Non Crunchy Dm Screen Bits

[Nytmare]

I am in the process of slimming down as much of my book keeping and charts as I can to a single Excel file. Over the past week, I've been condensing the DM Screen and to my horror discovered that (with the ability to mouseover a cell and pop up a larger window of information) my DM Screen only uses about 1/3 of the space I have available on my computer screen.

Hating to waste such a valuable resource, I decided that I'd just find extra useful charts and programs to add, but I've hit a bit of a brick wall as to what else might be good to have at my finger tips.

So, hypothetically speaking, if YOU were in my position, what non-mechanical information (basically ignoring everything that was already on a standard DM screen) might you want to see?

The first thing that came to my mind was a button that picked three random things off the "36 Dramatic Situations" list (The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) to use as brain fodder when I hit a narrative block.

Next up might be a simple "Here are three random personality traits you could maybe use for an NPC" button.

 

[wcpfish]

I like to have a sheet of NPC names, Tavern/Inn Names, and two or three quick sidetrek-style ideas (the town's baker needs a rare spice that grows in a nearby swamp...can the PCs fetch it?). Anything that helps you think on your feet is good stuff.

I've also always liked to have two or three pre-generated level appropriate treasures (maybe the PC's wishlists or somesuch) posted nearby.

And thirdly (if u have the room) I've always liked flavor reminders- and by that I mean just quick notes about the sounds, smells, and things that make the area the PCs are in unique. In my current campaign the PCs are in a city that uses a particular type of scorpion as a drug and I have the table that provides me the scorpion poison effects (most are pretty humorous). It's that kind of detail that I find helps me breather life into my world and it's that kind of stuff that is easy to forget to do unless it's right in front of you

Hope this Helps!

WCPFish
Please check out my new website of monsters, feats, and fun for 4th edition! Escape Velocity Gaming

 

[Mentat55]

I am going to reiterate -- names, names, names! NPCs, places, legendary items, strange geological features, whatever. Also, names of drinks at the inn, local dishes, weird (but not monstrous) flora and fauna.

Maybe generic stat blocks for each of the different monster roles, that can be adjusted simply by changing its level? Good for quickly generating opponents that you have not prepared ahead of time.

 

[Nytmare]

I like to have a sheet of NPC names, Tavern/Inn Names, and two or three quick sidetrek-style ideas (the town's baker needs a rare spice that grows in a nearby swamp...can the PCs fetch it?). Anything that helps you think on your feet is good stuff.

If we're talking "keeping track of names" they're taken care of on another sheet. As for generating names, I might try that. I've hit a few dead ends while playing the name game. Maybe even just a random scatter of letters would be enough to jog something.

For side quests, it's not really my style, but that would be more of what the Dramatic Situations button is for. Huh, they went in a direction I never would have expected; oh well, traveling through the city of the dead in an attempt to find a shortcut will result in... *click* Pursuit, Rescue, Escape. Geez that pretty much writes itself.

I've also always liked to have two or three pre-generated level appropriate treasures (maybe the PC's wishlists or somesuch) posted nearby.

Wishlists have their own fancy (silly) page already.

And thirdly (if u have the room) I've always liked flavor reminders- and by that I mean just quick notes about the sounds, smells, and things that make the area the PCs are in unique. In my current campaign the PCs are in a city that uses a particular type of scorpion as a drug and I have the table that provides me the scorpion poison effects (most are pretty humorous). It's that kind of detail that I find helps me breather life into my world and it's that kind of stuff that is easy to forget to do unless it's right in front of you

I used to run with a little post-it note reminding me to "Remember the Five Goddamned Senses." I've fallen out of that habit; maybe I should remake that post-it note.

Maybe generic stat blocks for each of the different monster roles, that can be adjusted simply by changing its level? Good for quickly generating opponents that you have not prepared ahead of time.

There's also an "encounters" page tied into Adventure Tools so statting up fights is a breeze. I can piece an encounter together in not even 5 minutes now. It takes about as long to build the encounter as it does to find the right chits.

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The campaign was recently rebirthed in Eberron. Are there any world specific tidbits that might be helpful?

Hmmm, a list of the houses and their associated marks is something I have to look for in the books WAY too much. That should probably end up on there.

 

[Mentat55]

For Eberron:

Names of the days and the months
Names of the moons (and their associated mark)
List of important people (heads of dragonmarked houses, sovereigns, high priests)
Distances between major settlements, available transportation, speed, and costs
Effects of specific planes being in conjunction/proximity with Eberron

 

[Zinovia]

Next up might be a simple "Here are three random personality traits you could maybe use for an NPC" button.

There's a short chart like this in the current DMG, at the beginning of the "making NPC's" section IIRC. It's not huge and could certainly be improved and expanded upon, but it's a start.

 

[Ferghis]

I am in the process of slimming down as much of my book keeping and charts as I can to a single Excel file.

Would posting this violate site policy? Otherwise, could you post it somewhere? I'd love to have something like this at my fingertips. DDI Compendium is a bit more of a pain in the neck than I'd like it to be, and it doesn't always have all the rules in one entry.

 

[Irondeacon]

Have you considered creating a custom random character name generator that matches your campaign? My campaign takes place in Tethyr/FR and I've set up a generator using Tablesmith ( TableSmith ) that reference names appropriate to the area (Tolkien for the fey, Spanish for Amn, Arabic for Calimsham, etc. As an example the output looks like:
"Belladonna Zaragamba, a well dressed, young halfling female, displaying the black and brown of the Ostlers guild"
and
"Buthayna ebn Zafar al-Kabir, a cleanly dressed, young adult human female, displaying the absence of any guild markings"

You could pre-gen as many npc seeds as you like, select only those that most closely match your vision for the campaign, and have them ready to go from your spread sheet.

Tablesmith also comes with several generators pre-written, including a place name gen, tavern and inn generator, etc, should you want to pre-gen some for the campaign.

I strongly recommend the pre-generation process, instead of generating a list at the game table. This gives you the opportunity to pick and choose only the best results for your use, instead of taking the time to read through a list of possibles during game play.

I would encourage you to keep a list of the Ebberon houses in plain sight. My Zazesspur is a heavily guild oriented city, and having a list of guild colors available and open on my netbook while playing is priceless. ( I also incorporated guild colors in my random name/npc seed generator).

Lastly, let me re-iterate Ferghis' request for a look at your spread sheet. If it's legal, I definitly want to see if it can be used for my campaign.

Id Fiat Irondeacon Si

 

[Nytmare]

Yeah, this sheet is pretty heavily not kosher to post.

But, uh, if you messaged me, I might accidentally leave it out on my virtual coffee table where you could look at it...