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<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 3056963" data-attributes="member: 5100">Another programmer here, telling you to go slow.&nbsp; It's really, really, really easy to get so many tools that you spend more time playing with your computer than you spend playing with your players.Here's what I use:I prep my adventures using Word and PCGen (and, occasionally, CC3).&nbsp; Those are notes that are handy and on the laptop.I use PCGen to handle combat initiative and NPC hit points.&nbsp; For one game, I have a copy of all the PCs, so things run really smoothly.&nbsp; For the other, I think they are going to be giving me a copy tonight, but I've been just manually entering in their names, init, and hp each session.I use Excel to track &quot;unknown&quot; items.&nbsp; The spreadsheet has grown in complexity over time, but the simplest form was to use the row number as the item number given to players.&nbsp; They new &quot;wand #43&quot;, but I had a note that it was a wand of magic missle with 12 charges left.&nbsp; Now, I track descriptions (potion color, sword designs, etc.), where the item currently is (in the care of Alaster, sold to the garrison, etc.), what the GPV is (I often prefill the list with treasure I expect the PCs to find, which sometimes gives them a clue they should search more if the numbers aren't sequential), and the room/NPC/etc. where the item was originally found.I occasionally use <a href="http://d20srd.org" target="_blank">http://d20srd.org</a>, but we use so many expansion books that it's almost more frustrating to see only half the rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 3056963, member: 5100"] Another programmer here, telling you to go slow. It's really, really, [u]really[/u] easy to get so many tools that you spend more time playing with your computer than you spend playing with your players. Here's what I use: I prep my adventures using Word and PCGen (and, occasionally, CC3). Those are notes that are handy and on the laptop. I use PCGen to handle combat initiative and NPC hit points. For one game, I have a copy of all the PCs, so things run really smoothly. For the other, I [u]think[/u] they are going to be giving me a copy tonight, but I've been just manually entering in their names, init, and hp each session. I use Excel to track "unknown" items. The spreadsheet has grown in complexity over time, but the simplest form was to use the row number as the item number given to players. They new "wand #43", but I had a note that it was a wand of [i]magic missle[/i] with 12 charges left. Now, I track descriptions (potion color, sword designs, etc.), where the item currently is (in the care of Alaster, sold to the garrison, etc.), what the GPV is (I often prefill the list with treasure I expect the PCs to find, which sometimes gives them a clue they should search more if the numbers aren't sequential), and the room/NPC/etc. where the item was originally found. I occasionally use [url]http://d20srd.org[/url], but we use so many expansion books that it's almost more frustrating to see only half the rules. [/QUOTE]

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