Newbie Question about Character Sheets

[Percious]

Hey everyone. I am super new to D&D and am presently in the process of building my first Character. I was wondering where I could view Filled out Character Sheets to now if I am on the right path or not. Also I was curious about how much I of the sheet I need to fill-out before applying it to a Dungeon Master?

Thanks for your patience in my lack of knowledge and I look forward to reading all of your suggestions.

Percious

[jj_wolven]

You would have to ask people individually if you can look at any of their public sheets.

-me

[Captain Devonin]

In general, I think most DMs prefer you wait on filling out a character sheet until you're accepted into the game. You usually fill out an application with your character's information (like name, background, appearance, and personality) and post it. If the DM accepts you, then you start on the sheet.

I don't think there is much harm in starting sooner though, but if the DM doesn't accept your application, well, by not doing it you saved yourself some time. If you are accepted and you do one though, you're pretty much good to go right away. In that respect, it boils down to, really, how confident are you in your application?

You're welcome to check out my character sheets, if you want to see a completed one. All of them are linked under my name (just click my username and it should be in the popup, at the bottom). I warn that I'm a stickler for detail, and organization, so that is why I made note of pretty much every little detail.
<< EDIT >>
Nocturnal brings up a good point, my sheets are mostly Pathfinder, or D&D 3.5e. For reference. If you're using 4e, or something else, ignore them.

[Nocturnal]

What gaming system and edition are you looking for? If we knew someone might volunteer examples to look at, even guides for how to fill one out correctly.

[WoLT]

I will say conversely,i don't accept players normally without a full sheet prepared, so I think the better answer is to read the description of requirements for each individual game advert and the gm should have laid out what they expect from an applicant.

[Percious]

I am using 4e..... Although I read your profiles Captain Devonin, and they still helped even though they were not exactly the same as the 4e sheets I have.

Wolt, I looked at a few game adverts like you suggested and I think what I will do is work on one Character Sheet with a lot background and thought put into it. With other games I will try to write a character into the world that the DM has created and let that be my guide.

Either way I will try a few and see what is more successful. Please, if this is not a good idea...let me know!

Thanks again for your thoughts and insights and I look forward to getting into this.

Percious

[WoLT]

Generally, as noted in the PBP Players Guide in my signature (along with other good hints) you'll find most GMs want to see you put the effort into your character to write them into the world specifically.

This means reading up on their source material and thinking of something that will work within the confines of their setting and game tone.

Regardless, you won't go wrong by practicing making a few characters and even having some idea ahead of time, but that player's guide will give you all the advice you'll need to get into a game and help develop habits to be successful with said game.

Enjoy!

[Nocturnal]

Here's a guide for filling out a 4e character sheet completely and an example of a filled character sheet using the sheets provided on this site. Hope that helps.

[Maiyr]

Okay I'm trying to fill in my first ever character sheet, I've rolled for my abilities and got scores of 16, 14, 14, 17, 8, 15.
I've picked an Elf, and typed those into the Character Sheet Tool. I picked...

STR 17

DEX 14

CON 16

INT 8

WIS 15

CHA 14

It automatically generated the Mods, but now I'm confused...
The handbook says as an elf I have +2 Dex and -2 Con, but these have been generated as +2 for Dex and +3 for Con. Do I need to alter these? Or do I add 2 to my Dex roll in my score column and minus 2 to my Con roll?
Thanks in advance!

[jj_wolven]

The ability adjustments that the elf gives you are to your base scores. The +2/+3 that you get after applying your scores are your Ability Score Modifiers.
(If you had applied the 8 to dex, your final score would have been 10, with a +0 modifier)

Leave them as they are, those are the bonuses that apply to various skills/saves/etc.

-me

[Maiyr]

Originally Posted by jj_wolven

The ability adjustments that the elf gives you are to your base scores. The +2/+3 that you get after applying your scores are your Ability Score Modifiers.
(If you had applied the 8 to dex, your final score would have been 10, with a +0 modifier)

Leave them as they are, those are the bonuses that apply to various skills/saves/etc.

-me

Awesome, thanks

[Swin3]

I don't know about anyone else; but what I find helpful when I'm generating characters -
First; don't even think about the mechanics - be inspired, look at the setting and the campaign, the location and your DM, and then secondly; think of an example of a character, or a notion of what you would find really fun, or really enjoyable to play. See what the rest of the group is playing; I'm sure most people in a game appreciate filled role slots and people to say "Thanks, that was awesome," to rather than "Yeah; I just killed another Owlbear. Sweet."

When that's all done and out of the way; just get used to making characters - make one after another, none of them are lost and always can be adapted; good ideas are still good ideas. One thing I found really helpful is to access a PDF of the character sheet template you're using; open a quick word.doc and type out all the headings of the fields you need to write up - then just follow the guides here on the website through various threads and users, and your sourcebooks that you require.

Although, if you had any specific questions; I'm sure this is the place to ask them.
Personally, I think character generation is a hugely enjoyable, creative and imaginative part of the game.