A character sheet! What do I do with it? Part III: Anatomy of a power card

Greetings fellow gamers!

In the last part I spoke about the elements that your character sheet needs so you, the player, have an easy time gleaning the right information in the thickest of battles be them social or armed.
In this part I will cover the power cards, which start from page 3.


Pro tip: Some power cards can be hidden by right clicking on them. For example you can hide Second Wind, Bull Rush, Opportunity Attack and Grab. The first Second Wind for example has a copy some rows below, and the Bull Rush, Grab and Opportunity Attack are general powers all characters have.

Lets begin with the first three power cards:

The first two cards are referred to as Play Data cards. These cards have all the vital information you need to know at a moment's notice: hit points, speed (in squares), initiative bonus, attributes and modifiers, defenses, passive senses and skill bonuses. Also the first card displays your character name, its class and level.
The third card is the  Action Point. On this card various notes may appear as result of items or feats; triggers and effects that may happen when the action point is used. If you cut the power cards and arranged them, you can flip the action point card when you used it. If you manage to gather more than one action point, this card can be copied and reprinted to serve as reminder.

Going in "Options ->Show Basic Attack Cards" will yield these two cards:

 

These are the basic attack cards, simple attack powers that represent the character's basic ability to hit things with either a branch or a rock. Sometimes you may need these and there are some classes out there that heavily rely on these powers. Also, the Melee Basic Attack card is useful if you wish sometimes to make an Opportunity Attack but I only recommend this for melee oriented characters. 

Now I reach at the heart of the thread: the anatomy of a power card.

#1. Power's Name: In this space, the name of the power is written. This serves as reference and flavor.

#2. Keywords: Many powers have various keywords which express the power source, the weapon or implement required to deliver the power and many elemental effects that add to the power. In this example, the power's source is Divine and it is delivered through a Weapon.

#3. Range: The range in which the power may be employed. This varies from Ranged X (squares), Melee Weapon to Area X within Y or Close Blast/Burst X. In this case, this power has the range of the melee weapon wielded (one square).

#4. Target: What are the legal targets of the power. In this case the legal target is one creature.  And yes, this means fellow party members *grin*.

#5. Action, Attack vs. Defense: This area has two important boxes: the type of action the power requires to be delivered and what bonus number you add to the d20 to attack the target creature's stated defense. In this case, the action required is a Standard Action and the bonus to the attack roll is +9 versus the target's Armor Class. The third set of boxes identifies this power as being melee (see the * in the box near the sword).

Pro tip: There are three actions that the character can do on his turn: Standard, Move and Minor. Also there are three actions that the character can do when it is not his turn: Interrupt, Reaction, Opportunity. These will appear in the box, depending on the power. Refer to the Rules Compendium and your Dungeon Master for further clarifications.

#6. Attack and Hit: This area of the power card shows you what Ability Modifier to use versus what defense and what happens when you hit. In this case, we see that the primary ability modifier is Charisma and the targeted defense is Armor Class. The second line shows how much damage the power does and what additional effect triggers if we hit with the power. The 1[W] represents the damage die of the weapon, in this case a longsword which has the damage die expressed as d8.

#7: Attack and Damage: Here we see the short version of the above: the weapon used to deliver this power, the attack bonus added on a d20 roll and the damage roll for the power. In this example we have a longsword with an attack bonus of +9 and if the power hits, it deals 1d8+5 points of damage.

#8: Additional Effects: In this area additional effects generated by class or feats, may appear. Features like rogue's Sneak Attack or ranger's Hunter's Quarry will appear in this box.

#9: Class and Level: This boxes indicate to what class this power belongs and at what level this power was chosen. In this example, this power belongs to the Paladin class and has been chosen at level 1.

#10: Power Type: In D&D the powers are split in four main types, denoted in this box: At-Will (green), Encounter (red), Daily (grey), Utility (blue) and Items (orange). If you have printed the character sheet in black&white, these denomination will be shown in this area.

Pro tip: Keep in mind that Utility powers fall into the previous three categories (At-Will, Encounter, Daily). This is shown on the power card as seen below.

The last type of power card is the item power card. It is not very different from the example above but has some elements that stand apart. Lets see them!

#1. Item Enchantment Name: This is NOT  the name of the weapon, but the type and the name of the enchantment applied on the weapon. In this case it is a Longsword with the Sunblade enchantment applied on it.

#2. Damage Die: In this case, what damage die does the weapon, on which the enchantment is applied, has.

#3. Weapon Proficiency Bonus: Here is displayed the bonus added by the weapon to the attack roll to various powers that use this weapon. NOTE: If the weapon is used as an implement, this bonus is not applied.

#4. Weapon Group: Each weapon belongs to a group. In this case the Longsword belongs to the Heavy Blade group.

#5: Range: If the weapon is ranged, like a longbow, its range is displayed here.

#6: Enhancement value: The value of the enhancement applied on the weapon. These values are applied to the power's attack roll and damage roll as noted.

#7: Item Level and Critical: The item level is used as reference for the Dungeon Master treasure parcels. The Critical value is what dice is added to the maximum damage when a critical hit is scored. In this example, when a critical hit is scored with a power, a bonus of 1d6 is added to the maximum damage dealt.

#8: Properties: Some weapon enchantments also give the weapon or implement various properties which will be noted here. Also, here will appear the values for the basic attacks the weapon can be employed with.

#9: Power Type: Item enchantments also come with various powers that can be at-will, encounter or daily. The type of power is ticked in one of these boxes. NOTE: some enchantments give more than one power but only the first will be ticked here.

#10: Powers: In this section the enchantment's powers are noted. In this example, the Sunblade has an at-will and a daily power.

#11: Other info: The information noted here displays the enchantment's price, the weapon's weight and the slot in which the item is used.

And this concludes the character sheet's power cards explanation.For more information on specific subjects do ask the Dungeon Master.

Enjoy!