I’m a big fan of any technology that makes my game run faster.  Wizards of the Coast really hit the ball out of the park with their Character Builder.  You can churn out five characters in the time it takes to make a single character by hand. It also makes it very easy to tweak your character build and try out different options. The character sheet is concise and easy to read, but I do have one issue with it. The card layout subconsciously reinforces a rigid card game frame of reference onto a role playing game that is supposed to be fluid and free form.

Many critics of fourth edition D&D have disparagingly drawn comparisons to Magic the Gathering or massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft. Face it. How many times have you seen new players or even experienced players in the middle of a close battle, out of daily powers, do the face palm while flipping frantically through their character sheet looking for something to save their ass? The card layout has them looking for a multiple choice answer to an essay question.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide 2 made a point of reminding us that fourth edition is still D&D with all the creativity and open-endedness that implies. Why not add something to the Character Builder character sheet to remind players that they always have options. I’d like to see a card added to the character sheet called “Wildcard” , “Improvised Action” or something similar. It’s really doesn’t add any rules overhead to the game other than a footnote briefly explaining what it is. I think it would go a long way to encourage players to think outside the reactive, keyboard bashing mindset of MMOs and explore the freedom and creativity tabletop roleplaying games allow.

Here’s my mockup of an “Improvised Action” card. I’ll try it out on my newbies next week.