D&D 4E 4e DM Cheat Sheet

TheClone · Jul 30, 2011

I finished a first version of the jewel case screen. I guess I still have the Stealth DC-mod with the wrong sign and I just looked at it and it seems like there is something concerning Stealth missing. I guess I'll have to check that. I still have a little room left, any suggestions?

I also have shortened some texts from quickleaf's sheets to save space. I guess it's a good advice to have the original sheets handy when first looking at the jewel case version if there are some difficulties while reading. But for regular use as a screen it should very well do.

For my personal use, I will remove the skill challenges, because I don't use them. I uses Obsidian's system and will add some parts for this. Maybe I'll remove more like one version with level 1 to 15, one 10 to 25 and one 20 to 30, for each tier of play. Might save enough room to take the left dm side for campaign specific notes and nothing else.

I have left the central player side empty. I had an image added, but that was "borrowed" from the net and I can't publish it. I have the idea of having there an image for each campaign or even adventure to enhance the atmosphere. The left and right player side is reserved for player specific rules information. For now I only found the conditions to be a good idea. But I guess, I have to use a larger font, because the players sit further away from the screen.

http://www.herzliches-rollenspiel.de/herzlich_data/JewelCaseScreen.pdf

TheClone · Jul 31, 2011

Found time to do a small update. I removed the overland travel distance multiplier examples (I guess most DMs can guess them without), so I have room to add the missing part of the skill DCs. I also hat to rearrange the tables to still fit.

http://www.herzliches-rollenspiel.de/herzlich_data/JewelCaseScreen.pdf

Quickleaf · Jul 31, 2011

TheClone said:
Found time to do a small update. I removed the overland travel distance multiplier examples (I guess most DMs can guess them without), so I have room to add the missing part of the skill DCs. I also hat to rearrange the tables to still fit.

http://www.herzliches-rollenspiel.de/herzlich_data/JewelCaseScreen.pdf

Nice work!

My dang iPhone won't let me XP ya.

Quickleaf · Sep 18, 2011

Just a note to say I've updated the sheets in the OP with some finishing touches...

* Improv: minion base damage is 4 + 1 per two levels (as near as I can tell)
* DM Prep: abbreviated basic terrain types from DMG
* Rules: rough hireling guidelines (~potion gp /day)
* Plot: added cool benefits for skill challenges or for boosting milestones

If you catch any mistakes, let me know.

TrueName said:
Sure, and you could write the improv stuff on an index card and glue it to your DM screen. .daeherof rouy rO

Oh yeah, I need a photo of that

Ferghis · Sep 18, 2011

TheClone said:
http://www.herzliches-rollenspiel.de/herzlich_data/JewelCaseScreen.pdf

This is mighty nice. I particularly like the conditions summaries on the player sides.

You may have addressed this earlier in the thread (I haven't read it all). I thought monster knowledge checks for name, type and keyword were all moderate difficulty. And there were some defense modifiers for prone (CA to adjacent enemies and +2 defenses against ranged attacks)?

TheClone · Sep 19, 2011

Ferghis said:
This is mighty nice. I particularly like the conditions summaries on the player sides.

You may have addressed this earlier in the thread (I haven't read it all). I thought monster knowledge checks for name, type and keyword were all moderate difficulty. And there were some defense modifiers for prone (CA to adjacent enemies and +2 defenses against ranged attacks)?

Thank you

I have taken the tables from [MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION]'s pages and those also state where exactly the rules come from. Some are not from official rulebooks but from blogs and stuff. Concerning the monster knowledge checks I remember the same, but this version is more interesting, I think. The CA for prone is mentioned in the "title" right of "Prone" with "*CA*" (same for other conditions that grant CA), but the +2 may be missing. I'll take a look at it for the next iteration (there will be on, I just don't know when).

Quickleaf · Sep 19, 2011

[MENTION=40483]Ferghis[/MENTION] Yep, I definitely forgot the +2 defenses vs ranged for prone. Thanks for catching that.

As for the monster knowledge DCs, I don't have Rules Compendium with me but I was trying to provide a way to distinguish common/moderate/expert knowledge, and the easy/moderate/hard DCs seemed the best way to model that. IOW an adventurer untrained in a particular knowledge skill should have a good chance of knowing roughly what they're up against.

But if you could double check the RC for me I'll fix it to match whatever is in there.

Morningkill · Sep 19, 2011

For Artillery monster , in the rule update, there's :
"*Increase accuracy by 1 or 2 for ranged or area attacks."

Ferghis · Sep 19, 2011

Quickleaf said:
[MENTION=40483]Ferghis[/MENTION]As for the monster knowledge DCs, I don't have Rules Compendium with me but I was trying to provide a way to distinguish common/moderate/expert knowledge, and the easy/moderate/hard DCs seemed the best way to model that. IOW an adventurer untrained in a particular knowledge skill should have a good chance of knowing roughly what they're up against.

But if you could double check the RC for me I'll fix it to match whatever is in there.

On page 130, under Monster Knowledge, the RC states:

DC: The DM sets the DC using the Difficulty Class by Level table (page 126), selecting the moderate DC for the monster's level instead of the level of the character making the check.

Success: The character identifies the monster and knows its origin, type, typical temperament, and keywords. If the character meets or exceeds the hard DC for the monster's level, he or she also knows the monster's resistances and vulnerabilities, as well as what its powers do.

Quickleaf · Nov 7, 2011

DM Magic said:
[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION], I'd love to use your sheet for making terrain powers. However, though I've read the article by Mark Monack, I'm not sure I understand how to use your sheet to do it on the fly.

Can you come up with two or three examples, maybe at various levels, of how you'd do it using your sheet? Maybe then my brain will get to working and I'll see how to do it on my own.

Sure. It's more about feel than some 100% accurate system.

Heroic tier. Let's say there are floating magic lanterns at night as the PCs fight off a nasty lurker who has them pinned in a dead-end alley. Wizard says "Can I magnify their light output and move them around?" So the terrain power is doing 2 things: effectively eliminating concealment (like -2 defenses, standard action) and moving the light sources around (minor action); however it deals no damage. You might rule it's a standard action Arcana check with the DC reached determining how many lanterns the wizard can move / how far he can move them.

Paragon tier. Fighter is down to a handful of hit points against an archfey who affected him with massive punishment if he attacks her. He has been the only one who can hit her very high AC. However, the archfey draws power from magic mirrors in the chamber. He asks if he can shatter one of the mirrors to reduce her Will defense in preparation for a Will targeting uber-debuff an ally is about to cast. Since he's 12th level the -2 defense requires a move action (instead of standard action in heroic tier). But the fighter wants to deal damage too; since it's a single target attack that could conceivably be repeated (there are other mirrors) it would deal normal medium damage. DM comes up with this: choose a mirror & Make a standard action attack vs. Mirror, and if it destroys mirror's HP, the archfey suffers -2 Will until the end of her next turn and takes 1d8+5 psychic damage. However if the fighter chooses the right mirror the Will penalty is -3 and damage is 2d6+5.

Epic tier. Rogue is holding off onslaught of exploding minions who are hard to hit because of a 50% displacement type power. She wants to use some magic dust to impose -2 AC (actually -10% miss chance) to a pack of them; at epic tier it would be a minor action - except she wants to effect a close blast 3 instead of one creature. No damage. The DM rules it's a move action attack vs. Reflex that bypasses displacement.

Hope that clears it up a bit.