Tools and Supplies
What to mark with, what to mark on, and where to keep it all. Some links on this page are affiliate links. Buying through them helps cover hosting at no extra cost to you, and buying from your local game store works just as well.
The Spirit Guide is an alignment tool with a guide for every slot. Its magnetic hold keeps the sleeve in place, so you can mark one-handed and paint every one of a card's marks in one pass.
It is on Kickstarter now, along with paint pens, tokens and playmats, with matching sleeves as add-ons. After the campaign it comes to the PRISM store. Any straight edge works until it ships.
Sleeve materials take ink differently, so the pen matters. Test every new pen on a spare sleeve before you mark a real one.
Oil-Based Paint Pens
What we mark with. Oil-based paint draws clearer, more opaque lines, and once dry it stays on the inner sleeve instead of rubbing off onto the inside of the outer sleeve.
- Extra fine or fine point
- Sharper, more opaque lines
- Does not transfer to the outer sleeve
- Takes longer to dry, with a strong odor when wet
Uni Posca Paint Pens
A long-time favorite. Water-based acrylic that dries opaque and stays put, in a wide range of colors.
- PC-1M (extra fine) is the size to get
- Wide color range
- Touch-dry in about a minute
- Does not smear once dry
Acrylic Paint Pen Sets
Cheap sets work in a pinch. Quality varies by brand. Skip the metallic colors: in our testing they rubbed off onto the inside of the outer sleeve, even after drying.
- Often includes 24+ colors
- Inconsistent flow
- May need multiple coats
- Metallics can rub off onto the outer sleeve
- Good for trying the system cheaply
Pentel Matte Hop Gel Pens
Heavy pigment makes them show up well on sleeves, and they draw the cleanest, thinnest lines of anything here.
- Fewer color options
- More expensive
- Can rub off on frequently moved cards
Every mark goes on a Perfect Fit inner, and most brands work. These are the ones we use:
Once cards move between decks, where you keep them decides how fast you can build for the night.
For 8 to 10 decks, the GameGenic Lair 600+ has room for the cards plus tokens and dice. For more, the Ultimate Guard Arkhive 1000+ gives you the space. Skip boxes with lots of fixed dividers. How you split your cards depends on how your decks overlap, so you want room to move them.