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<blockquote data-quote="DanMcS" data-source="post: 1160788" data-attributes="member: 6530">The most complicated in-game combats I've been at have been at the columbus gamedays.&nbsp; For one, we had upward of a dozen players, plus all the NPCs.&nbsp; When we rolled initiative, we shuffled ourselves around the table to be in the proper order, which helped keep things rolling and make sure nobody got skipped.&nbsp; It wasn't bad for the DM, because he had relatively few NPC combatants, and they all went on the same initiative for simplicity.&nbsp; May not help you.&nbsp; You could, I suppose, mark an index card for each major NPC, and place them around the table as flags to remind you where they go.When I played in Ashockney's Halls of the Fire Giant King game, he had all his NPCs in a spreadsheet, and could hit a button and have it roll initiatives, another to do a full attack, etc.&nbsp; Not quite sure how he did all that, my excel-fu is weak.When I'm setting up NPCs for a game, I create them like they were a PC, and then make a combat cheat-sheet for each of them, on the back of the character sheet usually.&nbsp; I summarize their info in logical groupings.&nbsp; So init bonus goes first, that's the first thing I'll use.&nbsp; AC and defenses (resistances, SR, DR) goes second, since I'll use that a lot.&nbsp; Attacks are summarized in order of preference for the character.If there's a good chance the character will get buffed or alter forms during combat, those alternate forms get their own mini-cheat-sheets.&nbsp; Creatures that could be summoned get cheat-sheets too, those are often reusable.This is harder to do for spellcasters, since there's so much more variety in what they can do, but you can guess what their most probable actions will be and summarize that beforehand, maybe like the typical attack actions from the 3.5 monster manual.If at all possible, use mook rules for the minor combatants, the rabble ghouls or kuo-toa or whatever the PCs are fighting now.&nbsp; Summarize thusly- &quot;AC 17, hit a PC only on a 19-20, for d8+2 damage, fort save DC XX or paralyze for 1d6 rounds.&quot;&nbsp; You don't need hit points for them because if a PC hits them, they're assumed to be toast, and the non-PCs (the backup mook dwarves that have been following the Defenders around, for instance) could kinda be glossed over at this level anyway.&nbsp; They're unlikely to hurt a big bad when attacking him, and the evil mooks don't matter except as map filler, so why roll for them at all?&nbsp; Narrate it away.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DanMcS, post: 1160788, member: 6530"] The most complicated in-game combats I've been at have been at the columbus gamedays. For one, we had upward of a dozen players, plus all the NPCs. When we rolled initiative, we shuffled ourselves around the table to be in the proper order, which helped keep things rolling and make sure nobody got skipped. It wasn't bad for the DM, because he had relatively few NPC combatants, and they all went on the same initiative for simplicity. May not help you. You could, I suppose, mark an index card for each major NPC, and place them around the table as flags to remind you where they go. When I played in Ashockney's Halls of the Fire Giant King game, he had all his NPCs in a spreadsheet, and could hit a button and have it roll initiatives, another to do a full attack, etc. Not quite sure how he did all that, my excel-fu is weak. When I'm setting up NPCs for a game, I create them like they were a PC, and then make a combat cheat-sheet for each of them, on the back of the character sheet usually. I summarize their info in logical groupings. So init bonus goes first, that's the first thing I'll use. AC and defenses (resistances, SR, DR) goes second, since I'll use that a lot. Attacks are summarized in order of preference for the character. If there's a good chance the character will get buffed or alter forms during combat, those alternate forms get their own mini-cheat-sheets. Creatures that could be summoned get cheat-sheets too, those are often reusable. This is harder to do for spellcasters, since there's so much more variety in what they can do, but you can guess what their most probable actions will be and summarize that beforehand, maybe like the typical attack actions from the 3.5 monster manual. If at all possible, use mook rules for the minor combatants, the rabble ghouls or kuo-toa or whatever the PCs are fighting now. Summarize thusly- "AC 17, hit a PC only on a 19-20, for d8+2 damage, fort save DC XX or paralyze for 1d6 rounds." You don't need hit points for them because if a PC hits them, they're assumed to be toast, and the non-PCs (the backup mook dwarves that have been following the Defenders around, for instance) could kinda be glossed over at this level anyway. They're unlikely to hurt a big bad when attacking him, and the evil mooks don't matter except as map filler, so why roll for them at all? Narrate it away. [/QUOTE]

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