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<blockquote data-quote="Uller" data-source="post: 6643505" data-attributes="member: 413">As for the advice you are looking for, I don't think the DM needs to declare the monsters' actions out loud.&nbsp; I just declare what, in general the monsters appear to be doing.&nbsp; A little unfair? maybe.&nbsp; But the players do get a general idea of what the monsters are doing before they decide their actions and I let the PCs &quot;win&quot; ties. If you have to pick a spell or the like, probably jot it down.&nbsp; I use a small dry erase board for tracking init.So far it's been: The cultists are charging with swords while some hang back with crossbows.&nbsp; The BBEG looks like he's getting ready to cast a spell. The players don't get to know the specifics.&nbsp; And I have kept it honest.&nbsp; I had a BBEG (the half dragon in HotDQ) stuck behind his body guard in a 5' corridor.&nbsp; The bodyguard died.&nbsp;&nbsp; I didn't have the BBEG change his action to a melee attack.&nbsp; He stuck with throwing a javelin.Oh...the other thing I started doing is I keep a bunch of d10s handy and place them next to monsters to represent damage done so far. We kept the &quot;bloodied&quot; condition from 4e...so black dice for unbloodied and red for bloodied.&nbsp; That way the players can just see at a glance what monsters are wounded and how much damage they've taken so far.&nbsp; Once the hp dice exceeds the monster's max HP, it's dead.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Uller, post: 6643505, member: 413"] As for the advice you are looking for, I don't think the DM needs to declare the monsters' actions out loud. I just declare what, in general the monsters appear to be doing. A little unfair? maybe. But the players do get a general idea of what the monsters are doing before they decide their actions and I let the PCs "win" ties. If you have to pick a spell or the like, probably jot it down. I use a small dry erase board for tracking init. So far it's been: The cultists are charging with swords while some hang back with crossbows. The BBEG looks like he's getting ready to cast a spell. The players don't get to know the specifics. And I have kept it honest. I had a BBEG (the half dragon in HotDQ) stuck behind his body guard in a 5' corridor. The bodyguard died. I didn't have the BBEG change his action to a melee attack. He stuck with throwing a javelin. Oh...the other thing I started doing is I keep a bunch of d10s handy and place them next to monsters to represent damage done so far. We kept the "bloodied" condition from 4e...so black dice for unbloodied and red for bloodied. That way the players can just see at a glance what monsters are wounded and how much damage they've taken so far. Once the hp dice exceeds the monster's max HP, it's dead. [/QUOTE]

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