Keeping track of bloodied, marked, etc...

[SuperGnome]

Hiya,

I'm curious what you guys do to keep track of who's bloodied, marked, has Riposte' Strike on them, etc...

I know there are the monster\PC cards you can write on, but most effects come and go repeatedly.

I was hoping to use small game/poker chips (7/8"), but they're a hair too small so they'd disappear under the minis usually. That sucks, because they're $1/20. I'm thinking of using multicolored twisty-ties as they're free, and also would be quite visable if a bit cheesy.

I cold print out things on card stock, but I think they'll just be a pain to move around. One thing would be if they were vaguely star shaped, the points could flare up around the edges and maybe "stick" a bit, making moving them with minis easier.

What have you guys done, or what ideas do you have?

 

[klobbermeister]

I grabbed an .89 package of multi-colored pipe cleaners at the craft store, cut them into thirds, and made rings out of them.

Red is bloodied. Each player gets a color to signify their effect on the appropriate mini.

Aside from the stack of 'fuzzy leis' that obscures a mini sometimes, it works out well for us.

 

[SuperGnome]

ooo, beats the heck out of twisties! Thanks man, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.

 

[Aristotle]

Invested in Alea Tools. I could have done something cheaper, like the pipe cleaners, and gotten the same result. I like 'game gear' so I spent the money. One session down and I'm mostly happy with them. I think I may not use all of the colors I got, but the ones I was using for bloodied, marked, and ongoing damage were very helpful. I posted a little something in my blog about them, too.

 

[andarilhor]

I am not using miniatures just because they are so much money in my country, so I am cannibalizing some boardgames I dont use for pieces.

For the players I am using pieces of a boardgame which are connical, and for monsters I will be using War (Risk in USA, i believe) pieces for the medium and large ones, and maybe botle caps or some other thing for huge and gargantuan ones.

To the conditions I an using power cards I made in excel for the players, for monster I simply put in a table of mine, writing in a code. Some effects I ask to the player let the power card in the table turned to indicate his effect instill will in.

For marks, hunter´s quarry, warlock´s curse and blodied i will use plastic bottle caps rings cutted in little pieces and give a color to which player, minus red ones, which indicate bloodied.

 

[andarilhor]

Ah! For duration of effects I am using a simple code:

ET(...): End of the Turn (character or monster name)

ST(...): Start of the Turn (character or monster name)

EE: End of Encounter

Other(...): For 1 hour, 1 day, specific powers.

 

[Obryn]

Invested in Alea Tools. I could have done something cheaper, like the pipe cleaners, and gotten the same result. I like 'game gear' so I spent the money. One session down and I'm mostly happy with them. I think I may not use all of the colors I got, but the ones I was using for bloodied, marked, and ongoing damage were very helpful. I posted a little something in my blog about them, too.

I have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, I think they fill their purpose better than most anything else I could imagine getting. They are attractive, simple to use, and a lot of fun. I can't imagine running 4e without them.

On the other hand, the fact that they're magnets drives me up the wall. I'm probably one of the people whose posts you read, where I complain about their attraction/repulsion issues.

Every session, I have at least 1 stack of magnets "steal" a magnet from elsewhere. Also, every session I have magnets too close to one another that either pull or push.

It's far from insurmountable - and I still like them better than other options - but I don't think I would be as sanguine had I spent $70+ on them.

-O

 

[Skyscraper]

So, um... what are pipe cleaners?

English is not my first language so I might in fact know the device under another name. A detailed description would be nice.

Thanks,

Sky

 

[JGulick]

So, um... what are pipe cleaners?

Pipe Cleaners at Wikipedia

 

[Skyscraper]

Pipe Cleaners at Wikipedia

Thanks. Wiki. Still not a reflex