Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I have 6 PCs ranging from 10th-12th level. High level combats tend to last for far fewer rounds than lowe level combats in my experience (I've not had a fight last for 10 whole rounds for about a year!)
I use excel on a laptop to sort everyone into the right initiative order. Nobody delays or readies much but I could easily re-order people. The thing I find particularly useful about it is that as well as marking off the current round I can put a note in the appropriate column for when a spell wears off, or the current -ve hit points of any one who is dying.
We rely upon the caster of a spell or enhancement to keep everyone appraised. The Bard will shout out "don't forget the inspiration!" the Cleric will mention his Bless or Prayer. Even so, some players are better at keeping all their scores totted up. I get irritated when someone has to add up every value *again* each round. I also get mildly irritated when it comes round to a players turn and he clearly hasn't given any thought to what he wants to do and he sits there dithering. I sometimes give him 30 seconds to make a decision or else he loses the turn just to force some action!
Probably not inspiring, but it all helps a little.
I use excel on a laptop to sort everyone into the right initiative order. Nobody delays or readies much but I could easily re-order people. The thing I find particularly useful about it is that as well as marking off the current round I can put a note in the appropriate column for when a spell wears off, or the current -ve hit points of any one who is dying.
We rely upon the caster of a spell or enhancement to keep everyone appraised. The Bard will shout out "don't forget the inspiration!" the Cleric will mention his Bless or Prayer. Even so, some players are better at keeping all their scores totted up. I get irritated when someone has to add up every value *again* each round. I also get mildly irritated when it comes round to a players turn and he clearly hasn't given any thought to what he wants to do and he sits there dithering. I sometimes give him 30 seconds to make a decision or else he loses the turn just to force some action!
Probably not inspiring, but it all helps a little.
