Last night, our gaming group (7 strong, all 13th level, guesstimate that we're EL 16 or 17) faced off against a group of baddies (5 strong, EL about 15 after all was said and done), and it was the first opportunity that our group had to prepare in advance at this kind of power level. And prep we did - long term, mid term, and finally short term (rounds per level spells). And that's where the problem lay...
All told, our bonii gave us all (from various sources) +7 to hit , +4 to AC, +1 on all saves, +4 on fear effect saves, and the hasty benefits of an extra attack during a full attack action and an extra 30' of movement. In addition, the party was tricked out with invisibility, mirror images, stoneskins, and a host of other personal spells all before combat actually started. It took about 30 minutes just to get our numbers and plan in order, and the combat took most of the night. Worst of all, this stuff expired at different times throughout the fight, and needed to be tracekd individually.
And, quite frankly, I found it to be a bit of a pain.
So, what I'm asking for is tips to make it easier for the players (let alone the DM! - lucky for us, they baddies only had the 2 rounds to prep instead of the long term stuff!) to keep track of all this stuff. Any suggestions for what's worked for you?
(And, as a side note, what methods do you suggest to make doing the requisite math for expertise and power attack quicker when you use them? I love having that flexibility - doing 150+ pts of damage while weilding a two-handed weapon on a hasted full attack kicks all kinds of booty - but doing the mental math is a pain.)
All told, our bonii gave us all (from various sources) +7 to hit , +4 to AC, +1 on all saves, +4 on fear effect saves, and the hasty benefits of an extra attack during a full attack action and an extra 30' of movement. In addition, the party was tricked out with invisibility, mirror images, stoneskins, and a host of other personal spells all before combat actually started. It took about 30 minutes just to get our numbers and plan in order, and the combat took most of the night. Worst of all, this stuff expired at different times throughout the fight, and needed to be tracekd individually.
And, quite frankly, I found it to be a bit of a pain.
So, what I'm asking for is tips to make it easier for the players (let alone the DM! - lucky for us, they baddies only had the 2 rounds to prep instead of the long term stuff!) to keep track of all this stuff. Any suggestions for what's worked for you?
(And, as a side note, what methods do you suggest to make doing the requisite math for expertise and power attack quicker when you use them? I love having that flexibility - doing 150+ pts of damage while weilding a two-handed weapon on a hasted full attack kicks all kinds of booty - but doing the mental math is a pain.)