What will you/do you use for marks?

[Dathalas]

I'm using a set of condition cards that I print up on cardstock. I list the condition text from the compilation PDF right on the card so it's easy to remember what each condition does.

If a player gets Marked, I just hand him the marked card and slap a post-it note on it with the name of the monster. When he's not marked anymore, he hands the card back.

As far as a player marking a monster, I just jot it down to the side of the monster on my init tracking sheet (just plain old notebook paper seems to be the quickest and easiest for me to use).

I'm using full-color tokens printed on cardstock, so I just flip them over when someone gets bloodied (I've got a red border around the token for the bloodied condition).

 

[Trainz]

Some of you more wargame-oriented folks might look forward at filling your battlemats (which I don't use) with pebbles, elastics, pins and whatnot, but if I can't use 4th ed mechanics with just a few scribbles here and there, than I will house-rule the hell out of it.

That mechanic for monsters where they roll a 6 sider to see if something is recharged will possibly come in handy if I go that way.

When I was playing SW:SAGA, I found that it was a useless PITA to keep track of conditions, so near the end I ended up making foes that either had a way too high Damage Treshold check to come up often, or were simply immune to the mechanic (droids).

I am deeply in love with at least half the 4th ed mechanics, but the rest is just nerdy nit-picking for the doubtful payback it provides. They advertised the game as simpler and more elegant. How is forcing you to start juggling with tools, power cards, tokens, minis, mats... SIMPLER???

 

[Xorn]

As far as bloodied goes, I just mention when the thing reaches that state. I don't mark it visibly or anything, but I do circle the life total on the init tracker when it reaches bloodied.

(My whiteboard is magnetic, plus my dry erase markers have magnetic caps with little erasers on them. They own.)

 

[Jer]

Knowing how my games go, we'll go with a mix of whatever change we have in our pockets alongside stray objects we leave in whatever room of whoever's house we're playing in.

"Wait, so the pawn chess piece, that's the king?"
"Right."
"Why not use the king chess piece?"
"All I could find was a pawn! Now, do you want your penny to attack the pen cap or not?"

Remember - Monopoly is full of pieces that can be used to great effect for this stuff. As an added bonus you can see if your players fight over who gets to be the race car even in a D&D game. (Seriously - if you need to keep track of a horde of goblins or other small beasties, the houses make great position markers.).

As for marks - I really hope I don't NEED a visual aid at all to make the system work. A little note on my ever-present clipboard of notes that I keep at my side should be sufficient - if it isn't then me and the system are going to have a little "problem" that we're going to have to deal with.

 

[Zaruthustran]

For fighters, at least, all "mark" means is "who did I attack last round?"

Remembering this bit of info is pretty easy.

I don't see a need for fussing with physical counters or whatnot. Especially since 4E has so much movement--seems likely that counters would get moved around or misplaced.

In the playtests I've run, each player of a character that marks (so far, that's Paladin or Fighter) simply keep tracks of that info themselves. If the DM says "This goblin attacks Bob", and that goblin was marked by Jim, Jim just says "I marked that goblin, so he's -2 to attack Bob."

A positive side effect of marks is that they encourage players to actively pay attention to the table, even when it's not their turn.

 

[Knightlord]

My group (if we play) will probably try using the plastic chips from Axis & Allies(2004). Only problem is that they only come in two colors: Grey and Red.

*Shrugs*

I guess everyone will just have to keep up with what chips are their's.

 

[Jhaelen]

For fighters, at least, all "mark" means is "who did I attack last round?"

Remembering this bit of info is pretty easy.

I don't see a need for fussing with physical counters or whatnot.

That's what I hope, too. If I cannot easily remember who marked whom, I'll just ignore marking in my games or substitute it with something else. I really don't want to use any physical representation for them.

 

[Xethreau]

I use poker chips. They are rather nice. And color coded!

 

[Gargazon]

A box of Connect 4 and some spare change should be all I need for markers.

 

[Zaruthustran]

We use poker chips for action points. My group plays a bit of poker, so the feeling of tossing in a chip when things are tense is quite natural. And it's fun to have the DM pass out chips after every couple of encounters.