I've been trying to figure out a way to keep cards organized and safe during a game, especially when there might be food and drinks at the table. I'm averse to investing in card sleeves for every single card I own, and those don't help to keep cards from going astray. What I really wanted was something to keep cards secure and in place, and this morning I came up with a possible solution.

The template below is designed to fit on standard 8.5x11 paper (should fit on A4 as well without too much adjustment). The basic idea is to print the template onto cardstock, then glue clear sleeves onto it to hold cards in play. My prototype uses 11 x FFG mini American board game sleeves, and the large one in the middle (for the current career) is an Ultra-Pro 4x6" toploader. The top row holds cards for injury, corruption, mutation, disease, etc. Talents fit into the three slots on the right, and completed careers go on the left. This keeps all of the player's cards in one spot, easy to reference, and also protects the cards in use from damage.

The idea seems sound but I ran into one bit of trouble: keeping the FFG mini sleeves attached. Can anyone recommend an adhesive that will bind plastic to paper?

A hot glue gun perhaps?

I like the idea. Could be cool to have all your stuff on a piece of hard board that you can pick up, store, write on, etc. Would be even better with a fancy graphic for a background.

Instead of doing the sleeves, i wonder if you could get away with some paste material, like blue tack or some other sticky, non-permanent solution. it shouldnt damage the cards since they have a nice gloss finish and should keep them attached to the board and not move around much.

Keep us posted.

Gitzman

That's not a bad idea at all. A general purpose adhesive should do the trick, but it's easy enough to test out on some sleeves to see what melts them and what doesn't. Just get some all purpose scrap booking glue from a hobby store.

double sided sticky tape would work, would it not?

Try this layout. It eliminates the career card and puts everything else in a lot tighter and easier to use format:

Strange Eons is the custom card maker btw, and Sunatet's extension for it includes the character sheet add-on that has the talent slots on the side so you can eliminate the career card from the table.

jh

what is this Strange Eons thing. I remember hearing about it but dont really remember what it is.

Gitz

Two of my regular players use plastic, business card holders. They are racks that have 2-3 levels on them so the cards can be stood up in them. In the US you can get them at staples, office depot, office max. It also allows them to sort and organize them. When a card is in use (recharging) they simply pull it off the rack and lay it down next to their character sheet). They keep it off to the side so I can still see their status. Wound cards, conditions, etc. are placed in front of their character sheet.

With the racks, they can easily see their cards and quickly access them, while keeping them very well organized. If you're looking for space-saving, high protection from food/drinks, I highly recommend them.

I also recommend sleeves for the cards. I have used my decks such as wounds, insanities, etc. so many times that the ink on the sides of the cards are beginning to wear off. This also solves the problem of an accidental spill as well as greatly improves the longevity of the cards...especially the decks you shuffle a lot, such as wounds/miscast.

Strange Eons card maker for WFRP and Arkham Horror: cgjennings.ca/eons/index.html

jh

Excellent ideas! I'm thinking a piece of black foam-core (or chip-board if I've got the cash) with a nice background graphic on one side and a piece of felt on the bottom (to prevent slippage). Include a couple of small bowls/cups to organize tokens and dice pools and you're play area is set!

Oh, and how about a set of these free-standing card holders for out-of-play action/talent cards:

http://www.newtsgames.com/card-accessories/holders.html?gclid=CP_p7aDkpqUCFRJS2godeQ7AHA

Thank you for the ideas, everyone. Strange Eons looks interesting, but I'd rather not have to print out all new career cards. I think I'm going to use something like my original layout but add graphics and improve the production quality to be more in line with the printed material. My new plan involves double-sided, full color cardstock, laminated for protection. I hope to have something ready by this weekendI post pictures when I'm done with it.

The card holders are a great idea and I might experiment with those as well, but I'm aiming for a way to keep cards in place during the game as well as provide a place to store them between games.

I'm very curious to see the end result. Please do post some pix?

Alright, I finally had a chance to finish these this morning. Using my original layout from above, I added background art, printed the sheets on cardstock, laminated them, then glued the toploader and card sleeves into place. The last picture shows the sheet in action, but the glue hadn't quite set so the toploader slid slightly out of position. If anyone else tries this, I recommend using liberal amounts of glue and giving it plenty of time to dry.

I thought long and hard about sleeves, but I figured that the cost of sleeving up all of the cards I already own is just as much as buying all three Vaults when they're released. That sounds like a more rewarding purchase to me, and should (hopefully) provide any replacements that would become necessary in case of accident.

Very cool, I would buy this!

Heretek said:

I would to

I wish they would make such ones, and make them of a material like thick leather (might be best if it's soft leather, as hard leather has a tendensy to bend after the slightest exposure to water) to elevate it a bit from the table.

That way even if some clown spilled his coffe on the table, the cards would be safe due to their elevated position

With the size the game has taken (I think it's fairly big atleast...?), they ought to start making "luxery" acceseries for it... like glass tokens, instead of cardboard, a player card organizer like suggested, etc...

When people buy a game at this price, because lets face it it's not a cheap hobby compared to other rp-games, then they're often also ready and willing to go the extra mile and buy luxery stuff... I know I would! Would also be nice if I were actually able to spend more money on a hobby of mine, than what I spend on my wife over a year

Any way we can get a copy of the template you made? It looks amazing and useful!

I second that request! This is amazing!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Feel free to grab the template for your own private use. All you need to do is right-click and save the first image in my last post. Just fit to page and borderless printing if your printer has that option.

As for attaching the sleeves and toploaders, go with the double-sided tape as pumpkin suggested. I tried a few different types of glue, and none worked out that well. Some just didn't want to bind to the plastic. Superglue worked better than the rest, but it left a whitish residue after it dried and became rather brittle. Double-sided clear tape is nearly invisible and looks much better than the glue.

He provided a copy in the first picture (right click and 'save as') It appears to be cut off on the right hand side in the post but when you save it, the whole image is there. I just downloaded it. Looks great!

Game on!

Gitzman

Hey Gitzman!

Love the concept. Where did you get that top loader for the career cards. What company makes them? Haven't seen any that big before. Just curious.

Heya C =)

I was wondering the same thing. i got the image, looks great. But aside form cutting out individual sleeves from a larger sheet, where can you get the 5x7 and the small business card singles?

Gitzman

There's a bloke from Thailand who sells 4"×5" sleeves (for career cards, among other things) on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220603739752

The small sleeves are FFG mini American board game sleeves (sold on this very site), and the large one for the career card is an Ultra-Pro 4x6" toploader. http://www.amazon.com/Postcard-Toploader-Pack-25/dp/B001A5RO9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1290448558&sr=8-1

There may be other sleeves that would fit the career cards better, but that's what my FLGS had to offer. As for the mini sleeves, they are custom-made for WFRP, Arkham Horror, etc.

Great work, this organizer for players is very useful. Thanks for showing it to us.

trystero said:

40 sleeves for $1.60 + shipping? That's awsome! I've got to order some of those.