Making your own power cards

tintagel · Apr 22, 2008

Oh yeah, that would work. I am not at home (in a hotel for a conference) - otherwise I would start playing with it. Also, a sylized fist might work.... dunno.

TarionzCousin · Apr 22, 2008

I vote for tintagel's colored icons, even if the "standard action" icon needs to be changed.

Nice work, people. This thread has some great stuff.

ianleblanc · Apr 22, 2008

Why not just make the * smaller?
Anyone know if there are full round action in 4th ed?

emass · Apr 22, 2008

Trolls said:
So, a new round of opinions!

I guess I'm one of the few who doesn't like the bottom one...

For me, the top ones are the best

Lindorie · Apr 22, 2008

Trolls said:
Ok, I think this next one is getting pretty close

Since a lot of people seem to like Trolls' versions, I thought I'd throw in a few thoughts I had when I was working on the cards that I posted earlier.

I thought that there were too many cards to lay out at once, so it would be nice to stack them overlapped and have a bit of information showing on the top. What I thought would be good info is:
name
action cost (standard, move, etc)
type (burst, blast, ranged, etc)
requirement (implement, melee weapon, ranged weapon)
whether it causes an OA.

I also put special effect types towards the top (acid, fire, force, etc), since I thought it might be important depending on who you're attacking. If all these things could be seen in the top inch or so of the card, they could be stacked for space and tapped only when used.

Looking over character and monster powers, I noticed the following action costs:
immediate (reaction)
Dragon breath when first bloodied
free
Mage Hand: Drop an object the hand is holding
standard
Mage Hand: Conjure a floating hand.
move
Mage Hand: You can move the hand up to 5.
minor
Mage Hand: pick up or move a different object.
Mage Hand: sustain the hand.

I know I'm using a lot of examples from Mage Hand, but it is a good example of a power that can slow someone down while they're reading the card (at least until they learn it well). I expect Rituals to be another cost. Inherent abilities and skills could also be considered another type or part of the "free" actions. I don't know how Utility Powers would fit in this.

Frequency includes At-Will, Encounter, Daily, and Recharge. The dice graphics look okay, but I find that they are slower to read than numbers and don't do as well when printed at small sizes.

When players used the character sheets during combat, they slowed down *a lot* trying to find certain pieces of information. The pieces that could use some quick eye-caching features were: range/blast, to-hit and damage stats, secondard attacks.

Other things in the back of my mind:
colors good for color-blinded people. Have the red, green, black colors be progressively dark in grayscale.
consistency: try to put the same information in the same place, or in the same order relative to other text.
colors and text: If colors are used, try to back it up with text or icons. Since there are various types of color-blindness, some people may not see the blue background of a circle.

Khaalis · Apr 22, 2008

emass said:
I guess I'm one of the few who doesn't like the bottom one...
For me, the top ones are the best

Second the motion. I'd personally vote for the top row style. However, I would also suggest dropping the color code from the symbols. Do we really need another color set to add to the complexity? Also, as for "action" symbols... do we have to have it be an option between Attack type or Action symbol? Why can't we add a dot to the lower section of the card like in earlier iterations? Or possibly over the lower section of the left hand column?

Edit: Oh and just to add - this is fantastic work. I love how these are developing. Great work.

WampusCat43 · Apr 22, 2008

So, who's got a full set? I'll try 'em out tomorrow night.

tintagel · Apr 22, 2008

I do, but it's using the Magic the Gathering template, which I am ditching for this new DDM style. But yeah, I have all of them for the existing Pregens. Check page 2 of this thread, I think.

Trolls · Apr 22, 2008

Next iteration:
-New standard action symbol (looks great!)
-Redrew exclamation mark (wasn't quite symmetrical after the resize, edges looked strange)
-Added blur behind action symbols to make them blend in/feel more natural
-Added Attack type (Int vs. Ref) to last notch. That leaves us with nowhere to put Channel Divinity or Pact etc. The trick is whether that or Sustain: Minor is more important. For warlocks, it's not (pact is a one time choice), but for Channel Divinity, it does determine how often you can use the power. Any thoughts?

I know a couple of you still like the attack type rather than action type in the top bubble, but seeing these I think we're on to a winner.

Lindiore -
Since these are power cards, not monster cards, we don't have to worry about recharges. Also, all the most important (decision making) factors are along the top and down the side, so you can stack them.
Oh, and all colour coded/symbol information is repeated in words on the card.