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What I learned from Boardgames: The hidden power of the character sheet
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<blockquote data-quote="Zustiur" data-source="post: 6020048" data-attributes="member: 1544"><p>I think the trick to solving this situation is to have two character sheets.</p><p>The first is the one you use to build your character, it contains all of the formulas and detailed information. The second is a summary 'card' which only shows totals and current status.</p><p>There are several ways to achieve this, depending upon player preference.</p><p></p><p>Most players I know like to pick up their character sheet during the game to read it more easily. This means tokens can't be on the same piece of paper that their stats are on. So for this type of player, they can have their normal character sheet, and a separate status card. You'd only write on the status card if you had to keep a status effect between game sessions. The rest of the time you'd just put tokens in to the relevant box on the card.</p><p>It would show a number of boxes along the lines of:</p><p>[code]</p><p>Status Effect | EOYNT | EOSNT | Save</p><p>---------------------------------------------------</p><p>Dazed | | | </p><p>---------------------------------------------------</p><p>Stunned | | | </p><p>---------------------------------------------------[/code]</p><p>... and so on.</p><p>Where EOYNT means 'end of your next turn'; EOSNT means 'end of source's next turn'; Save means 'save ends'</p><p></p><p>Obviously the boxes would need to be big enough to put poker chips, tiddly winks, or some other marker on. OR, if you've got nice thick card, you could punch holes in the card and use wooden 'pins' into the holes. This would prevent the accidental jostling issue, but would be hard to get unless it was sold by WotC.</p><p></p><p>Other benefits include being able to write the actual effect of each status onto the same card.</p><p></p><p>What this doesn't handle well is -3 to Attacks, or +2 to AC, because the numbers change depending on the power. Sometimes writing really is the most elegant solution. This could be done in the same card style however. Forget the tokens. Just mark up the card with pencil or laminate it and use whiteboard markers. Tick a box when that effect is in play, write -3 in the AC row, erase when the status ends. You can even include an extra column to record who the source was if you want to.</p><p></p><p>Slobster's paper clip idea is excellent, but I see a flaw; Every possible status you want to record would have to be near the edge of the page. This limits the number that you can record, unless you have a really long piece of paper.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>While thinking of the above, I started wondering about tracking hit points in a similar manner. I can imagine having two or three bowls full of tokens in front of each player. Move tokens from 'HP' to 'Damage' as you get damaged. Put in different coloured tokens for temporary HP, and so on. This has one seriously major problem though - It takes up too much valuable table space.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zustiur, post: 6020048, member: 1544"] I think the trick to solving this situation is to have two character sheets. The first is the one you use to build your character, it contains all of the formulas and detailed information. The second is a summary 'card' which only shows totals and current status. There are several ways to achieve this, depending upon player preference. Most players I know like to pick up their character sheet during the game to read it more easily. This means tokens can't be on the same piece of paper that their stats are on. So for this type of player, they can have their normal character sheet, and a separate status card. You'd only write on the status card if you had to keep a status effect between game sessions. The rest of the time you'd just put tokens in to the relevant box on the card. It would show a number of boxes along the lines of: [code] Status Effect | EOYNT | EOSNT | Save --------------------------------------------------- Dazed | | | --------------------------------------------------- Stunned | | | ---------------------------------------------------[/code] ... and so on. Where EOYNT means 'end of your next turn'; EOSNT means 'end of source's next turn'; Save means 'save ends' Obviously the boxes would need to be big enough to put poker chips, tiddly winks, or some other marker on. OR, if you've got nice thick card, you could punch holes in the card and use wooden 'pins' into the holes. This would prevent the accidental jostling issue, but would be hard to get unless it was sold by WotC. Other benefits include being able to write the actual effect of each status onto the same card. What this doesn't handle well is -3 to Attacks, or +2 to AC, because the numbers change depending on the power. Sometimes writing really is the most elegant solution. This could be done in the same card style however. Forget the tokens. Just mark up the card with pencil or laminate it and use whiteboard markers. Tick a box when that effect is in play, write -3 in the AC row, erase when the status ends. You can even include an extra column to record who the source was if you want to. Slobster's paper clip idea is excellent, but I see a flaw; Every possible status you want to record would have to be near the edge of the page. This limits the number that you can record, unless you have a really long piece of paper. While thinking of the above, I started wondering about tracking hit points in a similar manner. I can imagine having two or three bowls full of tokens in front of each player. Move tokens from 'HP' to 'Damage' as you get damaged. Put in different coloured tokens for temporary HP, and so on. This has one seriously major problem though - It takes up too much valuable table space. [/QUOTE]
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