UPDATE:This contest is now closed. Thanks for participating!
As a gamemaster, one of the most unwieldy things there is to do is to constantly keep track of all the players and NPCs and their initiative. Depending on the situation, it can change a lot. We’ve used computer programs written in HTML to try to streamline it, and apps for the iPad. I’ve used good old fashioned pen and paper, small dry erase boards, you name it and I’ve tried to use it to streamline initiative tracking to keep the game moving more quickly.
But now I have something that will do the job efficiently and I’m not sure I’ll ever need another tool to do it again.
Paizo put together this combat pad to deal with the situation. It’s dry-erase, it’s magnetic, and it has printed on it all the lines and guides one would need to run this as smoothly as possible.
That alone would be helpful enough, but they also printed dry-erase magnets with arrows that you can use to shift around names and into different columns, meaning you’re not going to spend all that time erasing and rewriting everyone’s name. It’s seriously the easiest thing in the world to use and keep track of in a way that everyone knows what is going on with ease.
I love it.
It seems like all of the products Paizo is putting out for Pathfinder are designed by gamers for gamers, and they all understand what to do to make the game run smoother so you can focus on story and fun rather than mandatory mechanics.
And, to that end, we’ve teamed up with Paizo to make some of your lives easier.
We’re giving away 3 Pathfinder Combat Pads to 3 lucky readers through Big Shiny Robot! and entering the contest couldn’t be easier. All you have to do is send me an email (editor (at) bigshinyrobot (dot) com) with the subject line “I LOVE PATHFINDER!” If you want extra chances to win, spread it around on your Facebook and Twitter and tag our accounts (@bigshinyrobot and www.facebook.com/bigshinyrobot) and let me know you’ve done so.
This contest closes Wednesday, August 7, 2013!
If you decide you want to just go ahead and buy it, you can get it from Paizo. And be sure to read our regular column on roleplaying called “The Gamemaster!“
(Though we’d love to hear from everyone, we can only ship to the United States.)