I'm working on the "Ultimate Winging-it Table"
It will have a chart with "Low, Med, High" for hitpoints, ac, attack, damage, etc, by CR. Then, in conjunction with that chart, all the monster details I really need will fit on a playing card. For example:
Think of it like this: I'm throwing 2 mummies at the party while manticores attack from a chamber overhead. My party is level 10, and this is a pretty important battle. The CRs should be about 6 for the manticores and 8 for the mummies.
In front of me (and I have the beginnings of this chart already) is a chart like the one attached. Also I've got a couple of cards handy:
Manticore
Darkvis 60, Low-light, Scent
Fly 50 (clumsy) Flyby Attack
Tail spikes:
Volley of spikes: 6 rolls at atk-2 (19-20)
Close in Claw/Claw/Bite
Mummy
Undead, DR 5/-
Vulnerable to fire
Slam plus Rot
Mummy Rot (1 min, 1d6 Con, 1d6 Cha)
Despair (Wil vs. 1d4 rds fear paralysis)
PC Barbarian attacks mummy; I check my chart for AC of a CR 8 - mummies aren't particularly fast or armored, so I take something on the low side of average. PC hits, does crit damage, and I check the mummy's HP on the same column.
PC Mage casts a fireball, I look for a "Poor" save for the manticore because I know manticores aren't that great fliers.
Two other PCs go to melee with the mummies; again, I'm back at the same spot on my one chart.
There's an element of mastery when you're working off of one chart consistently, compared to relying on memory, and there's a huge speed benefit relative to flipping pages. Every time the players make an attack roll, I'm looking at around the same spot for my monster's AC. I'm getting used to both where the AC is on the chart, and what ACs are appropriate at this CR. In a way, it's like a handy helper on the way to ballparking everything.
