# Purple Index Cards: On-the-Fly Setting and Plot Collaboration



## SabreCat (Feb 8, 2010)

*Abbreviated Version*
Want to spruce up your D&D4 game with rewards for players roleplaying, adding to the setting, introducing plot twists, and making dramatic descriptions of their actions? Do as follows!

1. Buy 150 index cards.
2. Download http://cheri.shyou.org/~sabrecat/docs/Purple_Index_Cards.docx.
3. Print the document onto the index cards.
4. Deal out two cards to each player at the start of each session. Played cards go into a discard pile. Collect unused cards at the end of the session and shuffle them back into the deck. When about half the deck's cards have been used, shuffle them all back in!
 *
The Backstory*

Index cards are a DM’s best friend. When setting up my face-to-face D&D 4e campaign, I bought a bunch of colored cards for various purposes. White cards would track hit points, initiative, etc. and come in handy for taking general notes. Red, blue, and yellow cards would be used to record quests: major/storyline quests, side quests, and characters’ personal quests, respectively. Green cards were for noting major NPCs and factions in the setting, and recording the party’s favor or disfavor with them.

But in your typical pack of colored index cards, that left one unused color: purple. What was I to do with those?

After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with the following system. I love new-wave roleplaying games where all the players share in the authorial role traditionally granted only to the Dungeon Master. Unfortunately, in my experience telling the players “oh, by the way, you can make up setting information too” in an otherwise traditional game rarely goes anywhere. Between the mother-may-I setup of the rules and a bit of blank-page paralysis, players never made use of the authority I granted them. With the use of these purple cards, I’d give the players discrete ways of hijacking the DM’s seat, providing jumping-off points for creativity and rewarding them for collaborating in game authorship!

My first go at the deck also included cards that didn't so much create collaboration opportunities as encourage the players to try new tactical tricks or reward them for spectacular success/failure in combat. In this draft, I've split them out to their own deck--still purple, just used differently.

*How It Works*

At the start of the session, players are dealt two cards each from the main deck. They choose one to keep for the session, and return the other to the deck. If they don’t use their card before the next deal, they can choose to hang on to it and forego drawing any new cards, or return their current card to the deck and draw as usual.

A card is also turned face-up from the Achievements deck at the start of each session, replacing an unscored Achievement there, if any.

Players can choose to use a card in hand at any appropriate moment, following the card text. Any player can choose to score the visible Achievement when its conditions are met, or hold out for a better score on it.

“Minion XP” means experience equal to a minion of the party’s current level, and “Monster XP” means experience equal to a standard monster of the party’s current level. This experience is shared among the party as normal.

Skill Challenge-related cards are meant to work with Stalker0’s “Obsidian” houseruled skill challenge system; the “in-combat skill challenge” cards will probably need adaptation to work with core skill challenge rules. Similarly, some references to “factions” are meant to dovetail with a system in which the party works on long-term Skill Challenges with groups in the setting, trying to win them over to the PCs’ cause.

Despite the placement of this thread in the 4e forum, I expect this could work in any fantasy RPG where players normally gain experience by defeating monsters or other traditional means: earlier D&D editions, Pathfinder, GURPS Fantasy, etc. You'd need to fill in different values for the rewards, and tweak some terminology, but the basic system should still work fine.


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## SabreCat (Feb 8, 2010)

*The Cards*

*Achievements*

*Better Part of Valor*Score this card when your party opts to leave the field of battle instead of fighting on to eliminate every opponent.

Gain XP as if all remaining opponents were in fact defeated, plus Minion XP.​* Double Team*Score this card when you use a readied action such that you and an ally attack with flanking on the same enemy on the same initiative count.

Gain Minion XP.​*Dunno About You, But I’m Still Good*Score this card when you reach a milestone.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if this is at least your second milestone since the party’s last Extended Rest.​*Forgot the Safeword*Score this card when you are Bloodied or when you are knocked unconscious.

Gain Minion XP if scored for Bloodied, Monster XP if scored for going unconscious.​*Running the Gauntlet, or, I’ll Take You Down With Me*Score this card when you suffer three or more Opportunity Attacks in a single turn.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if the attacks bloody you or knock you unconscious.​*Walk the Plank!*Score this card when you cause an enemy to take falling damage from forced movement.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if the damage reduces the creature to 0 or fewer hit points.​*Warband Savior*Score this card when you revive two or more allies from unconsciousness in the same combat (or the same ally two or more times).

Gain Monster XP.​*You Almost Had It That Time*Score this card when you or an ally either miss by 1, or spend an Action Point to attack and miss, or miss with a daily power, or roll minimum damage on an attack.

Gain Minion XP per condition fulfilled. (Yes, you can get all four at once. Good luck.)​


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## SabreCat (Feb 8, 2010)

*Main Deck*

*!*Reveal this card when a combat encounter is laid out or initiative is rolled. The party may attempt a Physical Skill Challenge to try to avoid the combat.

Gain Minion XP if you fail and must fight anyway, or normal skill challenge XP for other outcomes.​*…And It Sucked*Reveal this card instead of making a Religion skill check to learn background information. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take, make it up yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for a fleshed-out tale.​*A Plague O’ Both Your Houses*Reveal this card to declare that two extant factions are embroiled in a bitter feud.

Gain Minion XP; +Minion XP if you elaborate on the source of the feud; +Minion XP per involved faction with whom the party has built 5 or more influence successes.​*Because I Could Kill You, That’s Why*Reveal this card instead of making an Intimidate check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll—narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your bravado and/or the NPC’s reaction to it.​*Bring Down the Chandelier*Reveal this card in combat. You introduce a Physical Skill Challenge that, if completed, will gain the party some advantage (such as a one-off blast attack, creating or clearing a hazard, etc.).

Gain Minion XP.​*But Soft! What Light from Yonder Barstool Breaks*Reveal this card to fall in love with another character (PC or NPC).

Gain Minion XP if this results in flirtatious roleplay, or Monster XP if you immediately take a Personal Quest to bed or wed that character.​*Can’t We Talk About This?*Reveal this card when a combat encounter is laid out or initiative is rolled. The party may attempt a Social Skill Challenge to try to avoid the combat.

Gain Minion XP if you fail and must fight anyway, or normal Skill Challenge XP for other outcomes.​*Death Save Center: Under the Scythe*Reveal this card instead of making a Heal check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll; narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table or introducing new information with your description.​*Didn’t You Notice the Tattoo on His Arm?*Reveal this card to declare that an extant NPC is a representative of a faction. If the NPC is already a known faction member, this can make them a representative of both factions, possibly as a double agent.

Gain Minion XP if the NPC’s new faction is an existing one, or Monster XP if you invent a new faction for the purpose.​*Don’t I Know You from Somewhere?*Reveal this card when you meet a new NPC. That character becomes part of your backstory—you’ve been friends, or comrades in arms, or enemies, or the like at some point in the past.

Gain Minion XP if you leave the connection to the DM to define, or Monster XP if you explain how you know him/her.​*Don’t Worry, I Know Just the Place*Reveal this card when your party needs/wants to go to an establishment of some kind—tavern, weapons shop, brothel, guildhall, etc. That location now exists.

Gain Minion XP if you just define what the place is, or Monster XP if you give it a name, and the name and some detail about its proprietor/proprietress.​*Eh, I’ve Had Worse*Reveal this card instead of making an Endurance skill check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll; narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for impressing the table with description of your grit and hardiness.​*Flattery Will Get You Everywhere*Reveal this card instead of making a Diplomacy check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll; narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your description of your wiles and/or the NPC’s response.​*Graceful as a Moose*Reveal this card when you fail a skill check, or to turn a successful skill check into a failure. Provide a colorful description of what happens instead of your character’s intent.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if what you do brings additional trouble down upon the party (describe how).​*Here’s the Catch*Reveal this card when fulfilling or turning in a quest. Narrate a complication or reversal that leaves the business of the quest not fully resolved.

Gain Minion XP if this merely delays your reward, or Monster XP if it chains the quest into a new one as a result of the plot twist.​*I Am the Rumor Mill*Reveal this card instead of making a Streetwise roll to investigate the local talk. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take, make it up yourself. At least some of what you “hear” will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for juicy gossip rich with potential.​*I Don’t Like Your Tone, Drifter*Reveal this card when interacting with an NPC. That NPC takes an intense, personal dislike of you. You can at any time undertake a Minor Personal Quest to regain the NPC’s good opinion, ending this effect when fulfilled… or just live with it!

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if the NPC is an ally critical to the party’s success in some way.​*I Find Bloodspattered Armor Sexy*Reveal this card when interacting with an NPC. That NPC falls in love with your character. You may at any time undertake a Minor Personal Quest to break the NPC’s heart, ending the attraction when fulfilled… or just go with it!

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if the NPC is hostile to the party (you can’t fulfill the above quest if you kill him/her).​*I Have a Plan*Reveal this card when a combat encounter is laid out or initiative is rolled. The party may attempt a Mental Skill Challenge to try to avoid the combat.

Gain Minion XP if you fail and must fight anyway, or normal Skill Challenge XP for other outcomes.​*I Know These Woods Like the Back of Your Ass*Reveal this card instead of making a Nature skill check to gather information about a wilderness location. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take on the result, describe the wild area yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for an elaborate, DM-useful description.​*I Minored in Kuo-Toa Cultural Studies*Reveal this card instead of making a History skill check to learn background information. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take on the result, make it up yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for a lengthy and entertaining tale.​*In the Third Chapter of the Necronomicon…*Reveal this card instead of making an Arcana skill check to learn background information. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take on the result, make it up yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for a full and entertaining lecture.​*I Went to School There*Reveal this card when interacting with the world map. Add a location to the map.

Gain Minion XP if you name it, or Monster XP if you also immediately invent a quest involving that location.​*Leap of Faith*Reveal this card instead of making an Athletics check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll; narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your stuntwork.​*Like a Shadow, I Am*Reveal this card instead of making a Stealth check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll—narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with description of your sneakiness.​*Limit Break Cutscene*Reveal this card when you hit with an encounter or daily attack power or use an encounter or daily utility power. Narrate its effects in detail.

Gain Minion XP for brief “flavor text,” or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your mighty power.​*Meant to Do That*Reveal this card when you miss with an attack, or to turn a hit into a miss. Provide a colorful description of what happens instead of your character’s intent.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if you choose to have the attack strike an ally.​*My Nose Is Keener Than Your Eyes Will Ever Be*Reveal this card instead of making a Perception check to assess your surroundings. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take, make it up yourself. All reasonable scene description will become reality.

Gain Minion XP for a bit of local color, or Monster XP for full description with secrets and potential danger.​*My Gods, Look Out Behind You!*Reveal this card in combat to introduce a new environmental hazard (trap, threatening terrain such as a fire or rockfall, dangerous weather, etc.). The DM assigns its stats based on your description.

Gain Minion XP if it is placed/acts to the party’s advantage, or Monster XP if it endangers them.​*Oh Yeah, They Totally Are*Reveal this card to declare that two extant NPCs are lovers. (They totally are.)

Gain Minion XP, +Minion XP per PC who is in love with or romantically involved with either NPC, +Minion XP per active quest involving either NPC.​*Ooh, Shiny!*Reveal this card when a skill check to search an area (usually Perception) fails to turn up anything interesting.

Gain Minion XP and find a treasure parcel anyway.​*Out With It, Already!*Reveal this card instead of making a social skill check (Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate) to get an NPC to divulge information. Take control of the NPC and spill the beans however you see fit. At least some of the NPC’s information will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a brief utterance or two, or Monster XP for elaborate plots and revelations.​*Saved by Kitty Litter*Reveal this card when a new map is drawn or laid out. Add new terrain features (difficult terrain, blocking terrain, concealing terrain, elevation changes, interactable objects like barrels…) to up to 10 squares.

Gain Minion XP.​*Say That Again, You Pestilent Cur*Reveal this card and take deep offense at something another character has said to you.

Gain Minion XP if you spit/bristle/throw a barb in return, or Monster XP if you challenge them to a duel or something similarly drastic.​*Spelunky Hax*Reveal this card instead of making a Dungeoneering skill check to gather information about a delve location. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take on the result, describe the dungeon features yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a tidbit, or Monster XP for elaborate, DM-useful description.​*Strange Bedfellows*Reveal this card to declare that two extant factions are allied.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if you also detail the particular project or common enemy that brought them together.​*The Cavalry Has Arrived!*Reveal this card in combat to deploy a force of minions, a number of them equal to the size of the party. They immediately roll initiative, and act next turn if they roll above the present initiative count.

Gain Minion XP, +Minion XP if you explain who they are and how/why they managed to arrive when they did.​*There’s Always a Malcontent*Reveal this card during combat. You introduce an in-combat Social Skill Challenge that, if completed, will gain your party some advantage (such as the desertion or defection of an opponent).

Gain Minion XP.​*The Subtle Art of Fate-Baiting*Reveal this card and utter something prophetic about what will happen next scene. E.g. “I sure hope there’s not a beholder behind that door.” Some aspect of what you say will come true.

Gain Minion XP for something cute or beneficial, or Monster XP for something dangerous or with truly portentous implications.​*This Reminds Me of That Time When…*Reveal this card and recount (in character) a tale of your exploits from before you joined the party.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if in the telling you introduce an NPC, quest, faction, or location to be used later.​*Uphill in the Razor Sand (Both Ways)*Reveal this card and describe (in character) some aspect of your homeland’s culture or an anecdote from “back home.”

Gain Minion XP for a quip or factoid, or Monster XP for detail that introduces new themes, plot hooks, or ideas relevant to the situation at hand.​*We Must Not Let Them Interrupt the Ritual!*Reveal this card in combat. You introduce an in-combat Mental Skill Challenge that, if completed, will gain the party some advantage (such as warding an area, banishing or damaging a monster, or providing an attack boost).

Gain Minion XP.​*We Will Meet Again*Reveal this card when you reduce an enemy to 0 or fewer hit points. Instead of killing that creature or knocking it unconscious, you allow it to escape the battle with a few parting words.

Gain Minion XP for an ordinary monster, or Monster XP for a “named” or “boss” enemy.​*What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Halflings?*Reveal this card instead of making an Insight skill check to glean information about an NPC’s motives, alignment, personality, etc. Rather than roll and hear the DM’s take, make it up yourself. At least some of the information you impart will be true.

Gain Minion XP for a glimpse, or Monster XP for a detailed character study.​*Wire Fu*Reveal this card instead of making an Acrobatics check with a nonzero chance of success. Narrate what happens instead of rolling and having the DM tell the result.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your stuntwork.​*Would I Lie to You?*Reveal this card instead of making a Bluff check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll—narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with your guile and/or the NPC’s response to it.​*Yoink!*Reveal this card instead of making a Thievery check with a nonzero chance of success. Don’t roll—narrate what happens.

Gain Minion XP for simply claiming success, or Monster XP for entertaining the table with description of your craftiness.​*You Fools! It Was I, All Along!*Reveal this card to declare that an NPC in the scene is in fact someone else, in disguise. The revealed identity can be an existing character or a new one.

Gain Minion XP for naming the person, or Monster XP if you then explain the reason behind the impersonation.​


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## SabreCat (Feb 8, 2010)

*What's Next?*

Suffice to say, I've had a fantastic time using these cards! For instance, just last session, the party's Dragonborn Bard played "I Find Bloodspattered Armor Sexy" to have a white dragon fall in love with him. ^.^ Of course she tried to carry him off to her lair...

Please share this idea and the cards' content with anyone you like. I'd love to hear how things go if someone else tries this!

I could also use feedback! If you have ideas for more cards, I can always stand to expand the deck--the players have seen most of them by now. Or even if you have a better title for a card, a better wording, whatever, let me know; I'm eventually going to put together a document people can download, sized to print each card at 3x5.

Thanks for reading!


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## weem (Feb 8, 2010)

Very cool - I would enjoy this as a player 

In my game (a 4e game) we use Aspects and Fate Points. The Fate points are printed cards that have various uses (printed on them) including one that lets them affect the plot/game world.

My friend uses the same thing in his game, so to give you an example, I was playing my Goblin Rogue when myself and the other PC's busted out of the basement of an Inn, in a town my character was familiar with. I handed the fate card to the DM and said, "I want to take us to my safe house". I didn't have one, we never discussed it, but he responded with "Ok, you head there" taking the card.

I love these kinds of things. My players don't use them in this way as often as I would like, but we're getting there. The only reason I could not use your system as you have it here is that we do not use XP - I level the players when i feel it is appropriate and fits with the campaign... so something else would have to be gained as a reward.

But like I said, it looks fun to me - good job


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## Zinovia (Feb 9, 2010)

These sound like they would be a lot of fun in play.  I don't reward xp as such in my group, so we'd need a different reward for using them to cause more trouble for the party.  I'll give it some thought.  I like a lot of your ideas, and the names are great. Thanks!


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## SabreCat (Feb 9, 2010)

Thanks for the comments! My players like XP--perhaps because they all play quite a bit of console RPGs (Dragon Age being the current favorite), I don't know. And for me, the pace of advancement of by-the-book experience is _almost_ right... meaning that players earning an encounter (or two)'s worth of XP per level via purple cards feels right on. I'd be interested to hear suggestions for alternative rewards, though!

weem: Are your fate cards randomized, too, or does every fate card have the full suite of abilities printed on it? _Spirit of the Century_ style Aspects would be a neat way to "upgrade" this system... maybe, if I can't get a good infusion of new cards into the purple deck, we can transition to that when we have a major campaign shakeup (like getting to the paragon tier).


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## weem (Feb 9, 2010)

SabreCat said:


> weem: Are your fate cards randomized, too, or does every fate card have the full suite of abilities printed on it? _Spirit of the Century_ style Aspects would be a neat way to "upgrade" this system... maybe, if I can't get a good infusion of new cards into the purple deck, we can transition to that when we have a major campaign shakeup (like getting to the paragon tier).




Yea, they have listed on them what they can be used for - nothing random there. Examples of some...

+1 Attack* with @Will
+2 Attack* with Encounter
+3 Attack* with Daily
Recharge an Encounter
Recharge a Daily (requires 2 FP's)

*These are immediate interupts and we allow asking of the DM... 

PC: "would two more allow me to hit?"
DM: "yes"
PC: "ok, I use it" etc.

Two more uses, though I forgot how they are worded....

One was to counter the DM when they try to compel an aspect etc, the other was to affect the plot as in the example I gave above.

...I think there was one more but I'm not remembering right now... could be wrong and that might be it.

We use Aspects - obviously a borrowed idea - to great effect in our 4e games


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## Nev the Deranged (Feb 10, 2010)

I like these. I can see these making an otherwise grindy 4e game much more interesting. Maybe you can get Willow to try them at FMW?


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## unan oranis (Feb 10, 2010)

any play-testing done with these yet?

and when are you formatting them as cards with illustrations?


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## surfarcher (Feb 10, 2010)

Awesome!  Do you happen to have a file with all this space out for printing?

If not I'll come to the party and produce a couple of PDFs with a ready-to-print-on-card layout.


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## SabreCat (Feb 10, 2010)

Nev: I hadn't really thought about these in a one-shot or convention environment. As discussed a few posts up, you'd want a different reward scheme, since experience points aren't terribly important in that situation. But it could certainly be fun--turn the traditionally on-rails feel of a convention D&D adventure on its ear! Maybe pare down the deck, too, take out things with a long-term focus like some of the faction-related cards.

unan: I've been using these in my current game, which is two sessions into 5th level. Some of the cards were added later than others, based on feedback and the maturation of the idea. For instance, I initially had cards to override skill checks only for the knowledge skills, but I expanded it to have one such card for every skill. Illustrations I hadn't thought of! I bet some cute stuff could be done with that, but I'm no artist. As for formatting...

doug: I don't have such a file yet; I was planning to create one after getting some feedback, see if anybody came up with more card ideas. If you're volunteering, though, go for it! That'd be a fantastic help.


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## surfarcher (Feb 10, 2010)

No worries!

I volunteered because I'd like to use these and I already have a blank card template I have used for a lot of other cards I made for our game - condition references and such  

It's in Word but that's trivially cut to PDF.

If other folks want to do the hard part by posting the titles, descriptions and mechanics in here then the least I can do is contribute the collation I am already planning to do


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## keterys (Feb 10, 2010)

Could do something like have the party get a magic item when it's used up X cards, where X is 3 to 5 probably. Though, I suppose to preserve the minion/monster difference you might want to have the 'minions' count as 1/4 or 1/2 a card for that purpose. I think I'd be tempted for 1/2.

There's a couple cards I'd probably skip (like 'Say that again, you pestilent cur'), but neat idea overall!


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## SabreCat (Feb 10, 2010)

Magic items might indeed make a good alternative. The classic D&D rewards are levels and loot, after all, so if you remove the former, you still have the latter ^.^

"Say That Again...", "But Soft..." etc. are a little different from the rest. They're more like RP rewards for particular complications the DM would like to see the PCs introduce, as opposed to giving players extra authorship. There aren't too many of them, so they could stand to be beefed up with more cards like them so they're less anomalous, or trimmed out.


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## surfarcher (Feb 16, 2010)

Well I've made a start to this :-D

The _Achievements_ cards are basically done, I did have to tinker with a few of the longer titles tho.

I'm working on the main deck now.  Many of those are long so I'm not sure exactly what I'll do.  Probably wing it and then see what everyone thinks and change stuff as folks see fit.  Not sure what to put on the back of these.  For now I have put _"Bonus"_.

I'll probably have a draft version ready for review in the next day or so.


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## SabreCat (Feb 16, 2010)

Nice, thanks much! Looking forward to seeing what you've done with them.

I'm not sure what would be a good card back title for the main deck, either, since it's still a mix of a few different things. Maybe "Twists"?


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## surfarcher (Feb 17, 2010)

OK here's my first draft.

Hope noone expects too much


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## SabreCat (Feb 17, 2010)

Hooray! I'll have to try printing these off, see how they look. Thanks for doing a bit of my work for me, ha!


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## surfarcher (Feb 17, 2010)

Glad to help!

I'll probably play with the layout and formatting a little over the next week or so but unless I get specific feedback it won't change too much.

Any suggestions or feedback would be great!


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## SabreCat (Feb 18, 2010)

Maybe increase the font size on the card text and decrease it some on the card titles? Might alleviate some of the trouble with too-long titles, and make the cards a little more readable.


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## surfarcher (Feb 18, 2010)

Yeah I was thinking of increasing the body text font size.  Dropping the heading downa point or two is a good idea too.

I'm also thinking of moving the "benefit" paragraph to the bottom, giving it a slightly different font and prepending "Benefit: ".

Hopefully I'll make those changes over the weekend.


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## Old Gumphrey (Mar 6, 2010)

That's a pretty great idea. It's not comprehensive, and you'd see repeats after a tier of play, but I'd love to play around with this.


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## surfarcher (Mar 6, 2010)

Feel free to add any...

I just popped in to let folks know I didn't die... Not quite.  I *was* in hospital nealry a week with Pneumonia tho.  

Starting to get back on my feet and hope to post the next cut of the cards but it'll likely be a few days.

Cheers!


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## SabreCat (Mar 9, 2010)

Gumphrey: Yeah, part of my reason for posting was to see if anyone had any suggestions for new cards. There haven't been any yet, though. We have started to see repeats in my game (an encounter or two into 6th level at this point), though thankfully a lot of them are versatile. "Strange Bedfellows" or "This Reminds Me of That Time When..." aren't going to look at all alike played in two different situations by two different players. On the whole, I agree that this will have lived its life by the end of the tier. I will probably float the idea of graduating to an Aspect/Fate point system like Weem's for paragon tier.

Doug: Yikes, sorry to hear it! Hope you're feeling better, then. No need to rush work on a project like this, especially if your health is at issue!


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## tendrilsfor20 (Mar 12, 2010)

Checking in to say, this is an awesome idea. We've been running a campaign that is trying out all kinds of homebrew stuff to see what works (new ways to handle Elite/Solo save bonuses, new magical item rules) and the Fate cards were a big hit. The players liked being able to stuff and fun was had by all.

We don't really use XP (just level every 8 encounters/3 sessions or so), so the "Achievement" cards I tried to tie to getting another draw from the Fate deck. That went over like a lead balloon, so now it's just "draw 2 from the Fate deck at the beginning of the night, put 1 back."

The problem with the achievements (we felt) was that there was enough to keep track of in combat without 3-5 extra things to think about, especially when the reward tied to them (RP-encouraging fate cards) isn't nearly enough to go outside your normal combat role to achieve.

I'd really like some more Fate/"Roleplay or invent this" tyoe cards designed for inside combat. I already very publically use the "DM's best friend" to encourage players to try crazy-awesome stunts, but I don't know how to balance in-combat Fate cards so it's not just some dudes sitting around a table playing "make up whatever you want" instead of D&D.


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## Eric Finley (Mar 12, 2010)

I like these.  I might also mesh 'em with the ideas I'm working on to make Action Points and Item Daily Uses into card-dependent rather than milestone-dependent things.

One set I'd add... since they're adding XP, it would seem to me to be perfectly reasonable to make some of the benefits contingent on narrating _failure_ instead of success.  For example, your skill-roll ones... in addition to the listed rewards you could hand out, say, Elite XP (2x Monster) for narrating an enteraining failure on the roll.  [The roll must be one which the DM asked you to make, not one you initiated yourself.  But this whole system is high-trust environments only, anyway, so that almost goes without saying.]  Lets your highly skilled characters fail once in a while, for a legitimate OOC reason.

Edited to add: Tendrils, once I get my card set put together I'll post it here... my plan is to have AP / Item Daily / Milestone stuff all tied to draws from a deck, which give a baseline bonus A but also have an RP or player-contribution trigger ("If you brought snacks") to grant an additional effect or larger bonus.  That might do some of what you want; a given card is aimed to be worth about half an action point, on average, which might not be a bad level of reward for your players.


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## SabreCat (Mar 13, 2010)

tendrils: Fantastic, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear that somebody outside my group actually used these in a game. ^.^ And welcome to ENWorld, by the way!

Achievements could probably use an overhaul. Go all the way and have 25-odd of them, like a 360 game, written on a sheet sitting at one corner of the table. Ding, achievement unlocked, score some points! Try for completion, get everything checked off before the end of the campaign, hah. As it is, they're sort of an afterthought to the twist cards. I may stop using them even in my own game.

Eric: _Yes._ Good call! A few of the cards have a greater reward for causing trouble for yourself/the party, that's a good extension of the theme. Mm... pad out the deck some more by making inverted versions of the various claim-success cards, or just add an autofail option to the extant cards?


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## Hadrian the Builder (Mar 14, 2010)

Got a new idea for you. Virtue/Hubris system ala 7th Sea RPG. I'll spare you a run down of the system, incase you are already familiar with it, but I think that could fit with your system.


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## SabreCat (Mar 14, 2010)

I barely got to play _7th Sea_... I remember a ridiculously long character generation process (one of those laborious twenty-question things) followed by a pedestrian combat. Care to share what you think I should crib?


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## Hadrian the Builder (Mar 14, 2010)

There was a system of Virtues and Hubrises that had a mechanical effect. Players could spend a "drama die" to use their Virtue and GM's could use a drama die to invoke their Hubris. 

For example:
Virtue--
Adaptable = Cancel effects of Surprise on self.

Hubris--
Loyal = You go back for a fallen comrade, or avoid leaving their side in the first place.

By the way, what are you using to create your pdf?


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## SabreCat (Mar 14, 2010)

That sounds more like Weem's thing: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...72274-fate-point-cards-download-included.html A bit more open-ended than Virtue/Hubris, perhaps, but that's a strength of Aspects rather than a weakness, I feel.


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## Hadrian the Builder (Mar 15, 2010)

Hadrian the Builder said:


> By the way, what are you using to create your pdf?




I'd like to edit it.


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## surfarcher (Mar 15, 2010)

All,
OK I'm back from death's door and running on all 8 cylinders again...

I've updated the cards as previously discussed (see attached PDF).

Still waiting for someone (anyone) to add some content... At this rate I might have to think some up myself 

If we'd like to brainstorm some rough content I'd be happy to add them and flesh out from there.  So far the concrete suggestions I've seen:
 * Fate/roleplay/invent this in combat.
 * Allow narration of _failure_ to gain benefit.
 * Vary the rewards.


Hadrian,
I'm using Word 2003/XP and PDFCreator to author.

Edit: I can upload to Google docs or something if folks want to start working on this as a group effort.


Cheers!


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## surfarcher (Mar 16, 2010)

PS. I'm gonna pretty them up by tinkering with colours and shading over the next few days.  if anyone has any graphics/logos/whatever they think might look snazzy please do let me know.


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## Hadrian the Builder (Mar 16, 2010)

surfarcher said:


> All,
> I'm using Word 2003/XP and PDFCreator to author.
> 
> Edit: I can upload to Google docs or something if folks want to start working on this as a group effort.




Could you upload the word doc to google doc? I'd like to use this, but I would look at switching it to an action point econony instead of XP.


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## Mr. Wilson (Apr 2, 2010)

I'd just like to say this is the best idea I've ever stolen from anyone.  I'm running Star Wars d6 and have modified and added some of my own, but I'm confident when I run DnD (or really, almost any game) I'll be using these cards.  

Awesome Idea.


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## SabreCat (Apr 2, 2010)

Thanks much!

What are the cards you've added? Would any of them be adaptable back to a D&D setting?


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## Mr. Wilson (Apr 2, 2010)

I'm still working out new ones, but here are a few I made for the first game session I used them.  Mind you, some of it is really setting specific.

Hey, look over there!

Reveal this card when you are tying to escape.  Narrate some event that allows you escape unharmed.
The GM may reward you with 1 character point, if they story is entertaining.

The Force will be with you, always.

Reveal this card and spend a force point.  Narrate what happens on up to four actions you take this round.  You succeed.
You gain no character points.  You greedy *censored*.

I'm really a droid in disguise.

Reveal this card when you make a non-heroic, non-first aid technical roll.  Instead of hearing the DM describe what happens, narrate the results.  Everything reasonable will be allowed.
Gain one character point; two for entertaining the table.

I was a Duros in another life.

Reveal this card instead of rolling for an Astrogation check of non-heroic difficulty.  Or, if you just failed an Astrogation check, you instead succeed.
Gain one character point.

Most of the others I modified to fit the theme of Star Wars.  Also, in d6 Star Wars, character points are kinda like experience points and can be used to either add an additional die to your roll, or to improve your stats or skills between sessions.  Most sessions you gain somewhere between three and seven character points, sometimes more, sometimes less.  Force points are used to double all skill rolls you get for a single round.  You only gain them when doing heroic deeds, usually one player may get one once per adventure (not session), so they are much more valuable, hence the high value reward.

Again, great idea, and my players actually really like it.


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## Garthanos (Apr 17, 2010)

weem said:


> Yea, they have listed on them what they can be used for - nothing random there. Examples of some...
> 
> +1 Attack* with @Will
> +2 Attack* with Encounter
> ...




We have decided to go ahead and start using aspects and fate cards in the future game and next set of characters ... by the way the scale of mechanical impact needs to be twice what you have  averaging +4 in 4e... to correspond with how they are used in the original context although having reduced value on the boring uses might not be a bad idea (encourage plot manipulation)... encourage other uses I will have to think about that.  (Doubling the effect puts it in the same mechanical potency level of using an Action point in my opinion however)


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## P1NBACK (Apr 22, 2010)

I love, love this idea. 

I really like how you can reward players for adding complications to their character's actions/lives. This is the way to go in RPGs imo. 

Good stuff. Keep it up.


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## SabreCat (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks P1NBACK! Along those very lines, I recently introduced a number of new cards into the deck, based on the suggestions from this thread--notably, Eric Finley's. The following cards all have basically this text:

Play this card when called upon to make a _____ skill check. You fail the check without rolling, but get to narrate the consequences of your failure.

Gain Monster XP, + Minion XP for entertaining description or landing yourself/the party in deeper trouble.​
The titles I came up with:

*Like a Cat, I Always Land on My--Face* (Acrobatics)
*Clatto Verata Necktie* (Arcana)
*I Think I Sprained Something* (Athletics)
*We're All Fine Here Now, Thank You* (Bluff)
*Ich Bin Ein Berliner* (Diplomacy)
*Was It Two Lefts and a Right, or Two Rights and a Left?* (Dungeoneering)
*Cough, Hack, Wheeze* (Endurance)
*Is That a Spleen?* (Heal)
*His Face is on the Electrum Piece, I Think* (History)
*Aww, He's All Right, We Can Trust Him* (Insight)
*rawr* (Intimidate)
*Only Made Tenderfoot, Sorry* (Nature)... I totally had a better name for this, but didn't write it down, and forgot 
*Eyes Shut, In Case of Medusae!* (Perception)
*Don't Mind Me, Just Killing This Cow* (Religion)
*WHAT? Did You Say BE QUIET?* (Stealth)
*Whazzup, Home Fries?* (Streetwise)
*Butter Fingers* (Thievery)

One of my players also supplied this idea:

*Once More, With Feeling*

Play this card when hit by an attack. Narrate a cunning evasion and turn that hit into a miss.

Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if you grant the attacker another standard action to try again "with feeling this time!"​


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## surfarcher (May 5, 2010)

Sorry about falling off the planet again... This time it was work, oh unimaginative work.



Hadrian the Builder said:


> Could you upload the word doc to google doc? I'd like to use this, but I would look at switching it to an action point econony instead of XP.




You can get it at Google Docs. I think I've got it set up so you can edit it if you are logged in.  If you have any problems just let me know and I'll try to fix it.

If you do an action point version could you please share it back?

Ideally I'd love to have a library of similar docs under group work. That would be cool


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## surfarcher (May 5, 2010)

Hope you don't mind if I steal your ideas and incorporate them


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## surfarcher (May 5, 2010)

Gonna look at including these too


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## Garthanos (May 5, 2010)

I think action points might be an in keeping reward... 1 for a minion and two for a standard  (this makes the reward short term rather like the issues).


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## the-golem (May 5, 2010)

SabreCat said:


> *Ich Bin Ein Berliner* (Diplomacy)




I guffawed. Who you callin' a donut, Herr Kartoffelsalat?


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## dvvega (May 7, 2010)

There used to be an old system called Whimsy cards that pretty much did this. I believe their publisher was Lion Rampant.

It was for Ars Magica IIRC. Perhaps that system has some possible ideas.

D


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## the-golem (May 7, 2010)

I gotcher Whimsy Cards right here: Whimsy Cards

And, yes you nailed it on the head.


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## surfarcher (May 8, 2010)

Interesting!


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## firesnakearies (May 10, 2010)

I love this thread, I love the cards (especially the names!) and I'm totally using this idea in my campaign.  Thanks for sharing!

Anyone have any links to any more posts about using aspects, fate points, or other metagame systems to encourage roleplaying or share a bit of narrative control in 4E?  (Besides this great thread by weem)


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## SabreCat (May 11, 2010)

Oh my. Those Whimsy cards are fantastic--a great way to bulk up the list of things like "But Soft..." I need to get a new stack of blank purple cards, I think ^.^


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## SabreCat (Aug 15, 2010)

I think the necromancy is justified here: I've created a set of documents with all the cards to date that can be printed directly onto 3x5 index cards!

Word 2007
OpenOffice.org
PDF

New since last:
- No more Achievements. They never saw much use at my table, and I didn't have enough of them to be worthwhile, so I dropped them. The heart of the thing is in the twist cards!
- Lots more cards, including a number cribbed from or inspired by the Ars Magica Whimsy Cards. 103 in all!
- Various tweaks and rewordings, generally to make the cards' effects broader, less lawyerly, and more rewarding of players causing trouble for themselves.

Thank you to everyone in this thread for the input you've provided. I always welcome new card ideas, so keep them coming, and I'll update the documents accordingly!


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## dvvega (Aug 18, 2010)

Another system that is less dependant on playing cards but was always good was the "bennies" systems from Savage Worlds. Three ranks of "chips" that gave you various bonuses (in D&D I would hazard +1, +2, +5 for the values).

These were awarded on top of experience to encourage roleplaying and participation above and beyond just playing the piece of paper in front of you.

Advantages: it was more freeform so the DM and players have a little more artistic control over the outcome - say they spent a +1 chip and  used it for an attack roll, the descriptive result was in the control of players and DM. In addition the DM could sway the uses of the chip if he/she thought it was going to ruin the game itself.

Disadvantages: It required more artistic control by the players and DM 

I've played both systems and they both have merits. What I did find with the Whimsy System was that some players would just sit there reading them and spend a lot of the session "waiting" for the right moment to use them. They ended up not having much fun.

A system I developed which was a combination of both systems was my Tarot System (used in 3.0/3.5 plot driven games). At the start of every session each character would get one Tarot Card +1 or 2 more based on a "luck" roll which was a roll under the average of their stats. If they rolled under they got +1 and if they rolled under half they got another. I found more than 3 was too much.

A Major Arcana was MAJOR - it could change something in a big way (read below). Minor Arcana gave bonuses or slight modifications (like a -2 to an enemies roll etc). You needed a higher number to affect others (even party members).

During the game they could spend these cards (they went away at end of session) to change the plot line somehow. For example in a combat with a powerful enemy in one of his warehouses (side not: the female player's character - my wife actually - had been going on "dates" with a Paladin from the bodyguard's guild in the city) was knocked down and about to die. Just before I got initiative for the BBEG she played "The Lovers". Suddenly through a high window the Paladin bursts through and tackles the guy to the ground giving the party a chance to escape.

She wanted him to turn up and kill the BBEG - I thought that it would be more fun to save her and the party (they still got the XP) but keep BBEG around for a while.

Of course this led to later complications of courting and wooing but it was a blast.

Advantages: very freeform, will not derail a DM's game if he/she prepares well enough.
Disadvantages: requires a lot of quick thinking.


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks for the update Sabrecat, I just started using these cards with my group a few sessions ago, and they've been a huge hit.
I agree that the achievement cards are probably not the best, once you've earned them once why repeat them?

Since the 3x5 versions weren't up when I made my own, I ended up copy/pasting from this thread. I found that to save space and my supply of cards I could usually fit two card descriptions on a 3x5 card with only a few font size changes. Then I cut the cards in half. This doubles the number of cards you can print at once, and makes a neat small card deck size of about 3" by a little less than 2.5". 

I've changed the names on a few cards to better fit with my group's sense of humour.
For instance, "The Cavalry has Arrived!" is now "Send in the Ninjas!", "WHAT! Did you say be quiet?" is now "I ROLLED A 4!", and "There's always a malcontent" is likely to be renamed "AHH! Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!" as well as changing "because I can kill you that's why" to "To the Pain!". Kudos on working another Princess Bride quote into the revised version.
And a suggestion, is "and it Sucked..." a reference to Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising? If so, I would recommend the title be changed to "which Sucked!..." to better reflect the actual quote. I've also considered changing it to another quote, like "Book of Armaments; Chapter 2, verses 9 through 21."

Here's some more card titles I'm still working on; I haven't come up with good story twists or interesting effects for all of these yet.

Everything's ... Better... with Pirates - Not sure yet

This ... is my BOOMSTICK! - current idea, play this card to suddenly be holding one of your weapons and initiate a surprise round without a check.

Bowties... are cool.  - Reveal and describe an embarassing object your character still carries to receive a +2 bonus to your next roll.
“Koona T’chuta, Solo?” - Play this card to introduce a new NPC who will hinder the party at their current task.
Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP if you supply the NPC with a name and history with one or more PCs. 

"It's a very distinctive style." - Describe an opponent's fighting style in a manner that tells us more about that character's background and training. If you effectively describe how your knowledge of their style gives your party a way to counter them, grant combat advantage against that opponent either to yourself or one of your allies for the next turn. Gain minion XP if you granted Combat Advantage to yourself, or Monster XP if you gave Combat Advantage to an ally.

"They were both poisoned." - Describe a series of events from your characters backstory that grant you a weakness or resistance to an enemy's attack or a status effect you are under. Reroll a saving throw.
Gain minion XP if you gave your self a resistance and turned a failed save into a successful one. Gain monster xp if you rerolled a successful save and turned it into a failure.

I'd welcome suggestions on how to improve these card descriptions or effects.


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## SabreCat (Aug 21, 2010)

Kelvor Ravenstar said:


> I found that to save space and my supply of cards I could usually fit two card descriptions on a 3x5 card with only a few font size changes. Then I cut the cards in half.



Oh, cool! That sounds like the format surfarcher used for his document upthread. If you can come up with a Word or OpenOffice format that works this way, I'd love to see it! (Might tinker with it myself... columns maybe?)



> I've changed the names on a few cards to better fit with my group's sense of humour.



That's a big reason I included editable documents instead of just a saved-off PDF. Some of the card titles are outright in-jokes from my own group (e.g. "Oh, Good, You're Not a Shoe"), so I fully expect people will want to tweak the card titles ^.^



> For instance, "The Cavalry has Arrived!" is now "Send in the Ninjas!", "WHAT! Did you say be quiet?" is now "I ROLLED A 4!", and "There's always a malcontent" is likely to be renamed "AHH! Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!" as well as changing "because I can kill you that's why" to "To the Pain!".



Those are all great! I very well may update my own (the "official"? hah) documents to match those. Clever pop-culture references beat generic wit anytime. ^.^ Is "I ROLLED A 4!" a movie reference, or a group in-joke? It sounds familiar...



> And a suggestion, is "and it Sucked..." a reference to Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising? If so, I would recommend the title be changed to "which Sucked!..." to better reflect the actual quote.



It is supposed to be that, so good catch!



> This ... is my BOOMSTICK!



Nice idea! I don't make enough use of surprise rounds, that's great.



> “Koona T’chuta, Solo?”



Yeah, that's rather a gap, isn't it? I don't have many cards that outright spawn a new NPC (though it could be worked into some of the broader ones), so good call. Is that the actual transliteration from Episode IV? I always thought it was "Oota Goota" or something 



> "It's a very distinctive style."



Clever! Combat advantage is a pretty minor and often easy-to-get benefit, and it doesn't stack, though, so this feels a little underpowered. Maybe we could swing something where you get to dictate the enemy's next action, to represent your anticipating their next move or their telegraphing their attacks via their style?



> "They were both poisoned."



Hell yeah. I like.

Thanks for all the ideas! Expect these to be incorporated soon--I'll post again when the documents are updated. It tickles me to hear that folks are putting these into use at their tables!


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 23, 2010)

SabreCat said:


> Oh, cool! That sounds like the format surfarcher used for his document upthread. If you can come up with a Word or OpenOffice format that works this way, I'd love to see it! (Might tinker with it myself... columns maybe?)



In Word I set the page size to 3x5, added columns, and set the page margins to the smallest my printer can handle, which is about 0.25 Inches. I then adjusted the space between the columns as small as possible. I used 12 point font for most of the titles, and 10 for the card text.
View attachment Roleplaying Cards.doc Here's my last version of the file, so you can see how they look, but its not up to date with all of my card ideas yet. I'll probably get to that later tonight. One suggestion I have for cutting them is making little diagonal cuts to remove the corners; makes them easier to shuffle and helps avoid paper cuts.



SabreCat said:


> Those are all great! I very well may update my own (the "official"? hah) documents to match those. Clever pop-culture references beat generic wit anytime. ^.^ Is "I ROLLED A 4!" a movie reference, or a group in-joke? It sounds familiar...



Yep, that's a quote from the early Order of the Stick webcomic strips. They roll group stealth and Elan announces his lack of success for all the monsters to hear.



> Is that the actual transliteration from Episode IV? I always thought it was "Oota Goota" or something



It certainly sounds like Oonta Goota, Solo in the movie, but the transliteration of Greedo's Huttese in the Star Wars book "Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide: Beeps, Bleats, Boskas, and Other Common Intergalactic Verbiage" has it as Koona T'chuta, Solo? That funny book also has some great translations such as "Dopo mee gusha, peedunky?" which is Dirty Harry's famous line, "Do you feel lucky punk?"



> Clever! Combat advantage is a pretty minor and often easy-to-get benefit, and it doesn't stack, though, so this feels a little underpowered. Maybe we could swing something where you get to dictate the enemy's next action, to represent your anticipating their next move or their telegraphing their attacks via their style?



Yes, I agree Combat Advantage can be only of minor benefit in combat, but it all depends on the tactical acumen of your group. A +2 to hit can be pretty significant depending on the situation in 4e, and if they aren't used to having leaders giving out big bonuses every round they will appreciate it. I chose only combat advantage because I didn't want the cards to give a significant advantage in combat. Therefore they are so far only neat little tricks about equal to an at-will or weaker encounter power, especially since playing a card doesn't take up one of their actions. 

This hasn't come up yet but I'm considering giving options to my group to either exchange cards after a milestone or extended rest, or giving out an entirely new hand in the middle of a long session. A few times we've had all the players use their cards up quickly, and we enjoy their usefulness in plot twists. Like I said in my last post I'm probably going to get rid of the achievement cards in my deck, but I think I'll repurpose them with some tweaks into the regular deck.


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Jan 8, 2011)

My group is still using these cards every session, and everyone loves them. I'm up to 158 cards with effects culled from many similar projects and a few original ones from me.

We've since institute a new rule for card refresh, we play with a setlist of songs on in the background, and each PC has a prepicked "theme song". When their song comes up they get to draw a new card.

*New types of cards in this deck include ones that give new one-use combat powers for the PC. Anywhere they reference damage as Low for instance, refer to P. 42 of the DMG for the corresponding damage for the PC's level. Cards with a big benefit without a possible downside do not give bonus experience.
* The Rod of Wonder is a card, when it gets played refer to your own favourite table for the random effect.

I've attached my current card set, they are formatted to be printed two to a 3x5 index card. I usually cut the corners diagonally about a half centimeter in.
View attachment Roleplaying Cards.doc


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## SabreCat (Jan 8, 2011)

Very cool! Thanks so much for the update. Use of the cards has slowed substantially in my game, maybe this is just what I need to jazz it back up. I'll be cribbing quite a few of these! (Though I think I'll add XP bonuses back in just about everywhere--I've never found the added incentive to hurt, however potent the card itself.)


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## Nemesis Destiny (Jan 8, 2011)

I am totally stealing this when I launch my next campaign.

It is supposed to be a sort of "sandbox-style" game in a largely unexplored and undetailed portion of my campaign world, so cards granting players some narrative control over what lies beyond the horizon will be perfect.

I expect to start within the next couple months (we're still finishing up a story arc in our current game), so after a few sessions have gone by, I will post with an update as to how well it worked.


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## UnknownAtThisTime (Jan 9, 2011)

How have I never seen this thread?  Some XP is going to be sprinkled throughout.    

(If WotC tried to sell these, replace all the THANKS posts with EVIL MONEY GRUBBING COMPANY posts.)


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## SabreCat (Jan 9, 2011)

I've updated my own (full 3x5 card) format files to incorporate lots of Kelvor Ravenstar's ideas! Things to note:

- I haven't put the special combat maneuver cards in here yet (with the exception of the one "make up your own power" card). I think they're a fantastic idea, but I'm not sure the purple cards are where I want to implement them in my own game.

- I've removed the cards that allow a player to completely bypass a combat encounter using a skill challenge. Players have found these to be more anticlimactic than clever, and it does deliver a kick in the teeth to the DM if he's spent a lot of time prepping a battle.

- As usual, I've made a few tweaks to cards I got from Kelvor--more XP rewards, fewer DM-authority vetoes, name changes, that sort of thing. Alter to taste!

Huge thanks to Kelvor (apparently I need to spread some XP around, I'll ding you when I get the chance) and everyone else who's contributed or decided to use these cards in their own game! Keep it coming!

Microsoft Word 2007
OpenOffice Text
PDF

Also, I have this card for my game, but as it's setting-specific, I didn't put it in the compilation.

*That's Why They Call It "The City of Doors"*Play this card and declare that an aperture of some kind (door, window, dumb waiter, etc.) is a portal.

Gain Minion XP for naming the target plane,
or Monster XP for the specific destination and information on the portal’s key,
+Minion XP if the portal appears at an inopportune moment.​


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Jan 25, 2011)

I too, am of the opinion that most of the introduce skill challenge cards tend to make things anticlimactic. I probably should remove those from my own deck as well. As for the DM vetoes on a few of the cards, I tend to keep those in just because of group dynamics. I'm fine with my players changing the plot in some ways, but some of my players tend to stretch things a little too far away from the cards' intent sometimes.


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## SabreCat (Jan 25, 2011)

Yeah, I hear ya. There's still a veto power in play at my table, but it's not up to the DM specifically. If somebody goes over the line, there's a collective "ehhh" from the rest of the players, and the card action gets scaled back. Happened last session, in fact, when a player wanted to use "Suddenly, Everything is Normal" to have the principal villain of the tier have a change of heart to his pre-villainy state. Bit much, ha.

There'd been a general slowing of use of the cards, so I went from "draw 3, keep 1 as long as desired" to "draw 2, keep both, recycle every session." Use 'em or lose 'em!


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## aladorn (Jan 25, 2011)

My group loves blowing through these as fast as they can so we do Draw 4 keep 2.  And when you use one you lose the other and redraw.  This way everyone gets, usually, one card that they can use when ever and one of those "if the stars align just right" cards just in case the situation arises. My group goes through about 10-15 of these cards per session and the stories we come up with are awesome.


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## SabreCat (Jan 26, 2011)

Wow, that's some rapid card churn! Have you had any trouble with seeing the same cards over again frequently? Have you added any of your own others could incorporate?

Me, I added this one recently, hoping to see some _Chrono Trigger_-style Triple Tech action:

*And I'll Form the Head!*
Play this card when two or more heroes are back to back in the initiative order. (You can use delayed or readied actions to help facilitate this.) Collaborate to describe how you perform a coordinated attack on an opponent. All participating heroes take their turns to attack the same target, gaining a bonus to their attack rolls equal to the number of characters making this team attack.

Gain Minion XP for each participating hero,
+Minion XP for each daily power used in the assault.​
And a "Draw a Blank" from last session produced, after minor tweakage:

*If You Hit Anything Hard Enough...*
Play this card when you attack an object or feature on the encounter map (trap, magical device, large boulder, etc.). The target of your attack _explodes_, removing it from the map and making an attack vs. DM’s option of defense against all creatures in a burst 5 centered on it. The attack does moderate damage and knocks prone on a hit, half damage on a miss.

Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP if one or more party members are caught in the blast.​
His original card had him _destroy his weapon_ to produce the kaboom.


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Jan 28, 2011)

Good job on the Gattai reference SabreCat, one of my players was suggesting a card with a very similar theme just last session, but much less powerful. I like your version a lot better.


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## SabreCat (Feb 19, 2011)

One more added to the mix tonight:

*It's Super Effective!*
Play this card and explain how an enemy type in this encounter is vulnerable to a particular mode of attack (energy type, weapon category, etc.). That enemy gains vulnerable 5/tier as described. You can forgo 5 of this vulnerability to add an additional effect when the enemy suffers that damage, such as slowed, prone, etc.

Gain Minion XP,
+Minion XP for a particularly entertaining or apropos rationale.​


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## Nemesis Destiny (Feb 19, 2011)

I still plan to use the deck when I start my next campaign. Should be a few more weeks yet.

I've decided that to make things easier, I will split the cards up, keeping the standard deck for plot twists and such, and keep two separate combat decks - the Fumble Deck and the Crit Deck.

The beauty of that method is that drawing cards from those decks will be optional. That way, you _choose_ when to screw yourself with the fumble deck, so that it doesn't get you killed, or when to claim the glory of an amazing critical hit. Alternately, you can claim bonus points if you allow yourself to be hit with a 'carded crit' from a monster for dramatic effect.


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## Evilhalfling (Apr 8, 2011)

Must read past first post......
after cutting and gluing 50ish index cards - I find people have updated and formatted them for me.  

After reading the cards I decided that there needed to be a penalty for skipping a combat - skill challenges (esp on the fly) are just less fun than combat. 
It looks like everyone ditched them.  Perhaps ill leave one in, at least for discussion with PCs 

For rewards Im thinking a draw from the player advantage combat decks 
Many of the cards are their own reward - like those that bypass skill rolls and 
so for now Im just discarding them.  I may condense them into 3 versions  ie physical/social/mental checks. 


I added a few of my own    

*It was in my way.*
Use when you miss with an attack, or include an object in an area attack.
Destroy the background object ( Door, table, tree etc...) 

*So that is where they put the bathroom*
as a minor action open a (up till now) concealed door to a 5x5 room.  Although it might just be a storage closet _discarded after discussion with players_

*Because they are a SECRET society*
Make up a faction, details can include membership type, goals, and or a known NPC who is a member.  Some of your information is true.

*Rosencratz and Guilderstern*
Play to have a minor NPC die off screen.  Evil can rarely be defeated this way as new evils will rise, or the death will have been faked.  Minor irritation NPCs are fair game.


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## SabreCat (Apr 16, 2011)

Last session "Dammit, Butterfly..." drew the attention of the local fey onto the party Bard|Psion when he played a tune to open a Sigil-Feywild portal. Then he hit with that gorram Augment 2 Dishearten of his. That inspired me to add this to the deck:

*Drawing Aggro*
Play this card when you hit with a powerful or obnoxious attack, or issue a challenge or taunt. You mark all enemies until the end of your next turn. You may sustain this effect from round to round if you continue to top your prior efforts in power or obnoxiousness, or in the drama or incisiveness of your taunt, on your turn.

Gain Minion XP each round the effect is in play.​


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## Nemesis Destiny (Apr 16, 2011)

I started my new campaign, but I never did end up printing and using all those cards, but I do have one that everyone in the group gets that you may want to add to your decks.

*Enhanced Critical Hit*
*Trigger:* You score a critical hit with a power, or you are hit by a crit.

*Effect:* The critical hit is enhanced by additional effects based on the keywords or effects of the triggering attack. Select one keyword or effect from the triggering attack and the DM will apply an added effect to the triggering attack.

*Special:* If you are the target of the triggering attack, you gain an Action Point after the effects of the attack are resolved.

*Special:* You can spend an action point to recharge this power. 
​I have an extensive list of all the keywords and effects that show up in attacks that I can use with this one. This has been a big hit so far, no pun intended.


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## SabreCat (Apr 16, 2011)

Nemesis Destiny said:


> I have an extensive list of all the keywords and effects that show up in attacks that I can use with this one. This has been a big hit so far, no pun intended.



Neat! Care to share the keyword effects, or at least some examples? On my edition of the card it'll be simply "collaborate with the DM to determine the exact effect", but I'm curious what you use as baseline. Fire does ongoing 5/tier fire damage (if the attack already caused ongoing fire, add to it), that sort of thing?


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## Nemesis Destiny (Apr 16, 2011)

SabreCat said:


> Neat! Care to share the keyword effects, or at least some examples? On my edition of the card it'll be simply "collaborate with the DM to determine the exact effect", but I'm curious what you use as baseline. Fire does ongoing 5/tier fire damage (if the attack already caused ongoing fire, add to it), that sort of thing?



Sure! Since you asked, I'd be glad to share. It's a bit long...

[sblock=Critical Hit Enhancements]*Charm:* Target is dominated for one round.
*
Cold:* Target is slowed (save ends). If already slowed, target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.
*
Damage Type:* Add ongoing 5 damage per tier to the  triggering  power. If the power already deals ongoing damage, increase  the ongoing  damage by this amount, or add an additional ongoing damage  effect based  on the power’s keywords. Powers that inflict untyped  damage can be  enhanced to inflict untyped ongoing damage. Unless  otherwise noted in  the triggering power, all enhanced critical hit  ongoing damage is (save  ends).
*
Defence Targeted:* Reduce the defence targeted by the triggering power by 2 (save ends).
*
Fear:* Target moves its speed away from you as a free action, and will not willingly come closer (save ends).
*
Fire:* All enemies adjacent to the target take fire  damage equal to the attribute modifier you used for the attack, plus  half your level.
*
Force:* Target is dazed (save ends). If already  dazed, target is stunned until the end of your next turn. Alternately,  you may push the target one square per tier, and knock it prone.
*
Forced Movement:* Double the distance of any forced  movement  the triggering power causes. This includes push, pull, slide,  and  teleport effects. Alternately, if the normal forced movement of the   triggering power could be used to force the target to make a saving   throw, you can instead choose to apply a -2 penalty to the target’s  saving throw.
*
Healing:* Targets benefiting from the healing effects of the triggering power gain Regeneration 5 per tier (failed save ends).
*
Invigorating:* Double the amount of temporary hit points gained by using the power.
*
Lightning:* Target is dazed (save ends). If already dazed, target is stunned until the end of your next turn.
*
Minions:* All enemies within 5 squares of the target are rattled (save ends).
*
Necrotic:* Target is immobilized or weakened (save ends).
*
Poison:* Target is slowed or weakened (save ends).
*
Radiant:* Target is blinded (save ends).
*
Rattling:* All enemies within 5 squares are rattled until the end of your next turn.
*
Reliable:* The power is not expended.
*
Saving Throw:* The target takes a -2 penalty to all saving throws caused by the triggering power.
*
Thunder:* Target is deafened until the end of the encounter.
[/sblock]
As you can see, some are not true Keywords in the rules sense, but are still situational, depending on the attack used, and sometimes the target.

Most of the effects are kind of weak, and this is intentional. I didn't want to have players able to completely screw themselves over by using this on their characters all the time. I had tried another system based on the old 2e Combat & Tactics critical hit charts (which I _loved_), but the effects were too harsh. I had even included things like permanent and semi-permanent injuries.

I don't have an entry for *Augmentable* because my group doesn't use psionic as a power source.

I may have missed some other keywords or items, so feel free to add to this list and share! I hope you find this helpful and / or useful.


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## Evilhalfling (Apr 17, 2011)

with two games, the cards are seem to be working well:

Rozencratz and Guilderstien are dead was used to kill an artisan who built a bad artificial arm for the party (he died of an infected splinter) 

Saved by Kitty Litter   was used to open a secret passage in a wall, so the PCs did not have to go through the obviously trapped front entrance.  It did not help them with the teeter-totter floor trap, and the secret door spent much of the time 10' above that part of a slanted floor.  This challenged melee types and made the fight more interesting for ranged attackers, all eventually entered the room.   

This reminds me of the time.. - was wasted. 

I notice his tattoo..  The PCs were vieing for taking control of a city, in the week after the (evil) ruler was killed, one of their chief rivals for power was made a secret supporter of the PCs faction.  The dust hasn't settled on this one yet but it sure changed the balance of power. 

Say that again you insolent Cur  was used to provoke a duel with an NPC adventuring party, supporting the one of the other sides for control of the city.  (It wans't clear if this was supposed to only be for PC/PC conflict, but the NPCs were notoriously obnoxious, so I went with it.) - functionally it will grant another success/failure in the city control skill challenge.  Nice play for a PC with no social skills. 

My reward system sucks.  I don't use XP so  I was using random draws from player advantage cards as minor rewards, and a re-roll as a major award. 
- only one of 4 PA cards was used successfully.


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## jbear (Apr 26, 2011)

Trying to download the latest version you have linked there Sabre Cat and it keeps timing out. Anyone else having trouble with this?


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## SabreCat (Apr 27, 2011)

I've been having trouble getting my ODT and PDF exports to work (the most recent version of OpenOffice seems to have broken Word file conversion), but if .docx will work for you, here's the most recent version: Purple Index Cards

EDIT: Oh, hmm. Maybe there's a problem with the server. I'll contact the Webmistress and post here when I get it resolved.

EDIT EDIT: Fixed! Have at it ^.^


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## jbear (Apr 28, 2011)

Thanks!


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## Evilhalfling (May 15, 2011)

Well the players have gone an done it now.

after a few basically harmless uses of cards
Rozencratz and Guilderstien  killed a lovesick groupie

I am the Rumor mill   had volunteer figherfighters chasing an enemy wizard with fire shield trying to escape in  a city adventure.

Oooh Shiney! got them some extra cash 

They got cocky and added a rumored magical disaster for a momentary advantage. 
Using Age of Magic to introduce a magical effect to the battlefield.  They had it rain slime to force a dragon out of the air.  It also caught a nearby  barbarian tribe. (which was they new was already migrating after seeing slime rain in their homeland.) the slime rain turns people into Ooze creatures, its a plot by a demon lord. The party cured disease on themselves, the 300 or so infected barbarians will not be so lucky.

as one NPC commented _"the land will be uninhabitable for a generation after this."_


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## Xethreau (Jun 19, 2011)

I just want to say that I use this system in my campaign that I have been running for about a year. We introduced the cards about half-way through, and it has been AMAZING ever since. I call the purple cards "Turnabouts," as per _Phoenix Wright. _

The only thing I do not find awesome about this system is the Achievement cards. I like the idea of them, but they are not very numerous and not very diverse, and sometimes very difficult to achieve in the given session.

Anyway, one of the PC's created a new purple card, here for you all to PEACH and take for yourselves.

*I Was in the Box the WHOLE TIME!
*Play this card in battle to declare that a new combatant of the party's level has entered the battlefield from a hiding place. Describe the new combatant; at least some of the information you impart will be true. 

Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP if the new combatant is an adversary.
+ Minion XP for a shocking or amusing explanation of the new combatant's entrance or motivation.
+ Monster XP if the new combatant survives the encounter and becomes a new NPC .​


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## SabreCat (Jun 19, 2011)

RyukenAngel said:


> The only thing I do not find awesome about this system is the Achievement cards. I like the idea of them, but they are not very numerous and not very diverse, and sometimes very difficult to achieve in the given session.



Glad to hear you've enjoyed the purple cards! They're the defining feature of my own game, and I miss them when playing in other campaigns.

As for the Achievement cards, yeah, if you look upthread a bit you'll see I ditched them entirely after a while. I still think they're a neat idea, but they need to be drawn from a separate pool or just checked off a list (maybe with some "Secret" achievements, to carry on in the Xbox 360 vein?). Plus you'd need lots more of them.

Thanks for the reply and the new card! I'll throw this one into my own deck and see if it comes up. ^.^


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## Xethreau (Jun 20, 2011)

I want to share the most epic thing that ever happened with Purple Cards in my campaign. Basically, using the card used to create an all new NPC, a player introduced a commander in the dragonborn kingdom's army (warlord). Another player, in a loose interpretation of "It was I the whole time," revealed that that the newly introduced dragonborn was actually the father of a player's deceased character (a dragonborn barbarian). 

There was a lot of magic in that session, and the father actually got to speak with his deceased son. Both warriors dedicated to Bahamut and the dragonborn empire, being able to speak to each other in spirit was a VERY unique experience for everyone (both fictitious and real) involved. The whole thing was so epic, and the player of the deceased character actually took the new NPC in as his main.

-edit-
I am also gonna share the other Purple Cards me and my group made.

*Suddenly, a Hoard of Tiny Little Trolls. Thousands of Them*Play this card to declare that a swarm of some sort has entered the scene (a swarm of scarabs pour out of a clay jar, a bunch of faeries jump out of a tree, etc), and to declare the swarm's first action. Afterwards, the swarm obeys its own instincts. 

Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP for an insightful explanation of the swarm's entrance into the scene, or an amusing explanation of the swarm's antics.
+ Minion XP if the if the swarm appears at an inopportune moment.​(Yeah, that one IS a spin off of "I was in the box the whole time," but we likes it, Precious.)

-edit 2-

*Do It Now, Gohan!*Play this card when an ally makes an attack to declare that your character shouts encouraging words to an ally. You aid that ally’s attack (+2 to attack roll), and the attack counts as brutal 2 (any damage dice showing 1 or 2 are rerolled until they show a higher number). 
  Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP for acting out a war-cry truly inspiring.​ *Show Me Yo Moves!*Play this card to challenge another character (enemy, PC, or NPC) a contest of skill. Narrate the challenge your character makes and the terms of the contest. The DM will determine how the contest is to be resolved and what skills are involved. 
  Gain Minion XP, 
or Monster XP if the challenge initiates a quest. 
+ Minion XP the target backs out. 
+ Minion XP for showing off your badass moves​ *Clash of Steel*Play this card when an enemy within your melee or ranged basic attack range makes the same kind of attack (melee or ranged) against you or an adjacent ally. Make that basic attack vs. the enemy’s attack roll – If you hit, the enemy’s attack is canceled, and the enemy takes your basic attack damage. If you miss, the enemy’s attack hits you.
  Gain Minion XP, 
  or Monster XP if you provide a stunning or suspenseful description of the duel.​  [FONT=&quot]
 [/FONT]  *OVER NINE-THOUSAND!!*Play this card when you attack to declare that you unleash so much energy with it, the surrounding ground shatters. The squares on the ground that are in or adjacent to you and your targets’ squares become difficult terrain.
[FONT=&quot]Gain Minion XP, or Monster XP for a thrilling description of your onslaught. + Minion XP if you used an action point or daily power for the attack.[/FONT]​


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## Evilhalfling (Jun 27, 2011)

After last nights game, a player tells me: 
"Those plot cards are consistently creating some of the best moments of the game." 

"I was here the whole time!"  - the party was attacked by waves of barbarians.  I was resolving it as a skill challenge.  Planning on 4 waves of attacks, and running the climax as an actual fight.
 One of the players declares that minion #14 on the left is actually an evil wizard, 2nd in command (to a dragon). I had them roll initiative, the evil wizard won but 2 PCs were close.  I had him delay, until both PCs attacked him, then had him flee.  If the PCs  controller, or leader/controller had gone first he would have died right there.  

The next scene the players were given a bunch of minions and had to hold off a small enemy force (including the evil wizard).  All the  PC minions had a little flavor - "Laughing Birk" was insane, one was lawful good,  "Fred jr XII" was proud of his long family history, etc.   Laughing Birk runs runs away from the fight, and gets around behind them.  

Pointing to an enemy minion that was identical to himself, they could have easily been tribe mates.
"Dont I know you from somewhere  _ Yes, you were the one with the squid tentacles coming out of his head"_
-shocked silence
_"You were there when that damn fish-flower ate my porridge!" _
-he charges an hits the enemy minion.  After the table finally quit laughing I declared the (2 hit) minion dead out of sheer surprise.  Laughing Birk ran off again, and the two surviving PC minions bailed as well.

End of session - having finally defeated the horde,
the PCs are now looking for a lost underground civilization, but had run out of immediate clues. I was expecting them to be forced to put that quest on hold until the snow melted, and take care of some other minor quests.
"I know the perfect place" 
The dwarf player says: "There is an underground dwarven city not far from here, why don't we go ask them about it?  (he suggested a place about half way between his homeland, and there best guess of the others location.)
-- of course they would know about it.  It might even be the same place, with the dwarves colonizing a failed human city .... at the least the dwarves will know where the cursed lands are, and have rules against using _Those tunnels_  Suddenly the quests I had planned look less interesting than dealing with a city of reclusive dwarves, and a long underdark hike to their true destination.

_PS: It took 3 sessions to wrap up the aftereffects of the Magical Event Plot card that I wrote about in an earlier post.   The party now has a over 30 fanatically loyal barbarian warriors plus twice that number of grateful, dependent non-combatant women, elderly and children._


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## Xethreau (Jul 27, 2011)

*I've been watching Avatar, The Last Airbender. SUCH a D&D-type show, and obviously purple cards were in play! I got inspired, and thought up these two.
*

*Exit, Pursued By a Bear*
Play this card to declare that a fearsome and hostile creature has entered the battlefield.  Describe the creature; at least some of the information you impart will be true.
  [FONT=&quot]Gain Monster XP,
+ Minion XP for entertaining the table with the shocking entrance of the fearsome beast[/FONT]​[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

*Black Umbrella*
Play this card to reveal a hitch, complication, or revelation that would ruin a character’s plan. At least part of that hitch comes true.
  Gain Minion XP,
Or Monster XP if this directly negatively affects you
+ Minion XP for entertaining the table with the unforeseen shift of circumstance​


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## Evilhalfling (Jul 27, 2011)

My players are not fond of "hurt the party for a small reward" cards, 
but ill throw in Rykunangel's bear card. I have also added the following: 

Pride
we need more monologs! 
play before combat, or when enemy has an obvious advantage.  They monolog the details of their current cunning plan.
If used in a public setting, the monolog may be delivered as an aside, or directed solely at PCs. 

Wrath 
Pushed to the breaking point, an ally or enemy develops a seething hatred of someone else. 
If played in combat they are now marked by the object of their hatred.  If they have to put themselves in danger to attack that target their first attack is at +5 damage. 
_a player immediately asked if enemies could hate each other. 
I'm thinking they can, but probably won't waste a standard action to attack OAs, aura damage, inclusion in an area effect could all result._

A little to the left 
Play on your turn. Slide a target 1 square.  If played after an attack, slide a target 3 instead.

Called Shot
play before an attack, name your target.  If the attack hits the target is dazed, knocked prone, immobilized or otherwise afflicted until end of next turn. 

Also added Sloth, & Ulterior motive 

_Edit: now that I read it here, im not that fond of A little to the left any suggestions to increase its effect, or add an out of combat use? perhaps : target either allies or enemies, slide all targets up to 1._


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## Xethreau (Jul 28, 2011)

I certainly understand not liking my "hurt the party" business; my group likes this simply because they are willing to face additional trials for more awesome storyline.

Having completed Avatar, I came up with two more cards.

*Change of Heart*
Reveal this card to declare that an enemy defects from his or her allies. Elaborate on the character’s motivations; at least part of the information you impart will be true.
  Gain Minion XP,
 +Minion XP for aweing the table with a compelling tale of treachery.​ *I Saw You Die!*
Play this card to reveal that a character once thought dead is _apparently_ still alive. Describe the circumstances and nature of this revelation; the information you impart may or may not be true.
  Gain Minion XP,
OR Monster XP if the revelation is not to your advantage.
​Now, Evilhalfling, as for your A Little To The Left's out-of-combat function, perhaps a targeted character acquiesces to a seemingly harmless request? A bluff check may be required.


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## corwyn77 (Jul 29, 2011)

Some of you may be interested in the Adventure Deck, originally made for Savage Worlds and D20, but easily adapted for 4e. And conveniently on sale until Sunday.

d20 Adventure Deck - Pinnacle Entertainment | RPGNow.com


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## SabreCat (Jul 30, 2011)

*Don’t Let It End Like This*Play this card when bloodied or unconscious. Describe how you grit yourself against the pain or claw your way back to life, and spend a healing surge as No Action.
  [FONT=&quot]
Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP for entertaining and dramatic portrayal of your will to fight on.[/FONT]​*War Kittens?*Play this card and narrate the daring intervention of someone’s familiar/animal companion/mount/etc., or if none such is at hand, a wandering small animal of your choosing. The creature might trip someone up, claw someone’s face as a distraction, or the like.

  [FONT=&quot]Gain Minion XP,
or Monster XP for particularly entertaining description or for an intervention not in the party’s favor.[/FONT]​


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## Nemesis Destiny (Jul 30, 2011)

SabreCat said:


> *Don’t Let It End Like This*Play this card when bloodied or unconscious. Describe how you grit yourself against the pain or claw your way back to life, and spend a healing surge as No Action.
> [FONT=&quot]
> Gain Minion XP,
> or Monster XP for entertaining and dramatic portrayal of your will to fight on.[/FONT]​*War Kittens?*Play this card and narrate the daring intervention of someone’s familiar/animal companion/mount/etc., or if none such is at hand, a wandering small animal of your choosing. The creature might trip someone up, claw someone’s face as a distraction, or the like.
> ...



Hah! I like these 

I'd have XP'd you if I could, SabreCat.


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## Xethreau (Aug 6, 2011)

I vote that *"**Authentic Frontier Gibberish" *be changed in name to "*Oh Stewardess, I Speak Jive*"


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 10, 2011)

Update from my group:

Last week I discovered that the deck had grown to unwieldy proportions, and I had been realizing that my players had been asking often to trade in the more skill based and story cards when we were in dungeon sessions.

My solution, split the cards into roleplaying and combat decks, and add a few more combat cards to even the number of cards out in each deck. Each session, I will be telling my players to draw two cards from one deck, and one from the other, depending on whether I expect the session to go more roleplaying or combat oriented. When players draw new cards during the session (I have special rules for when they draw cards, and some cards can be traded for more cards - at a price) they can choose to draw from either deck. As I know my group is on average more combat focussed I was sure to put some of the more powerful cards in the roleplaying deck. 

As my deck has grown a lot (just over individual cards [EDIT: 200] now) since the last time I put up the download file, I'll be updating it for this thread soon.


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## SabreCat (Aug 11, 2011)

Kelvor Ravenstar said:


> As my deck has grown a lot (just over individual cards now) since the last time I put up the download file, I'll be updating it for this thread soon.



Just over how many? Looks like the number was accidentally omitted there.

My own's at an even 150, though there are a number of suggestions from the thread I have yet to tweak and integrate.


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 11, 2011)

Woops, that's supposed to be just over 200, looks like I didn't update my post after I started counting.

Edit:
Here's my current Deck of Cards, split into Combat and Story decks. The two decks are separated by the images for card backs I just put together; using the D&D dragon ampersand logo for combat, and the classic drama masks for the story deck. There are cards that are repeated in both decks but you'll find several new cards not in text in this thread, but possibly too many to copy into the thread.

View attachment Roleplaying Cards.doc


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 22, 2011)

Bumped, because I realized my updating of my last post wouldn't show up as a change to any of the people already reading this thread and using the cards at their table.


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## Jack99 (Aug 22, 2011)

This is pretty cool. I definitely need to try it out at the table.


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## koesherbacon (Aug 23, 2011)

Kelvor Ravenstar said:


> Woops, that's supposed to be just over 200, looks like I didn't update my post after I started counting.
> 
> Edit:
> Here's my current Deck of Cards, split into Combat and Story decks. The two decks are separated by the images for card backs I just put together; using the D&D dragon ampersand logo for combat, and the classic drama masks for the story deck. There are cards that are repeated in both decks but you'll find several new cards not in text in this thread, but possibly too many to copy into the thread.
> ...




How do you recommend printing these?  They're awesome!


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 24, 2011)

They're sized so they should print 2 to a 3x5" index card. The borders are a little tight, so make sure its within your printer's range. 
My printer can only do 3x5 from the manual feed slot, so printing the entire deck can be time consuming to print one at a time. Once you've got your card text side printed out, flip the cards over then print them using the images provided for the card backs. Depending on how easy it is to feed 3x5s into your printer, you may find that the text on some cards come out a tiny bit crooked. Try printing a few practice cards to get the hang of how to best print them in your machine. 

After that, fold each card in half and cut with scissors or on a cutting board with an Exacto-Knife. I also recommend cutting a little bit off each corner, it makes shuffling the deck easier and results in fewer paper cuts to your fingers.


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## SabreCat (Aug 27, 2011)

_*Objection!*_Play this card and present a new piece of information that contradicts or undercuts a statement just spoken or narrated. Your rendition becomes the more accurate description of events.

Gain Minion XP,  
  or Monster XP for a particularly startling or clever turnabout.​


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Aug 29, 2011)

Update from my game last night: the players like the split combat/drama decks, and I had a little flash of inspiration. I already knew that these cards were a substitute for the mechanics of fate points in the FATE based rpgs, they reward players (with xp or combat bonuses) for extra description and roleplaying, or for putting their characters in more trouble, all under their control for the majority. What I was missing from FATE were compels.

In FATE, characters have Aspects; words or phrases that describe their character and the sort of story they want their PC to be involved in. The GM may offer a bribe of a Fate point to the player to get the PC in deeper trouble. When they trigger off a PC's aspects, the bribes are called Compels. 

So last night during my game one of my players said "Wouldn't it be funny if I ..." and I immediately said, "Well if you do that, I'll give you a free draw from both decks." I think in the future I'll be offering more bribes like this, to players that I know would like more cards, but aren't as likely to play the cards they have that would cause more complications or damage them in some way.

These cards altogether are very similar to FATE mechanics, but more structured than Fate points, and couched in more gamist terms. The combination of them with D&D I have found is more satisfying to me than just playing FATE (mostly Dresden Files for my groups of players), as my players weren't all that narrativist, and I was usually very frustrated with the conflicts in FATE.


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## SabreCat (Jan 15, 2012)

My campaign, after our now-customary inter-tier hiatus, is about to begin the third part of its trilogy. Given how powerful the purple cards have been in establishing the game's tone, I thought I'd craft some cards specifically for the epic tier, to help give the story a mythic feel not always supported by the mechanics as written. Here are the first twenty I've come up with.

Notes:
1) Drawing on the suggestions of several folks in this thread, I've started splitting cards out into combat/noncombat decks. Not sure yet how the draw system will work, but probably draw two from each at the start of the session, keep one of each.

2) I'm thinking I'll weave these in to the already established card set, while weeding out some of the cards with too humdrum of effects for the tier. I've condensed the skill check-related cards down to generic ones; not sure if I'll stick with that as is, or maybe break them out to physical/mental/social, or seed more than one copy of each of these into the deck. The old ones were way too situational.

3) The XP awards aren't explicit on these. I'm thinking of using a generic system where you always get minion XP for playing a card, which can upgrade to Monster XP if you use entertaining description or cause more trouble for yourself/the party, or Elite XP if you do both. Saves space, and that was typically what I was doing anyway (if maybe a little more generous, but that's OK by me).

Thoughts? Ideas for more epic-level card effects?


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## Evilhalfling (May 27, 2012)

*Tales of Plot Cards:*

The set-up
 Living in a mostly ruined city, torn by rival factions the PCs are struggling to rebuild.  At 5th level, they have had several adventures focusing on collecting magic coins, all of which ended up in other peoples hands. 
Last session they found out the coins could "_Raise armies of the dead, each increasing five fold_"   At the end of that session they Saw over 100 skeletons marching down the road, accompanied by a dozen *Fell Court* tieflings.
"So there is 125 of them then?" asks the HS math teacher (A), instantly (yes) 
"Now we know the Fell Court ended up with those coins" says the player (B) who pays attention to the politics. 

The Skeletons walked past the PCs  home and surrounded a Noble House's walled compound, met by arrows and closed gates. "Now we know who has the other coins." (B) 
"We had better go interfere, that's either 625 or 3125  skeletons if either side takes all the coins"(A) now just showing off. 

*Plot Cards*
"I know just the place" = there is a carrier pigeon breeder who can get a message to the nobles in the house, letting them know we are coming to help, so they can open their door into the sewers.  (the noble's door to the sewers was previously established in a coin hunting adventure.)

"Send in the Cavalry" = from a rival gangs, who was on good terms with the PCs, but also responsible for passing two of the coins to the Fell court. They continues to work for both sides by sending the PCs some help (5 minions)
_I added another minion for the second battle, perhaps next time I'll replace more of them. _

"Xanatos Gambit"  (A)= The Noble house was just pretending to have 2 of the coins, and actually haad only 1, but had set themselves up as a target.  They had hired on extra clerics, specializing in killing undead, and anti-thief wards. _ this plot card totally reversed the situation, bringing the House from the edge of being wiped out, to a much stronger position.  Instead of needing immediate Aid, they were just holed up taking a short rest and waiting to the clerics to recover.  
Needing a new objective, for a set-piece battle. I decided that the Fell court had just found the coin, (in a shrine away from the main building) and the PCs would have to recover it._

I recognized his tattoo  (B)= one of the tieflings was actually a plant from another faction (Tiefling order of Paladins) on a mission to recover the coins. (DM)  This guy makes a dramatic entrance, diving out a window, (in platemail) falling 2 stories into a Koy pond, to Challenge the villain, holding him in place for the crucial 1st round of combat.
He was perhaps too useful on damage, but the PCs got plenty of chances to use lockdown, forced movement etc... the Villain died prone in the Koy pond.  _I had his stats ready for the nobles guard captain, he was not supposed to be involved in the PCs battle, but my wily players force some contingency planning. _ 

Using just good RP the party played 3-card Monty with the coin, sending it off with the paladin, while convincing the Nobles that they had it, although not with them (submitted to search) and leaving the Fell Court survivors bewildered.

Great Game, the Plot cards added excitement and player control, and I was able to respond providing new objectives and exciting battles. 
Anyone else have New stories?


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## Kelvor Ravenstar (Jul 30, 2012)

*Card Drawing Rules, Drink! deck, and more story game elements in cards*

My game still uses a separation of Drama and Combat decks, but I've made some minor changes to the way cards are drawn and added new cards.

Since I have about half as many regular players in my current campaign as my last campaign, the players are getting cards more often, but at about the same rate as the group of players received cards last campaign. 
*Current rules: *
1.  You draw three cards from any deck when the session starts
2.  You may draw a card from any deck when your character's theme song comes up during the shuffled music playlist (with the current number of players their song is in the playlist three times)
3.  When the song "Roll a d6" comes up in the playlist, every player and the DM rolls a d6 for their characters. If the player rolls a 6, they may draw a card from any deck.
4. When the Adventure's theme song comes up (this defaults to the theme from Final Fantasy 1), each player may draw a card.

*Drink! Deck*
The biggest change in the way cards affect the game is the addition of the Drink! deck. Sometimes my group enjoys having an alcoholic drink or two while playing D&D. The Drink! deck contains cards from Critical-Hits.com's 2010 and 2011 D&D and drinking events, rewritten in MSword to fit the 3x5 card printing format. 

Drink! cards can only be used when the player takes an alcoholic drink, in some circumstances a specific ingredient must be included in the drink. Drink! cards can have significant effects on combat, and are usually pretty silly, so only include them if they would fit the tone of your games already, or are interested in a change of pace. 

This file for the Drink! deck has the art removed so it would fit ENworlds' file limits. View attachment D&D_Alcoholic_Deck_Artless.doc
If you like the Drink! deck and would like the format with Art, PM me an I'll attach it to an email.

*Story-Games Influence on cards and my game.*
After reading the 13th Age playtest, I found it was scratching my itch for more story based mechanics in my 4e. I encouraged my players to come up with the "One Unique Thing" like in 13th Age, and gave out some bonus powers and feats to their characters to fit with it. 
My next step was trying to find sources for expanding the depth of my political intrigue storycrafting in my Myth Drannor game, and I found the Houses of the Blooded RPG. It really helped me with NPC developing, and its take on FATE-style Aspects was influential. So last session I introduced these new cards, based on some HotB mechanics.


“And who’s the other one?”
_“I am!  And this is my trusted servant Patsy”_
Play to gain a hireling of your level without paying the GP wages. Your hireling is assumed to have been tagging along until now. Your hireling remains with you until they die, or leave due to your mistreatment of them. (See Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium pg 137)

I Saw The Dragon
Play this card when another player does something so stylish, so moving, so memorable, that it was a thing of beauty. 
Benefit: Monster XP times the number of witnesses at the table. Target player draws three cards immediately. 

What do you think is going on?
Play this card when to call for a break in the current action, where all the players can discuss what they think is really going on in current adventure/campaign.
*Benefit: *Elite XP, and I can guarantee at least one thing you discussed in the break will now be true about the campaign. 

Dramatic, Romantic, Epic
_Turn this game up to 11._
Play this card to introduce an element or twist to the game to increase the drama or excitement. 
*Or*
Make a declaration about a npc, scene, or plotline. This one new detail will be true. 
*Benefit: *Minion, Monster, or Elite XP determined by how awesome the DM and players think your introduction is to the game.

Vrentae
_Romance / Revenge
Two sides of the same coin_
Play this card to give your character a new Aspect or replace one you already have. This Aspect can be invoked by exchanging cards for bonuses, or compelled by the DM; who offers you cards in exchange for following that Aspect against your interest. 

Flashback
_“I remember when…”_
Play this card to introduce a flashback scene which introduces a new True element to describe a person, place or thing. This new element cannot contradict something that has already been stated in the game as True. Do not make the flashback scene more important than the current scene. 
*Benefit: *Minion, Monster, or Elite XP determined by how awesome the DM and players think your introduction is to the game.

Declaration
Play this card to give add something True to an npc, place, plot or object. To place this declaration, you must roll as skill check (and explain why this skill is relevant to revealing of this information) against a hard DC of the target’s level. 
*Wager: *You can wager additional cards on this skill roll. For each card you add to the wager, you may make an additional declaration about the target. Each card added to the wager raises the target’s DC by 1 level. 

Declaration has three copies in the Drama deck.


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