Cheap DM/Player tips

wsclark · Feb 15, 2002

WSmith said:
Before this thread is done we need to archive it!

Most definitely!

WSmith said:
Ideas not posted on my site:

Use those little rock/stone things you find at Arts and Crafts stores. Red are worth 3 hp, white are worth one. take 7 hp of damage and the dm gives you two red stones and one white one. Or better yet used them as a HP indicator. If you have 8 hp, use the Green for 3 and white for one. So in front of your character you have 2 Green and 2 white. Damage is red for 3 and black for 1. So when the damage "indicator" equals the HP indicator, you are at 0 HP. PLUS add another color for subdual and when that meats the dam indi, you are knocked unconscious!

If a cleric casts CLW, you are told not how muc you are healed, but instead given white/green stones back.

I use a similar system that I have developed over the last year. Each player is given a small glass (for two reasons, 1) the clinking of the glass stones in the bowl has a nice sound to it and 2) I can see the hits points a players has easily) that contains stones representing their current hit points. As they take damage, stones are removed from the bowl and placed next to it. As damage is healed, stones are placed back into the bowl. I generally use red stones to represent 1 hit point, green stones to represent 10. If a character goes negative, I add black stones to the bowl.

If people are interested, I'll post the whole system.

drnuncheon · Feb 15, 2002

Eye Tyrant said:
I have thought about glueing the counters to the game pieces to give them more stability, but haven't done so yet. The game pieces are black on one side and white on the other, which makes them more versatile then a solid colored chip

Rather than using glue, why not use some of that bluetack stuff you can use to hang posters and the like? That way it's not permanent.

J

Bill Muench · Feb 15, 2002

bardolph said:
"Certs" would be wonderful, but only if I can spit them quickly out of my printer!

That's easy - just divide up the page into a few different certs and print them out, then slice them up. Living Greyhawk certs are generally 3 certs to a page, so each cert is 8.5" tall by 3.66" wide. Print them out on some decent paper/stock and they look really nice. I plan on doing this for my game when I get it going again, for a few reasons:
a) If you've got the cert, you've got the item. Very simple.
b) You can put all the information pertinent to the item on the cert so that players don't have to go digging through the DMG to make sure it does what they think it does.
c) Most players like certs. It is something tangible. And they're pretty when done right.

WSmith · Feb 15, 2002

wsclark said:
I use a similar system that I have developed over the last year. Each player is given a small glass (for two reasons, 1) the clinking of the glass stones in the bowl has a nice sound to it and 2) I can see the hits points a players has easily) that contains stones representing their current hit points. As they take damage, stones are removed from the bowl and placed next to it. As damage is healed, stones are placed back into the bowl. I generally use red stones to represent 1 hit point, green stones to represent 10. If a character goes negative, I add black stones to the bowl.

If people are interested, I'll post the whole system.

Wow, much better than my idea. One questions is how do you handle subdual damage?

Also, you could have it so the stones in the glass are the wounds and the ones on the table are their current, that way give them an off color to place against their table top non-glassed total for subdual damage.

This sounds like a great use for shot glasses.

Greatwyrm · Feb 15, 2002

recycling and counters

Caps from soda bottles work really well for 1 square counters. You can also write on them with wet-erase markers (numbers, names, whatever) and then wipe them off when the battle is over. White bottle tops work the best. Green are okay. I haven't tried red or black tops yet.

It's rare I've been to a gaming session that did not produce an excess of soda bottle tops.

WSmith · Feb 15, 2002

Re: recycling and counters

Greatwyrm said:
Caps from soda bottles work really well for 1 square counters. You can also write on them with wet-erase markers (numbers, names, whatever) and then wipe them off when the battle is over. White bottle tops work the best. Green are okay. I haven't tried red or black tops yet.

It's rare I've been to a gaming session that did not produce an excess of soda bottle tops.

Exactly! See what I put together: http://www.rpghost.com/3eHall/cbcmini01.htm

I'm A Banana · Feb 15, 2002

This sounds like a great use for shot glasses.

And what's wrong with their original, intended use as alcoholic containers, Hmm?!

As for the minis/counters thing:
For me, counters like this are not a realistic option. The fact is, I play with 6-7 people crammed in a 10' by 10' dorm room, and I'm relegated to a little corner...floor space is very, very precious. I can't lay out a mat or anything. Half the time, I sketch out the setting, show it around, and have them look at it. Usually, they take my word for where things are, but I'd like to change that.

Any advice out there on representing battles when you can't lay anything out?

This is also why I'm interested in a computer-thing to help me out. Something simple is the key, since I can use my laptop at a game session. Something I could, say, download a map from Jamis Buck, slap it in the program, and show everybody where they are with various icons and things, simply by showing them the screen. Maybe even give it a bit of video-game feel by having "life bars" that deplete as you get hit, "subdual bars" that fill up with subdual damage, etc....though dice may be used for that, too...

One thing that's more dificult to represent is the creautres that are larger-than-normal...especially without any sort of counters.

That's why I'm tempted to try a Final Fantasy style Fade-Out, at least for a quest or two.

Hurm...whatever. I'd just really like to find a system that's easy, takes up little to no space, and can be useful for passing around.

The Index Cards are genious...I'd do that if I had the time.

Anakin · Feb 16, 2002

limited floorspace? not a problem.

Magnets are your friend. Get a big ol' magnetic board, and mount tokens on refrigerator magnets. There's even a company that sells magnetic dungeon pieces (link, anyone?), although they're a little pricey for my tastes. Anyway, a big ol' magnetic board lets you show everything on the wall. WAY better than a laptop screen, imho.

Fayredeth · Feb 16, 2002

The link for the magnetic tiles is http://www.skeletonkeygames.com/. They are pretty nice, but they are weak magnets, so I don't know how much they would hold.

Keep this going... I like absorbing these ideas....

bret · Feb 16, 2002

Index cards: Use them to track combats

The best way to track rounds. Make up an index card for each player with their main statistics. Mark in pencil which items are in hand. Write two when multi-round spells are cast, and make a tick mark for each round to track combat spells.

Now make up another set for the various opponents. Put all the stuff you really need to know on them.

Roll initiative, sort the cards by initiative, and just start going through the cards. Can really clean up the GM bookkeeping.

Whiteboards are your friend!

Set up a whiteboard behind the GM. Use this for quick maps and other visual items. This would also be a solution for those who don't have enough room to lay out a map.

Handouts

Write up and print out a city gazette or public notice once, pass it around to the players. Lots of players really like props they can hold and look at.