I'm cross-posting this from Geek-Do (with a few edits):

rpg.geekdo.com/thread/433057/page/3

Some people like GM's screens, but I find them obstructive. Cards are a much better way for me to find what I need and still be able to see my players.

So what has my GM's screen become now that it's on cards? Am I playing a card game yet? Maybe. But I'm still just roleplaying. The cards aren't forcing me to change anything about the story.

What if I want to use both sides of the cards? It seems like an awful lot of wasted space to just use one side. What can I put on the back sides?

Well, the problem is that if I put information on the back of a card I'm using the front of, it's not very convenient at all. So I kinda need to put something on the back that I'm only going to use once in a while -- or when I'm not using whatever's on the front of the card.

Hey, you know what would be a cool way to make use of both sides? You could have two different 'modes' to be in -- like, you could be aggressive, or you could be more laid back. When you want to change your mode, you just flip the card over.

It's a little card-game mechanic (flip a card over) used for roleplaying. Do you think that makes it a card game, or a board game? Is it a hybrid?

I'm still just roleplaying. The cards don't dictate my actions to me -- I use them as I would use any skill or talent. Except now I have two ways to use each of my abilities.

Once you've got this cards-helping-the-game idea in mind, you're going to look for ways to expand on it. Using larger cards to place your little cards on might be a neat way to organize things, so that all of your fighty actions are over in one corner and your social actions are in another. Just for convenience. (And maybe we can come up with some interesting ways to make use of where we place our cards. That gives us a third function from the cards, if we want it.)

So what's happened to my GM's screen? Heck, I've got half a new game worked out just because I decided to put things on cards. And it's still just an RPG. The cards aren't telling me what to do; I'm the one choosing how to use the abilites described on them.

Comments most welcome.

Yes, yes and again, yes. Cards and funny dice do not magically destroy your ability to roleplay - I think it's just the shock of the new. Plus WFRP fans are all nutcases - I include myself in that statement. My initial reaction was negative, but then when I reflected on the limits of the current system, I came around to this new thingy.

Holy crap why didn't I think of that. I just mixed up ALL skill test mechanics on one card: combat right next to shopping beside crafting. Argh.

I've seen a lot of things fliying around about the use of cards, but I didn't really bat an eyelash when I heard about them. They're a pretty natural thing to me. I've used 3x5 index cards as a game master for nearly ten years to keep easy track of monster stats, important rules, and PC skills (regardless of system or edition I often roll secrete checks for things like perception, spot or whatever you want to call it.). This keeps the game moving quickly and efficiently. On top of that its not uncommon for me to use custom, homebrewed rules during my games, so when I do, I keep them laying around on cards so my players can reference them easily.

From what I can see, the cards FFG is putting out look like a great gaming aid.

I should make it clear that I don't know that FFG is going to preserve the "purely a game aid" idea throughout the design of the game. They might throw in a bunch of story-dictating language and miss the whole point of roleplaying as we WFRPers have come to understand it.

But now that the idea has been articulated, I hope others will latch onto it and make more of it in their own games.

I play mainly miniature games and the only real RPG I have played is DH. I put stuff on cards for my players so they remember abilities and I even bought extra GM screens for reference by my players. The GM and the players make the RPG work and it seems to me FFG is just making all our post it notes, 3x5 cards and pieces of paper go away. My only concern is the cost and I only get three players in the box set. I RPG with 5 people. Does that mean I need 2 starter sets? I read in the release about an adventurers companion. Is that for extra players? if anyone knows it would be great. and I hope DH heads this path too!

Liss

As I understand it, the game is "best suited" for four players, but apparently you can add more. I think it means that there might not be enough dice or cards to fully equip every player beyond the fourth one.

There's an Adventurer's Toolkit planned that's supposed to make up for it. I'm not sure what's in it. It might contain only enough materials for a single player, but I've also heard that it contains more than that. Wait and see, I guess.

My question was answered. The adventurers tool kit is a co-release expansion that has new characters and the ability to add new players to the mix! The seminar posted on this web site is well worth the time and very cool. i think this game looks neat and very well done.

Liss