First, playing with kids under 13 so need to print their character sheets off for them since I assume COPPA prevents them from using AppleID login on a foreign website. Grrrrr. That's annoying, though them not having devices at the gaming table is a good enough reason anyway.
After the last couple of months of starting to play again (even if with our kids), and of course finding D&D Beyond as the awesome resource it is, I've found several annoyances that I hope could be addressed in a future version. Here are the prioritized list of most annoying things about exporting the PDFs, I'd go so far as to call some of these bugs.
Cached copies of exported PDF. Whether a new version number should be used for a new URL if things have changed, setting a lower cache expiry for the server and/or browser caching, or whatever, it is annoying when you save a PDF - notice a problem, correct it and then have to change to a new browser to get the updated version.
Some text blocks are too long to fit in the Traits/Bongs/Flaws/Ideals blocks on the sheet, but it is using a LARGER font for those usually as well. Not sure if it just a mistake or if it too large to fit then some logic in the PDF creation function is setting the font to a certain size which makes it even worse or what. Really, should just have a minimum font size that it can try and scale down to and if it still overflows the text, then put a note "SEE ADDITIONAL FEATURES/TRAITS SECTION" and then add the Background, Allies/Foes, whatever into an additional NOTE. Other times, it goes way too small, on Windows right now I have a decent amount of text in Personality Traits and it has went down to super tiny font - half the box is still empty and that'd be hard to read.
Add the damage dice or other particular needed values in the spell list lines. Some good info in there like TO HIT and SAVE DC/TYPE, but still have to back to book/cards separately
Add shading or a horizontal line between the long lists of spells every ~3 spells. I do this manually with Preview.app (like Adobe Acrobat) before I print them so it is easier for the kids to trace all the way over to the right for a single line of a spell.
Perhaps even add higher level versions of the spells if you have spell slots higher in the high level spells list; that would mimic what happens in the website.
(NOTE: I do like how the currently prepared spells on the online sheet are sorted to the top. I couldn't figure it out at first, then when I had a race/class with always prepared spells I noticed the encircled P and then noticed the ones above are currently prepared. Don't change this.)
I agree with Lazvon's suggestions. There are a bunch of quality of life improvements that can be made to the PDF export functionality - I think the website has outpaced the PDF export function and the PDF character sheets now need some major love.
1. Font sizes should be standardized and scaled down as necessary (with a minimum size and maximum character count per field) and applied to the whole sheet
2. Move the Level field to it's own field and add a 2nd or even 3rd Class and Level fields for multi-classing characters (or maybe dynamically add a row underneath if multi-classed)
3. Ability scores should follow ability/modifier settings of the website (scores on top option; right now it defaults to always putting modifiers in the big boxes)
4. The Actions box needs to be expanded to make room for more information. Also use better formatting, something maybe like this:
=== BONUS ACTIONS === • Rage (3 / Long Rest) As a bonus action enter a rage for up to 1 minute (10 rounds), etc.
=== REACTIONS === • Orcish Fury Attack Immediately after you use your Relentless Endurance trait, you can use your reaction to make one weapon attack.
5. Weapon Attacks & Cantrips area needs to be expanded to make more room for additional attacks. Dynamically add rows as needed based on website character sheet.
6. Damage/Type field should be formatted as: 1d8(10)+5 Slashing
7. Equipment section needs an update to follow the website organization rules. Sort items the same as the website and include containers.
8. Add a box for GP equivalent in the currency section
9. Add the ability to add another page for Features & Traits, Equipment, and Spells manually (right now you have to overflow the website fields to generate another page)
10. Link character portrait on the website to the PDF's Character's Appearance field if possible
11. Notes under Spells section should provide a condensed description of the spell. Right now it is all redundant information that is already included in the other fields
12. Add row shading to the Spells section as Lazvon mentioned above
13. Separate out the Ritual and Concentration tags to their own columns
14. Have some ability to tag a spell that is race/feat/class based and may not require a spell slot or preparation
I think these changes would go a long way in helping players be able to use their DnDBeyond characters seamlessly between the site and paper. I have to make all these changes manually myself every time I level up all of the characters in my campaigns (I DM for 13 different PCs!), and it gets tiring. Hopefully someone from WotC/DnDBeyond will see these suggestions and implement them for everyone to enjoy.
Ajusting the font size of the character sheets would be a great addition. Even with my glasses, it's a little hard to read some of the stats on the sheet. And one of my players is even more visually impaired than I am. We have to print his character sheets in large print.
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"Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
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First, playing with kids under 13 so need to print their character sheets off for them since I assume COPPA prevents them from using AppleID login on a foreign website. Grrrrr. That's annoying, though them not having devices at the gaming table is a good enough reason anyway.
After the last couple of months of starting to play again (even if with our kids), and of course finding D&D Beyond as the awesome resource it is, I've found several annoyances that I hope could be addressed in a future version. Here are the prioritized list of most annoying things about exporting the PDFs, I'd go so far as to call some of these bugs.
I agree with Lazvon's suggestions. There are a bunch of quality of life improvements that can be made to the PDF export functionality - I think the website has outpaced the PDF export function and the PDF character sheets now need some major love.
1. Font sizes should be standardized and scaled down as necessary (with a minimum size and maximum character count per field) and applied to the whole sheet
2. Move the Level field to it's own field and add a 2nd or even 3rd Class and Level fields for multi-classing characters (or maybe dynamically add a row underneath if multi-classed)
3. Ability scores should follow ability/modifier settings of the website (scores on top option; right now it defaults to always putting modifiers in the big boxes)
4. The Actions box needs to be expanded to make room for more information. Also use better formatting, something maybe like this:
=== BONUS ACTIONS ===
• Rage (3 / Long Rest)
As a bonus action enter a rage for up to 1 minute (10 rounds), etc.
=== REACTIONS ===
• Orcish Fury Attack
Immediately after you use your Relentless Endurance trait, you can use your reaction to make one weapon attack.
5. Weapon Attacks & Cantrips area needs to be expanded to make more room for additional attacks. Dynamically add rows as needed based on website character sheet.
6. Damage/Type field should be formatted as: 1d8(10)+5 Slashing
7. Equipment section needs an update to follow the website organization rules. Sort items the same as the website and include containers.
8. Add a box for GP equivalent in the currency section
9. Add the ability to add another page for Features & Traits, Equipment, and Spells manually (right now you have to overflow the website fields to generate another page)
10. Link character portrait on the website to the PDF's Character's Appearance field if possible
11. Notes under Spells section should provide a condensed description of the spell. Right now it is all redundant information that is already included in the other fields
12. Add row shading to the Spells section as Lazvon mentioned above
13. Separate out the Ritual and Concentration tags to their own columns
14. Have some ability to tag a spell that is race/feat/class based and may not require a spell slot or preparation
I think these changes would go a long way in helping players be able to use their DnDBeyond characters seamlessly between the site and paper. I have to make all these changes manually myself every time I level up all of the characters in my campaigns (I DM for 13 different PCs!), and it gets tiring. Hopefully someone from WotC/DnDBeyond will see these suggestions and implement them for everyone to enjoy.
These are a lot of great suggestions. I hate having a 5-page character sheet full of stuff I really don't want on it.
Ajusting the font size of the character sheets would be a great addition. Even with my glasses, it's a little hard to read some of the stats on the sheet. And one of my players is even more visually impaired than I am. We have to print his character sheets in large print.
"Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."