Extra effects - how easy are they to track?

[Kerrick]

I'm wondering about spells like sleep, where even if you make the save, you're dazed (I think that's right) for 1 round. Is it fairly easy to keep track of short-term conditions like that? I'm curious, because I was thinking of applying something similar to 3E stuff - properties like shocking burst deal 1d6 damage and daze the target for 1or 2 rounds, instead of a flat +1d10 damage, but I'm worried that the extra condition would just add more numbers to keep track of.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Some people have a great deal of trouble keeping track .. so ... use props.

For example:

Hand them card slips (like those for magic: the gathering) with the condition inside.
Shove duration counters inside (like strips of paper, for example), keyed some way (like colour coding) to the character or monster the duration is dependent on.
Remove a strip, and put the card back in the pile when it wears off.

 

[James McMurray]

Short term ones are easy to track. The player that cauased it tends to remind the GM if they forget, or we put counters under the minis. The GM uses index cards to track init, so he writes conditions on the cards. Players use counters, index cards, or pencil and paper depending on their personal preference.

 

[the Jester]

They aren't usually too hard to track until a few hours into the game, when we hit our third 12-pack.