Bluesheets and Greensheets
To simplify the distribution of large amounts of pre-game information, GMs may prepare a hierarchy of sheets for players to supplement what they learn from their character sheets. These may also help the GMs distribute identical information among multiple players. Having these supplementary sheets on different colors of paper is useful for GMs and players for keeping their sheets sorted. The use of Bluesheets and Greensheets is well known among other live-action roleplaying groups, suggesting that this convention may date back to the days of the Harvard SIL. The Standard Rules describe the differences and uses of these kinds of sheets:
- Bluesheets: These are sort of like character sheets for an entire group of people. Tradition prints them on blue paper. They give information on motives, history, structure, etc., common to a group. Keep in mind that what a Bluesheet actually contains is what you think everybody else thinks. Your personal views might not be reflected at all by the Bluesheet. Your Character sheet will always override the information in a Bluesheet.
- Greensheets: These sheets detail what special knowledge your Character may have about a variety of subjects, and give some general guidelines for what you can try to do with this knowledge. Tradition prints them on green paper. If you wish to use your special knowledge to try and accomplish something or learn something, or if you are unsure of what your special knowledge may be good for, talk to a GM. Greensheets, like Bluesheets, do not exist in the context of the game.
- The line between Bluesheets and Greensheets is often blurry, and some games do not attempt to distinguish between them. “Information Sheets� means Bluesheets and Greensheets.
Contradictions between Bluesheets and character sheets are common for spy and traitor roles, although they can also be used to depict more benign differences in perspective and opinion between characters. Greensheets often include long instructions for complicated mechanics and GMs need to be careful to design mechanics in which competitive success or failure is not determined by the speed of reading of the players.
Character sheets and Bluesheets often list “contacts� near the end of the document, which is a list of players and corresponding characters that the individual receiving the sheets should know at the beginning of game. The character sheet usually gives players the reasons why they have a particular Bluesheet or Greensheet but sometimes that information can only be found by reading one’s own description in the contacts section of a Bluesheet.
