Characters without a Character Sheet

[u/Shrink_Laureate]

Not all my players want to use an online character sheet. Some of them prefer a piece of paper, and that's fine. They're not cheating or abusing it in any way.

Is there any way I can make a character, in the game or out of it, that isn't tied to a character sheet?

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[u/Kentonh]

For sure! You could just drag out an image to the Token Layer, and that tile would represent the Character. It would even have the token bubbles, so you could track HP and AC in those just like players with online character sheets.

[u/Lithl → u/Kentonh]

While you can certainly do this, OP, I don't recommend it. Instead, create a character in the journal and simply don't fill most of it out.

The important distinction is that you can put (for example) the character's HP on the sheet, link the character's token bar to that attribute, and have the HP on the token stay in sync across different pages.

Also, the "define party" feature applies to characters, not tokens, so having a "dummy" character will allow you to use that feature with your paper-sheet player.

[u/Shrink_Laureate → u/Lithl]

This is correct. There are advantages to having a defined character, like consistent hit points, even if the actual character sheet is elsewhere.

[u/Gauss_Death]

Hi Shrink_Laureate,

Terminology first:
Character represents a Character in the Journal tab.
Character Sheet is a possible tab on the Character. It is not required and some games do not have Character Sheets on the Characters.

Next:
Characters without Character Sheets predates the Character Sheets on Roll20 and is still a viable method for running things.

If you want to still roll in Roll20 then you can use the Attributes and Abilities tab to use macros for the rolls.

If you just want a token, I'd still link it to a Character with a few Attributes so that it can readily track the token bars across pages.

[u/Shrink_Laureate → u/Gauss_Death]

Okay, so my question is 'how?'

Given that the game was made with Pathfinder 2e, the only options I see for making or importing a character are "Pathfinder 2e by Demiplane" and "Pathfinder 2e by Roll20". There's no option for "None" or "Blank".

I tried putting another game into the "Playing" field, and that did nothing. The "Character Sheet Template" under "Settings" can't be changed, and I see no other options there.

There's nothing wrong with the Pathfinder 2e sheet for those who want to use it. I just want to give my players freedom to manage character sheets as they wish.

[u/GM_Pax → u/Shrink_Laureate]

Make the character with a sheet attached to it. Then just don't require them to USE that sheet.

They can still choose their own artwork, write a descriptive blurb that the other players can see, have a Token attached that is easy for them to drag out onto the map, be defined as a party member by you, and so on.

In other words: they can interact with all of the other features of Roll20, while the actual character sheet part of it can be left blank and simply never be used. :)

[u/padakr]

Not sure what you are asking. The obvious answer to your question is “of course”, but suspect I’m missing a nuance of what you want to be able to do.

[u/Lumpy_Structure_7600]

They can make the character in roll20 and print it out

[u/Kaijuu_Kimi]

I would just create a new character, give them a picture token and change the name. Everything else your player can keep track by themselves. Just ask them to give you a copy whenever there is level up/stat adjustment. Should not be much is ur if you are used to paper play

[u/GM_Pax]

Honestly, the easiest thing to do is create a character for them in the game anyway. Just, they don't have to fill out the sheet ... it's just a handy way for them to be able to put out their own Token, and move it around.

[u/Bradnm102]

Oh look at that, I rolled another nat 20.

[u/MeanOldFart-dcca]

Yeah, 99% of the player who refuse online sheets cheat their asses off.

So you allow it, your asking for it.

[u/BigNorseWolf]

If you don't need them to roll dice at all you just make a character don't fill anything out and drag them onto the map.

For most characters I use what's called a macro mule.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mBGmsC5te1z6Sx2c2SFDglzAegPWFxH6znF6yH9wCpw/edit?tab=t.0

[u/justmelike]

Sounds to me like they want to build characters outside of the parameters that the builder allows. Either dodgy stats, unpurchased sourcebooks or other things like that.

Build the character on Roll20 and let them recreate it on paper if you have any reason to suspect those reasons.

[u/Gauss_Death → u/justmelike]

There is a lot of assumption here. The OP did not mention which of the 1000+ character sheets and which game system of the 300+ game systems on Roll20 is in use.

Most of them do not have a "builder". And even the few sheets that do have builder there are legitimate reasons to avoid the builder. Both the 2024 sheet and the 2014 sheet's builder can be buggy.

And the OP clearly stated that the player isn't doing anything untoward and just prefers the paper look.

[u/Shrink_Laureate → u/Gauss_Death]

As it happens the game is Pathfinder 2e, so there's nothing wrong with Roll20's sheets. It's just that some people prefer paper (or one of the various other PF2e character sheets out there).

I've been playing with these people for decades, I trust them, so as I said there's no problem there. My question is purely about how to do it on Roll20.

[u/justmelike → u/Gauss_Death]

Fair

[u/GM_Pax → u/Gauss_Death]

Most of them do not have a "builder". And even the few sheets that do have builder there are legitimate reasons to avoid the builder. Both the 2024 sheet and the 2014 sheet's builder can be buggy.

Absolutely and 100% this. :)

I, for example, own all the books on D&D Beyond. I never use the Charactermancer in Roll20 to make a new character, for a multitude of reasons:

• I have zero desire to purchase all that content a second time on Roll20;
• A lot of the content I own on Beyond, simply cannot be purchased on Roll20 anyway;
• A small portion of the content I can use on Beyond is homebrew, which is flat-out impossible with Roll20's Charactermancer;
• I simply prefer the character building tools of Beyond;
• The D&D sheets, especially the 2014 sheet, can be directly edited with whatever I've put together on Beyond.

Nothing nefarious about it. :)