D&D 4E New 4e DM in need of help!

[KarinsDad]

Any ideas on how you guys handle initiative? Right now I use the trusty combat matrix printed on paper. I'm seeing ideas like using combat cards, magnetic white boards, round-robin initiative where the go clockwise or counter-clockwise around the table, etc. Any ideas on how make tracking initiative less cumbersome?

We use 3x5 cards with each PC's name and ones with "Bad 1", "Bad 2", "Neutral 1", "Good 1", etc. The DM writes down the numbers and the miniatures/creatures they correspond to on a private white board (where he keeps track of hit points), but we've used paper in the past as well. It typically only takes about a minute or so to set the cards up at the beginning of combat. We turn them 90 degrees sideways for a readied action. We pull them out for delay action. Usually, a player takes care of this for the DM. It has worked well since the early 3E days.

We use the plastic ring from the top of soda bottles for various conditions (red for Bloodied, green for Hunter's Quarry, blue for Divine Challenge, yellow for Cursed, etc.) and we just drop them over the miniatures. Players can tell at a glance what the situation is.

 

[ObsidianCrane]

Well at home I usually use the trusty paper method.

At an RPGA event the other day I used my PDA's excel app. Just plugged in the character names, the monsters (which I do initiative by type not individual) and then sorted according to Initiative.

Main thing is to keep the number of monster initiatives down, rather than having 1/monster having 1/monster name makes a lot less tracking.

 

[Rashak Mani]

You have too many Dragonborn... 3 breath weapons per encounter mean that minions will never be a big threat to your party.

As for the topic... small skirmishes if they make players spend healing surges are already draining them a bit.

 

[Nail]

Any ideas on how you guys handle initiative?

I use 8 x 11 sheets of paper. (I find 3 x 5 cards way too cramped.) I use the monster's stat sheets, and then one sheet per PC with their name and relevant stats on it. That way everything I need is right there in front of me.

 

[Nail]

You have too many Dragonborn... 3 breath weapons per encounter mean that minions will never be a big threat to your party.

Good catch!

Start replacing minions with soldiers for your group.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Good catch!

Start replacing minions with soldiers for your group.

Or spreading your minions more...

In many topics its been discussed that more than 1 Dragonborn in a group means minions and controllers (anti-minion "specialist") get the short end of the stick.

 

[KarinsDad]

I use 8 x 11 sheets of paper. (I find 3 x 5 cards way too cramped.) I use the monster's stat sheets, and then one sheet per PC with their name and relevant stats on it.

Where did you acquire the "monster's stat sheets" on paper (outside of a book or module)?

 

[Nail]

Where did you acquire the "monster's stat sheets" on paper (outside of a book or module)?

I wish I had a "Just download this!" answer.

But I don't.

I have a pdf of the MM. I take a picture of the stat block, enlarge it slightly, and put it in a blank word doc. Print the word doc. Done.

Often, I use the large blank margins around the monster stat block to jot notes about monster tactics, pithy quotes, and useful rules from other parts of the rules. For example, for KotS I highlighted on the Dragonshield sheet the fact that a basic attack marks the opponent, then wrote in the margin what that meant. For the kobold minions, I put a note saying "mob 1 PC so dragonshields get bonus to hit, +1/minion". Etc.

But do I have a MonsterForge -like file that can generate monster stat blocks? Nope.

'Course, you could just check out HeroForge an' see what's available. ...maybe I'll do that right now, actually.

Your thoughts?

 

[KarinsDad]

Your thoughts?

This sounds like a good approach. The only slight improvement I can think is to print them out on 5x8 cards (if your printer can do that) so that the sheets are stiffer, smaller, and easier to handle.

 

[That One Guy]

Also, does one battle constitute an encounter? If so, what's to stop players from fighting two fights, gaining a "milestone", and getting more action points thus allowing them to do even more per turn than they normally do? What, if anything, am I doing wrong??

PCs can only use 1 AP/encounter. (Some items/powers give exceptions, but that's the rule)

I don't have the module. For my homebrewed games I found that one minion that moves, and then shifts into a flanking position, can provide some vicious flanking for skirmishers who move in and then shift away.

I do remember the module was made about a month or two before 4e came out. If a fight is less than 500 XP, add a combination of skirmishers and minions to boost it up. Also, allow for 'waves' of minions to hear the PCs and then come to attack. The dragonborn trio will probably nuke almost all of the minions, anyway. W/ a wizard there too, you may want to use wyrmpriests to give them temp hp, like others have suggested.