Survey: How do you like to see the HQ Armory presented?

[Count Mohawk]

I like the ease of displaying what each Hero has on hand that comes from having a bunch of cards laid out in a neat order in front of the character sheet, both for arms & armor and for potions as well. I don't find that approach conducive to thoughtful shopping due to the "where did I put that crossbow card...?" effect, however, so in addition, I also have the whole Armory laid out on a series of 8.5 x 11" pages in a three-ring binder, eight items per sheet. (And I have something like ten pages of mundane equipment and a few more for the potions, so it's quite comprehensive!)

[Sjeng]

Did you play what the card system implied, namely that every piece was only available once?

Mostly, yes. But the water becomes a little muddy with items found during quests.
You have found a helmet. Take the helmet equipment card. But the dwarf has already bought said equipment card...
Did you just find "Nothing!" then or do you just write "Helmet" on your character sheet?

if I recall correctly some versions had (correct me if I'm wrong) 2 helmets and 2 shields. That strongly suggest a limited armory.
Which I actually like! They have to distribute the equipment the best way instead of everybody having chain mail, shield and helmet.

That's exactly the reason why we only use one big armoury reference sheet. The equipment deck is only used if the quest notes say: draw a random card from the equipment deck (on a search).
We just write everything down on one huge A4 hero sheet for all 4 heroes.

[Malcadon]

I like both options.

The US-styled Armory menu makes a great poster that presents all the equipment at once. The only thing I don't like about the Armory card are the additional pics to ID the tiles and furniture. That could be on its own card, or listed in the rule book, as that space could be used to add more stuff, like the Spear and Hand Axe. Another issue with listing both, is that it makes the selection final. That is, if you wish to change the list (add/remove items, or change the entries) you have to make a whole new sheet.

The UK-styled Equipment Cards are great, as long as you omit the cards as a limited stock and use them as simple reference. That is, the cards do not limit the number of items that are available in the game, but are used to note what items do what. In that case, it is best to have multiple cards for each player, given the limits and abilities of the heroes (e.g. Make 4 Daggers cards for everyone, three Tool Kits for everyone but the Dwarf, and only 2 Short Swords as the Wizard cant use it and the Barbarian doesn't need it), or else the players would keep asking for the cards. If you are in the middle of buying stuff for your Hero, you can layout out the cards before you and omit the ones you cant use or afford. The bast part is that you can add new cards without having to replace the whole deck!

Basically, the Armory Sheet would be a billboard that could be placed in front of the EWP's screen so that the players can make their selection at a glance, without the players having to pass the Equipment deck around, while the Equipment Cards can be used as a quick reference during play, so the players don't wave a large cardboard sheet around while people are trying to game.

All-and-all, one thing that I would add with both sets are a better explanation of the Tool Kit. How hard is it to write out this on a singe card or Armory slot:

Tool Kit [picture] This tool kit allows you to disarm any searched-for-and-found (but unsprung) trap, by rolling anything but a skull an a combat die. See rulebook for correct procedure. 250 Gold Coins Disarm Traps

There! A quick note what not to roll while disarming traps, so you don't have to pull out the book. "Do I need to roll a skull, or must I avoid it?" pops up a lot in my game, until the players get use to making that kind of roll. That should be a no-brainer!

[TMU]

We play with cards only and so,that there is only one of each item. We've had that same problem that you should take a, say helmet, from the deck but it has already been bought. I then let the heroes decide what they want to do. There are two options for them:

1. The one who bought the helmet keeps it, and the other player gets the amount of gold helmet costs.
Or
2. The one who found the helmet, gets it from the one who bought it and he who bought it gets a full refund of it.

Oooor, if they can't decide, they fight each other as long as the other player gives up. And this happens in-game. Easier for me as a DM

[Daedalus]

The Adventure Design Kit (1990 trademark) was made with the EU rules in mind. From the back page containing the character sheet with the appropriate bullet point noted:

The New Character Sheet
The new character sheet has several new features:


• An equipment space which allows you to make note of any equipment your
  character owns. This also allows you to buy pieces of equipment for which there
  are no spare cards by simply paying the existing cost and noting them down.