Supplement Four
Mongoose
In another thread, I expressed an idea of keeping track of equipment using index cards. One card for one piece of equipment. This makes it easy to keep track of such stuff. If players drop or leave a piece of equipment behind, they simply give me the appropriate card. If one character gives the other character a dagger, then the acutal data card is exchanged.
On the cards themselves, I just make quick notes. For example, Rexor is a dirk left to a PC by his father. The card has these notes:
(Top Line, left side: ) S - Waist
(Top Line, right side: ) 2
This indicates that it's the character Silaigne's possion, and he carries the weapon at his waist. The weapon weighs 2 lbs.
(Lower on the card: )
Cimmerian Dirk
Moose handle
Saw tooth upper edge
Marked on blade by hilt with Duncohr Xean symbol
Leather scabbard
Carried on weapon belt
Some cards have much less info. Others have full stats of the weapon (I didn't include stats on this card because the character has them listed in the four or five weapon lines included on the Character Sheet.
Any time a note about the item is necessary, I will simply put the note on the card.
I do this with everything. It only takes a few cards and makes the game so much more manageble for me (I'm a GM that is concerned with persnickety details such as this).
I also find that this makes the character seen more clearly in the mind's eye--makes the character easier to visulize. With a list of equipment on some page, we sometimes forget just how much stuff a character is carrying.
Well, I made equipment cards for one of my PC's last night, and when I was done, I set them up in front of me as if they were hanging on the body of their owner. I could clearly see that this character had a lot of equipment at his waist.
Here's how the character, Silaigne, looks (as far as his equipment goes).
Silaigne's Equipment (3rd level, 16 year old Cimmerian Barbarian)
Neck: Silver chain with Xean medallion
Right Arm: 5' leather cord wrapped around bicept.
Wrists: Leather bracers.
Hands: Critter Sticker (Hunting Spear)
Torso: Leather water costrel with chest strap.
Back: Large Steel Shield with carry strap.
Waist: Leather Belt
Waist: Pewter Mug (belt through handle)
Waist: Loincloth
Waist: Leather weapon belt
Waist: Animal skin kilt
Waist: War sword and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Rexor (dirk) and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Stiletto and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Belt Pouch A (on leather belt)
Waist: Whetstone (in Belt Pouch A)
Waist: Fishing Line (in Belt Pouch A)
Waist: Belt Pouch B (on leather belt) (contains coins)
Waist: Loot Sack C (tucked through leather belt)
Waist: Silver bowl (inside Loot Sack C)
Feet: Soft, animal skin shoes.
I use a bigger index card to record expendables. This one is bigger and easier to see among the other equipment cards, making it easier to pull out of the zip-lock pocket on the front of the Character Folder.
On one side, the player keeps track of Hit Points and Non-Lethal damage. The opposite side has this information:
33 Silver coins, 30 Coppers (Belt Pouch B)
3 vials of Clear Water (Belt Pouch B)
2 125 SP Saphires (Belt Pouch B)
I just realized that this is a long way to go for a point that is only tangentally about equipment and record keeping systems.
Sorry for that. I guess it really wasn't important to know all the equipment.
What I did, when I got through making the equipment cards for this person, was lay them out as I did above. This is a true "Conan" looking character--bare chested, black hair, icey blue eyes, his chest criss-crossed by the straps from his water costrel and shield. He wears a fur kilt and furry shoes, with leather bracers and not much else.
At his waist is all of his equipment, besides the iron pitted spear he carries in his hands. He's got two belt pouches and a near empty loot sack (the sack folded through the belt) at his waist along with his other weapons: The huge, broad war sword; a long-bladed dirk; and a thin-bladed stiletto. And, there's a pewter mug that rides above his rump, a belt run through its handle.
I can picture him well in my head....
....so much so, that I started thinking (Oh no!).
With all that equipment...all that clinking of the coins, the weapons scratching on themselves, the leather creaking...
Should I impose some penalty on moving silently?
I mean, when we're playing the game, we really don't consider the effect a character's equipment has on not being heard. In the stories, Conan will strip down to his loincloth, wearing only sandals and leather bracers, carrying a dagger in his teeth, as he sneaks up on his prey.
In the game, we allow characters, no matter how much equipment they have on them (some stuff, like armor, has modifiers to skill checks, I know) to make the same Move Silent throw whether they're naked or loaded to their Light Carry Maximum Weight.
What do you think of that?
I'm thinking along the lines of a -2 penalty unless the noiseier stuff is dropped when the character attempts stealth.
Thoughts?
On the cards themselves, I just make quick notes. For example, Rexor is a dirk left to a PC by his father. The card has these notes:
(Top Line, left side: ) S - Waist
(Top Line, right side: ) 2
This indicates that it's the character Silaigne's possion, and he carries the weapon at his waist. The weapon weighs 2 lbs.
(Lower on the card: )
Cimmerian Dirk
Moose handle
Saw tooth upper edge
Marked on blade by hilt with Duncohr Xean symbol
Leather scabbard
Carried on weapon belt
Some cards have much less info. Others have full stats of the weapon (I didn't include stats on this card because the character has them listed in the four or five weapon lines included on the Character Sheet.
Any time a note about the item is necessary, I will simply put the note on the card.
I do this with everything. It only takes a few cards and makes the game so much more manageble for me (I'm a GM that is concerned with persnickety details such as this).
I also find that this makes the character seen more clearly in the mind's eye--makes the character easier to visulize. With a list of equipment on some page, we sometimes forget just how much stuff a character is carrying.
Well, I made equipment cards for one of my PC's last night, and when I was done, I set them up in front of me as if they were hanging on the body of their owner. I could clearly see that this character had a lot of equipment at his waist.
Here's how the character, Silaigne, looks (as far as his equipment goes).
Silaigne's Equipment (3rd level, 16 year old Cimmerian Barbarian)
Neck: Silver chain with Xean medallion
Right Arm: 5' leather cord wrapped around bicept.
Wrists: Leather bracers.
Hands: Critter Sticker (Hunting Spear)
Torso: Leather water costrel with chest strap.
Back: Large Steel Shield with carry strap.
Waist: Leather Belt
Waist: Pewter Mug (belt through handle)
Waist: Loincloth
Waist: Leather weapon belt
Waist: Animal skin kilt
Waist: War sword and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Rexor (dirk) and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Stiletto and scabbard (on weapon belt)
Waist: Belt Pouch A (on leather belt)
Waist: Whetstone (in Belt Pouch A)
Waist: Fishing Line (in Belt Pouch A)
Waist: Belt Pouch B (on leather belt) (contains coins)
Waist: Loot Sack C (tucked through leather belt)
Waist: Silver bowl (inside Loot Sack C)
Feet: Soft, animal skin shoes.
I use a bigger index card to record expendables. This one is bigger and easier to see among the other equipment cards, making it easier to pull out of the zip-lock pocket on the front of the Character Folder.
On one side, the player keeps track of Hit Points and Non-Lethal damage. The opposite side has this information:
33 Silver coins, 30 Coppers (Belt Pouch B)
3 vials of Clear Water (Belt Pouch B)
2 125 SP Saphires (Belt Pouch B)
I just realized that this is a long way to go for a point that is only tangentally about equipment and record keeping systems.
Sorry for that. I guess it really wasn't important to know all the equipment.
What I did, when I got through making the equipment cards for this person, was lay them out as I did above. This is a true "Conan" looking character--bare chested, black hair, icey blue eyes, his chest criss-crossed by the straps from his water costrel and shield. He wears a fur kilt and furry shoes, with leather bracers and not much else.
At his waist is all of his equipment, besides the iron pitted spear he carries in his hands. He's got two belt pouches and a near empty loot sack (the sack folded through the belt) at his waist along with his other weapons: The huge, broad war sword; a long-bladed dirk; and a thin-bladed stiletto. And, there's a pewter mug that rides above his rump, a belt run through its handle.
I can picture him well in my head....
....so much so, that I started thinking (Oh no!).
With all that equipment...all that clinking of the coins, the weapons scratching on themselves, the leather creaking...
Should I impose some penalty on moving silently?
I mean, when we're playing the game, we really don't consider the effect a character's equipment has on not being heard. In the stories, Conan will strip down to his loincloth, wearing only sandals and leather bracers, carrying a dagger in his teeth, as he sneaks up on his prey.
In the game, we allow characters, no matter how much equipment they have on them (some stuff, like armor, has modifiers to skill checks, I know) to make the same Move Silent throw whether they're naked or loaded to their Light Carry Maximum Weight.
What do you think of that?
I'm thinking along the lines of a -2 penalty unless the noiseier stuff is dropped when the character attempts stealth.
Thoughts?
