Getting back on the horse

[Asmor]

I've been using TurnWatcher. Though it's designed for 3e, it works perfectly well for 4e.

You hit start and it rolls initiative for everyone, but it brings up a window where you can manually change them before hand. So I let the program roll for the NPCs and have the players roll normally.

On top of that, it has a HUD that I put up on a second monitor for the players to see which shows them a name (which can be different from what you see) and percentage of remaining HP for everyone.

Press space to go forward a turn, d or r to delay or ready (and then j to jump back in later). It's made keeping track of initiative and monster HP much, much easier. I do sometimes have disputes with players about how much damage they've taken, and I'm not sure if it's because of me or them.

 

[Klaus]

Nowadays I write a list down on a sheet of paper, put tick marks by people as their turn comes up. Record damage to monsters on their row. Put arcane symbols by things as they get hit with ongoing damage. Scribble it out then they save. Write it in again the next time they are affected. Do the same for dazes, marks, stuns, immobilised, grabbed, granting combat advantage...

It is all pretty messy (I've tried the index cards idea for initiative in the past and it never worked for me, BTW).

FWIW the 3e style 'durations' for effects was less trouble for me because I just put a mark in the appropriate column on my initiative chart and that told me when the time was up.

So anyway - this multiplicity of status effects on creatures is "a quirk of difficulty" which I've experienced when DMing 4e as distinct to earlier editions.

Cheers

You might want to try the DM Combat Tracker dry-erase sheet that'll be included in the upcoming BattleBox Fourth Edition, by Fiery Dragon. It has room for a DM to track up to 9 different kinds of creatures, and up to 10 of each (so you could theoretically track 90 creatures with it), by using numbered boxed for hit points and room for writing down conditions. Just assign numbers to the creatures of each type, and when that type's initiative comes up, go down the numbered boxes checking for ongoings and whatnot.

 

[Cadfan]

Hopefully he won't notice how feeble the 5th level daily power Fireball is compared to the 3rd level encounter power Fire Shroud which is likely to do as much or more damage to everyone in its area, can be used when surrounded and hits only enemies... and is usable every encounter!

Fireball is Miss: Half damage, and it functions at range. Our wizard, at level 5, typically dealt about 50 to 60 damage every time he cast it (17.5 average damage per hit, 8.75 average damage per miss, 4 to 6 targets). This was not true of Fire Shroud, which he also used to good effect. Fire Shroud typically hit fewer targets, since its radius, while identical, centers on the party's most vulnerable member. It also deals no damage on a miss.

Our wizard is a patient one, though, so that helps. He sits on that fireball until conditions are perfect- his initiative is high, there are multiple foes, they're at least a little bunched up, and BOOM! 25% of the enemy's hit points go away.

 

[Jack99]

Nowadays I write a list down on a sheet of paper, put tick marks by people as their turn comes up. Record damage to monsters on their row. Put arcane symbols by things as they get hit with ongoing damage. Scribble it out then they save. Write it in again the next time they are affected. Do the same for dazes, marks, stuns, immobilised, grabbed, granting combat advantage...

It is all pretty messy (I've tried the index cards idea for initiative in the past and it never worked for me, BTW).

Cheers

Have you consider using a piece of paper with a table (like, made in Word) for it? Even after stopping using a laptop (I went back to oldschool DMing with 4e) I still print out my encounter tables which lets me track round by round effects, hps of monsters etc with ease. I have yet to forget a status effect or a mark in 14 sessions of 4e.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hopefully he won't notice how feeble the 5th level daily power Fireball is compared to the 3rd level encounter power Fire Shroud which is likely to do as much or more damage to everyone in its area, can be used when surrounded and hits only enemies... and is usable every encounter!

Aside from other aspects - Fire Shroud targets Fort, which seems to be a statistical disadvantage - too many monsters have a good Fort defense. (There was an interesting thread about the MM).

I would try to compare Fireball to spells of its level. The damage potential is high, but there is a certain amount of "fun" gained by using sustainable spells that I find hard to ignore.

 

[Jack99]

Aside from other aspects - Fire Shroud targets Fort, which seems to be a statistical disadvantage - too many monsters have a good Fort defense. (There was an interesting thread about the MM).

I would try to compare Fireball to spells of its level. The damage potential is high, but there is a certain amount of "fun" gained by using sustainable spells that I find hard to ignore.

It has a nice range too.. Of course, that won't help you much in a small dungeon, but outside, 20 sq is FTW

 

[Asmor]

Aside from other aspects - Fire Shroud targets Fort, which seems to be a statistical disadvantage - too many monsters have a good Fort defense. (There was an interesting thread about the MM).

I would try to compare Fireball to spells of its level. The damage potential is high, but there is a certain amount of "fun" gained by using sustainable spells that I find hard to ignore.

Fort may be a statistical disadvantage in a vacuum, but it is not used in a vacuum.

Having powers which target defenses different from your other powers is ALWAYS advantageous.

 

[The Little Raven]

It is all pretty messy (I've tried the index cards idea for initiative in the past and it never worked for me, BTW).

I had a similar problem with the index card idea, but came up with a solution that has been working well so far.

I print out my initiative cards (with basic stats, like Passive Insight and Perception and all that) on printable business cards (so, they're 2" by 3.5") and use a sheet protector for business cards to arrange the cards in order of initiative, and just X off each card as the player/monster completes a turn. It's worked pretty well for me.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I would try to compare Fireball to spells of its level. The damage potential is high, but there is a certain amount of "fun" gained by using sustainable spells that I find hard to ignore.

I have, it seems to be the worst 5th level daily by a long shot - almost all the others are better in terms of doing damage, lasting more than a round, autokilling minions or some combination of the above.

I consider one of the most sacred of sacred cows being "I'm 5th level, I can cast FIREBALL!". unfortunately it just isn't worth casting in 4e.