Review: Character Codex
I recently got a copy of the Character Codex (Goodman Games), seeing as they finally had one at our FLGS. The price tag isnt too bad, only $6, and its got more than a few pages of stuff inside. Actually, I think it has too much room for information.
The first few pages are most of what you expect from a typical character sheet. You get spaces for your hit points, defenses, skills, etc. No area to record your race. Actually, there isnt even a spot for gender. There is, however, a sizable Description area that I suppose you could use to call out those important facts (its also right next to a portrait space, so you can draw your character).
After that, well, you get some new things.
There is a place to note your Comrades-in-Arms. With spaces for two small stat blocks that list their ability scores, race, hit points, etc. I dont know if this is supposed to be used for NPCs, or if its just so you can remember what your allies can do, or what. You get a spot for your character history, with blank slots for the year an event happened and what exactly happened. There's a page for Allies, Enemies, even a Clan History.
This small book goes on and on, allowing you to map out your domain, towns, important NPCs, legends, two pages for an adventure journal so you can write down the adventures you've completed, villians bested, treasure, location, and so on and so forth. It even has a page reserved for you to note what houserules you are operating under, if any.
This isnt a book I would recommend for the casual gamer. Heck, if you're the player that likes to make lots of characters or has trouble deciding on something, I wouldnt touch this with a 10-foot pole. However, if you've had the fortune of making a character you really, really, like and have little trouble going from level 1-30, and want to record your character in an epic format, this is an excellent way to immortalize them in exacting detail.
Actually, they have this sucker in fillable pdf, so you can buy it once and just type all this shit out. I know I would use more of it if I had thought to buy that.
Anyway, my main gripe about it is that there werent any blank power cards. That would have been awesome.
The first few pages are most of what you expect from a typical character sheet. You get spaces for your hit points, defenses, skills, etc. No area to record your race. Actually, there isnt even a spot for gender. There is, however, a sizable Description area that I suppose you could use to call out those important facts (its also right next to a portrait space, so you can draw your character).
After that, well, you get some new things.
There is a place to note your Comrades-in-Arms. With spaces for two small stat blocks that list their ability scores, race, hit points, etc. I dont know if this is supposed to be used for NPCs, or if its just so you can remember what your allies can do, or what. You get a spot for your character history, with blank slots for the year an event happened and what exactly happened. There's a page for Allies, Enemies, even a Clan History.
This small book goes on and on, allowing you to map out your domain, towns, important NPCs, legends, two pages for an adventure journal so you can write down the adventures you've completed, villians bested, treasure, location, and so on and so forth. It even has a page reserved for you to note what houserules you are operating under, if any.
This isnt a book I would recommend for the casual gamer. Heck, if you're the player that likes to make lots of characters or has trouble deciding on something, I wouldnt touch this with a 10-foot pole. However, if you've had the fortune of making a character you really, really, like and have little trouble going from level 1-30, and want to record your character in an epic format, this is an excellent way to immortalize them in exacting detail.
Actually, they have this sucker in fillable pdf, so you can buy it once and just type all this shit out. I know I would use more of it if I had thought to buy that.
Anyway, my main gripe about it is that there werent any blank power cards. That would have been awesome.
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