[Circle of Hands] Recording Spell Points

Started by Nyhteg, March 30, 2014, 06:02:28 PM

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Nyhteg

I've been trying to conceptualise the spell casting costs - the totalling to nine of Rbaja and Amboriyon points; how to record them clearly on a character sheet.

Just had what I think is a great idea so I thought I'd put it out to garner opinions

As I read the rules, I think what's being described is two boxes, one for Rbaja and one for Amboriyon, into which I draw filled and empty circles to track spell points. When the total number of circles add up to 9 in any mix of black and white, then the colours start to replace each other. If all 9 are one colour, I start from scratch and get a tally.

This is clear enough as a process, but seems fiddly in the execution. I have to count stuff and do things in two boxes at the same time.
Other people might have to squint at my character sheet to see if I've 'gone over' or not. Feels fiddly to me. Didn't like it.

So here's my idea for recording this.
Not two boxes.
Instead, a line of nine boxes, with 'Amboriyon' written on the left and 'Rbaja' written on the right.

I cast a spell, I write a circle or two or three in the boxes nearest to the side of the appropriate colour.
If I've been a busy wizard and things are filling up so that there' s an opposing colour in the way...rub it out and replace it.

So it looks a bit like this:

AMBORIYON  [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] RBAJA

Here it is filled in a bit; a bit of white, a bit of black, a bit of free space in the middle:

AMBORIYON  [ O ] [ O ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [  ] [ X] [ X] [ X] RBAJA

Here's someone who's been happily casting away but is pretty much balanced:

AMBORIYON  [ O ] [ O ] [ O ] [ O ] [ O ] [ X ] [ X] [ X] [ X] RBAJA

And here's someone on the verge of a black tally...

AMBORIYON  [ O ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X] [ X] [ X] RBAJA

It becomes like a meter, you see.
No adding up or tracking required at all. Entirely visual. You can see the balance at a glance.

What do you think? I'm quite taken with it myself.

Gethyn

John W

I like it!

(Oh darn, and I just printed out 10 character sheets for Tuesday's game)

-J

Ron Edwards