Cheap DM/Player tips

[Jack Haggerty]

Instead of counters or beads to keep track of hit points, I just use a pair of d10s... One for the tens place, and one for the ones place, just like when you roll for a d%. The number showing is my current hit point total. If I take subdual, I pull out a second, different colored pair, and start counting up on those.

I'll echo the "note cards are good" suggestions.

In conjuction with the note cards, small post-it notes are also quite useful... Especially for tagging note cards, minis or counters with modifers or conditions. "The orcs with the pink tags are asleep," or writing "+1 Atk & vs. Fear" on a post-it to tag someone who's been blessed.

 

[qstor]

*bumping way up*

Anyone know where do get those cheap plastic grey orcs and dwarves? I got some with a link in the very old "cheap plastic minis" thread before the D&D minis came out and wanted to send the link to a friend. The company is in the UK and makes grey unpainted orcs and dwarfs and sci-fi minis.

thanks

Mike

 

[Varianor Abroad]

*bumping way up*

Anyone know where do get those cheap plastic grey orcs and dwarves? I got some with a link in the very old "cheap plastic minis" thread before the D&D minis came out and wanted to send the link to a friend. The company is in the UK and makes grey unpainted orcs and dwarfs and sci-fi minis.

thanks

Mike

Nope, sorry, but a cool old thread nonetheless.

Two ideas that I use.

Take the plastic tops off of milk cartons that you're about to recycle. Glue your counters from Dungeon or from the fabulous Counter Collections to them. (Unless you're using the magnetic solution, but I find that does not go well when we have to use the big Battlemat.)

Just spotted these mini trees in CVS of all places. You know the cheesy little green pine trees with the white gunk on them? They stand anywhere from an inch to two inches high. My grandmother used to have some of these on her mantle. But I figure, heck, they look a helluva lot better than me drawing in trees with marker. Guess there's going to be more pines around.

 

[Storminator]

For certs I print out VShane's pictures, and write the info on the back.

http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=379

Look for the Artifacts of the Arcane series. It's all pictures of cool magic items. I print them on card stock so they're a little beefier. And as said above, whoever has the cert has the item...

PS

 

[DaveStebbins]

I've seen the following posted before, though if it's in this thread, I missed it. I'll repost the idea because my players liked it. For a battle against a horde of cannon fodder, I pulled out caramels instead of counters or figures, placed them on the board and proclaimed, "You kill it, you get to eat it." It made for a memorable battle indeed as characters who were normally combat-averse waded in trying their best to be killing machines.

For a battle mat, a friend took a saw to an old chalkboard and cut out a 2.5 by 3.5 foot section. He then scored it a knife to get the one-inch grid. Later, after reading about it on these boards, we screwed a one-inch dowel under each corner to lift it 6-8 inches off the table and open up the space underneath for books, papers, dice, etc.

 

[MerakSpielman]

We currently use dice, with a different number representing the different monsters. Lord knows we have enough dice a the table. "Greens are the six goblins, blues are the three Ogres, and the gold d20 is the necromancer." But after reading all these ideas I'm starting to reconsider. I could easily make up a stack of counters, 1" wide, numbered for convenience.... Now y'all got me thinking...

 

[Altalazar]

Using graph paper, a ruler, and some red pens, I made a rather extensive map of a pyramid complex based entirely on an old book on the real pyramids at egypt. It was an almost exact replica and looked really cool, but of course had more interesting temples inside the pyramids, as well as different surrounding terrain. I like the resulting maps more than just about any map I've ever seen come with a published game.

 

[psyronin]

Mage Knight is awesome! You can get some sweet, sweet figures for under 50 cents each. Check out this one that I got for 19 cents from an online store:
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/mageknight/figuregallery.asp?unitid=3889
Yes, that's exactly what it looks like, not like some of the box pictures which show the factory master.

 

[Steverooo]

Cheaper "White"boards

Instead of buying a whiteboard, you can go to most any hardware store and get the plastic shower-stall covering, instead... It comes in a variety of colors (including white, although Aeolius would no doubt prefer blue), and they will cut it to most any size you want (well, any size smaller than the wall of a shower-stall, anyway)! Best of all, it is CHEAP.

 

[robaustin]

Said it before, will say it again - food is great for foes.

M&M's are the best. Different colors, fit in squares. Person who gets the killing blow eats it.

--*Rob