How do you remember stuff at the right times?

[Particle_Man]

I was in a big combat yesterday, keeping track of my spells, spell-like abilities, magic item abilities, and after the combat realized that I have forgotten that:

a) Blur was on me, so the monsters had a 20% miss chance.

b) I have Mobility, so one Aoo should have been vs. me with +4 AC.

Both of these are "remind the DM when you are attacked" things, and I forgot to remind the DM. By the time I remembered them, the combat was over. I survived, but still, I wish I could remember stuff at the right times instead of when it is too early or late to be relevant.

Do other people have difficulty remembering what effects and feats and powers etc are on their characters, and when to remind the DM of them? What methods do you use to keep everything straight and remember things at the right times?

 

[Agamon]

This has been a problem for some time now. The best thing to do is use a scratch sheet. Just mark down your buffs on a spare piece of paper and keep it on top of yor PC sheet, it'll be tough to forget. You could also store your PC sheet in a page protector and write on it with a water-soluable marker. If it's a permanent, but situation dependant (such as the Mobility feat) I'd mark it permanently on the sheet, in this case, in brackets near AC.

 

[Dog Moon]

Or, something which seems to have become kinda popular, right down that stuff on cards and when it is active, place it upon the table in front of you.

 

[Ant]

E.N. Publishing's Buff Cards are highly recommended.

 

[BOZ]

i *don't* remember stuff at the right time - which is the problem. :\

 

[blargney the second]

I've taken to using primarily simpler always-active mechanics for my PCs for that exact reason. As the campaign progresses, I'll occasionally add the odd situational modifier.

 

[EricNoah]

I might put it on a sticky note next to my mini on the battle mat. That's especially helpful for area buffs like bless, bardic song, etc.

 

[Drowbane]

I only have trouble keeping up with buffs and feat effects when trying to run multiple complex NPCs.

Warlock is my favorite villianous NPC type for just that reason.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Now try being the DM and remembering all that stuff for someone that you will probably only use for one combat. In the session last night I kept forgetting that fiendish locathah have spell resistance. I rolled it after the fact without telling the players and got high rolls so it didn't matter (at least in my mind) but it was very frustrating to say the least. On top of that I forgot that the BBEG had a potion of Enlarge Person that I forgot to use. I don't think that it would have had a huge effect on the combat but it still annoys me.

I also forgot that 2 players were sickened for 4 rounds. I'm not sure whether they remembered to take that into account or not. I have bought the EN Publishing Status Cards just for that type of situation. I've printed them out but unfortunately I haven't gotten around to cutting them out and laminating them yet.

Olaf the Stout

 

[MerricB]

Now try being the DM and remembering all that stuff for someone that you will probably only use for one combat.

That's why I like the new statblocks. All the info is organised so it's in related locations. So, SR sits next to saving throws, hit points and other resistances. Any spell-effects that modify this get scribbled on the sheet.

Cheers!