Making note of charges used on chronicle sheets?


GM Discussion

Scarab Sages 5/5

I am starting to GM when people use wands charges is it wrong to note in the notes section how many charges used?

Tia

The Exchange 5/5 RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

It's not wrong, but it's going to be very hard, I think. After a battle, the cleric uses the fighter's cure light wounds wand on the fighter and the rogue. I expect the fighter to keep track of the charges.

This is because the wizard's player wants my attention as she identifies the magical loot on the fallen bodies, and I don't want to also pay attention to the people healing.

Likewise, I expect the PC archer to keep track as to how many arrows he can glean from missed shots.

Silver Crusade 4/5

Usually, the players track their own consumables. The new Inventory Tracking Sheet has a spot for it specifically. I've never seen a GM really pay attention to that level of detail.

The Exchange 5/5

Dhjika wrote:

I am starting to GM when people use wands charges is it wrong to note in the notes section how many charges used?

Tia

Each of my characters is kept in a three-ring binder, with all the chronicles and whatnot.

In addition, each binder has the nice clear front cover, with a (probably stolen from the internet) artist's rendition of what I think of when I visualize my character.

There is also a little pouch, and that pouch is full of index cards cut in half, so they are 3"x2.5". Each index card represents a wand, with the PC's name, the spell and original number of charges listed at the top, and the chronicle on which I purchased it.

As I go through the career, I write down each chronicle # where I use the wand and mark off the charges as I go. When it's empty, I mark it as such, and purchase a new wand.

I find this especially useful for non-casters. I sit at the table, and during introductions, my cavalier listens carefully, then I hand the index card to a likely candidate. "Please, kind cleric-type, if you see me fall in battle, please stick the end of this stick in some part of me, spin it, and say "alakazam". If you will please mark off a charge each time you do so, that would be great. Thanks. Also, if that loutish dwarven archer over there should suffer some horrid fate, please do the same for him. If Kyle Baird is our GM and Nikolai is playing at the table, please do not waste my wand charges on him, as it is unlikely that Nikolai can be saved with this meager magic."

This method has served me well. It tracks my charges and provides the other player with a nice physical representation to remember to use and give back.

I have note marked charges on individual chronicles, but I do have a tracking spreadsheet that I fill out in between sessions with things like, number of charges used, potions consumed, scrolls read, etc. I will now be tracking this data on the ITS, of course.


Zandari wrote:

There is also a little pouch, and that pouch is full of index cards cut in half, so they are 3"x2.5". Each index card represents a wand, with the PC's name, the spell and original number of charges listed at the top, and the chronicle on which I purchased it.

I have been looking for an easy way to keep track of Wands and other assortments of items/weapons. I can't believe I never thought of using index cards. Thank you sir, this is genius.

Dark Archive

When I play a cleric with friends, I keep a running tally on looseleaf of whose wands I am holding, how many charges they started with and how many I have used. We have an informal agreement to try and spread the cost of out of combat healing around, so on the ideal day they all end up with approximately the same number of hash marks next to them. During the chronicle writing phase I tell each person how many charges to mark off of their particular wand.

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