Also, never underestimate the Melee Basic attack, for when you absolutely can't remember any other power! :D
Write them down on index cards. Keep a little deck of your powers and keep them in front of you during combat. Flip them over or "Tap" them during combat. (Tap as in MTG term)
Quite a while ago I saw this suggested with the addition of putting the cards in magic sleeves (assuming you are a magic player due to your sig Oug, so might have some of these) you flip the cards over as already suggested but if the power is a daily then you flip it over inside the sleeve so the text can't be read. You flip it back next time you take an extended rest. This will help you remember which powers you have and haven't used in the next session (something my players have a terrible time with)
Thanks, everyone. Are there specific cards you buy, or do you just make 'em yourself?
There used to be in the product catalogue although I am not sure if they are still made as the last set I can see was from February last year. That said if you guys are only using PHB1 then all the classes are represented in there in the early sets.
A possibly better option would be, if you have access to it, using the character builder to generate the cards for you. You need to be a DDI subscriber for this though.
I personally write out my own powers just on paper, basically making my own power cards but I usually DM and only get to play now and then. There was for a while quite a few fan made power card forms that you could print out and fill in by hand (or fill them in before printing) but I took a hiatus from the game for a while and haven't been able to find good ones since my return.
After I've printed the finished sheet out, I break out my colored pencils to highlight what kind of power is which. Then, with a normal pencil, I add check boxes to all of my encounter and daily so I know when they are expended. It also works well on e-martial character to remember what stance you're in.
Good luck in finding the solution that fits your group the best!
And some other people forget about what they did again, even after having used it 10+ times, and read the card thrice before they figure out how it went again.
In short, if you're not ah opeless case like that, havign them written down on cards/quick reference sheet will be more than enough.
Thanks, everyone. Are there specific cards you buy, or do you just make 'em yourself?
www.staples.com/Index-Cards-Files/cat_DP...
Any from that site should work.
Also I'm sure it's perfectly possible to optain a copy of the PHB online somewhere if you're stuck for cash.
Either get everyone to buy there own copies of the PHB or write down the powers on a sheet of A4 paper and keep it with your character sheet.
Also I'm sure it's perfectly possible to optain a copy of the PHB online somewhere if you're stuck for cash.
Cheaper and more convenient than physical books, and more legal than piracy[1], is a DDI subscription and the character builder. One person needs a copy, and they can put in everyone's characters and print 'em with all the powers modified for your stats and equipment, with all the math pre-done.
[1]: Also causes Wizards to get money, which lets them make more D&D. I'm just saying.
I'm just saying.
Side note: The DDI is indeed a very helpful resource =).
I'm not totally blind to what happens when people pirate goods. However Wizards (and the online community) should not be blind that copies of the PHB are totally availible, and found with a very quick google search. As such, every possibility should be taken into consideration.
I'm just saying.
Side note: The DDI is indeed a very helpful resource =).
Suggesting it, especially on the forums, is a bad idea.
(And, really, even everyone having a copy of the PHB is *not as good* as the character builder output, since it will have all your powers in the same place, with all your modifiers built in, and give you access to all the books. No flipping, no sorting, no calculating - it is better in every way.)
Right now, the one I like most for me when I'm a player is printing our the Character Builder's character sheet and cutting up the power cards.
I sleeve the power cards (the same card sleeves I used when I played Magic), and then organize them by action type in front of me, going left to right with no actions, free actions and immediate actions left, minor and moves middle, and standard actions hard to my right.
I flip or turn over power cards I've used, so I only see the black back of my card sleeves, and set those aside. For ones that can be used repeatedly (like some class features or at-wills), I'll turn them sideways as a reminder only.
Between sessions or extended rests, I paperclip "turned over" dailies and daily magic items to an index card that I wrote "Used" on, stacking them aside. This way I know what I have the very next time we have an encounter or for next game session.
This works best for me because I like having all my options in front of me, organized by action type, since the action economy is much more important than whether something is an at-will, encounter or daily. It's sort of an extension of the new monster stat block presentation that focuses on power organization by action type.
What the Character Builder really needs is a way to organize your powers and magic items by action type as well. That way, I'd try just using the sheet again without the cut-out and sleeving prep time, and see if that works.
Our Group uses the Character Builder that puts all the information into a few power sheets in the back. Personally I try to remember my At-Wills simply due to the fact that I'll be using them the most. I would definetly make cards or find cards for your encounter and daily powers.
Also, never underestimate the Melee Basic attack, for when you absolutely can't remember any other power! :D
We still use the off-line CB, but yeah, thats exactly what we do, too.
As an example, this is more or less what I've got written down for my 16th-level rogue:
AT-WILLS:
Clever Strike : 1W / CA if ally is adjacent
Riposte Strike : 1W / Str-attack (1W) if target attacks
ENCOUNTERS:
Toppling Slash : 2W + STR / push 1 / knock prone
Jumping Blade Assault : Prone / 2W / can charge
Rogue's Luck : 2W / second 1W attack if miss
Wild Tumble Cut : Must charge / 4W / grant CA to target
Cuts down a lot on time since I don't need to look up any powers, especially since I've got a bunch from different books and the like.
.It is annoying when my character levels, though :P
+1 to using 3x5 notecards (or cutting up the CB power pages) and arranging by action type.
Yeah, like I said, it's so much more valuable - useful, speedy, etc. - to have them organized by action type. I can't imagine organizing them any better way in front of you.
Now if only the new CB would give us that option instead of the essentially zero custom layout options we're currently stuck with.
That way, I'd try playing without cutting up the power cards - even though the cards are really handy, especially in flipping them over to visually show as "used" for the encounter.
And with so many random little buffs flying around, at least something like an index card to write all that stuff down helps a ton.
I like to print mine shrunk to 2 sheets per page to have more in front of me at once- a six page sheet shrunk this way takes the same number of protectors as full size sheets but has much less flipping back and forth.
My group and I are completely new, and we only have one PHB, so there's a lot of time wasted passing it around. I've seen people use cards (I don't know if they're homemade or not) and various other methods. So, how do you remember?
It has probably been suggested already, but back when my group started playing, we had one PHB, which the DM sat with during sessions, and the rest of us had our powers written in detail on post-it notes. It took a lot of post-it notes for a wizard, but it worked. Later, we got another one, and one of the players has gotten hold of a third PHB, although they're only used as rules encyclopedias, because we play with print-outs of character sheets from the online Character Builder now.