You're Marked..how and what'sum'up?

[theNater]

my question is how is everyone keeping track of the marks in actual play?

You have the fighter and the paladin remember who they've marked.
The paladin can only have one target marked, and the fighter's marks wear off at the end of his next turn, so he just needs to know who he attacked most recently(and who provoked OA's since his last turn, but critters mostly provoke those on their turns, so you usually don't have to remember it for long).

 

[Rechan]

my question is how is everyone keeping track of the marks in actual play?

I'm giving different things to players who have marks/quarry/curses.

Pipe cleaners of different colors, plastic bottle caps (many minis can fit right down into them), pennies (underneath the mini), glass beads, etc.

 

[Blackeagle]

I kind of get the marking thing, as far as how the rules explain what it does, but how exactly does it work?

I mean, so a Fighter or a Paladin marks someone. So what? I can see it as a term similar to how 3E Dodge has the person choosing the target that the feat works against. But how or what is it exactly in the 'marking' that causes the target to suffer a penalty to attack?

Fighter: Aha! I just marked you!
Monster: So what? **Whacks rogue flanking him**
Fighter: You have to attack me.
Monster: Why? **Pummels paladin coming over to surround him**
Fighter: Because I marked you. If you don't, it will be harder to hit anyone else but me.
Monster: Hmmm, how exactly? I mean what exactly would cause me to miss someone else rather than hit you? **Lands two-weapon attacks on the paladin and rogue**
Fighter: Well, the mark just does it. That's why its called a 'mark'.
Monster: Oh...ok. Good luck with that!

Actually, I think it's more like:
Fighter: **swings his sword in a vicious arc that almost takes the monster's head off**
Fighter: Aha! I just marked you!
Monster: **takes a swing at the rogue, but has to pull his blow at the last second to deflect a strike from the fighter**
Fighter: You have to attack me.
Fighter: **batters the monster with a few more swings of his blade**
Monster: **decides that turning his back on the fighter would be a really bad idea**
Monster: Guess I might as well.
Monster: **Rakes the fighter with his claws**

 

[Diirk]

Think of it in sports terms (eg soccer, basketball etc). You 'marking' a monster means that you're sticking to it like glue and getting in its way when it tries to do certain things (eg attack others). Obviously the positional aspect of that sort of thing is difficult considering you're meant to be on a grid, but feel free to describe it in other ways, like it tries to attack the rogue and you kick in the ankle knocking it slightly off balance type of thing.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I'm giving different things to players who have marks/quarry/curses.

Pipe cleaners of different colors, plastic bottle caps (many minis can fit right down into them), pennies (underneath the mini), glass beads, etc.

Doing similar to Rechan. Each player who can mark will have a different coloured strip of sticky notes. When they mark someone they place their piece of sticky note on that monster.

I as the DM will do the same, but will have identical strips I place on both the PC and Monster, so the players know which monster is marking which PC.

 

[Hawken]

Think of it in sports terms (eg soccer, basketball etc). You 'marking' a monster means that you're sticking to it like glue and getting in its way when it tries to do certain things (eg attack others). Obviously the positional aspect of that sort of thing is difficult considering you're meant to be on a grid, but feel free to describe it in other ways, like it tries to attack the rogue and you kick in the ankle knocking it slightly off balance type of thing.

If that is the case, wouldn't the Fighter (or Paladin) be provoking attacks of opportunity, or opportunity attacks, or whatever it is by focusing so much of their attention on that opponent (or multiple opponents in the case of the fighter)? Obviously not, by the rules, but if that is what marking is, seems to me that's what would happen.

However, that doesn't explain how marking would work at a distance (if it does).

What I'm getting at, I guess, is that it seems like an ok thing for a video game, but it doesn't really feel like D&D to me. I mean, cast a spell, cause some kind of injury, or something to cause someone to have a penalty. But just arbitrarily inflicting a penalty on someone because you "choose" them as the focus of your attention seems lame.

 

[Hussar]

I kind of get the marking thing, as far as how the rules explain what it does, but how exactly does it work?

I mean, so a Fighter or a Paladin marks someone. So what? I can see it as a term similar to how 3E Dodge has the person choosing the target that the feat works against. But how or what is it exactly in the 'marking' that causes the target to suffer a penalty to attack?

Fighter: Aha! I just marked you!
Monster: So what? **Whacks rogue flanking him**
Fighter: You have to attack me.
Monster: Why? **Pummels paladin coming over to surround him**
Fighter: Because I marked you. If you don't, it will be harder to hit anyone else but me.
Monster: Hmmm, how exactly? I mean what exactly would cause me to miss someone else rather than hit you? **Lands two-weapon attacks on the paladin and rogue**
Fighter: Well, the mark just does it. That's why its called a 'mark'.
Monster: Oh...ok. Good luck with that!

A lack of imagination is not a failing of the ruleset.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I kind of get the marking thing, as far as how the rules explain what it does, but how exactly does it work?

I mean, so a Fighter or a Paladin marks someone. So what? I can see it as a term similar to how 3E Dodge has the person choosing the target that the feat works against. But how or what is it exactly in the 'marking' that causes the target to suffer a penalty to attack?

Consider it like this: In 3e someone could take an 'Aid Another' action to give a buddy +2 AC. Here the basic 'marking' means you get a free 'distract another' which gives them -2 to hit anyone other than you.

Don't ask me how it works with ranged weapons though

 

[Rechan]

Don't ask me how it works with ranged weapons though

It's called "Cover fire".

 

[The Little Raven]

It's called "Cover fire".

Or divine retribution, as the only ranged mark we've seen (which requires you to move towards the target, or end your turn adjacent to it to maintain) is the paladin's Divine Challenge.