Ideas for versatile condition markers

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Seizure Robot

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #1

I was at work thinking about how I was going to implement 'Marked' when 4E comes out, the first idea popping into my head being poker-chips or something similar. They come in different colours and so can represent marks from multiple opponents, they're readily and cheaply available for us poor students - seems perfect!

But then I thought about large/huge minitures and how silly it would be to have to keep lifting a mini up to see which color marker it had underneath. Some minis you could place the chip on top of or between the legs of, but others really would look terrible.

And what about bloodied? cursed? poisoned? slowed? charmed? sooner or later you would think a character was flying with how high their mini was stacked with chips!

Being as I work in an Electronics store however I soon came across a solution - short lengths of shielded wire! They come in a multitude of colors (and with a permanent marker you can even personalize some with different patterns), they're dirt cheap, you can get them practically anywhere (Have some old Cat5 laying around? Just cut it open!), they are very flexible and can easily be draped over/at the base of a mini, they take up almost no room, etc.


So I was wondering what other ideas you guys had for cool condition markers, let's have 'em!

 

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tuffnoogies

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #2

I was considering different colored dragon tears, but I like your idea also.

 

ThirdWizard

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #3

Seizure Robot said:

Being as I work in an Electronics store however I soon came across a solution - short lengths of shielded wire!

Click to expand...

That's similar to what a person in our group came up with - paper clips. We can bend them and put them onto the base of the miniature, with color coding.

 

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Old Salt

Explorer

• Mar 12, 2008

• #4

If you have the extra duckets to spend here's an idea. I'm not to much in favor of either of these methods, I don't want to 'ruin' the mini by sticking things in to or on to it.

I've considered cutting a 1 inch dowl rod into about 1/4 inch slices, since poker chips seem to be a tad to large, and paint them with the various colors we'd need. Another idea my group came up with is a small loop of wire with craft beads to loop over the mini (we have 'artsy/craftsy' better (other) halves).

 

Glyfair

Explorer

• Mar 12, 2008

• #5

The popularity of various miniature games (particularly the "clix" games) have lead to various markers for miniatures. Here is one variation.

 

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MintMMs

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #6

I've been using small rubber bands which are used to tie up hair. They're very cheap, come in quite a few colors and are only about 3/4" in diameter. Just drape them over the monster mini or loop them around the base of your PCs.

 

catsclaw227

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #7

Glyfair said:

The popularity of various miniature games (particularly the "clix" games) have lead to various markers for miniatures. Here is one variation.

Click to expand...

Last week, I bought a gripload of the aleatools magnetic markers. These are gonna be great and I can already use them to note effects for 3.5.

Great idea, especially for PCs. I use lots of props, from condition cards to item cards. These are all real great additions.

 

pogre

Legend

• Mar 12, 2008

• #8

Cut-up pipe cleaners is an old standard from historicals miniature war gaming. Cheap and a multitude of colors are available.

 

D.Shaffer

First Post

• Mar 12, 2008

• #9

I'd just use a few glass beads, myself. Just place them on the mini base.

 

CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing

• Mar 12, 2008

• #10

Another way to do it would be to use flash cards: get some 3x5 index cards and write "Fatigued," "Raging," "Bloodied," or whatever conditions you need on them, and hand them out to the players. Then, whenever a character is under a particular condition, the player just lays the appropriate card face-up in front of his character sheet or on the edge of the battle mat for everyone to see.

Like I said in another post, we use poker chips...I just slide the white one underneath the monster that the rogue is dodging, for example. In 4E, there are a lot more things to keep track of, so more colors might be needed. Red could mean the creature is bloodied, blue could show all of the creatures getting a bonus from the paladin, etc.

This is sounding more and more like a board game. :\

 

Last edited: Mar 12, 2008