At the moment I'm trying to make my own RPG board game, but it includes character sheets. If I were to make my own type of character sheet with different stats and layout and then publish it would the publishers of D&D or Pathfinder shut me down?
That is, is the concept of character sheet trademarked, patented, or covered by copyright?
No
The concept of a character sheet is not protected by trademark, copyright, or patent law. You may not know this, but there are literally thousands of role-playing games in existence. I would venture to say the vast majority of them have some kind of character sheet.
Now, of course, if you are using specific graphics or trade dress from an existing game on your sheets, that could be protected via IP law. But assuming the game and the sheet are entirely your own original creation, you're good.
