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1 year ago ::
Mar 01, 2012 - 10:20AM
#1
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It is quite handy to have a scrap piece of paper on you. You can just write anything on it, for example the HP of various monsters or important events. 
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1 year ago ::
Mar 08, 2012 - 10:58AM
#2
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I am hopeing more people post to this thread because it is a problem I have. I am new to DM'ing and I lack anything that resembles organizational skills. This problem is magnified by a strangely non existant short term memory. For those of you who are wondering why I am a DM at all, let me just say that I am willing. Aside from that I am a heck of a story teller. I have tried numerous things to keep me on track. I have initiative cards made up that are a combination between Combat cards found in the DMG and base stats. I need bigger cards... I have distributed tracking amongst the players. I have them keep track of saving throws and initiative. That has helped. I also use the lap top to keep track of the creatures in a battle. So now I am less likely (note emphises on the less) to forget to use an action point or power
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1 year ago ::
Mar 09, 2012 - 12:28AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Nov 14, 2011
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Assuming you're playing 4E : Keep Track Less. Improvise More.
That applies to other editions as well so long your players are not breathing down your neck.
You only need to remember the Monster's Level, and a few Formulas.
Or better, store them in a spreadsheet so that you can just key in the Level and VOILA.
I try to classify Monsters in one of three categories based on what they do.
Conveniently, they're Fort, Reflex, Will.
- Fort (Soldier, Brute) = Tough guys, with Heavy Armor. If it has high STR or CON (lots of HP), its probably a Fort Creature. Fighters & Warlords.
- Reflex (Lurker, Skirmisher, Artillery) = Fast (DEX) or Intelligent (INT) Creatures. Rangers, Thieves, Wizards.
- Will (Controller, Leader) = High CHA and WIS Creatures go here. Warlocks and Clerics.
Initiative = Half-Level + Dex-Mod
Fort = 0 ; Will = 2 ; Reflex = 5
Adjust +2/+4 for Paragon/Epic.
HP = CON + (Level + 1) x 6/8/10
So, how much for CON ? Effectively, I simply "extend" the Roles, becoming...
HP = 8 + (Level + 2) x 6/8/10
HP = (Level +3) x 6/8/10 plus or minus 2 HP.
Defenses are AC = Level + 14 with +2 for Soldiers, -2 Brutes & Artillery.
If an attack goes for an NAD, its :
0 / -1 if its the same NAD targeted as the Creature Type (ie. Attack vs Reflex against a Reflex Creature)
-2 / -3 if its a different type from the creature
Enemy Damage is all Level + 8 / Brutes do 25% more damage ( I usually memorise this as say, a +3 )
or more often I like Level +1 + 2d6
Area Encounter Powers do the same damage.
Single-target Encounter Powers do 50% more damage.
AC Attacks are all Level + 5, NAD attacks are all Level +3
Artillery get +1 Attack except in Melee.
Skill Moderate DC are Level + 8 (not quite DMG), with a
+/- 5 DC for Easy / Hard, +2 if a character is Skilled
Use * on your laptop to denote ongoing effects that need to be saved against, and Colored Paperclips to indicate Marks, Frostcheese, etc.
Meantime, I like to use Minions (half normal damage), or sometimes "Mooks" that count as 2 Minions.
Mooks do normal damage, and have HP = 2x (Level + 6), meaning they'll generally be instantly bloodied.
Basically I don't track their HP, if they are hit for more than Level + 6 damage, I put a red paperclip to show they're Bloodied, and the next time they're hit they just go Down.
Single Target Traps have a Moderate or Hard DC to spot, and do Monster Damage (Brute) to multiple targets, or 2x Monster Damage to a single Player. Simple.
Yep, so managing a multi-monster fight with traps hanging around is quite doable.
Improvise and have fun.
 
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1 year ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:16AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2012
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Get the following at staples/walmart:
1) 2x4 Magnetic Dry Erase Board
2) Magnetic printer paper
3) Dry Erase and Wet Erase markers
Do the following:
1) Either print everyones name on the paper or write it on there...then cut them out.
2) Consolidate your monster turns into 2 points during the initiative...do the same as (1) and have a magnetic 'Mob 1' and 'Mob 2'
3) Rotate having a player in charge of the dry erase board each week.
4) during initiative, you move the magnets into the proper order....
5) on the other part of the board, you can have that person keep track of damage to a mob...
5a) the easiest way is to have tokens labled 1-50 and use those on the maps for mobs...then the person writes on the board 1 - 50 dmg...and they keep track of damage done to each mob...
This solves several problems...1) everyone always wants to know who to go after, now they know 2) players can take notes on the montsters (such as 'Mark that one as the controller', etc) 3) they do the math/etc freeing up you to do the tactics/etc.
Finally, this as for monsters...you have choices...
1) pre-mark the pages using post-it notes in the MM, now that you dont have to track HP, it's easier to flip
2) my personal favorite is to use the monster generator on this site, print out a page for *each* monster, not each monster type...that you plan on using that night...then you can mark on that piece of paper whatever you want and trash it at the end of the night...
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