Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Ziana Feb 23, 2009 15:15:14	Wondering what systems people use to simplify the "bookkeeping" aspect of D&D: keeping track of current HP, action points, status effects, ongoing damage, etc. without destroying your charsheet from constant erasing & rewriting, or a mass of paper. I'd love to hear what innovative things you've come up with or found in order to keep things simple & easy. Also, I've been thinking about building some sort of "cheat sheet" to help quickly determine what actions are available and how to calculate them. Anyone have something like this?
#2 mellored Feb 23, 2009 15:35:01	Powers are on power cards, flip them when their used. HP/surges, on scratch paper, just the totals in columns. Effects, use tokens under the "minis".
#3 the_black_hand Feb 23, 2009 15:37:42	I have my character sheet. Then I have a sheet of paper (basically a cheat sheet) with what spells, class, and feats that can modifiy my numbers and how. I then have a 3rd piece of paper that I use to record numbers that go up and down (since I play in 3.5 this is normaly just HP, though once in a while its ability scores as well)
#4 skalgrimm Feb 23, 2009 16:41:18	We use the Character Builder, and so we have a character sheet and power cards. I encourage everyone to use an index card to track current HP, current Surges, action points, and daily magic item usages. My only real requirement for how they track this stuff is that, at the end of the session, everything is recorded so that if someone is gone or late at the next session, anyone else can pick up the sheet and tell what is going on. The index card is really easy for current status, as you can write and erase repeatedly on them (as they are a bit thicker than normal paper), and you just toss one when it is grubby. I have a binder for all of the characters, with a folder with a front pocket for each character sheet. The sheet goes in the folder, and the cards go in the front. If we are in the middle of something, used powers go in face down, and available stuff goes in face up. Makes it dead easy to start up next session.
#5 masteraaron Feb 23, 2009 17:22:33	If you have a laptop or a large whiteboard, use those (preferably in conjunction with each other). Write down the initiative order on the whiteboard or in a spreadsheet, with NPC damage and status effects next to their names. You can also track other temporary things this way - use your imagination. The whiteboards aren't all that expensive if you don't have one; I think we got ours for around twenty bucks. As for the laptop, one of our players has, erm, "acquired" digital copies of the important books, so the laptops can be good references when other people are using our physical books. Half of the group has laptops, so they're used as general reference and note stations for everyone. I even have a custom digital character sheet which I reprint for every session, which keeps my character in good condition and in digital backup.
#6 the_black_hand Feb 23, 2009 17:26:08	If you have a laptop or a large whiteboard, use those (preferably in conjunction with each other). Write down the initiative order on the whiteboard or in a spreadsheet, with NPC damage and status effects next to their names. You can also track other temporary things this way - use your imagination. The whiteboards aren't all that expensive if you don't have one; I think we got ours for around twenty bucks. As for the laptop, one of our players has, erm, "acquired" digital copies of the important books, so the laptops can be good references when other people are using our physical books. Half of the group has laptops, so they're used as general reference and note stations for everyone. I even have a custom digital character sheet which I reprint for every session, which keeps my character in good condition and in digital backup. I really hate it when people bring thier laptops to a table top game, I would very much like to take the damn things and break them.
#7 masteraaron Feb 23, 2009 17:34:08	I really hate it when people bring thier laptops to a table top game, I would very much like to take the damn things and break them. Depends on how they're used... What's your issue with them? Laptops have been a huge help for us.
#8 the_black_hand Feb 23, 2009 18:23:21	Depends on how they're used... What's your issue with them? Laptops have been a huge help for us. It's the persons apparent total requirement to have and use them for everything they need to do. I also feel in a simular manner about people and thier cellphones.
#9 masteraaron Feb 23, 2009 18:31:48	It's the persons apparent total requirement to have and use them for everything they need to do. I also feel in a simular manner about people and thier cellphones. Ah, personal distaste. Fair enough, though as a techie I find it a strange attitude. Regardless, they can be very useful. Not necessary, but valuable.
#10 mellored Feb 23, 2009 19:14:19	Ah, personal distaste. Fair enough, though as a techie I find it a strange attitude. Regardless, they can be very useful. Not necessary, but valuable. Hammers are usefull too, but it can get annoying if a carpenter always carry's one around with him. I can understand the sentiment.
#11 etarnon Feb 23, 2009 19:22:26	yellow sticky post-it notes. That's all I ever need.
#12 propane Feb 23, 2009 20:26:52	Margins.
#13 DragonsWrath Feb 23, 2009 22:38:05	I have my character sheet. Then I have a sheet of paper (basically a cheat sheet) with what spells, class, and feats that can modifiy my numbers and how. I then have a 3rd piece of paper that I use to record numbers that go up and down (since I play in 3.5 this is normaly just HP, though once in a while its ability scores as well) Same here. I keep an excel file of all of my powers, written as thus: __ VS __ [WEAPON/POWER] [xdn + y] [additional stuff] As a fighter, I keep my basic melee, Combat Challenge, OAs, and powers all listed separate, describing their additional effects in the last column. I print it in color, so I know which are daily and which are encounters. The non-at-wills have a checkbox to the left. For example, my Come & Get It says "B3, pull 2, B1 attack" Comeback Strike reminds me it's reliable and mentions the HS. I keep my Char Sheet as clean as possible, and doodle my HP on a piece of scrap paper (which I keep for some wierd reason)
#14 kuonji Feb 23, 2009 22:57:25	Usually there is plenty of room on the edges battle mat to track this info. In the rare cases where we can't, we just use scratch paper. Go go dry erase markers.
#15 brashnir Feb 24, 2009 1:31:16	One player (me when I'm playing. someone else when I DM) keeps a small white board with the initiative order on it. This player can also use the white board for keeping track of their own HP, exp gained, action points, etc. For things like status effects and ongoing damage, we use the rings from bottle caps on soda bottles. They fit over most miniatures easily, and are hard to miss on the battle mat. These are also used for defensive spells like the Wizard's Shield. They come in lots of colors for different effects, and you can add variety by putting stripes on them with a sharpie if you need more colors. As for your cheat sheet - I'm not sure if you want something for general actions, or to list out PC's powers. If it's the latter, print out some power cards. If it's the former, try the pdf from this post on enworld: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/228749-d-d-4th-edition-combat-crib-sheet.html
#16 martiniconqueso Feb 24, 2009 10:49:06	We use a big dry-erase board for tracking init. All the PC's names are writting on big tongue depressors with magnetic strips glued to the back. For the bad guys, the DM typically writes a single letter on a slip of paper and we stick that in the initiative order with a small magnet, but sometimes we just write it directly onto the board with a marker. For condition tracking, we use little magnetic tokens from Alea. They work pretty well, though if you get a lot of people in tight quarters it can be slightly difficult. The Warlock has a color for his curses, the two tanks each have a color for their marks, we use the red ones for bloodied foes. As other conditions arrise the DM just picks a color - usually green for ongoing poison damage, or blue for dazed, etc - and sticks it under the mini. Everyone tracks their own hit points and surges themselves, normally on the character sheet. Our Cleric player usually has a sheet she prints out with everyone's hits and surges for her own reference - she pays real close attention and always knows if you just got bloodied, etc.
#17 Ziana Feb 24, 2009 11:01:15	I keep an excel file of all of my powers, written as thus: __ VS __ [WEAPON/POWER] [xdn + y] [additional stuff] As a fighter, I keep my basic melee, Combat Challenge, OAs, and powers all listed separate, describing their additional effects in the last column. I print it in color, so I know which are daily and which are encounters. The non-at-wills have a checkbox to the left. This looks useful, thanks!
#18 mellored Feb 24, 2009 11:01:59	I've seen a few players keep track of HP and surges using d10(d100)'s, they just write the end of night totals on the sheet. Unfortunately, i havn't seen a character last long enough to have the sheet to grimy yet, usually due to life interfering.
#19 Ziana Feb 24, 2009 11:02:45	As for your cheat sheet - I'm not sure if you want something for general actions, or to list out PC's powers. If it's the latter, print out some power cards. If it's the former, try the pdf from this post on enworld: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/228749-d-d-4th-edition-combat-crib-sheet.html Yup, I've seen that before and it's what gave me the idea. I'd like to expand on it so I could quickly see all combinations of feats etc. that may affect the use of a power. Normally that sort of thing isn't on the power cards (too many contingencies).
#20 antesse Feb 24, 2009 11:27:39	I use a notebook. Before the session begins, I list all the expendables (I play 3.5 btw) such as HP, spells prepared, arrows, magic item charges/uses per day. As the session goes on, I cross things out and write new totals or put circles or x's next to arrows to indicate retrievable or hopelessly lost. When the next session comes along I can see what I ended with and then I start a new section of the paper or the next page with what I had (and update the character sheet if needed). This way, I have a running collection of records should there ever be a conflict. Basically it looks like this: HP -40- -37- -27- 33 (supposed to be crossed out numbers, btw) 0 - ray of frost OO, detect magic OO, read magic O 1 - magic missile OO, burning hands O, feather fall O 2 - minor image O, still silent image O Arrows 20 x x x o o P-CLW 3 GoT O O O (e.g. a magic item with 3/day usage)
#21 1_ton_ghost Feb 24, 2009 11:42:28	DM'ing, I have the "war journal". A plain vanilla spiral bound that chronicles the party's events, time, season, weather, geography, etc. Then, chopped edits where fight 'x' occurs; all inits, enemy HP dmg, weird spell FX, crazy sh-t gets noted in that area. Stays w/ me always. In a pinch, notes on the grid map itself, not always. PCs will often want to do that and when minis reach the edge and begin entering "text territory", what do you think gets deleted, the mini or the text? ;) They whine but they only have to track 1 persona, their own, while I have to do the entire planet's and then some. If there's plenty of room, say, fixed map vs. open forest on the grid, that's cool, no biggie. Still, 8X10 loose leaf, get some. Worked in school... Character sheet maintainence: -Seen a few make small strips of scotch tape strategically placed over the HP portion, specifically for frequent erasures. It works like a a charm in that you don't wind up boring a hole through your sheet cuz you get hit a lot. Same for spell lists, any high notation area. -Seperate EXTENSIVE gear sections. I cannot stress this enough, particularly for rogues & magi (those w/ a ton of equipment). Bracket off sections for "scrolls" here, "potions" there, etc. What gear's in a Haversack/Bag of Holding, etc? What's equiped presently? It matters in terms of actions, retrieval, dmg, etc. Combat immediacey is important too given weight and encumberance. -Spell lists broken down by level and again by school thereof. This is vital as you only get so many pages in a spell book before a 2nd is needed. Hash marks to denote what's prepped, what's not, etc. Margin certain spell blocks where you want to be "loaded for bear" (lots of attack spells), "stealth" (invis & silence, etc), etc. This is great...if you're an arcanist. Divine types need a more dedicated approach. Basically, you just gotta' give them their own PHB, SpllCmpdn, whatever else w/ certain scribbles about which spell worked well at 'x', etc. etc.
#22 brashnir Feb 25, 2009 2:43:43	Yup, I've seen that before and it's what gave me the idea. I'd like to expand on it so I could quickly see all combinations of feats etc. that may affect the use of a power. Normally that sort of thing isn't on the power cards (too many contingencies). You can edit power cards to include any feats and bonuses your character has.
#23 skyodin Feb 25, 2009 3:19:37	We currently draw out battlemaps on a piece of lined paper. Next to the map, we list the names of all of the combatents with their initiative number. As the battle progresses, we record damage taken next to the initiative number of the character. We use the space past that to record any ongoing conditions on the character. Since I am the only player in a Solo campaign, I have to keep track of five characters during combat. To do so, I do two things: First off, I sort all five of my character sheets in a single stack in order of initiative. That way, when I finish the turn of one character, I can move the character sheet to the bottom of the pile, revealing the character sheet of the next character in line. In order to cut down on how often I have to dig through the pile, I created a cheat card that lists every character's defenses, passive skill checks, and healing surge values. In order to track powers, I use power cards. I sort the power cards out into five piles, one for each of the characters. Furthermore, each power card has a distinctive marking on it that displays which character it belongs to, so I don't have to actually read the cards in order to sort them. As I expend powers, I simply move them into a discard pile, flipping them upside down. As long as I don't mix up the piles, I can even preserve them between game sessions. I have found that it is pretty easy to keep things moving smoothly, even when juggling five characters, using this system. The only trick is planning my moves out in advance so I don't waste a lot of time actually making my turns.
#24 falstyr Feb 25, 2009 3:43:25	First I bring my laptop, don't worry I never use it for music or anything other then DnD when it is at the table during a game session. I hate distractions myself, I've come to play a game not watch a movie in the background or browse the net. On it is a pdf character sheet. In it you can alter milestones (AP's), click them when used, same for using surges or death save throws. You can click on used powers so they're marked and you know they can't be used, you can adjust HP and with a drop down list you can use up to 4 status on the PC. First page is basically a summary of everything and you don't have to re-calculate every single throw. But for more detailed info I scroll down and that is a bit annoying at times. So special info I either have open in another word file or written down on a piece of paper. Such as specific feats I'd like to have in plain sight just in case. When I DM we sit at a table near my pc. So I simply turn the flat screen so everyone can see the excel sheet with initiative and other creature info. This one person keeps track of. On the table we have a battlemap/mat and use miniatures which I bought a load of or had with some other game. I don't use index/power cards etc.
#25 nowiwantmydmg Feb 25, 2009 14:09:20	Cards with Character names on them for initiative, the active player is on top with the next players/monsters beneath, all the names are written on the bottom so it's easy to see who's on deck, this allows for players to roll ahead of time and be ready on their turn. Cheap plastic poker chips for HP: white = 1hp, red = 5hp, blue=surges. Spent/lost ones are put to the side. This is really easy math wise, when you get hit, just take the damage value off your stack. Glass beads for action points,kept next to HP stack when spent put it to the side like HP Powercards. I think this has been said enough that I don't need to add anymore. Status Cards-name of status and it's effects in front of players. If it is a combination of effects specific to a monster I'll just write out a few on index cards before the session. Timed turns (a clock, watch, eggtimer or hourglass) Lately things have begin to really speed up, level +2 encounter in 35 mins.
#26 wuzzifizit Feb 25, 2009 20:20:35	We use a custom-made excel spreadsheet specifically designed for a laptop and an additional monitor. The DM has a chart on the laptop screen that he uses to mark conditions, monster hit points, etc. The second monitor is a simplified version that shows the initiative order, status effects, and highlights in red when a creature is bloodied based upon what the DM has put on the chart on his screen. It has really been useful to organize combat and streamline the game.
#27 Ziana Feb 25, 2009 20:24:24	Nowiwantmydmg: those are some good ideas, especially poker chips for hp and beads etc. for points. Thanks everyone, some great thoughts all around!
#28 jorgeo Feb 27, 2009 14:56:07	We use a custom-made excel spreadsheet specifically designed for a laptop and an additional monitor. The DM has a chart on the laptop screen that he uses to mark conditions, monster hit points, etc. The second monitor is a simplified version that shows the initiative order, status effects, and highlights in red when a creature is bloodied based upon what the DM has put on the chart on his screen. It has really been useful to organize combat and streamline the game. I also use a laptop. I used to rely on a spreadsheet, but I am now running Anubis' Encounter Manager. Sample review here. It's really neat, especially for creating encounters ahead of time. Install instructions are here (you need to register to their forums first). It took a little time to get used to it, but it's a time saver. Since I use my laptop for D&D stuff, it's really convenient to have it running there.