How to manage all the conditions and effects?

[plancktum]

Hi,

I've played D&D4e a while ago. I liked the system but the combats were a little bit too lenghty.
Recently I've read the 13th Age Rulebook and it looks that this system fits my playstyle much better.

But there is one thing: All the conditions and effects which were also present in D&D4e.
How do you manage them? For 4e I've used the 4eturntracker tool but for 13th age there is no such tool (or am I wrong?).

I'm not talking about the players. For them it's quite easy to keep track of their conditions. But how do you manage the conditions for monsters?
At the end the most important thing is fast and smooth combat.

I'm happy about every idea

best regards

 

[Balesir]

I have two techniques (used with 4E and 13A); they amount to essentially the same thing - "the same way I track hit points".

The first is to have an "encounter form". Top section has a list of monster types with any notes about what the players should be told about them (e.g. "disguised as peasants") and their initiative rolls, a list of PCs with space for their initiative rolls and a space for notes (lighting, special terrain features, etc.). The botton section is a list with one monster (or set of mooks) per row and columns for monster name/id, for miniature used (if any), for limited powers used (check boxes), for conditions imposed (with a code for how it ends) and a long track for hit points (with the starting total and the staggered value in parentheses at the left had end). Any loot can be noted at the bottom of the form.

The second is to have a card for each monster (or, again, each "set" of mooks). This can give the full statblock, be used (with PC cards for the PCs) to form a stack in initiative order in the GM's hand (so you just shuffle each to the bottom as they take a turn), and have space for conditions, minis used, hit points lost and so on. Marking off used powers etc. on the statblock is easy, but it's a pain finding a creature whose turn it is not to apply damage and conditions (without losing its place in the initiative order).

In the end, the best is a blend of both. Track conditions, mini (if any) and hit points on the form, track initiative and power use using the card.

Or write your own nifty App (and let us have it, too!)

 

[Starfox]

I use colored rings we put over the miniatures. Yellow generally means action afflictions (like stun/confuse), black physical conditions (blind/paralyzed), red indicates damage (blooded), and so on. But I don't play 13th age; not sure if my assortment of 6 colors of rings would suffice.

 

[delericho]

Our 4e DM had a set of tokens (which I think he got from Gale Force 9) each naming a condition and giving the details of its effect. There were tokens for each condition, and he had multiple sets. So, when you got a condition you also got the related token, and so have the rules right there in front of you. When the condition was removed, he took back the token.

It all worked reasonably well... although 4e had too many conditions, they came up too often, and they changed too often. IMO, of course.

 

[Evilhalfling]

We use tiny hair rubber bands (our group has a lot of daughters)
red = staggered, yellow = dazed, purple = other.

Really that covers the vast majority of conditions, that see regular use. in 4e the PCs seemed to cause the vast number of effects, and my party just doesn't create them.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Are we talking players or DMs here? Players can manage conditions on them, just use paper. (Unlike every other player in my group, I use a paper character sheet, and can just scribbled immobilize (save ends) or the like on my sheet.)

As a DM, I keep monster stats on my laptop but still use paper to track hit point loss and conditions. It works pretty well.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Hi,

I've played D&D4e a while ago. I liked the system but the combats were a little bit too lenghty.
Recently I've read the 13th Age Rulebook and it looks that this system fits my playstyle much better.

But there is one thing: All the conditions and effects which were also present in D&D4e.
How do you manage them? For 4e I've used the 4eturntracker tool but for 13th age there is no such tool (or am I wrong?).

I'm not talking about the players. For them it's quite easy to keep track of their conditions. But how do you manage the conditions for monsters?
At the end the most important thing is fast and smooth combat.

I'm happy about every idea

best regards

You can of course use the same condition markers you used with 4e, but in my opinion you will need them less often. There are fewer situations in 13A where status effects and conditions get applied. Monsters are simpler. PC powers are more straightforward. You can also make do with fewer monsters in combat.

I recently ran a couple sessions for a group of 1st level PCs and aside from 'staggered', condition markers didn't come up even once. I would expect that to increase at higher levels, but so far I just don't see monsters and PCs handing out conditions willy-nilly a la 4e.

 

[Agamon]

One of my players has some 4e tokens that work nicely.

 

[jamesmanhattan]

Photo-paper is your friend.
Have you ever printed from a photo-printer onto photo-paper?

Photo-paper is thick and coated in a plastic type substance. So it is pliable like paper, but holds up more like plastic.

You can print out labels of the conditions on photo paper, with colored backgrounds, then make a circle out of the label, glue it. Bam, you have perfect colored, and labeled rings you can hang on minis.

 

[biotech66]

For my monsters, I use a combat pad and no minis. 13th Age works best as theater of the mind, IMHO.For the players, I have condition cards from 4e that work quite well. When a player gets a condition, i had them a table tent that has the condition on it and what the condition does. Also let's the other players know they should help that person.