You’ve got the spark—a vivid world, a character ready to come alive. You open your laptop, sip your overpriced latte, and… nothing. 💭
Now you’re stuck wondering: What’s their dominant hand? Did they grow up bilingual? Why do they hate their boss?
Character creation is inspiring—but it’s also work. 💪
A great character sheet template turns scattered ideas into structured growth. Whether you’re writing a novel or building an RPG campaign, these templates help your characters stay consistent and unforgettable. ✍️
Free Character Sheet Templates for Writers, RPGs & Game Designers
What Are Character Sheet Templates?
A character sheet template is a structured document to record and organize information about a fictional character. 📝
It typically includes fields for basic details such as name, age, eye color, skin color, body type, dominant hand, and deeper layers like personality traits, internal conflicts, external conflicts, motivations, language, family background, and significant events.
Writers, RPG players, and game developers use these templates to maintain character consistency across scenes, campaigns, or story arcs.
They help track changes, relationships, and essential elements such as secrets, weaknesses, and dreams. Some also include abilities or powers, especially for sci-fi or fantasy settings.
Whether digital or printable, character sheet templates structure character creation and reduce the need to constantly reference old notes or backtrack through pages.
🧐 Did You Know? Tolkien created entire languages before he finished writing The Lord of the Rings. That’s worldbuilding—and character crafting—on a whole new level.
What Makes a Good Character Sheet Template?
📮 Insight: 37% of our respondents use AI for content creation, including writing, editing, and emails. However, this process usually involves switching between different tools, such as a content generation tool and your workspace. With , you get AI-powered writing assistance across the workspace, including emails, comments, chats, Docs, and more—all while maintaining context from your entire workspace.
A good character sheet template includes all the essential fields needed to fully build and track a character’s life, appearance, and development without missing details. 🧠
Some of the key features include:
- Full name, age, birthday
- Eye color, hair color, skin color, body type, weight, dominant hand
- Personality traits, strengths, flaws, fears, internal conflicts, and external conflicts
- Background: family, friends, enemies, childhood, hometown, education
- Language(s) spoken or known
- Dream job, goals, motivations, belief system, habits
- Key life events, relationships, and memories that shaped the character
- Love stories, rivalries, or unresolved conflicts
- Describe their speech patterns, body language, and unique characteristics
- Inventory, skills, powers, or magic (for RPG or sci-fi characters)
- Notes on how other characters view or are affected by them
- Sections for other notes, secrets, and character arcs
- Timeline or chapter appearances (for writers)
- Editable or printable layout for flexibility across media
🎉 Fun Fact: Pixar uses a rule called “Every character believes they’re the hero.” Even the villain. 😈
14 Character Sheet Templates You Must Know About
Every time you build a character, there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel.
💡 Pro Tip: Add a “Secrets” section in your template. Characters with secrets are always more interesting.
With this tip—and plenty more coming up—let’s dive into the best character sheet templates to help you bring your fictional cast to life. 🎭
1. Book Planning Template
The Book Planning Template is built for writers who want complete project control without juggling five different apps. Instead of relying on sticky notes and disorganized docs, this template lets you map out characters, chapters, timelines, and plot arcs in one place.
It’s best suited for long-form planning—think multi-act novels or series—where you’re juggling timelines, narrative arcs, and publishing stages.
Collaboration Detection makes it feel seamless, whether you’re co-writing a novel or working with an editor. With real-time editing, instant sync across devices, and live typing indicators, everyone stays in the loop without missed updates or crossed wires.
Comments, task changes, and document edits appear instantly, making it easy to brainstorm, revise, and push your project forward together in one shared space. Depending on your workflow, you can toggle between views: chapters, character details, or your complete writing timeline.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Organize tasks using statuses like Prewriting, Editing, Revision, and Publishing
- Create Custom Fields for plot points, characters, locations, and chapters
- Switch between 7 views, including Priority, Novel Details, and Writing Process
- Track real-time progress and collaborate with editors or co-writers
🔑 Ideal For: Writers developing full-length novels who need to track story progress, character development, and multiple storylines at once.
🧐 Did You Know? Brand Right Marketing used ’s task templates to streamline 40+ website projects at once—without added chaos.
2. Story Outline Template
The Story Outline Template by is built for writers who want clarity before they commit words to the page. This list-based setup lets you lay out each scene, track character arcs, and monitor pacing across multiple acts or timelines. This one’s ideal for writers who think in beats and need to see the story’s bones before layering in dialogue or descriptions.
Docs powers this template behind the scenes. You get a clean space to draft scenes, create nested pages for different arcs or characters, and organize research or generate outlines in one place.
Real-time collaboration and task assignments enable you to write and manage the workflow without breaking the rhythm. Plus, the built-in version history lets you track every edit, revert to earlier drafts, and experiment freely without losing your original work.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Assign statuses like Drafting, Editing, Revising, Proofreading, and Complete
- Break your story into chapters or acts with drag-and-drop task cards
- Create dedicated sections for acts, chapters, or timelines
- Link character notes, settings, and subplots inside each scene
🔑 Ideal For: Writers who want to focus purely on structure—plot beats, turning points, and pacing—without managing the whole publishing workflow.
💡 Pro Tip: Use the “Iceberg Method.” Only 10% of your character’s details should appear in the story. But you should know the other 90%.
3. Storyboard Template
The Storyboard Template is a ready-to-use whiteboard that gives you a bird’s-eye view of your entire project. It is perfect for visual thinkers who prefer seeing relationships between scenes rather than linearly reading through text.
Whether you’re building a cinematic sequence, a video game plotline, or a visual outline for a chapter-based novel, this template lets you sketch out story beats, transitions, and pacing in one visual space. It’s less about task management and more about seeing the whole picture.
Speaking about ’s templates, a user says:
✍️ Why writers love it
With this storyboard template, you can:
- Lay out key scenes or sequences using a visual grid
- Drag and drop story elements, as they evolve
- Collaborate live with other creators to plan dialogue, action, or visuals
- Link supporting assets or notes directly to the storyboard cards
🔑 Ideal For: Game devs, filmmakers, and visual writers who sketch first and script later—especially useful for mapping nonlinear plots or dialogue-heavy scenes.
🧐 Did You Know? Dialogue is one of the most effective ways to reveal a theme without spelling it out.
4. Story Planning Template
The Story Planning Template is built for writers who want every moving part of their story in one place—from character traits and settings to scene breakdowns and plot threads. Unlike rigid outlines, this template adapts to evolving narratives and messy middle drafts.
Unlike basic outlines, this folder-style template allows you to expand your ideas as they evolve. With 30 unique statuses, it reflects every stage of your creative process.
With Brain, you don’t just plan smarter—you write smarter. The AI layer helps you generate content, summarize character arcs, and automate status updates across your scenes. Ask it questions about your story, build out new ideas, and watch tasks form in real time, with no switching tools or losing focus.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Create detailed profiles for each character, including age, background, family, and flaws
- Build out scene cards and tag them by chapter or act
- Track story development through multiple workflow statuses
- Add notes on relationships, motivations, and unresolved arcs
🔑 Ideal For: Writers juggling multiple POVs, subplots, and dynamic character arcs who need a structured system to manage evolving drafts, internal conflicts, and layered storylines.
5. Game Design Document Template
The Game Design Document Template acts as your full development hub. It’s designed for teams building everything from sci-fi shooters to cozy farming sims.
You can define game mechanics, sketch out your character’s world, map out story arcs, and manage your workflows. No more digging through emails, files, or paper notes. Everything is live, linked, and shareable.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Plan gameplay features, character systems, and level progression
- Break down core mechanics and controls into tasks
- Document assets like audio, UI, and environment design
- Use collaborative docs and whiteboards to keep the whole team aligned
🔑 Ideal For: Game developers who want to create a detailed roadmap for gameplay and narrative elements while tracking every part of their process in real time.
6. Book Proposal Template
The Book Proposal Template is your go-to tool for creating a professional pitch that doesn’t miss a single point. Manage your entire proposal in one place—no need to juggle multiple docs or versions.
It includes space for the concept, plot, sample chapters, character breakdowns, and submission tracking.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Set up sections for synopsis, sample chapters, and market overview
- Track milestones like submission dates and publisher responses
- Add Custom Fields for word count, genre, and audience segments
- Collaborate on drafts with live editing and status updates
🔑 Ideal For: Writers preparing to pitch to publishers who want a clear, well-organized format for showcasing their book idea, characters, and narrative style professionally.
💡Pro Tip: Try the “third-party test.” Write a scene where another character describes them behind their back. It forces you to consider how your character shows up, not just who they are internally.
7. Notion Character Sheet Template by Skylar
Skylar’s Character Sheet Template on Notion is designed with simplicity and flexibility. It’s perfect for personal projects where you must capture everything from eye color to internal conflicts in a clean, editable format.
It’s a thoughtfully made document where you can list details like age, language, flaws, relationships, and tweak sections as your character evolves.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Fill in key fields like appearance, personality, and backstory
- Customize sections based on your story’s genre or world
- Track consistency in dialogue, motivations, and physical descriptions
- Edit directly in Notion with zero formatting headaches
🔑 Ideal For: Writers and hobbyists who want a minimalist, editable character sheet to create characters with clarity and speed, especially for fiction, fanfic, and personal storytelling.
💡Pro Tip: Use Custom Fields to tag tasks by mental energy. Most productivity apps let you create custom labels or tags, which you can use to group work by focus level.
8. Twinkl Character Investigation Comprehension Worksheet
The Character Investigation Comprehension Worksheet from Twinkl is designed for classroom use but works surprisingly well for writers and game developers.
It helps break down character traits, motivations, and external conflicts in a structured, educational format. This is ideal when building characters from scratch or reworking existing ones. It’s particularly useful during rewrites, when you need to pressure test your character’s consistency.
The focus is on understanding behavior, making it a solid tool for mapping out how a character might react in different scenes or relationships.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Analyze how a character responds to key events
- Identify flaws, strengths, and changes in attitude
- Practice summarizing character arcs clearly
- Encourage deeper thinking around relationships and decisions
🔑 Ideal For: Writers who want to sharpen their ability to analyze and describe characters and educators looking to teach narrative comprehension through structured worksheets.
9. Twinkl Character Description Word Mat
The Character Description Word Mat from Twinkl is a visual reference packed with descriptive vocabulary, organized by features like hair, face, body, voice, clothing, and movement.
It’s not a fillable template but a tool designed to help writers (and students) go beyond generic descriptions and add depth to their descriptions of characters. It’s convenient for expanding your word choices during character creation or revision. This revision tool, disguised as a vocabulary builder, is perfect for trimming clichés and strengthening sensory description.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Find strong, varied adjectives to avoid repetitive phrasing
- Use targeted word banks for physical traits and behaviors
- Print it out for desk reference or display it digitally during writing sessions
- Encourage more specific, sensory-rich character traits and actions
🔑 Ideal For: Writers, educators, or students who want to make character descriptions more detailed and expressive without overexplaining or repeating the same language.
🧐 Did You Know? Recurring objects and motifs can strengthen both character and theme. When tied to a character’s emotional journey, a broken watch, a family heirloom, or a locked door can quietly reinforce deeper narrative messages.
10. Twinkl Character Description Examples—Writing Frames
The Character Description Examples—Writing Frames from Twinkl are structured guides featuring sample descriptions that help explain the “how” behind writing effective character profiles.
With illustrated characters and adjective-rich samples, these frames show you how to describe appearance, emotion, and behavior effectively. Use them when you feel stuck, rephrasing character details during edits—they help build rhythm and clarity.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Review sample passages to model strong character writing
- Use visual prompts to brainstorm physical and emotional traits
- Practice describing characters through tone and expressions
- Sharpen your writing by focusing on flaws, emotions, and subtle cues
🔑 Ideal For: Educators and beginner writers looking to study effective character creation techniques while developing their descriptions from guided examples.
💡 Pro Tip: Every meaningful arc starts with a psychological wound. Their external goal is just a cover. Find that wound, and every choice, flaw, and transformation starts to click.
11. Squibler Character Development Sheet Template
Squibler’s Character Development Sheet Template is designed for serious writers working on novels, screenplays, or episodic storytelling who need to document everything about their characters.
Covers everything from dominant hand and eye color to trauma, vices, narrative makeup, and even favorite foods.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Track personal info, physical traits, and family background in detail
- Dig into habits, dreams, past traumas, and recurring internal conflicts
- Log relationships, enemies, and key influences
- Organize character arcs and behavior changes across the story
🔑 Ideal For: Novelists, screenwriters, and long-form storytellers creating layered characters who evolve, especially when working across genres like sci-fi, drama, or fantasy.
💡Pro Tip: Explore unfamiliar formats and different types of writing to sharpen your core skills. Tackle a screenplay if you write novels. Try copywriting if you’re into poetry.
12. Genially Character Sheet Template
Genially’s Character Sheet Template is a fully interactive, animated presentation for digital storytelling and game-focused character builds.
Add visuals, video clips, audio files, and design elements to customize a dynamic sheet that lives online or can be downloaded in multiple formats. It’s the tool that makes your character look as cool as they are.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Add animated avatars and gameplay screenshots
- Highlight stats, powers, and in-game achievements
- Include multimedia like voice clips or cutscene previews
- Publish and share your sheet with gaming communities
🔑 Ideal For: Game developers, streamers, or players who want to present character bios and stats in a visually rich, interactive format for online storytelling, portfolios, or fan pages.
💡Pro Tip: Readers latch onto characters who feel like people, and people are walking contradictions. Build characters around contradictions. Create tension within the character, not just the plot.
13. Freepik Cartoon Character Template
Freepik’s Cartoon Character Template helps creators build animated characters for motion design, storyboards, or digital games. This template includes scalable vector graphics (AI, EPS, SVG) featuring full-body characters with interchangeable facial expressions, postures, and emotions.
Perfect for building a consistent look across visual scenes or generating multiple poses for sprites in your project.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Customize character poses, outfits, and facial features
- Build sprite sheets for game development or motion graphics
- Create static character illustrations with emotional depth
- Export in multiple formats like JPG, SVG, and EPS for use across platforms
🔑 Ideal For: Animators, game designers, and storytellers who want a flexible, editable base to create and showcase visually expressive characters for digital projects.
🧐 Did You Know? Writers use internal misconceptions—like feeling unworthy of love or fearing failure—to drive transformation. Breaking those beliefs not only deepens the character.
14. Reedsy Character Profile Template
Reedsy’s Character Profile Template is structured to help you examine a character’s surface, history, and internal drive. Based on the idea that people have layers—skin, flesh, and core—this template digs into your character’s history and internal drive.
You’re not just writing about eye color and voice; you’re also exploring their motivations, relationships, and life goals.
✍️ Why writers love it
- Develop characters from physical traits to deep psychology
- Reflect on internal conflicts, formative events, and plans
- Clarify how they speak, act, and think about others
- Keep track of emotions, fears, and behavioral patterns
🔑 Ideal For: Authors and screenwriters who want to understand their characters inside out, especially those working with character arcs that require emotional depth and long-term transformation.
From First Draft to Final Arc—Build Better Characters with
Templates don’t just save time—they sharpen your characters into something real. 🔍
Whether you’re drafting your novel’s cast, shaping NPCs for a new RPG, or planning dialogue-driven scenes for your game, the right character sheet ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
You stop second-guessing details and start focusing on what matters: conflict, growth, and voice. From deep backstories to quick-reference visuals, these templates turn scattered ideas into structured creativity.
And if you’re tired of flipping between documents, brings it all under one roof—notes, outlines, timelines, and AI-powered writing tools included. You don’t need more tabs—you need a workspace where your story can live and grow.
🚀 Create smarter stories—sign up for (it’s free).
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
