D&D 4E Introducing 4eTurnTracker!

[4eTurnTracker]

Thanks for sharing the upcoming stuff and your vision. I really think that you should include PC powers as well, but likely it is easier to implement monsters first.

After all, surges, HP, effects, and so on are just like powers.

Hmmm, ... point taken!

 

[4eTurnTracker]

Consider basing your work on the upcoming online monster builder, VTT, and online CB. They may have a newer format.

Good idea. I will look into this...

 

[4eTurnTracker]

The latest version of 4eTurnTracker displays complete monster Stat Blocks. Read more about it here.

To create a monster you simply copy the text of a Stat Block from the D&D Adventure Tools, the D&D Compendium, or even from a PDF file.

 

[Thraug]

The latest version of 4eTurnTracker displays complete monster Stat Blocks. Read more about it here.

To create a monster you simply copy the text of a Stat Block from the D&D Adventure Tools, the D&D Compendium, or even from a PDF file.

Whooohoo, awesome! I love this tool and use it weekly!

 

[bms]

excellent, look forward to next version

Hey, this is a great little tool, you should be congratulated for the work. I have a few comments if you're still taking suggestions. I'll post these on your website too.

1) when the action tracker is enabled on the players screen, it's possible to see actions of hidden characters (e.g. "Monster4 ends turn" when Monster 4 is supposed to be hidden)

2) Can I remove conditions applied erroneously without going "back"? Is there an "edit conditions" option somewhere? This is important if I forgot to put an expiry on a condition 3 rounds ago. I'm certainly not going to "back up" that far.

3) Could we add conditions vulnerable and resist? My PCs gain "Resist Fire 5" or "Resist All 10" until end of their next turn sometimes. Probably there are other similar things I haven't encountered yet. I know these are not technically "conditions" but you see the point I'm sure.

4)would be great to be able to apply free text notes to conditions, or to create a condition that is ONLY free text (i.e. an option in the dropdown to simply type in your own value). I'd have used this for conditions like (gain +2 to hit) where I would add the note "against PC1". This would also be a stopgap for the problem I noted above.

5) I would prefer an option to "always add monsters as hidden" with some followup option to "show all" at the start of the encounter or something. I blew an interesting encounter by accidentally loading it unhidden and giving away the dopplegangers on the PCs window.

Really enjoyed working with the tool tonight, on the whole it was a blast.

Mike

 

[4eTurnTracker]

Hi Mike,

Hey, this is a great little tool, you should be congratulated for the work. I have a few comments if you're still taking suggestions. I'll post these on your website too.

1) when the action tracker is enabled on the players screen, it's possible to see actions of hidden characters (e.g. "Monster4 ends turn" when Monster 4 is supposed to be hidden)

Oops, that is a bug.

2) Can I remove conditions applied erroneously without going "back"? Is there an "edit conditions" option somewhere? This is important if I forgot to put an expiry on a condition 3 rounds ago. I'm certainly not going to "back up" that far.

You can remove any condition immediately be clicking the X in the condition list of the creature.

3) Could we add conditions vulnerable and resist? My PCs gain "Resist Fire 5" or "Resist All 10" until end of their next turn sometimes. Probably there are other similar things I haven't encountered yet. I know these are not technically "conditions" but you see the point I'm sure.

I have had this request before. I will see what I can do. The main problem is to find space in the Conditions and Effects dialog.

4)would be great to be able to apply free text notes to conditions, or to create a condition that is ONLY free text (i.e. an option in the dropdown to simply type in your own value). I'd have used this for conditions like (gain +2 to hit) where I would add the note "against PC1". This would also be a stopgap for the problem I noted above.

This is a good idea, and quick to implement. I will add it to the list for the next version.

5) I would prefer an option to "always add monsters as hidden" with some followup option to "show all" at the start of the encounter or something. I blew an interesting encounter by accidentally loading it unhidden and giving away the dopplegangers on the PCs window.

Bummer! Maybe the easiest solution would be to simply not show monsters on the players window before then encounter has started.

Really enjoyed working with the tool tonight, on the whole it was a blast.

Glad to hear that!

Thanks for your feedback!

And, to everyone else: I am definitely still taking suggestions. Hearing about your experience with the tool is the best way to improve it!

 

[Ferghis]

Hey there, this looks fantastic. I have a couple of suggestions/requests.

- Make a iOS & android player app so that players can connect to the DM's software and view things for themselves, instead of having a player window on a second monitor.

- Allow players to add & remove damage, conditions and effects on anyone. Allow players to save custom effects (e.g. "Can't shift until end of Bob's turn") so they can just DRAG them onto a creature to apply them. This reduces the DM's burden, which is significant if you're running this software, a lot.
- - Track these changes so that you can return to any prior state if someone screws up, but maybe require DM approval for any "undo."

Also, a question: how do you visualize the durations of effects or conditions?

My plan is first to display all the powers. I am working on importing/generating the formatted stat blocks that are used everywhere.

I think this is an excellent goal (it's the main reason I use iplay4e.appspot.com) but I want to warn you that the dnd4e file formats are changed pretty regularly (it feels like every time the CB is updated). The guy who runs iplay4e has a nice workload by fixing the bugs every time. Not to deter you, just to warn you.

 

[4eTurnTracker]

Hey there, this looks fantastic. I have a couple of suggestions/requests.

- Make a iOS & android player app so that players can connect to the DM's software and view things for themselves, instead of having a player window on a second monitor.

- Allow players to add & remove damage, conditions and effects on anyone. Allow players to save custom effects (e.g. "Can't shift until end of Bob's turn") so they can just DRAG them onto a creature to apply them. This reduces the DM's burden, which is significant if you're running this software, a lot.
- - Track these changes so that you can return to any prior state if someone screws up, but maybe require DM approval for any "undo."

A networked App - great idea, but not trivial, of course

Also, a question: how do you visualize the durations of effects or conditions?

Currently the duration is just indicated in text form, e.g. "save ends", "end of next turn", etc.

I think this is an excellent goal (it's the main reason I use iplay4e.appspot.com) but I want to warn you that the dnd4e file formats are changed pretty regularly (it feels like every time the CB is updated). The guy who runs iplay4e has a nice workload by fixing the bugs every time. Not to deter you, just to warn you.

Actually I was referring to the Monster stat blocks. This feature is working in the latest version.

At the moment, displaying all the character stats is a bit lower on the priority list. One reason is because I don't want to burden the DM with managing all aspects of the characters. As you mention, iplay4e is a good tool, if players want an electronic manager.

 

[Ferghis]

A networked App - great idea, but not trivial, of course

Yeah... I can imagine. Being mindful that this is a kaboose-load of work, could I ask you whether that's in the works, and, if so, could you guess how remote in the future it might be? Again, I hope I don't come across as demanding, because I realize that this requires a serious amount of dedication on your part. To clarify, it's just too much work for me, as a DM, to use software like this. I'd much rather put a player (or several) in charge of tracking this stuff. Hell, I'd even put them in charge of tracking the amount of damage they've done to the bad guys. I already have a busy time running the show, and typing in effects or ticking conditions take my thoughts away from the players and the map, where they need to be to keep fights rolling.

This is not to put down your software. It really is a great thing. I just think it needs the above feature (and the ability to drag saved effects onto enemies) to be truly useful to my table.

Currently the duration is just indicated in text form, e.g. "save ends", "end of next turn", etc.

I'm not sure this is the best way to go, but, on a pointered-device, consider making the duration float in mouseover. That might save room. In my games, conditions and effects pile up like crazy (especially from those damn controllers), and that's my main reason to use software like yours.

The alternative, and perhaps better notion, is to include all the details of the condition in floating mouseover boxes. The fact that unconscious includes prone which means +2 defenses against ranged attacks is something that escapes many people. The same could be true of effects. An avenger with painful oath might note in the mouseover that if the oathed target moves away, the avenger gets +5 to damage against him.

At the moment, displaying all the character stats is a bit lower on the priority list.

I think that's smart, at least in terms of scheduling your workload. If you're interested, you could just use an iplay4e plugin. Masterplan used the iplay4e mobile view to save space, and I think the creator of iplay4e has an API from which you could "view" the character's current hp.

 

[bms]

problems before solutions

If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion...

Yeah... <snip> To clarify, it's just too much work for me, as a DM, to use software like this. I'd much rather put a player (or several) in charge of tracking this stuff. Hell, I'd even put them in charge of tracking the amount of damage they've done to the bad guys. I already have a busy time running the show, and typing in effects or ticking conditions take my thoughts away from the players and the map, where they need to be to keep fights rolling.

Let's try to be clear about what our problems are and let the designer go about solving them in the best, most efficient way he can. Ferghis started with a request for an app that would let players control the application of conditions through their phones: clearly a major undertaking. After a short discussion it becomes clear that the real problem to be solved is one of time management. DMs generally have too much to do, we're looking for ways to offload that work.

The author should be the one to decide if mobile apps are a good return on his time investment. If not, I expect there could be UI changes that would further simplify for the DM the process of managing this info. Probably not to the point of having players do the work, but maybe shortcutting things enough to make it flow better for DMs like Ferghis. We should be fair in our expectations: remember we used to do it ALL by hand, so delegating to players would be a pretty major paradigm shift.

Mr. Author (do you have a name to go by?), I'd be happy to keep track of some typical workflows using the software and offer you some user/UI metrics. I'll send you something after my next game and you can let me know if it helps you with your planning or not.

cheers,
Mike