Excel spreadsheet

[illwizard]

Hello there,

I was wondering if any DM's could give me an example of an excel spreadsheet that they use to keep track of initiative, hitpoints, perhaps passive skill checks, saves and the likes. I'm guessing really organised DM's tend to have spreadsheets for Monsters and PC's, which would be dope if someone could guide me.

As it currently stands, I tend to just scribble everything down on a scrap piece of paper and confuse myself, so any help is very much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

Peace.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

Hello there,

I was wondering if any DM's could give me an example of an excel spreadsheet that they use to keep track of initiative, hitpoints, perhaps passive skill checks, saves and the likes. I'm guessing really organised DM's tend to have spreadsheets for Monsters and PC's, which would be dope if someone could guide me.

As it currently stands, I tend to just scribble everything down on a scrap piece of paper and confuse myself, so any help is very much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

Peace.

I'm currently working on an excel spreadsheet that will do exactly what you are talking about. I have searched far and wide for something that has everything I need on it and found nothing, so I decided to create my own. I'm adding a few more drop down boxes for monsters, after I add those, I will be posting the whole thing up here for everyone to use. My personal one will be linked to other excel spreadsheets that auto-fill when updated by my players (after they have updated them going up a level or whatnot). It's looking pretty good so far.

 

[StickPerson]

This is nothing fancy, and still very much a work in progress but I find these xls sheets useful.

 

[Magus Coeruleus]

Hello there,

I was wondering if any DM's could give me an example of an excel spreadsheet that they use to keep track of initiative, hitpoints, perhaps passive skill checks, saves and the likes. I'm guessing really organised DM's tend to have spreadsheets for Monsters and PC's, which would be dope if someone could guide me.

As it currently stands, I tend to just scribble everything down on a scrap piece of paper and confuse myself, so any help is very much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

Peace.

This Excel Initiative Tracker I just posted may suit some of your needs. It generates and sorts initiative and keeps defenses, skills, and abilities, but I don't use it for hp or conditions because I find it easier to use paper for those things. You can easily add those to the spreadsheet, however.

 

[illwizard]

Hey thanks heaps to those that replied, I really appreciate your effort. I originally posted this a month or so ago and received no replies so it's good to see that someone's listening! Cheers and I can't wait to see what you come up with Traveon.
Peace.

 

[Klaumbaz]

how about just getting a pad of paper and writing "orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, etc" with his HP below, and just keeping the book open to the monsters page.

 

[jedrious]

how about just getting a pad of paper and writing "orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, etc" with his HP below, and just keeping the book open to the monsters page.

that would work, until you have mixed groups of monsters

 

[illwizard]

how about just getting a pad of paper and writing "orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, etc" with his HP below, and just keeping the book open to the monsters page.

Yes well that is the method I currently use and it tended to get a bit chaotic. I found those combat cards in the back of the DMG recently and they look like an ok alternative as well, but I haven't employed them yet.

 

[Gort]

how about just getting a pad of paper and writing "orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, etc" with his HP below, and just keeping the book open to the monsters page.

Yeah, like Jedrious said, this is great until you're running several sets of monsters from different parts of the book. For instance, I recently ran an encounter to represent a god cursing the players with a plague of vermin. It was low-level, so I used a mix of those electrical scorpions, rats, and fire beetles. It was quite a pain to have to keep flicking back and forth to find out the defenses on each one - I had to remember three page numbers.

In that case, I would definitely have benefitted from a spreadsheet with the defenses written down. Spreadsheets are also useful for keeping track of the myriad "ongoing damage" and other status effects that 4e characters are capable of producing - things like -2 to attacks until the end of Corwin's next go, for instance.