Item cards

punkorange · Jul 11, 2005

Have any of you ever used cards to represent items in a player's inventory, handing them out to players when the find things. Maybe showing only a picture of the item, mundane stats, and weight. Also a reference number so the DM can check his version of the card?
I thought about trying this out and seeing how it worked.

eabha · Jul 11, 2005

Our DM did that for a while at the start of his current campaign. It was pretty cool. The "cards" were very neat slips of paper, colour-coded and referenced (where it was found, weight, etc.) and everything. Made it very easy to divide loot and so on. But as the DM got busier and busier at work, the cards disappeared. I'm hoping he gets back to it.

kenc · Jul 11, 2005

I use them all the time, they work great. I use index cards and record the item, a brief description if needed, weight etc...

Janx · Jul 11, 2005

Yes.

I have a template document, but it needs a few minor tweaks. I was planning on submitting it to ENworlds download system. Perhaps I should finish it...

I basically cover 20 different item types, kinda overkill, but it works well.

What I found works the best is to copy my templates to a word document for my character, and fill out the templates for each item my PC has. Then I just print out the document (and save it) and then cut it out.

Here's the thread where I started getting some initial feedback:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1822252#post1822252

Janx

DonTadow · Jul 11, 2005

I print out pics on cardstock paper for important artifacts, weapons and items. I wanted to initially have an item card for every magical item but it just created more clutter for my players to leave behind.

adwyn · Jul 11, 2005

We just started doing this. What prompted me was a sale on 3x5 notecards at Staples. I picked up 1000 for under 10 bucks, so since I've been printing off both standard items with a picture and text from the SRD and others for magic items.

The standard items are a little bit overkill, but the magic items help with the "I've got the wand, No I"ve got the wand" debates. I even include a little bit of Magic card style quotes on some of the more common magic items to help give them a place in the setting.

Janx · Jul 11, 2005

I just submitted my Gear Cards v1.0.pdf to the EnWorld Downloads site. It will take a little while for the moderator to approve it. Once that's done, I'll put the link here, as well.

Janx

the Jester · Jul 11, 2005

Back in the 80s we used cards for super-powerful unique items all the time. I should start doing that again.

kenobi65 · Jul 11, 2005

I did this in our first 3E campaign, mostly because I'd gotten sick of players saying, "Can you tell me what my magic sword does? I can't find / lost my notes." So, each magic item was written down on a card, with an ID #, and I kept a master list of the ID #s.

This worked all right for a while, but I eventually came to dislike the work it took to keep the list updated.

So, now, I've laid down the law to my players: I don't keep close track of what you have. If you can't keep track, you might wind up not being able to use it.

Janx · Jul 11, 2005

My cards are now available here at EnWorld:
http://www.enworld.org/downloads/fileinfo.php?id=329

Let me know if you find them useful, or if you have ideas for enhancement.

Janx