Our First Game -- What some non-RPG fans Learned that they want to share!

[Turtlejay]

I've hand made a couple of cards (the same size as power cards) to use as a mini character sheet.

Card/side 1 has across the top lines for:
Name
Level & EXP
Class & Race
Paragon Path & Epic Destiny

Below that are 4 rows of boxes:
Row 1: Init, Speed, blank, Passive Perception, Passive Insight
Row 2: AC, Fort, Ref, Will, blank
Row 3: Surge HP, Bloodied HP, Total HP, Current HP, Temp HP
Row 4: Total Surges, Current Surges, checkbox for Second Wind, checkbox for AP Usage, Action Point

Card/side 2 has 4 columns of 6 boxes.
Column 1: Stat bonuses
Column 2-4: Skill bonuses

Use pencil to write in static values, then slip the cards into plastic card sleeves and use Dry/wet erase markers to write in the variable numbers (Current HP, Temp Hit, Current Surges, AP).

I haven't had a chance to test the cards out in play yet, but if I find them useful I'll make electronic versions soon.

Yes, do. If they work out well I'll try them out. While I am leery of using markers to keep track of HP's (especially my little pony markers shaped like hearts (kidding!)), I think bringing a deck of cards to the game would be hilarious. Especially if I glued MtG backs onto them and referred to my character as my deck the entire session....

Seriously though, I'm interested in this card idea.

Jay

 

[Bodhiwolff]

It'd be interesting to see a combo of these two ideas.

A gamer mat, permanently broken down into a set of 4 or 6 or 8 (or whatever-it-takes) cards, designed to lay out in various formats, but still with spaces to take poker chips as tokens to keep track of effects.

Thus, you could have a health card, and a skills card, etc. Those things that don't change you put down with a marker. Those things that do change you keep track of using poker chips, or tokens, etc.

That way your entire character can be carried around in a deck box (including a combat deck and skills deck, so you'll never even have to crack a player's handbook again!) and you can customize your own layout to a certain extent.

Yet you still have the advantages of pre-calculations all done up for you (protected under sleeves) and the ease of tokens to keep track of those things that change quickly.

A mat-made-of-cards, formatted ingeniously such that things don't get too crowded, and still pretty. Maybe even formatted to blend in nicely whatever Power Cards you're using (Grandpa's for my preference, since they have the space for calculations and I like that), but with the "character sheet" cards still having a slightly different-yet-cohesive style to them to tell them apart.

If anybody comes up with a design, post it, and I'll gladly steal it! ('cause you've seen the lousy designs I come up with!)

 

[Nail]

If anybody comes up with a design, post it, and I'll gladly steal it!

Me too.

 

[Pabloj]

Is it possible to edit these mats? Or can someone uplad an editable file with them? I would love to translate them in spanish for my group.

 

[Pabloj]

Is it possible to edit these mats? Or can someone upload an editable file with them? I would love to translate them to Spanish for my group.

EDIT: no idea why this ended like a double post...

 

[Bodhiwolff]

So, I made up a combo like I was talking about.

Character Sheet cards -- formatted in the same style as Grandpa's Power Cards. Made to sit on the table next to them and blend in.

Spaces to put in your character's actual calculated values, etc., but also spaces to hold poker chips or tokens for hit points and action points and healing surges, etc.

8 cards in total, and it winds up being the same floorspace as a player mat, but you can re-arrange them however you like.

What is more, you can place Granpa's Race/Diety/Alignment cards, etc., all next to them, and they all blend in thematically, so you can have a nice little section where you keep your "Character Stuff". Stack 'em in a deck if you want to save space (except for the three with tokens on 'em, of course).

So with these, and a full set of Grandpa's cards (including the Skill Deck, Combat Deck, etc.,) you shouldn't have to be doing much looking up any more, and stacking them into little piles will save you tons of table space.

 

[turk128]

9-pocket card/binder sleeves are perfect for combining cards and gamer mat.
Image:Cardbinder.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was using the cards alone but shuffling through cards can be a lil tedious if you have lots of powers and feats (looking at the wizard character ). Tried out the 9-pocket card sleeves and it's perfect; I use Ander00's cards so it was actually much easier because I could fold the sleeve like an accordion.

 

[Serendipity]

That sounds absolutely immensely cool.

 

[Zephyrus]

I very much like the idea of a game-mat though doubt I'd ever get the chance to really use one but who knows. One of the things though that I've seen in a number of the play mats that I think could be useful is that anywhere a token(s) are used, I'd suggest that those area's, especially the large health area be next to the pages border so that tokens can easily be slide off without having to be picked up first if possible. Since most people are right handed I'd suggest the top and right edges of the mat for this purpose with the left and bottom edges to be free of token zones.

I agree that anything that makes play easier, power cards etc is a wonderful boon. I've had to GM-PC a character in games and wished I had power cards to help me run the extra character since I was already busy running the game I often had to have another player look up things for me so as to keep the pace of the table going and avoid having too many books behind my screen at an already semi-cramped table.

I'm very much looking forward to the DDI character Creator Beta and the Automated Power Cards that will print when you print your character including Item cards!

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Since most people are right handed I'd suggest the top and right edges of the mat for this purpose with the left and bottom edges to be free of token zones.

Actually... wouldn't you want the token zones on the left side as a righty (and vice-versa for lefties) so you can write on and manipulate stuff on the sheet with your right hand without knocking tokens around (esp. w/sleeves) or having to angle your arm?