RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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To preface: I am not trying to start a flame war here, but I think this is a topic that merits some discussion, and I think it's an angle that hasn't really been considered on the several other threads about the new Inventory Tracking Sheet.
What I'm wondering is, it sounds like with the new season, the Inventory Tracking Sheet is intended to be the master list of a character's gear. Players are supposed to be tracking things on the ITS, GMs are supposed to be reviewing them, and so forth. But what I want to know is, what happened to the character sheet in all of this?
When I sit down at a non-PFS table, I play based off what is on my character sheet. If I find an item or buy an item, I write it down (on my character sheet). If I sell an item, use a consumable, or give something to another player, I cross it off my character sheet. The character sheet itself is the important part. If I'm GMing and I'm not sure if a character has an item, I look on their character sheet.
Now, in PFS, I'm getting the impression that the character sheet is no longer the go-to place to look for a character's equipment. It sounds like the character sheet is no longer where I'm supposed to be checking (as a GM) to see if a player stocked a particular item, which seems very counterintuitive to me.
The rationale as I understand it for introducing the ITS in the first place was to make it easier for GMs to perform character audits. What I'm wondering is, why is it necessary to have a separate sheet for that, when presumably the character's gear is all going to be listed on the character sheet in the first place? After all, we don't have a "skill point tracking sheet" or a "Current Hit Point Tracking Sheet". So why is inventory any different?
Again, I'm not trying to start another huge argument about the ITS (there are plenty of those already). I am instead trying to understand, philosophically, why the leadership felt it necessary to introduce a new form for something that was already being tracked elsewhere by players.
Thanks, and have a great evening!
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The difference is that the character sheet has what the character currently has, while the ITS has what the character has ever had.
If you're doing an audit, check their ITS.
If you're checking what they have now, check their character sheet.
+1
What it is supposed to be:
Chronicles:
XP, PP and high-level gold tracking for PFS PCs.
ITS:
Detailed gold tracking and consumable tracking for PFS PCs.
Character Sheet:
What your character has equipped, available, and notes and general information.
Stats, background, appearance, what he has, where he has it.
Which hand is that ring on?
There is lots of stuff on the character sheet that has nothing to do with Chronicles or ITSes.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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The difference is that the character sheet has what the character currently has, while the ITS has what the character has ever had.
If you're doing an audit, check their ITS.
If you're checking what they have now, check their character sheet.
Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose. Personally, I've never had much use for the historical stuff -- I care *way* more about what the character's current capabilities are than what she might have had in a previous game.
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Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose. Personally, I've never had much use for the historical stuff -- I care *way* more about what the character's current capabilities are than what she might have had in a previous game.
Which is why the ITS is an auditing tool, not a tool to assist GMs in everyday gaming. It's useful for organization and historical tracking, and isn't really intended to be checked constantly during play.
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I use it more as a "Did I buy this for this character or that character?" answer sheet so I don't have to flip through 7 levels worth of chronicle sheets plus con boons, tales boons, race boons, tax boons, etc etc. It says what you bought and when, and if/when you sold it/used it. Especially like the place for wands and their charges. Sad there are only slots for 3 or 4...
As time goes on, I'm starting to warm up to the ITS.
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I use it more as a "Did I buy this for this character or that character?" answer sheet so I don't have to flip through 7 levels worth of chronicle sheets plus con boons, tales boons, race boons, tax boons, etc etc. It says what you bought and when, and if/when you sold it/used it. Especially like the place for wands and their charges. Sad there are only slots for 3 or 4...
As time goes on, I'm starting to warm up to the ITS.
You are allowed to create your own ITS - in your own format as long as it meets the required information to be tracked.
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Somebody go ahead and send me an e-mail to let me know when the pendulum tips the other way and I actually spend as much time playing at a table as I do wading through the bureaucratic nightmare that is PFS.
In Season 6 we'll have our Meal Tracking Sheet so we can prove that we ate three times a day, right?
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The ITS has a basic format (even with modification for say, an archer tracking extra ammunition, etc) and, as has already been mentioned, is a complete history of everything (above 25gp) that the PC has purchased.
Character sheets...which one? The one I run through Hero Lab on my iPad? The one the guy next to me has on sheets of lined white paper? The girl next to him using the Player Folio? The one with the printed out sheet? The other person with the rumpled folder of crumpled chronicle sheets?
I was dubious about the ITS when it was first announced, making the same Office Space jokes everyone else did.
After using it, however, for the last couple of weeks, it is absolutely a huge improvement both for players to track their inventory and for GMs to get a clear idea of a PC's purchase history, when need-be.
The ITS, in my personal experience, has saved me time and improved the organization of my inventories on my various PCs.
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Somebody go ahead and send me an e-mail to let me know when the pendulum tips the other way and I actually spend as much time playing at a table as I do wading through the bureaucratic nightmare that is PFS.
In Season 6 we'll have our Meal Tracking Sheet so we can prove that we ate three times a day, right?
If Organized Play is too Organized for you, then you'd probably have more fun in a home game anyway. Unlike your proposed "Meal Tracking" sheet, consumable use actually proved to be an issue that campaign management wanted to address. If players had been better at tracking their purchases and uses, maybe it never would have come up?
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Somebody go ahead and send me an e-mail to let me know when the pendulum tips the other way and I actually spend as much time playing at a table as I do wading through the bureaucratic nightmare that is PFS.
In Season 6 we'll have our Meal Tracking Sheet so we can prove that we ate three times a day, right?
For every rule you think is unnecessary, there is a segment of players who made it necessary. Take it up with them.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose. Personally, I've never had much use for the historical stuff -- I care *way* more about what the character's current capabilities are than what she might have had in a previous game.The difference is that the character sheet has what the character currently has, while the ITS has what the character has ever had.
If you're doing an audit, check their ITS.
If you're checking what they have now, check their character sheet.
Maybe this will help:
Don't think of it as inventory tracking (despite the name), think of it as a transaction history. The difference between looking in the fridge versus finding out how much you spend on groceries in a month.
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And if you are spending more than 5 hours per session for the items you purchase for that character... then you are doing something wrong.
The pendulum has rarely ever swung more than at most 1% to 99% paperwork to play. I'd imagine the more consumable heavy or ammo heavy your build is might skew the above percentage toward 5% and 95%.
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And if you are spending more than 5 hours per session for the items you purchase for that character... then you are doing something wrong.
The pendulum has rarely ever swung more than at most 1% to 99% play to paperwork. I'd imagine the more consumable heavy or ammo heavy your build is might skew the above percentage toward 5% and 95%.
I believe you reversed play and paperwork in your sentence there.
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I believe you reversed play and paperwork in your sentence there.And if you are spending more than 5 hours per session for the items you purchase for that character... then you are doing something wrong.
The pendulum has rarely ever swung more than at most 1% to 99% play to paperwork. I'd imagine the more consumable heavy or ammo heavy your build is might skew the above percentage toward 5% and 95%.
You are correct, fixed.
I Really Dislike the ITS. I have to go back and see all of what I bought and when It is annoying as heck to do.
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Somebody go ahead and send me an e-mail to let me know when the pendulum tips the other way and I actually spend as much time playing at a table as I do wading through the bureaucratic nightmare that is PFS.
In Season 6 we'll have our Meal Tracking Sheet so we can prove that we ate three times a day, right?
STOP GIVING THEM IDEAS DAMMIT
Wait a second, didnt Chronicle sheets have all your listings for you, what you did buy and so forth? That worked so well. Why didnt they keep that?
If it aint broke
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Wait a second, didnt Chronicle sheets have all your listings for you, what you did buy and so forth? That worked so well. Why didnt they keep that?
If it aint broke
They just took that and moved it to its own sheet, for two reasons:
1) People wanted more cool stuff on chronicle sheets. Moving purchase records to a different sheet opens up more space for that in the future.2) Purchases in those boxes on the chronicle sheets, especially if you were buying multiple items (stocking consumables, etc), were really hard to read. Giving them some breathing room on a separate page will make it easier to read in the event of an audit.