Petition: Deep 6 the inventory tracking sheet next season


Pathfinder Society

51 to 100 of 294 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | next > last >>
Scarab Sages 5/5

DigitalMage wrote:
Cire wrote:
I also like this feature and I put EVERYTHING I buy on it on individual lines regardless of the cost. I have some characters that are up to 2 sheets.

Hmmm, would any GMs have issue with Inventory Sheets being used to track every purchase regardless of cost? Even if that means taking up more sheets?

If not, would GMs have issue with a printout of an Excel spreadsheet that listed everything? All my characters are in Excel and I have just started to use a Log worksheet that details all purchases, sales, uses and rewards (including GP awards).

At the time the ITS discussion started it was said that you could make your own ITS sheet as long as it conformed to the format of the given one.

Many people I know use an ITS in Excel that they update and print each game

5/5 5/55/55/5

I still can't come up with a good way for recording a regular supply of things bought, like ammo or potions that really conforms to the sheet without taking up too much space. (unless i just buy in serious bulk to cut down on the paperwork)

Liberty's Edge 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
BigNorseWolf wrote:

Signed. The ITS is annoying is annoying and redundant. I would need 6 of them for my more utility belt characters. Buying 2-3 potions a session runs through a sheet in less than a level.

So you'd much rather go back to recording all the exact same info on the much smaller spaces on the chronicle sheets?

Grand Lodge 2/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Andrew Christian wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:

Signed. The ITS is annoying is annoying and redundant. I would need 6 of them for my more utility belt characters. Buying 2-3 potions a session runs through a sheet in less than a level.

So you'd much rather go back to recording all the exact same info on the much smaller spaces on the chronicle sheets?

He has very tiny hands paws, and trying to fill those big spaces on the ITS gives him tennis elbow.

;)

5/5 5/55/55/5

Jiggy wrote:
Andrew Christian wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:

Signed. The ITS is annoying is annoying and redundant. I would need 6 of them for my more utility belt characters. Buying 2-3 potions a session runs through a sheet in less than a level.

So you'd much rather go back to recording all the exact same info on the much smaller spaces on the chronicle sheets?

He has very tiny hands paws, and trying to fill those big spaces on the ITS gives him tennis elbow.

;)

:) Quite the opposite, but it was easy enough for my big block kindergarten style writing to go in the items found section, get totaled up with a big old arrow to "amount spent"

Liberty's Edge 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Jiggy wrote:
Andrew Christian wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:

Signed. The ITS is annoying is annoying and redundant. I would need 6 of them for my more utility belt characters. Buying 2-3 potions a session runs through a sheet in less than a level.

So you'd much rather go back to recording all the exact same info on the much smaller spaces on the chronicle sheets?

He has very tiny hands paws, and trying to fill those big spaces on the ITS gives him tennis elbow.

;)

:) Quite the opposite, but it was easy enough for my big block kindergarten style writing to go in the items found section, get totaled up with a big old arrow to "amount spent"

Yet, it is still the same amount of work/accounting.

So why does everyone keep misrepresenting it as more accounting/work?

Sczarni 5/5 * Venture-Lieutenant, Washington—Pullman

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Andrew Christian wrote:


Yet, it is still the same amount of work/accounting.

So why does everyone keep misrepresenting it as more accounting/work?

It is less paperwork for me. I don't have to search for when/if I bought specific items for a character, they are all on one paper. I am much happier.

5/5

I like it too.

I used to have a lot of trouble remembering which characters had bought which items to deal with specific problems.

"Was it this character who has the extra oil of bless weapon, oh wait no this is the one who bought extra scrolls of protection from evil."

Now I just look at the tracking sheet and I know which consumables I have available and which ones need to be restocked.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***

It *is* more paperwork. When I sit down at a table, I have one more sheet of paper added to the pile than I did one year ago.

Before ITS, I had 1) Character sheet, 2) Note sheet, 3) Spell/Animal/Summons/whatever sheet.

Now I have a fourth.

I've gotten used to it, but you can't say it isn't more paperwork.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

2 people marked this as a favorite.

It is more paper, but not more work. If you want to call it paperwork, knock yourself out.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Steven Huffstutler wrote:
Andrew Christian wrote:


Yet, it is still the same amount of work/accounting.

So why does everyone keep misrepresenting it as more accounting/work?

It is less paperwork for me. I don't have to search for when/if I bought specific items for a character, they are all on one paper. I am much happier.

Why would you have to look for it on chronicle sheets? It should be on a spell/item/equipment list

Grand Lodge 4/5

As a GM and a player, I like the ITS.
My only suggestion would be to make the text and boxes smaller to get more action happening on one page.

Silver Crusade 5/5

3 people marked this as a favorite.

When buying multiples of a consumable, I put 4 in a slot in the ITS. Then, I draw a little + in the "expended" section, effectively turning 1 box into 4. When I use the consumable I just put a scenario number in one of the 4 boxes.

Edit: If I only by two of something, I use a /; if I buy 3 I use a + and fill in the 4th box.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Dammit Alex, stop showing me up with your logic.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Alex McGuire wrote:

When buying multiples of a consumable, I put 4 in a slot in the ITS. Then, I draw a little + in the "expended" section, effectively turning 1 box into 4. When I use the consumable I just put a scenario number in one of the 4 boxes.

Edit: If I only by two of something, I use a /; if I buy 3 I use a + and fill in the 4th box.

Right but lets say I buy 3 or 4, then use 2, then buy another 2, and use 3... it burns through space.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Going back to the 36 lines, that's 36 chronicles provided you aren't buying anything else. On normal track you'd hit retirement before running out of space. Naturally, some of those lines will be taken up with other purchases, but damn BNW. How many potions ARE your characters purchasing?

5/5 5/55/55/5

TriOmegaZero wrote:
Going back to the 36 lines, that's 36 chronicles provided you aren't buying anything else. On normal track you'd hit retirement before running out of space. Naturally, some of those lines will be taken up with other purchases, but damn BNW. How many potions ARE your characters purchasing?

I have a dwarf and he has a drinking problem ok!

Actually the nightmare is my tengu inquisitor archer. He keeps a golf bag full of unusual ammunition on hand just in case. I've kind of given up on keeping his stuff on the its and just have the ammo tracked on a big sheet of paper along with his spells.


BigNorseWolf wrote:
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Going back to the 36 lines, that's 36 chronicles provided you aren't buying anything else. On normal track you'd hit retirement before running out of space. Naturally, some of those lines will be taken up with other purchases, but damn BNW. How many potions ARE your characters purchasing?

I have a dwarf and he has a drinking problem ok!

Actually the nightmare is my tengu inquisitor archer. He keeps a golf bag full of unusual ammunition on hand just in case. I've kind of given up on keeping his stuff on the its and just have the ammo tracked on a big sheet of paper along with his spells.

So just make an ammo only ITS page. Using something like the ammo/wands section of the official one.

You don't have to use the official one. I don't see any reason why you would only be able to use one variant.

Scarab Sages

Mark Stratton wrote:

In an attempt to be constructive, could I ask you what your alternative would be? Would it be to return to the way it was done prior to season 5? Would you have a different season in place? I am honestly curious as to what you would have as a system instead.

Since you ask, I, having been continuously playing (with the exception of a 2.5-month blip a few games after I started due to DM/local organizer problems) since November 2011, think the pre-Season 5 Chronicles (more precisely, the design used in Season 4 and however long before that it was implemented; they were an improvement over the earliest Chronicles) were fine the way they were.

Beyond restoring the Season 4- Chronicle, I'd say the new sheet can remain available for those who like it (unless "having it both ways" would somehow be even worse), and, while I never had any significant trouble with their sale/purchase sections as they were, make those sections bigger (at least on y-axis, possibly x) in fairness to those who might have. One new thing I might do (that the new designs did nothing to address in any way better than the old) is add a bit to the "Prestige/Fame earned/spent" section allowing people to specify what they're spending Prestige on as they spend it.

5/5 5/55/55/5

thejeff wrote:


You don't have to use the official one. I don't see any reason why you would only be able to use one variant.

A variant is technically supposed to have all the information of an ITS sheet. What becomes unwieldy to track while maintaining the same information as the ITS sheet is on what chronicle you expend what ammo. For example it would look like

Chronicle 3 bought 8 Ghost salted arrows. Chronicle 3 fired 1 Ghost salted arrow. Chronicle 5 fired 4 ghost salted arrows. Chronicle 5 fired...

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

1 person marked this as a favorite.
James Risner wrote:

The sheet is less work.

It allows you to track all purchases in one spot.

You know what else lets you do that? A character sheet.

As a GM, I don't care what equipment the character bought ten sessions ago, I care about what he has on him right now. Having to wade though a bunch of old purchases makes it harder for me to figure that stuff out than it would to just look at the equipment section of the character sheet.

Personally, I've never seen an ITS checked at a table. Everyone fills them out at home and just writes down the gold cost on their chronicle before the next session. So, at least in my experience, all it does is add additional paperwork. :-P

Liberty's Edge 1/5

BigNorseWolf wrote:
thejeff wrote:


You don't have to use the official one. I don't see any reason why you would only be able to use one variant.

A variant is technically supposed to have all the information of an ITS sheet. What becomes unwieldy to track while maintaining the same information as the ITS sheet is on what chronicle you expend what ammo. For example it would look like

Chronicle 3 bought 8 Ghost salted arrows. Chronicle 3 fired 1 Ghost salted arrow. Chronicle 5 fired 4 ghost salted arrows. Chronicle 5 fired...

Given that the official ITS provided in the PFSOP Guide does not include a way to do that, but does include lines with Ammo checkboxes, I would say that your assertion is wrong. But that is just my viewpoint.

Scarab Sages

John Compton wrote:
The tracking sheet allowed me to remove the items purchased/items sold boxes and expand the main Chronicle sheet's text box. This has enabled me to create Chronicle sheets chock full of boons, new items, and items found. Even when a scenario's rewards require less space, it allows me to include a space dedicated to notes.

This. Thank you for the personal explanation - with all due respect, I do not like this, Sam-I-Am. Don't get me wrong, I'm on board with "more room for unique boons and items," but the big, blank wasteland on the bottom of the sheet is a very big step downward. The boxes you removed are specifically what I miss and consider superior to the present design.

Considering what you say, what I'd do in addition to the above in order to provide satisfactory room for both the old boxes and more new rewards is: A) Shrink the Pathfinder Society logo, adventure title/number header by 40-75%; B) shrink the player information space by 25-50% (on the y-axis only, mind you); C) shrink the gold/experience/Prestige/etc. sidebar 5-25% (only on the x-axis); D) reduce the font size by 1 step throughout, and if possible/worth it, try switching to a different font if one existed that was reliably more size-economical (these two being much less certain than the others; it would depend on how legible the result would be); E) many Chronicles thus far have listed specific item rewards that there was no point in really listing, since they were Society-legal, non-unique, and potentially available to any character with the minimum Fame they'd necessarily have at the level the reward was given (i.e. a ring of protection +1 is worth listing as a Tier 1-2 reward but not for anything much beyond that, a cheap wand with few charges or an above-minimum caster level is worth listing but otherwise normal wands are not, a 2nd-level potion is only ever worth listing if it contains a unique or normally-illegal draught, etc.), and thus there was no point (of which I'm aware) of specifically listing such things as rewards.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Agreed. Drop the ITS.

I understand the logic of the system and appreciate Piazo's attempt at making the system more coherent, but I use a spreadsheet to track all of my purchases. Everything I buy is tracked to the copper. Expendables are marked off on my character sheet, and after the session, I refill, paying the cost.

BigNorseWolf sums up the problem for me perfectly. It is exhausting to make an additional notation on another sheet.

Really, it feels like the ITS is a poor trap to catch cheaters. In my opinion, if someone really wants to game the system, the ITS is no real hinderance. I haven't played with a single GM that really pays attention to how many wand charges a character expends or how many potions they drink. My GMs work really hard to make the game fun and vivid; I don't really want them to play traffic cop as well.

The reason I play pathfinder is to create a shared and imaginative -- but realistic --space. For me calculating weight or cost is a fun exercise in managing resources and strategy. I like it when I get to use that vermin repellant that I specifically added...and it is fun to smack myself for NOT adding that liquid ice I knew I wanted.

But of course there are players that want to make the mega-destructo barbarian of godly might at level one...

Piazo, you really want to catch these cheaters? Make an online, calculated character sheet. Have the GMs input the gold that they earn after every adventure (not really much more paper work for them since they already input the PPs.) Make the website intuitive and logical. Players without access to the internet then have to be that much more careful because they are more likely to get audited. Players with the Piazo online stamp are less suspicious.

Is this a reasonable suggestion?

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
mcruggiero wrote:
It is exhausting to make an additional notation on another sheet.

Why are you making additional notations? Or do you mean in addition to the spreadsheet you put together on your own?

Sczarni 5/5 * Venture-Lieutenant, Washington—Pullman

BigNorseWolf wrote:
Steven Huffstutler wrote:
Andrew Christian wrote:


Yet, it is still the same amount of work/accounting.

So why does everyone keep misrepresenting it as more accounting/work?

It is less paperwork for me. I don't have to search for when/if I bought specific items for a character, they are all on one paper. I am much happier.
Why would you have to look for it on chronicle sheets? It should be on a spell/item/equipment list

Someone might ask me a question about what gear I had at a specific level that is good. I can pull out an ITS and say I had these items at level X.

5/5 5/55/55/5

TriOmegaZero wrote:
mcruggiero wrote:
It is exhausting to make an additional notation on another sheet.
Why are you making additional notations? Or do you mean in addition to the spreadsheet you put together on your own?

Because i need it on the ITS, my character sheet, and the chronicle.

I need it on the chronicle because the chronicle wants my total gold spent there.

I need it on the its because of the its

and i need it on my character sheet because a cluttered up inventory of everything I've ever bought isn't very handy for looking at my list of resources to find out what might work against the redacted.

I do not see how the its does not wind up being additional notation.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Steven Huffstutler wrote:

Someone might ask me a question about what gear I had at a specific level that is good. I can pull out an ITS and say I had these items at level X.

if it was good, you should buy more.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
I do not see how the its does not wind up being additional notation.

Because you are not noting what items were bought on the chronicle, only the total gold spent.

Before:
Chronicle: Items, gold per item, total gold.
Sheet: Items.

Now:
Chronicle: Total gold.
ITS: Items, gold per item.
Sheet: Items.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***

Some of us still need to list what we're purchasing on the Chronicle.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Need?

5/5 5/55/55/5

TriOmegaZero wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
I do not see how the its does not wind up being additional notation.

Because you are not noting what items were bought on the chronicle, only the total gold spent.

And how do you think I'm totaling up the gold ? In my head? Oh i want

1 third level scroll
one second level scroll
another 20 cold iron arrows oh that doesn't go on the its because its too low....am i supposed to remember in 6 months to add up the total things from chronicle 5 off the inventory tracking sheet and notice that i'm missing 4 gp from the pile then remember what those 4 gp were for?

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
And how do you think I'm totaling up the gold ? In my head?

No, from your ITS. They are all right there in order, just like they would be on the chronicle.

It honestly sounds to me like you are making more work for yourself than is needed.

5/5 5/55/55/5

TriOmegaZero wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
And how do you think I'm totaling up the gold ? In my head?

No, from your ITS. They are all right there in order, just like they would be on the chronicle.

It honestly sounds to me like you are making more work for yourself than is needed.

No, they're not. One item is up top with the permanent stuff, one item is down at the bottom or, more likely, on a completely separate sheet with the consumables, and one item isn't on the sheet at all because it doesn't cost enough.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
No, they're not. One item is up top with the permanent stuff, one item is down at the bottom or, more likely, on a completely separate sheet with the consumables, and one item isn't on the sheet at all because it doesn't cost enough.

You realize, of course, that placement of items is entirely by your own choice right? That just because something isn't required to be put on there does not mean the sheet becomes invalid if you do?

5/5 5/55/55/5

The online gold thing would be more work, as I'd have to have every player record it depending on if they were in tier, out of tier, going slow, didn't find something, burned up something in the scenario etc. It would also be problematic if a dm didn't report a session (as frequently happens)

5/5 5/55/55/5

TriOmegaZero wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
No, they're not. One item is up top with the permanent stuff, one item is down at the bottom or, more likely, on a completely separate sheet with the consumables, and one item isn't on the sheet at all because it doesn't cost enough.
You realize, of course, that placement of items is entirely by your own choice right? That just because something isn't required to be put on there does not mean the sheet becomes invalid if you do?

1) Doesn't solve the other two problems

2) If you put down every 5 gp purchase you go onto multiple sheets. even faster. I'm now flipping back and forth between the chronicle and the the different ITS sheets totaling stuff up.
3) If you're going to belittle peoples issues with the sheets, you have to at least understand them.


TriOmegaZero wrote:


Before:
Chronicle: Items, gold per item, total gold.
Sheet: Items.

Now:
Chronicle: Total gold.
ITS: Items, gold per item.
Sheet: Items.

OK...so the "less is better" argument isn't sticking for everyone...

Now, I know that I have something of a distain for bureaucracy, so maybe the following line of reasoning will not resonate with everyone, but here is my big question:

Why is this inventory tracking system change necessary in the first place?

If it is to (A): help people add and subtract, then perhaps the current tracking sheet is not a great way to do it. Many of the real expendable items are hovering at or below 50 gp. Someone who constantly forgets to subtract his first level scrolls would give himself a large caster advantage. Liquid Ice is tapped at 40 gp. Acid, 15. Wands should really be consumed on the character sheet — the player who still has a sparkling new wand of CLW he picked up at level 1.1 is suspicious.

And the arrows and bullets...I constantly over tally on arrows because I have to buy the damn things is packs of 20. I don't have rapid shot in multiples of 20, so when I shoot my ~28 arrows, I just drop 6 gold and donate the extra arrows to the teen archery club.

For the folks who have problems maintaining a running, detail oriented log, they really need a spreadsheet or some ledger (like a checkbook) that is more advanced then the current tracking sheet. For me, I do not find the tracking sheet a useful to help me stay organized.

50 gp is too large of a unit to be realistic but small enough to be a royal pain-in-the-butt.

Maybe we can make the tracking sheet optional? We are all adults, right? There isn't one *best* way to stay organized.

If we are making the tracking sheet to (B) stop cheaters, then we have to admit the current ITS is a mess. All of the gold still has to be added up on the chronicle sheets for a full audit. It is most convenient for the auditor to see the big expenses on the sheets as he tallies. To look from the chronicles to another sheet doesn't really explain expenses in relation to fame, etc. Also, a clever cheater will be able to fully manipulate the system by printing out new sheets.

A lot of stuff can be bought with 1,000 gp...

Tired of that magic buckler? Get a suit of armor instead...picked up the wrong wand?Slip a new one into your pack...no one will know...

Destroy the sheet and you destroy all evidence of all of the past purchases. You could start at square one, recalculating and retooling as you go.

The key evidence for an auditor is the chronicle sheet, not the ITS.

I humbly caution the grand lodge, mandating additional paperwork may seem to be helpful, but these steps lead to bureaucratic bloat. Let's stick to a simpler, clearer, less manipulatable system.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
If you're going to belittle peoples issues with the sheets, you have to at least understand them.

I just can't understand why you are making it harder than it has to be.

Of course, I also can't understand how people go through so many consumables outside of alchemists, but that's a play style difference.

5/5 5/55/55/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
TriOmegaZero wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
If you're going to belittle peoples issues with the sheets, you have to at least understand them.
I just can't understand why you are making it harder than it has to be.

I'm not. If you don't understand that, you don't understand the issue.

I need to have the chronicle sheet to track the gold I've earned, my fame, and the gold spent prestige.

You have to have the ITS for the ITS.

You have to have the character sheet because neither the ITS nor the chronicle sheets are very handy for actual play.

Dealing with what is at best, the exact same math over two pieces of paper rather than 1 is annoying, especially when one of those pieces of paper is NOT set up to be easy for the math. The expenditures for chronicle 5 won't be near each other to total up: its fear easier to do it on the chronicle sheet- especially since i'm very likely to be recalculating my gold total a few times saying "well if i buy this this this and THIS i have this much left in the bank for a res but if i buy this now and save that for later..."

Quote:
Of course, I also can't understand how people go through so many consumables outside of alchemists, but that's a play style difference.

I like having specific counters to specific problems. Its more creative than "5 billion points of damage it dies again"

"Ahhh ! natural invisibility huh? try my smoke bomb!"

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Dealing with what is at best, the exact same math over two pieces of paper rather than 1 is annoying, especially when one of those pieces of paper is NOT set up to be easy for the math.

Now that I can understand.

The Exchange 1/5

recently at a con, we had a player at a tier 3-7 game who said he had a +1 keen holy weapon...I thought it sounded expensive and asked how he had the prestige for a +4 equivalent weapon...turns out he hadn't realized that Holy was a +2 cost enhancement...

so some people still get the math wrong even with the inventory sheets.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Chernobyl wrote:

recently at a con, we had a player at a tier 3-7 game who said he had a +1 keen holy weapon...I thought it sounded expensive and asked how he had the prestige for a +4 equivalent weapon...turns out he hadn't realized that Holy was a +2 cost enhancement...

so some people still get the math wrong even with the inventory sheets.

Some people need help calculating out their PC's normal, standard, base to hit and damage numbers. Every time they roll.

On the ITS: If you use a custom spreadsheet, that includes botht he information you want, and the minimum information required on the ITS, you are golden, no need to use anything else, since that is an ITS built to your specifications.

There are several variant ITS sheets available, as well as the option of creating your own, to your own needs.

To be honest, for consuymables that you frequently buy and use, and re0buy and use, etc., you can just set up an entry with multiple entry boxes, for each unit, on a single line, sort of like the consumable lines, but bigger boxes split into buy/use areas.

Silver Crusade 2/5

I'm not a fan of the ITS, and I have rarely seen it used, especially at convention settings. It is extra paperwork, because I frankly don't have time to check every single ITS at the table and see if their math is right. If something seems sketchy...I total up their most expensive equipment and compare it to the WBL table. If it's close, then I'm not worried.

I trust my players. And if they're going to cheat the system, then they'll manage to cheat the ITS until I run into the same problem as before: I think something is off and I double check the WBL.

I'm glad the ITS works for some people. It doesn't work for everyone, so forcing everyone to use it doesn't make sense and begs to be ignored.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

I'm not a big fan of it either, but I'd prefer an option of having everything digital. Having to print anything out seems like a waste to me. And being up to 8 active characters, having to lug around a large book worth of papers to be allowed to play is a pain. Tracking everything by computer would be so much nicer. As is, I still write everything I purchase on each chronicle sheet, easier to me that way. I reference my character sheets off my tablet. All the printed junk just sits in my bag and only comes out to fill out the next sheet to add to the pile. So the its feels pretty redundant to me.

Sovereign Court 5/5 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

gnoams wrote:
I'm not a big fan of it either, but I'd prefer an option of having everything digital.

This. I use herolab, and In the gold/xp section I can note what I spend gold and prestige on in each scenario. From "shot 3 tangleshot arrows" to burned three charges from my clw wand." Even with this thought my accounting is poor at times. Like bnw, I use a lot of utility belt items, and it can be a pain.

I guess my question is, who is the inventory tracking sheet for? Is it for the GM to see an accounting? Is it for the player who makes mistakes? Is it to hamper the deliberate cheater? When I print out from hl, for example, I get tick boxes beside all my use items, arrows, bows, bardic music, etc. I tick them off when I play, then when I go home I modify the file.

It seems to my limited experience that organized play has to balance the fun and the paperwork, and the question is where do we draw the line on trust, but verify?

Dark Archive

Signed:

I don't know why people are insisting that the ITS doesn't add more time to the paperwork at the end of the session, because that's a blatent lie. Just getting the PCs to fill out chronicle sheets before they are signed is so time consuming that most GMs in my area just fill out XP, PP, gold, and dayjob sections then sign and initial and leave the rest for the player to fill out later. ITS sheets can't be handled this way. That's a serious increase in the amount of time post game that needs to be devouted to record keeping. Many PFS venues have limited time between the end of the work day and when the store closes, so that extra recording keeping time comes at the expense of actual gameplay.

I know that it helps when auditing PCs, but this is really a tiny benifit compared to its cost. Character audits are performed very, very, very infrequently. And when they do happen, they are time consuming, even with the ITS. And doing a proper audit requires checking every Chronicle Sheet anyway. Adding time and hassle onto the end of every session is not worth saving a little time in an already time consuming task once in a blue moon.

The space on the chronicle sheets is much more important issue. And one that has an incredibly easy solution. Fill out your purchases on the backs of your chronicle sheets. You don't need anything printed on it, just a short sentence on the front instructing players to do so.

Finally, no one I know is actually following the ITS rules. Some players use them to help in record keeping, but I have never had a GM, in homeplay, play at local gaming stores, or games at local conventions, ever ask for ITS sheets to be signed. This includes games run by the venture captain for my area. I typically play PFS 5-6 times a months, so my experience in this matter isn't trivial.

The ITS sheet is a great aid for player record keeping. But making it mandatory and require GM signatures every session is not a positive change for the PFS community.

Grand Lodge 4/5

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The ITS does not have to be signed by the GM.

Liberty's Edge 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Nefreet wrote:

It *is* more paperwork. When I sit down at a table, I have one more sheet of paper added to the pile than I did one year ago.

Before ITS, I had 1) Character sheet, 2) Note sheet, 3) Spell/Animal/Summons/whatever sheet.

Now I have a fourth.

I've gotten used to it, but you can't say it isn't more paperwork.

Having more paper does not equal more work.

Let's stop misrepresenting.

Grand Lodge 2/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Can you be considered to increase "paperwork" by just increasing the paper? By just increasing the work? Do you have to increase both the paper and the work in order to increase the paperwork?

These are the types of questions I ponder as I lie awake at night...

51 to 100 of 294 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Organized Play / Pathfinder Society / Petition: Deep 6 the inventory tracking sheet next season All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.