The character sheets that each character is displayed on for DEEP SEKH tournaments have been specially designed to be quickly and easily read and understood, not unlike the statistics on a trading card or similar item.

The character sheets in their present incarnation have undergone several major overhauls in the pursuit of creating "the ultimate character sheet," which sounds ambitious and fanciful, but should be taken literally in this case to mean "when they're good enough that Nick's not going to redo them again."

What follows is a breakdown of how the information is categorized on each character sheet.

This first section doesn't actually have the header "Vital Statistics," but that's because it's got something more vital than the word 'vital,' it's got the character's name!

Vital Statistics includes some of the most bare, essential information needed almost immediately by any player: the character's race, alignment and physical description. Frequently-used information is also included here, such as the character's sensory abilities (low-light vision, darkvision and others) as well as the omnipresent Spot and Listen modifiers. Also included is the character's languages and her Perform modifier--needed to impress the crowd in any DEEP SEKH Tournament.

Aura and Known Enemies are also listed, though there isn't any information on Known Enemies, because most characters don't have enemies yet!

The description in italics is based on a formula intended to give the most information possible about a character without revealing metagame knowledge such as race and class. Sometimes a warrior clad in heavy armor with an emblazoned shield and the trappings of her deity is a paladin, sometimes she's a cleric and sometimes she's just a devout fighter. You can never tell until she starts smiting evil, turning undead, or Power Attacking you for all she's got.

A separate article will discuss the theory behind individual character descriptions.

Combat Statistics is probably the next most-vital statistics section after Vital Statistics, that's one of the reasons why it's second.

First, is a brief description of what the character's like and how he interacts with others. Though this is typically a clue as to how to roleplay that character, players are free to ignore this and set about forging their own path.

Next is the character's Initiative modifier, her land speed (and any other modes of movement), her hit points and her saving throw bonuses.

Next is a character's attributes and abilities that most often come into play.

A DEEP SEKH character sheet gives you the bad news first. If a character has any weaknesses, they are the first thing listed after Initiative, Speed, hp and saves. Common weaknesses include light sensitivity while more exotic ones include vulnerabilities to certain energy types, like cold or fire.

Next are a character's abilities. A mix of class and racial abilities are here. An underline indicates an ability that the player must announce that s/he is using, while others are passive. Be careful to read these, because they are frequently the most powerful things a character has access to (unless she is a spellcaster, of course).

Lastly, if a character has any abilities that have a subset of other abilities, such as different aura effects to choose from or different fighting stances, they will be listed in a third section, as they are not always available.

Before the last block of text is a description of how the character typically operates in combat. This may include recommendations for how to use her various attacks and spells, or it may hint at certain feats and other abilities that may not be obvious enough in their use. Some other details about how certain abilities and their effects may be included in this section for the player's benefit.

The final part of this section has the character's Armor Class and the breakdown of where each part of her AC comes from. The touch AC and flat-footed AC are also listed, as well as a summary at the bottom. Since DEEP SEKH uses all three types of AC (and in the future may employ other types of attacks that ignore or bypass certain elements of a character's Armor Class) all the components are specifically listed.