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An encounter and an organizing method - critique both

In any event, I can see the image (the right click/view image trick worked for me, as I have Firefox) so here are my comments:

1) Not enough info in general. I assume the things on the left are PCs and the things on the right are "monsters" but I don't know for sure. Since you "wrote" this, you would know. On a similar note, some powers have terms such as "self daze" or stun with no duration. Valorous Smite mentions "mark within 3" but I can't tell if this is an effect, or only if the attack hits. Again, this might be an issue with what you know versus what strangers like us know.

2) I like the action symbols. Anything that draws attention to triggered actions is a good thing. I also notice that they're not used consistently. (The avengers blind uses the same symbol as the swashbuckler's riposte.) My suggestion is to use one symbol for each action type, perhaps use two symbols in tandem (one for action, one for melee/ranged/area/wall/whatever).

3) Arrange powers in order of action type and then how often you can use them, like a standard stat block. The "defender paladin's" powers aren't in that kind of order. They're arranged as minor (at-will), standard (encounter), standard (at-will), and minor (at-will).

4) FRW = ? I assume you mean Fort/Ref/Will, but there's only ever one number, instead of all three.

5) For ease of use, I'd suggest using boxes as well as flow charts.
 

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Yeah, I think I will have to join the consensus on this one, stat blocks are infinitely more readable.

Mind mapping is GREAT for things like plots, organizations, even generally mapping out things like history, cosmology, and geography, though I really have only barely touched the tip of the iceberg myself. If someone could merge a wiki and a mind map I think I might have the best of all worlds.

As for mapping an encounter, I have to say I think there are a lot more interesting things to map than stats. Goals, tricks/traps, plot, etc. could all be mapped out, though TBH very few encounters are individually complex enough to warrant a whole mind map. Perhaps an elaborate social encounter or skill challenge would be a good candidate. Its a subject worth exploring, especially the idea of mapping an SC...
 

Yeah a mind map wiki would be awesome! Kind of like a linkable prezi presentation...

Anyhow, here is an example of how I used a mind map for plotting a campaign.

[sblock]
rok_adventurenodemap.png

[/sblock]
 

Cool! Yeah, if I could do mind-mapping on my XWiki and then each element in the map could be a topic it would be very cool. It would also be great if the tool had a bit of smarts about RPG campaigns. So maybe it would have templates for characters, plots, adventures, locations, etc. Tying back to maps would be cool too, so you could drop elements onto a digital map and look at stuff from various views (geographical, plot links, time, etc). Perhaps screen writers or someone like that have a tool that wouldn't be too far from what I'm thinking of.
 

Into the Woods

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