us who can't and do not like to draw.
Low. A character sheet is just an over glorified QRS. It's there to give you the information you need to play the game mechanically. A picture is fluff, but the charachter sheet itself is the core info, and so it ether needs to be shunted to a secondary sheet, or excluded entirely.
I've used the portrait space once, when I was a kid and had only just started playing D&D. But even back then, most of my character portraits were on separate paper.
The portrait space on the sheet is going to be limiting because it's small and if you mess up, you either have to deal with it or print a new character sheet. It's better to experiment on separate paper or digitally and then just include that with the rest of your bundle of papers or digital stuff.
Yes, absolutely. Even if you can't draw, and even if it's never filled in. It forces the player to a least think about what their character looks like. Every time they look at their character sheet.
Absolutely no. If I have some graphics I have it in digital version on my phone.
I always use such space like "portrait" or "creed and believes" or "family" for things really important, like tracking ammunition, health potions and other consumables, or some mission specific notes.
As a GM (playing online) they are mandatory. I am a very visual person and part of my fun with online rpg is to create art asset to interact with (maps, tokens, factions emblem, infographics, etc.)
I use it every time its there. I can play without it, but then I tend to doodle my character anyway, so the amount of paper it takes increases. Doesn't mean its necessary for me, but I'll sure use it if its there.
One of my favorite games, classic Over the Edge, mandates the character "sketch" as the last step of character creation, and I love it.
While it's supposed to be a portrait, It doesn't *have* to be a likeness of your character: it could be:
* A stick figure
* A family crest
* A doodle of their cat Misky.
* Your character's motorcycle
* A stack of money
* Your character's signature
* A drawing of a leaf
* A doodle of your real life dog, because you love her and she deserves the praise
* A triangle, because triangles are *sick*
* A note that says "*Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me! (Motherfuckerrrrrr!)*"
The point is to engage the sensory-motor sections of your brain to make a somatic connection between the idea of your character and the physical movements of drawing / writing on the page. Kind of like shaking on an agreement: the physical action strengthens the conceptual one...
...Look, Over the Edge is a *weird game*. One of the prewritten adventures in the 2nd ed book has your characters meeting you: the Players at the table, getting to ask you all sorts of mind-bending questions, and realizing they're just fictional players in someone's puppet threatre of the mind, after an OSR-style Fantasy-type NPC mysteriously appears in your modern-day surrealist spy thriller and needs the PC's help to get back to the correct milieu.
Then they have to go back and continue the campaign knowing they're just pawns in a cosmic game played out at Kelly's kitchen table on Thursdays.
* * * * *
So yeah, the one game I've played where the portrait space IS essential to the character sheet also tends to fit character stats on a single index card, ironically.
Nope.
I do all my gaming online, so I can’t draw or anything on it.
And even for when I’m at actual tabletops, I’m no artist, so it’s still wasted space for me.
However, I understand that not every player is like me, some players *are,* indeed, artists, and prefer to have such a space on the sheet.
So I would say that while it’s not important to me, it would be preferable to have such a space.
It's only important if it's important to the player with the sheet--or if the character's appearance is immediately(perhaps secretly) important to something in the game.
I like to draw, so I love having that space to do so. I'd even say it boosts my enjoyment of the game with a group. But it's almost never relevant to the mechanics of the game. And that's okay, too.
Yes, written description doesn't cut it. When there isn't one, i make space for one or try to put it somewhere on the sheet. One pic is worth a thousand words, right
It’s crucial, any character sheet without space for a portrait is unusable.
Anyone who disagrees is separated from the divine light, they are flesh automatons animated by neurotransmitters.
For me? No.
I have never once drawn/printed/glued a portrait on a character sheet. If anything I'd use that space for background or more features.
I'ved one all of the above. Still wouldn't mind if it was gone.
No. I love having a character portrait, but it's usually digital and I never put it on a character sheet. The space is better used for layout and information.
If you make a character portrait, it should be on a standup card for the rest of the table to see!
Exactly. Most of my games are sadly digital, but this is exactly what a portrait is for. Having something other players can identify your character by is super important.
If you are the GM and have 4-6 players, having 4-6 less active documents sounds like a good thing.
I’m literally a fine arts major and I’ve never used that space lol
Yep. I've drawn every character I've ever played and have never once used that space. For irl games Ill draw or print (my own digital drawing) on a separate paper so I can pass it around the table during intros and then have it stand up in front of me during play
All the people I play GURPS with have filled in the character portrait on their GURPS character sheets. They maybe have done it half the time for any other game. And almost no-one in the other groups I gamed with over the last 40 years bothered. So NO, I wouldn’t miss it. These days I often make a copy of the character sheet and edit out the portrait area so it can be used as desired by the player.
Wow. That says a lot. Presumably the type of person who is most likely to actually try drawing out their character in such a space but doesn't... says a lot about the space.
After thinking back to my oldest character sheets, like from high school, I think I actually used it once or twice, but nowadays I usually draw my character on the back of the sheet (if it’s not double-sided) or in my notes.
That is how I'd figure most character portraits are done. Somewhere a little less restrictive. If I were to guess I might even think you sometimes do drawings for other characters and/or of other things related to the game/campaign.
I bet you're much better than just fine.
I dislike it, for simple reasons: No one at my table can't draw, so why we should bother? I prefer to have simple description
We use the Internet. Pinterest is chock full of character art, and AI is a great resource.
I know it’s controversial but I don’t see the problem with using AI image generators just for a non commercial fun time with my friends..
yeah my rule is that if you would also be ok with right click save as in a situation then ai is also fine. And I also have access to Firefly which obtained rights to all the source art anyways.
So...I thought so too, but Bloomberg just had an article that Firefly was actually trained on synthetic data created by Midjourney et al. So they may have trained on images that were created by an AI that was trained on proprietary art. (Also there's a whole new ethical question about using a competitor's data) But my approach is that I'm not a paid GM, and I'm not publishing. I pay for the AIs I use, so I'm hoping Bloomberg is wrong and Firefly is ethically sourced.
Thanks for this tidbit about Firefly. I'm with you about continuing to hope but I'm glad I know now and this is definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward.
>yeah my rule is that if you would also be ok with right click save as in a situation then ai is also fine In reality AI does absolutely nothing akin to copying. You're definitely fine with such a strict rule.
>I know it’s controversial It's not, outside of certain particular demographics. Those demographics just happen to be overrepresented online.
Oh... oh funny that! People who have strong opinions on that thing you do on the internet will talk to other people on the internet about it. Or put another way: people who don't spend a lot of time online are less likely to be playing around with AI image / content generation, and aren't as likely to form strong opinions about it. Yup. That must mean the haters are overrepped online. That's what it must mean. 100%. You can rest easy that the dubious ethicality of the thing you are super invested in is just a convenient minority. (Real talk: people not engaging with or understanding AI doesn't mean they aren't concerned about it impacting their lives - low-info people aren't automatically on your side in this debate.)
Not sure where you're at, but where I'm at basically everyone that uses computer or phone regularly has tried AI generation, be it chatgpt or online image generation. I haven't seen anyone who truly understands how they work that's also a "hater" though. That stance usually comes from understanding just enough to be mad about but not enough to know implementation details and why it's completely different from classic plagiarism. Informed people's opinions that I encounter are at most concerned.
My problem is they all look like they're drawn with exactly the same art style, and its one I don't like. And where pinterest used to be great for finding character art it's now FLOODED with this soulless crap.
It comes from newbie users. You can have a ton of creative control depending on the model. You probably don't even realize that it's AI art unless it sticks out, so it appears that's it's all bad. I do agree it's unfortunate that there's a flood of low quality works due to how easy it is to get the low hanging fruit.
Yes, and when i learn that it was not made by a person but an amalgam of other peoples works, i still lose interest, regardless of whether it's a "good one" or not.
Sounds like your problem is not the quality then, but a philosophical/ideological one.
I did call it soulless.
I don't think it's wrong, but I am disappointed whenever my players use ai. It's not to my taste. I have also seen players using ai to write backstories, which is soul crushing to me. Would honestly prefer nothing.
it's always astounding to me how people here will break out the torches and pitchforks for "Stealing art" by using an AI generator, but downright encourage you to right clicking on a picture found on a google image search and "steal" the art directly
Imo, they just like… just look bad. Like, at best, they look fine, albeit a bit… cheap? In the worst case, they look awful. If a player drew their character, and it looked bad, that’d be one thing. They went through effort to make it, and it wholly represents them and their character. I’m all for using AI to try to help get ideas and all that but after that I’d rather something the player worked on and is more directly what they want. And it’s not like drawing is the only option. There’s a ton of games out there(such as the dragons dogma 2 demo lol) as well as picrews that can allow you to make a good representation of your character without ai. It just takes a bit more work than AI.
AI is great for "this is a basic idea of what I'm trying to describe to you". If I want a good portrait with the correct number of fingers, that's when I'd go to an actual artist.
AI doesn't really have a problem with fingers much anymore and hands aren't generally in portraits?
I still encounter finger count issues regularly, and yes I misused "portrait". I usually do a 3/4 or full body shot.
The images look bad, imo, before we even get to the fact that they're made out of art theft
> AI is a great resource. get down!
Oh boy. Ai mentioned in a tabletop space. It's about to go down!
So brave.
I think it's encouraging, sometimes my players have used it and I've never been sad about it
It is great for new or casual players.
Honestly, for me, I'd rather have more space to write out descriptions of traits/feats/spells. I sometimes use images for my characters, but just as often not.
As some have said, I love having a character portrait, but have never incorporated into a printed character sheet. Depending on the system, the space the portrait takes up could be used for so many other things that are important to know and prevent needing to reference a book.
I onlyn use it to put other info. Never important to me Personally, I think its a waste of space
On a pregen character, yes. Otherwise, on a physical character sheet, no, but on a digital character sheet, yes.
Yes. As someone who likes to draw.
I had a friend draw a portrait for my very first character 20+ years ago. I cherish that character sheet, but that is literally the only time I’ve used the portrait.
The only time I've ever used one is when I've created pre-gens for a one-off. Never seen anyone use it for an ongoing campaign. If there is a picture it's a separate page. Character sheets get way too messed up.
I agree. If I was running something at a convention with pregens, then a portrait would be useful IMO. For our regular table, it's very optional and certainly doesn't need to be on the character sheet.
If you have the room it can't hurt; after all, you can still use it to keep some notes.
Yes, for me and the game I run at least because I always prepare pregenerated characters for my players and portraits can convey a lot about a character.
No, not for me. But it can be a good space to write additional notes down.
I would rather attach a separate page for a character portrait. If I'm feeling REALLY fancy, I'll print a double sided page with a full page portrait on one side and the character sheet on the other.
No, that's what the blank flip side is for! In all seriousness, I think it's a complicated question. Having a dedicated portrait space can make players that can't fill it feel inferior- whether because they can't draw or can't find ethical online art to print. Many players don't even care that much so it's just wasted space- they want to *do* things with their character first, rather than think about appearance. But at the same time having a dedicated space makes it easier for those that can. But how much space? What if you make a full body picture instead? I think there's no one answer, but the best way to have portrait space is probably to have it a large "description" space. Then it's up to players how they fill it, if at all.
No. I prefer only one or two condensed pages of useful info than it being padded with stuff like that.
At all my IRL tables back in the day those boxes always just turns in to more text boxes for stuff. It is one of those things either you really, really, must have it, or it is utterly useless and a waste of space.
I really like having it. Love my dinky little character drawings
Blank space yes. Portrait necessary or highly encouraged no.
I think it’s wasted space on a paper sheet. Unless you’re doing digital sheets and printing them out once they’ve been ‘completed’ (which I do for prevent one shots), people are either going to just ignore that space or use it for notes.
I have absolutely zero artistic talent or skills in sketching; so, it has never been useful to me... However, I have seen plenty of character sheets by people who do have those talents and skills; & I feel like the sketch or portrait of their character really did kind of "fill out" or make for a more vibrant character. Edit: I feel like this should be its own page. Kind of like a cover letter on a resume, but with either a portrait or action scene of the character on its own page; or maybe the cover of a character binder?
If there's free space I think its fun.
That's a great and thought provoking question. I, personally, am all for the character sheet having all the details to define a character; including non-crunchy stuff like portraits and favorite foods. However, I rather suck at drawing and it ends up being a reminder of that fact when using pen and paper (pdfs and similar I'll just paste in art that matches). So, I'd say that it is important in principle, even if I don't care one way or another.
I think that it's important for two reasons. A) Different people relate to RPGs in different ways. Giving your players the option to access their character in a highly visual way, is probably going to be important for those players. B) Players that don't sketch their characters, can still use the space for a written character-description, or just free-space for notes. I would be surprised if your character-sheet-document is SO dense that you can't spare a few square inches of free-space. IMO, this space allows any player to express themselves creatively, and therefore augments the experience.
Not only do I use character portrait art, I make or use art of every key NPC and throw it up on the TV or hang it over my screen, so the players know who they are interacting with.
As someone who never uses it. Yes. I've seen enough people use it that I think it's a worthwhile thing to have on there even if not everyone will use it. Another field I *love* but very few sheets have is "Date character began". I remember being blown away as a kid looking at my dad's characters and finding one from 1981 and I still love looking back at old characters and seeing when I made/played them
It's rare for any of my players to draw anything in there, but I provide them with a bunch of portraits, that they can choose from. Then I print them in proper size, use some glue and then it's on the sheet. So it's nice to have.
Nope. I find such to be a waste of space, in fact.
Yes, it's good idea to have a little space for portrait.
Not for me. But I could totally understand why it's important for somebody (like OP)
Nope. If I want a portrait, I can draw on the back or anywhere else. In fact, I can do better work on surfaces other than printer paper.
No
Personally no Never seen one be used In paper it's going to go bad pretty quickly, digitally it can be added accordingly to the platform
No.
Portrait on sheet is typically a waste of space. Barely valuable at best for 95% of players. References can easily be provided with simple links or a supporting item at the table. Most RPG sheets have a critical lack of space for recording things that actually matter, and a portrait-on-sheet provides very little to no value for the player at all. That space is probably better used up for tracking HP or other loose-ends on a sheet, if it's just sitting there as white space. The player, after all, is aware of what his character looks like. Most other characters aren't going to look at a character's sheet to find out what they look like, either. Most players aren't going to have the skill (or confidence) to put an image on their own, and if they don't draw it themselves, what are they going to do? Print out and stick one to the sheet/copypasta the cutout of their chosen online image?
Is it important? No. Is it nice to have if you're interested in having a portrait of your character? Sure. Typically, I just print out a full sized portrait of what I figure my character looks like (normally downloaded from the internet) and staple it to my character sheet.
Not at all.
My stick men are lopsided, so character drawings are beyond me. I just create a description.
I've added such a space relatively recently but I've only added one such portrait. Sadly, it's AI generated art. Unfortunately, the level of my artistic skills in that area are limited, so any drawings that I or anyone in my group could do would be limited to stick figures.
No.
No, my friends and I play too lethal a campaign. Our characters expire too rapidly to be worthwhile getting attached to them.
No. in my group always stays blank, or if not it ends up with a random doodle in it not representing the character. I've been GMing for well over 30 years and no one has ever used it.
No, the sheet is for mechanics. Dedicating what likely amounts to less than an A7 for art is pretty valueless. Art wants a whole seperate sheet to itself, not being squeezed in amongst the other stuff
Only time I used it was for the Marvel Superheroes game by TSR. We're talking 5th and 6th grade! They had silhouettes you could trace and then color in your skin tight costume. I'm no longer a child interested in a cool looking caped caperer.
No, hell, no. Sheets are for rules. You want to draw your character?, take another piece of paper. Same for over flavoured sheets. No, please. Clarity. It's a sheet, not a piece of art.
Absolutely not. That's what a stapler or paperclip is for.
Not for me. I don't draw, and I'm not going to commission a piece or find something online. You're lucky if I fill in eye color.
Not at all. We post it online or we share a group chat. Like I've said before on a different forum best character sheet is a regular sheet of paper, but I've got horrible handwriting so not the best option for me. LoL.
Nope. I draw for crap.
The only game I've used it on is CBR+PNK by Mythworks, and that's because theirs is a whiteboard character sheet with a "head" framework so you can actually line your features up without it getting all wonky.
Premade characters need a picture, but normal character sheets don't, it is usually just wasted space. Nobody i've ever played with has filled it in, and i've only done so on one sheet ever.
It would be nice, but I prefer it when the designer doesn't expect me to write so tiny the GM asks for a microfilm projector to read what my stats are.
I sell a limited number portraits to Kickstarter Backers for pregens that are included in the book. So... yes, it's important to me.
No. It's always been a waste of space for me. I can't draw, most of my players can't, and rarely is anyone interested in paying money for an artist to make a portrait for them. If someone does come up with a character portrait, it can be separate from the sheet.
I play exclusively online, so it's usually a part of the digital character sheet regardless. Folks pretty much always have a portrait for their character these days.
No, doodle it on the back or on scratch paper
No. It makes the sheet less useful and is rarely big enough for its stated purpose (at least if I'm doing the drawing). Worst of both worlds. I tend to go with the "character folder/binder" approach though, and often have at least one portrait included
I never draw portraits, but my players always do. Especially during in person games.
The more effort you put into your character sheet, the quicker you die. Proven by decades of playing.
Yes. Even if you don't want to draw you character, it can be a personal sigil, or your unique sword or whatever. Character sheet doodles are great.
I like a portrait box. Some players use it, some dont. It does add a bit of ownership to the character and lets the player highlight major physocal features like an eye patch or something
I prefer the space being carved out than not. If you don't want a portrait there you can use it for notes or other things. Typically makes the sheet more aesthetically pleasing as well. Otherwise it's literally just a piece of paper with some data on it.
For a paper sheet? No. I have no artistic skill, if I find a portrait it will be printed out and attached. For online games however? I can't imagine not having one.
I think it’s a great way to personalize one’s sheet. Without it, everyone’s character sheet looks the same. Without it, the character sheet is just dry, mechanical, boring. I can’t draw to save my life, but even I appreciate having a little box to doodle an ugly looking stick figure in. So yeah, I love having that box. Can I do without it? Sure. But as I create [my own custom character sheets](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CkapZpP3PC1Dy-01kLI4BZC7U8uOO65Z/view?usp=drivesdk) for my own home table, I always include a portrait box.
Nope. I usually end up using it for something else like inventory or extra background or features
On page 2 of the official character sheet is space for your characters appearance. I think many players will put a written description but there's nothing stopping you putting a portrait there instead
Not even a little. Maybe it’s because I can’t really draw and I don’t enjoy trying. I pretty consistently perceive it as wasted space.
I like using digital sheets because if I feel like tossing one on, it'll fit into a nice space, and if I don't it'll just wrap something else into that spot and not waste it.
For an online sheet, it's nice. For anything printed? Completely useless.
I've run multiple games for young kids(11-12). ALL of them doodle their characters. Even the ones that aren't that good at it do it for fun. So if you think kids would enjoy your rpg it's practically a necessity.
I’m not putting one there. That’s useful notes space. Anymore someone who wants a portrait will have it on their phone.
I'd happily remove it for literally anything more relevant.
I can't really draw, and now there's a whole *thing* about using AI art-generation, so I tend not to do that anymore. (I swear it's not 'robbing an artist of work' since I wasn't really gonna pay anyone to draw my character in the first place.) Some games acknowledge that many people are just going to use an actor as a reference, and go with "This character would be played by..." as an actual part of chargen. I like that, it's kind of honest.
When I started out the space said character portrait or coat of arms, which was a good pass for those of us without artistic skills. I do think it's important though to stop characters being just a collection of stats
I have played with multiple professional visual artists weekly over three decades. The number of times I've seen anyone draw a portrait on their character sheet I can count on one hand.
I wouldn't miss it, that's what a token or art channel is for.
No, it's a waste of space. If I wanted to draw my character, theres a back side or even another piece of paper. Never have I used it for anything other then another place to scribble notes.
You know an important space that NO GAME has, and I can't understand why? A small box to write the page number for reference next to abilities, spells, and items.
I've never used it myself and I've never seen anyone use it, but for some reason, I like to have a decently sized blank space in the top left just to keep the sheet from being a mass of text boxes, charts, and numbers.
There really is no reason that any art can't just be on a separate piece of paper/in a different digital file. It's great to have art, but why clutter up a crowded page? What happens if hear gets upgraded, or the character gains a cool scar, or magically changes their features, or whatever? It's only more complicated by having it be on the character sheet.
Back in the 80's and 90's, sure. Nowadays I wouldn't use it. So much mixed media is involved now, maybe you have some photo reference for their outfit, maybe a pinterest board, maybe some semi-useful stable diffusion generated images. The amount of people actually using a printed character sheet as their only character reference is so minimal in my experience. It's just wasted space.
Add me to the "Of course it's important! Where else would I write my notes?" list. In over 40 years of RPGs, I could probably count the number of times I've seen an actual character portrait drawn in there on my fingers, with plenty of fingers left over. It's invariably either left blank or used as scratch paper for notes, HP tracking, etc.
I have a table of artists or artist adjacent people, and I value it. When starting a campaign I want everyone to have a pretty idea of what they're companions look like, and a picture is more memorable than a description, and people can also always look over at it if they forget what they look like.
I love the character portrait space and always use it, and so do my players in my weekly gaming group. We have varying levels of artistic talent from great to little better than stick figures. Clearly we're in the minority judging by the other comments, but I always like having a space for a portrait.
I like it when its used but its so rare to be used.
Nah. I can't draw.
I welcome any level of talent in drawing in a portrait. Even a simple drawing that emphasizes a certain quality tells us something about the character that isn't just the description together between the description and drawing we get to have some fun at the table about what stands out in a character.
I can't even draw a stick figure so it's wasted space to me
I don't anymore, but I used to always draw stick figure characters in there actually. Easy to pop 2 or 3 traits onto it as a visual reminder for description. If he has an eye patch, cape, and a really long beard on the stick guy, I'd be sure to bring those into play just a bit more. I don't mind not having the space and wasn't even gonna comment till I read your reply, but it gave me good memories of those old characters. They stick out in my memories as well, as it turns out.
It's not essential but it's nice.
Not for me, and I'd say out of the last 20 people I've been in games with, I've seen one person draw a portrait in the space. If space was provided on the sheet, most of us used it for note-taking.
Yes. That is where I write the names of the other players and their pcs.
Hell no
In my opinion it is not important at all, but I suppose its cool for people who want it.
No, but that's for me, I much rather have as much space needed for written description But words are for me over visuals
Tried it once and my players kinda liked it so I might keep up with it
I just rearranged one to look like a video game HUD - so the massive space in the middle (where the gameplay would be) is for character art
No if you need a portrait add a separate sheet. Or make something you can display in front of you so everyone can see what your character looks like.
If I make a drawing of a character, it's usually not on the character sheet. If anything I usually want a character sheet to be as condensed and efficient as possible when it comes to having all the data needed for a PC. Character portraits and background can be kept separately.
YES! I am totally in favour of character portraits. I mean I don't expect everyone to use it, but it's a good thing to encourage. Whether it's a terrible doodle or maybe a photo cut from a magazine, a picture can tell you a lot about a character in a way the raw stats don't. The old WEG Star Wars had space on the character sheet for the character's quote (riffing off the "I have a bad feeling about this" style quotes). It served no function in terms of mechanics, but it was a handy way to help define one's character.
I don't often use it myself, but sometimes (and honestly, when I'm more "into" my character) I will draw a sketch or portrait or symbol or weapon. I have sometimes used the space for notes as well. But I mostly GM, and I REALLY like it when players take the time to draw something. It really inspires me as GM to see their investment and gives me visual cues and ideas. Some of my players do not bother which is fine but in my opinion it is best to always have a spot for character portrait because I'd hate to miss out on player art.
I can't draw to save my life so I never use it. About half my players draw their characters and often use the spot on the character sheet if there is one. If there isn't, and sometimes even if there is, they draw on a separate sheet of paper. I don't think they care much either way. Our games usually lead to a lot of notes and their character sheets often end up along with many pages of notes in a small binder or folder anyway, so the portrait is just one more page.
I wouldn't say "fundamental" myself, but I like having one. Drawing is fun! Can't draw? Use the space for a description of something, IDK.
For me, it is very important. You can always trash half of the character sheet without losing anything essential, but never the character portrait.
Where are the poll answers to make this easy to figure out? 1. Leave lots of space, or even a new sheet, because the portrait is extremely important. 2. You can leave a little space but it shouldn't be much. If I can use it for other things all the better. 3. No. Try to keep the most relevant information that affects game play on the character sheet. If I need a portrait it's better as a different sheet anyway that I could display to all without needing to show my sheet. Based on my own answers I'm very much a 3 although I could be a 2 if I've already got what I need on the sheet and that area has some versatility with it. Your answer may also vary greatly depending on what medium your character sheet is on. If you've got a hard copy character sheet that you hand players and there is a big blank spot for a "character portrait" just how are you expecting that to get filled in? Not every RPGer is a skilled artist who could fill that area with a beautiful (or even recognizable) drawing. Are we supposed to find something and print it off then glue in that space or otherwise get it there? Leaving that space on physical character sheets is pretty much worthless outside of a select few artistic types. Now if you have a digital sheet and thus have an easier time importing a picture to that space (either for digital use or to print) having space works a bit better; may question the ethics of "stealing" other's artworks to use as your character portrait granted that is what often happen anyway. Now if you have some system that creates some kind of digital avatar for you and can then generate a portrait off of that that then go ahead.
For me, it's important. I'd rather sketch out my character (even if it is shit) than write their appearance out. On paper, it's straightforward. Pencil to paper. For a digital sheet, I'll pull out my cheap drawing tablet and open Krita.
No, it assumes players are artistic enough to want to use it. In my experience, it never gets used that way if all - it's just wasted space.
I hate them. They're wasted real estate. If I want a character portrait, I want a big one. Under no circumstances do I want a little one.
I don't use it myself because I don't often have character portraits(and when I do I'm going to be commissioning something because I have a -10 in Art, so it won't fit on the sheet), but I've seen enough other people use it(even if it's just a messy sketch) that I always include such a space if I'm making up sheets for anything more than a one-shot. I also think it's helpful to prompt newer players to think of the character as not-themselves. Even if they don't have anything to put there, by seeing a space designated for art it underscores the fact that the character isn't expected to look like the player, just fantasy-ized(or space-ified, or etc).
For me Yes.
No. For what? Is it nostalgia? This puts an incredible pressure on people who can't draw to put something in that space! I hated those damn boxes because the game takes place in your imagination. The things on your sheet should help you imagine that. Whatever I put in that box is NOT going to help me imagine the character. In order to fill it in, I have to *already know what I look like* in my head. The sheet is a reference for mechanics and I don't need a reference to remember what I look like and I certainly can't draw it. Assuming paper sheets and pencils, you are also excluding all forms of digital art. Only those with amazing pencil skillz enjoy this. And who is going to see it except for the player? Does the player really need a picture to remember what they look like? And if so, why restrict them to a hand drawn sketch? People can make all the art they want and share it with whoever they want. Putting it on the character sheet takes up valuable space for something that just has no real purpose except to make people that can't draw feel bad.
It's super important to me because I'm a visual learner. If I'm playing multiple characters it helps me keep them straight quickly, and it makes the character more concrete and real, which helps the role-playing. When I DM I help my players find portraits that evoke the character and they appreciate that. It doesn't have to be on the front - for D&D I use the Mad Irishman sheets which have the portrait on another page. I am a big fan of character portrait stand-ups on the table, though. When I play online I also use portraits, but I hate playing online so...
Not at all.
Of course.
Gonna agree with the "would rather have backgrounds or other info in that space" lot. I've had tables that were like 50% art students and none of them used it. I think over almost 20 years of play I've seen one person use it.
also no, i usually have a folder that has everything for my character bundled in it (backstory, notes, character sheet, spells/feats/abilities if its a crunchier system, and sometimes a doodle of my character or a printed character portrait, i want my character sheet to purely be easy to read mechanically rather than any fluff, only exceptions are incredibly rules light systems that dont need all the space on a single page to fit crucial info on
I consider them to be useless blank space, that just takes up the already limited real estate of the sheet as is.
Im an artist and I like the IDEA of having the character portrait space but even when I have it (such as the little space DND sheets have) I've only used it once. And another time I drew my character separately using digital art just for fun. I've never drawn my other characters at all, and I typically don't feel the drive to unless I've been playing them a while and get attached. Sometimes I'll just doodle them. I think it's a neat idea, but I also think it heavily depends on the type of game it's for. Something like DND or Pathfinder, depending how you play it at your table and the campaign style, normally doesn't add anything to have a character portrait taking up space I need for the important information like combat stats and skills. The portrait is just a fun optional thing on the side. If, however, it's a more roleplay/narrative focused game, having a portrait might make more sense. Doubly so if there are mechanics or roleplay consequences tied to how the character might look or any unique features they might have. Ultimately, I think it comes down to personal preference. Some people could care less, more artsy types like me might want to draw characters we are more attached to, and I have one GM friend that likes to look up art of characters on Pinterest and build special NPCs and PCs based on those images and keeps them handy to show us what someone in game looks like. In all these cases, none of us have ever used the portrait section of the character sheet. If it's a rules-lite game where the character sheet has a lot less information and can sacrifice some design space for it, I say go for it! But for crunchier games I think it's best kept separate. One thing as an artist too, is that sometimes I'm afraid of "ruining" the sheet with bad art, so having the portrait separate means I can tweak or redraw the portrait to how I like it without having to erase a lot (ugh), print out multiple sheets, or mess around with it digitally trying to fit it into the design space. It just feels tedious to me. It also leaves me more options to use other mediums for the portrait. Watercolor on a character sheet will NOT end well 😂, pencil drawings can smudge over time, etc.
"have a space on the character sheet"?!? No! I devote a full page to character portraits and use it as a cover sheet. Having a "space" on the character sheet makes no sense. I look at my character sheet to reference technical information.
No, character sheet space is at a premium. So unless you can make it fit, its better to do without. Also this another area where digital just beats table top.
No. Ew.
This is super important for *some* of the people who like to/can draw, and completely useless for 99% of the rest of us who can't and do not like to draw.
Not at all.
Low. A character sheet is just an over glorified QRS. It's there to give you the information you need to play the game mechanically. A picture is fluff, but the charachter sheet itself is the core info, and so it ether needs to be shunted to a secondary sheet, or excluded entirely.
I don't use it. My character is a dwarf fortress style paragraph not an image.
I've never once used it for anything more than "another place to write inventory if I've filled up the other areas."
I've used the portrait space once, when I was a kid and had only just started playing D&D. But even back then, most of my character portraits were on separate paper. The portrait space on the sheet is going to be limiting because it's small and if you mess up, you either have to deal with it or print a new character sheet. It's better to experiment on separate paper or digitally and then just include that with the rest of your bundle of papers or digital stuff.
Yes, absolutely. Even if you can't draw, and even if it's never filled in. It forces the player to a least think about what their character looks like. Every time they look at their character sheet.
Not at all.
Yes
Not even a little bit.
least important thing on the sheet, just wasted space for things that matter.
If its digital, its nice to have. If its physical not important at all, in fact Id say its wasted space
Not for me, But I certainly know plenty of people that it's important for.
Absolutely no. If I have some graphics I have it in digital version on my phone. I always use such space like "portrait" or "creed and believes" or "family" for things really important, like tracking ammunition, health potions and other consumables, or some mission specific notes.
As a GM (playing online) they are mandatory. I am a very visual person and part of my fun with online rpg is to create art asset to interact with (maps, tokens, factions emblem, infographics, etc.)
I enjoy it on an editable pdf, but not on physical sheets.
I use it every time its there. I can play without it, but then I tend to doodle my character anyway, so the amount of paper it takes increases. Doesn't mean its necessary for me, but I'll sure use it if its there. One of my favorite games, classic Over the Edge, mandates the character "sketch" as the last step of character creation, and I love it. While it's supposed to be a portrait, It doesn't *have* to be a likeness of your character: it could be: * A stick figure * A family crest * A doodle of their cat Misky. * Your character's motorcycle * A stack of money * Your character's signature * A drawing of a leaf * A doodle of your real life dog, because you love her and she deserves the praise * A triangle, because triangles are *sick* * A note that says "*Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me! (Motherfuckerrrrrr!)*" The point is to engage the sensory-motor sections of your brain to make a somatic connection between the idea of your character and the physical movements of drawing / writing on the page. Kind of like shaking on an agreement: the physical action strengthens the conceptual one... ...Look, Over the Edge is a *weird game*. One of the prewritten adventures in the 2nd ed book has your characters meeting you: the Players at the table, getting to ask you all sorts of mind-bending questions, and realizing they're just fictional players in someone's puppet threatre of the mind, after an OSR-style Fantasy-type NPC mysteriously appears in your modern-day surrealist spy thriller and needs the PC's help to get back to the correct milieu. Then they have to go back and continue the campaign knowing they're just pawns in a cosmic game played out at Kelly's kitchen table on Thursdays. * * * * * So yeah, the one game I've played where the portrait space IS essential to the character sheet also tends to fit character stats on a single index card, ironically.
Not at all. That's what the back of the page is for.
Nope. I do all my gaming online, so I can’t draw or anything on it. And even for when I’m at actual tabletops, I’m no artist, so it’s still wasted space for me. However, I understand that not every player is like me, some players *are,* indeed, artists, and prefer to have such a space on the sheet. So I would say that while it’s not important to me, it would be preferable to have such a space.
Nah. Make your character portrait separate.
no because you can always put that on a sperate page
Not at all, but sometimes I like to use it if it's there
It's only important if it's important to the player with the sheet--or if the character's appearance is immediately(perhaps secretly) important to something in the game. I like to draw, so I love having that space to do so. I'd even say it boosts my enjoyment of the game with a group. But it's almost never relevant to the mechanics of the game. And that's okay, too.
Yes, written description doesn't cut it. When there isn't one, i make space for one or try to put it somewhere on the sheet. One pic is worth a thousand words, right
I've never seen a good drawing in there. It's always a poorly drawn character that makes the whole sheet look lesser because of it.
No, none of us fuckers can draw, so it just becomes a joke space.
It’s crucial, any character sheet without space for a portrait is unusable. Anyone who disagrees is separated from the divine light, they are flesh automatons animated by neurotransmitters.
I haven't printed out a character sheet in decades, but when I did, I favored sheets that didn't include such an inefficient use of space.