Using cards in your game?

[Festivus]

One other thing I use that I forgot to mention was my mounts tokens. Just print them and then tape to cardboard for a statted up mount that fits nicely beneath your miniature. I got tired of looking up the darn horse stats so I figured to just print them on a square and use em on the table.

Medium Mounts
Large Mounts

As for magical IDed stuff. In my tabletop game we use certs (printed slips of paper with all the stats). Every magic item has a 2 letter code that corresponds to a excel database I keep with the full data on the magic item. Unidentified stuff is handled with the Paizo GameMastery cards containing the code only. Once identified, they get the certificate that has all the data on the item (and the code). If they lose the paper, they lose the item.

This is really helpful for things like tracking crossbow bolts, flasks of holy water, cureative potions and other expendables as well. Use the item, hand in the paper. For bolts, they get a sheet with check boxes on it, and mark off boxes as they use the charges/bolts/arrows.

 

[Darmanicus]

I also plan to buy the Deck of Many Things card deck from SATurday Graphics, although I doubt I'll use the deck in my game.

Sob

 

[Rel]

Rel, I agree with what you and a lot of others are saying. Visual representations are excellent! They work so may ways.

However, I quoted what you said above. That's the point where I found the cards hampered me rather than helping me. I kept forgetting abilities. Easy stuff (like DR) belongs on the card. But, when the creature has a special ability that when played right freaks the player out, I tend to gloss over or ignore it unless I have the book open.

My success with using the cards alone probably has a lot to do with the fact that most of my games tend to be relatively low level. At those low levels the critters they face tend not to have so many special abilities or attributes that they don't fit on the card fairly easily.

The funny thing is that I had the opposite problem you did. I'd be running the game with the Monster Manual open next to me and I'd glace over at my monster du jour and I'd see...a big block of text. In the middle of the game and all the stuff I'm juggling in my head, I could barely read what was on the page in those little typed words. I'd forget all kinds of stuff.

But with the cards, it was right in front of me and, vastly more importantly, written in my own (poor) handwriting. And honestly it doesn't have all that much to do with it being on the card and everything to do with the fact that I wrote it there. I'm one of those people who can read something and two hours later I can barely recall any of it. But if I write it myself then it sticks with me with crystal clarity. So perhaps more than anything else, the cards are handy for me in that they give me a vehicle to write my notes on that is easily handled and maniplated in a variety of manners during the game.

 

[Mark Hope]

I like the idea of two different cards (i.e. pre and post identify), but I think that is a little too much work even for me.

Yeah, I'd really like to do this, but it's a bit much

Some cool ideas here - thanks for the feedback from those who are using item cards. I'll have to see if my flgs has some of the Paizo cards and check those out too...