I was really surprised that you don't publish monster cards. I've just started GM-ing Pathfinder and one thing that slows down the game is having to flip through the Bestiary for monster stats. So it would be great to have cards for stats, plus the pictures could be shown to the party.
I would be all over any monster cards published as I imagine many others would be. I still have very fond memories of the AD&D monster decks published by TSR in the 80s.
So please, Paizo, please, publish monster cards!!!
If we start printing monster cards, it's only a matter of time before we start dueling with monster cards, and then Pathfinder has devolved into an entirely different game. *shudders*
Chief Technical Officer
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I was really surprised that you don't publish monster cards. I've just started GM-ing Pathfinder and one thing that slows down the game is having to flip through the Bestiary for monster stats. So it would be great to have cards for stats, plus the pictures could be shown to the party.
I would be all over any monster cards published as I imagine many others would be. I still have very fond memories of the AD&D monster decks published by TSR in the 80s.
So please, Paizo, please, publish monster cards!!!
The problem is uniformly fitting all of the stats onto a card. Some of the creatures in the Bestiary have stats that take up more than an 8.5x11 page!
An iPad removes the need for these cards. I can just resize the screen while looking at the bestiary (or module) and can show players the picture without them seeing the name or stats of the creature.
I recommend it. ;)
An iPad removes the need for these cards. I can just resize the screen while looking at the bestiary (or module) and can show players the picture without them seeing the name or stats of the creature.
I recommend it. ;)
I'm an idiot. How did I not think of this?
For my part, I'd rather any monster cards have new information on the back - I'd like it if they produced something with a picture on the front and three DCs or so of the appropriate knowledge skill on the back providing information characters can know. I generally find that one of the hardest things to adjudicate on the fly (to the point where we rarely use those skills in play).
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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We looked into doing this a while back, but ultimately decided it was not cost effective.
Of course, we've sold several more printings of the Core Rulebook and Bestiary since we last looked, so it's possible that prices and vendors could have shifted significantly in our favor over the last couple of years.
We should look into it again.
An iPad removes the need for these cards. I can just resize the screen while looking at the bestiary (or module) and can show players the picture without them seeing the name or stats of the creature.
I recommend it. ;)
This :-)
I just copied and pasted the statblock from the PDF in Goodreader into a single page in PAGES and modified as I needed to. Copied the monster's picture and put IT on it's own separate page in Pages. So now it's *show PC's what they are fighting* switch over to stats page. with multiple creatures on separate pages the response time on the iPad is negligable.
Although I would not be adverse to an iPad specific combat manager or character creator like Hero Lab. I actually have Hero Lab running in Windows 7 via Paralells on my MacPro but am waiting for the OSX native version before I reinstall it on my MacBook Pro.
The problem is uniformly fitting all of the stats onto a card. Some of the creatures in the Bestiary have stats that take up more than an 8.5x11 page!
How about Jumbo Playing Card size?
It may require a little modification to the stat block, but so long as you have the reference and page number at the bottom, shouldn't be much of an issue.
The problem is uniformly fitting all of the stats onto a card. Some of the creatures in the Bestiary have stats that take up more than an 8.5x11 page!
How about Jumbo Playing Card size?
It may require a little modification to the stat block, but so long as you have the reference and page number at the bottom, shouldn't be much of an issue.
The 80s monster cards were about that size. I have the full set of them, which I bought when the toy store was discontinuing them because they didn't sell well. (The artwork, while full color, was not very good.)
I think the iPad with PDFs is probably the best bet, though having a "turn off text" feature would be nice for flashing the picture to players.
If you use a laptop... I just recently discovered Kyle Olson's Combat Manager.
You can pull up monsters with a click, and the program has a rules lookup feature so you don't have to go scrambling to look up all those damned universal monster rules. Running combat with it made it much, much easier than it ever has before.
HeroLab and PC Gen also can pull up monsters and modify them (I like the Combat Manager's interface for accessing the monster stats WHILE running combat, however).
I wouldn't want monster STAT cards because--again, the universal monster rules. Between those and spell like abilities you still have to do a ton of book and page flipping. You'd just instead be looking between the Bestiary, the Core Rulebook, AND the cards, instead of just between the Bestiary and the Core Rulebook.
I like Steve Geddes' idea, though. Something you could use as a handout to players if you don't have an appropriate mini would be cool (as long as they don't cheat with the Knowledge info on the back ;) ). Sometimes I flip my laptop around to show them a picture in the Bestiary but that can get a bit awkward.
An iPad removes the need for these cards. I can just resize the screen while looking at the bestiary (or module) and can show players the picture without them seeing the name or stats of the creature.
I recommend it. ;)
Another reason to buy an iPad... the presure is raising.
If you do have access to a laptop or similar tool, you can convert the monster stat blocks to Microsoft XPS, or similar HTML format. When you open the monster files, then the browser will automatically open each creature on a seperate tab. At least this is the case for XPS format.
There is a monster stat size issue, even for 4E, where I tried printing the stat blocks to paper, using a size comparable to an index card (3 x 5). There is too much information.
Good point but monster cards wouldn't have to contain ALL the stats, but just the most important ones, kind of like the info you find on initiative cards.
I'm mostly interested in speeding up combat. I do have an iPad, but even then I find myself flipping around to find what I need and cards would be oh so much niftier and aesthetic IMHO. The solution I've found now is using the game mechanic monster initiative cards - that works great, but it would be so much more fun and immersive (and prettier) with cards.
I would absolutely love a monster deck as well, with the same function as the faces decks, only with full body illustrations instead. I was wondering myself why it didn't exist. Cards are more convenient than both a book and an iPad, for just showing the monster the adventurers are fighting, and adding flavour.
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I would buy monster cards in a heart beat.
The front of the card should have a full color illustration of the creature WITHOUT the name of the creature.
The back of the card should have the creature's name, it's type, the relevant skill necessary to identify it, and a chart with DC based "known facts" on it.
Sell them as Monster Identification Cards. Do theme decks. Decks tied to Adventure Paths for example.
I too really like the idea of the picture on one side and knowledge DC information on the back.
I would buy monster cards in a heart beat.
The front of the card should have a full color illustration of the creature WITHOUT the name of the creature.
The back of the card should have the creature's name, it's type, the relevant skill necessary to identify it, and a chart with DC based "known facts" on it.
Sell them as Monster Identification Cards. Do theme decks. Decks tied to Adventure Paths for example.
Now this is a product I would subscribe to!! I've only run one adventure path and I don't use the Golarion (sp?) setting, so those subscriptions are useless to me, but a series of Monster cards as described by Gailbraithe I would buy in a heartbeat. My only caveat is I would want new art on cards like this, not just a regurgitation of the art from Beastiary one and two.
Summon monster decks really should happen. Its pretty disruptive to hand off the Bestiary during an encounter. (I know. I know. Buy more copies) Especially while you are using said Bestiary for the encounter. One of my players has hand made the cards himself. Being able to flip through the summon list quickly with cards would be extremely useful. Even if you just do the lower level monsters, I would consider it a must have.
There is no reason you need to do all the monsters. They would probably be of limited use with giant complicated monsters anyway. I would just stick to the lower level ones at first.
The monster picture/knowledge skill decks sound like a great idea. They would be especially great for adventure paths. I would buy those, where I generally pass on the item card decks. Especially since this information is harder to put together on the fly in Pathfinder. I wish there was just a stat line for the monsters in the Bestiaries that was something like "Applicable Knowledge." A structured DC chart for each monster would be too awesome for words. I'd snap buy a book of that information.
I would buy either/both monster picture/knowledge or monster/summon cards. Especially (but not only) if they have new pictures.
For my two cents, I'd just like to see more monster faces in the next deck of face cards.
My advice for having the stats handy is to print or photocopy stats for the monsters you expect to use and put them in a three-ring. I can't imagine taking all three bestiaries to the table.
Reminds me, I should probably add creatures to my binder that player characters are likely to summon.
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Another related idea that some friends and I were discussing tonight is having cards that detail the types/subtypes of creatures. Then, when you're using the bestiary (or iPad, or whatever) for a monster, you can have the card handy with all the abilities and weaknesses that you would otherwise have to flip to the back of the book to find.
I also really like the monster ID cards though.
My advice for having the stats handy is to print or photocopy stats for the monsters you expect to use and put them in a three-ring. I can't imagine taking all three bestiaries to the table.
I do this all the time when I run Pathfinder Society games. It really speeds up encounters, and saves me from heavy encumbrance on the way to the game.
Reminds me, I should probably add creatures to my binder that player characters are likely to summon.
My rule is if the player wants to summon something, he/she needs to have the stats ready before they cast the summoning spell. I usually suggest that they print out cards. These cards are well worth the price.