[RPG] What information do I actually need from the players’ character sheets

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I am a DM for two D&D 5e games. I always ask for character sheets when we first start out, so I can have a general sense of what I'm in for, and to get working on incorporating backstories.

Our friend group has gotten into the habit of sending out the complete updated character sheets whenever we level up. (We all play a lot, and I'm not the only person who DMs in this friend group.)

However, I don't really feel like I need all this information. Our groups are on the smaller side, so if anyone can't come, we cancel the game, so I don't need the sheets for playing absent characters. I don't want to micromanage monsters based on what abilities the party has; I want to create challenges and let them figure it out on their own.

So, my question is: What information from a character sheet is actually mechanically useful to a DM?

I would guess that I should keep a general eye on AC, hit points, and maybe passive perception, but is there more information I should keep handy? My general goal is to keep the game moving smoothly, with as little of asking players what they can do as possible– but also without a ton of scanning through information that is useless to me on their character sheets.

Best Answer

I have some 4×6 index cards that I've made to collect information for DDAL convention play, where time is often a critical factor. The information I collect is:

  • Character Name
  • Class & Level
  • Race
  • Background
  • Armor Class
  • Save DC
  • Passive Perception
  • Passive Insight
  • Passive Investigation

The first couple are obvious, while Background is helpful in a DDAL content because some of the Season 8 modules provide for automatic successes or extra information based on it.

Knowing their Armor Class and the Save DC of their abilities (spells, fighter subclass features, monk ki abilities, etc.) in advance greatly accelerates combat; any question I don't have to ask a player more than once makes things go faster. AC can change from round to round for some characters, so I generally instruct players to provide a most-of-the-time-AC - casters with mage armor but without shield, melee combatants with or without shields based on how they normally fight, etc.

Collecting the three observational passives has much the same effect. Why bother even asking for a roll when most of the time, the character is likely to succeed anyway? If they're not a race that has darkvision by default, I ask that here, too.

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