Flashcards for d20 combat

[RealMarkP]

I'm making a cheatsheet for all the d20 rules for my own personal use. I also own the Rules Compendium. As I'm reading through the SRD, the compendium, and various other sources, I'm starting to realize that the actions a character can make are so numerous, that it becomes hard to keep track of. My players sometimes (novices in D&D) don't think of using a certain skill in a particular way or forget to use AoO in other situations. I, as the DM, sometimes forget to remind them.

One of my players started printing maneuvers onto the back of a playing cards. He throws them down on the table when he wants to use them and keeps track of his allotment per round.

Has anyone created flashcards like these? Or, has anyone have a system they use to easily prune through a list of rules?



At this point, my cheat sheet is 17 pages long, and contains rules gathered from the SRD, CAdv, CWar, the RC, and so on. I tried my best to simplify language and make it brief, but it still takes up many pages.

[ericgrau]

I have cheatsheets in my sig but they only cover core. There's a 4 page DM screen plus a 8.5"x5.5" booklet with 16 half pages. There are easily visible headers for each rule or section.

As a player cards are nice for specific abilities, or you can create a table with lots of room for notes on each ability so the player can jot down the important parts.

[RealMarkP]

Very cool. Maybe I'll steal your player's cheat sheet.

I was thinking of using cardstock or playing cards so that it's almost like playing poker. You throw down an action and it's easier to keep track. The only downside is that you're going to have like 40 cards in front of you. Each action (ie Bull Rush, Attack, AoO), each skill, and so on.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Mentioning this thread, I think it'd be a good idea for vancian casters - prepared casters, especially - to have a deck of cards like for what they have.

Sorcerers could do something similar, but they'd have to have n+1 different piles, where n is the highest level of spell they can cast.

Metamagic does screw with this plan a lot, though.:smallsigh:

[ericgrau]

Very cool. Maybe I'll steal your player's cheat sheet.

I was thinking of using cardstock or playing cards so that it's almost like playing poker. You throw down an action and it's easier to keep track. The only downside is that you're going to have like 40 cards in front of you. Each action (ie Bull Rush, Attack, AoO), each skill, and so on.

Well the DM also needs what's on the DM screen. It's not the same rules but additional rules that players don't need to worry about when deciding their turn. Some day I might get around to a DM's booklet as a second option for those who don't like rules filled DM screens.

My original version did have more than 40 cards I think, which is why I switched to a booklet. Cards are great for special abilities and spells though, where you only have to put the ones you use onto cards and not everything in existence. There are also spell cards (not mine) in my sig for only a few bucks for a group license (up to 8 people), plus I think there are free ones somewhere out there.

[Novawurmson]

I made cards for my maneuvers when I was playing a crusader; super easy to randomize my granted maneuvers - just shuffle the cards!

[RealMarkP]

Mentioning this thread, I think it'd be a good idea for vancian casters - prepared casters, especially - to have a deck of cards like for what they have.
I actually use the variant rule 'Spell points', which makes keep track of things, including metamagic, easy. For prepared casters, they can cast any of their prepared spells until they're out of points. Wouldn't it, at higher levels, be hard to keep track of so many spell cards? I think that in this situation having a list, rather than cards, may be easier on the players.