Three ways to track monsters in D&D combat
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Since DMs have a lot on their plates, here are just a few options for tracking combat to make life easier.
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My Monster Manual is a DAILY user at my table. I use it in game daily. I use the picture to help me spice up my descriptions, I don't show the picture, but it gives me ideas to make the character stand out. I tend to write up note cards with what is in the encounter and page number for where to find it in the book. Useful
I primarily use electronics via Fantasy Grounds. This is because one of our gaming group lives in Ohio and the rest of us are in Wisconsin. While a little pricey, it is excellent for online gaming. Thanks for the tip on the Game Master app. I'm going to check it out. I'm looking forward to other content from your channel.
Nice books on your shelf! All the way back to Advanced D&D!
Quality video, thumbs up.
I'd call this ways to track d&d monsters, rather than combat because you don't really go over initiative, spell duration, distance for theater of the mind, etc...
Ex: I track status effects with colored rubber bands. Spell duration go on the dry erased initiative order if they're going to run out shortly.
I use tokens...because theater of the mind has too much 'can I? how far?' etc.. It can be easier to track individual monster hp in a group if you use bottle caps with different numbers drawn on or paper cutouts with picture on one side and number on the back. I still like having some sort of picture or mini unless there's 100s and then it's time to break out pennies...but by then you'll need some large group combat rules.
In person I'm pretty traditional. I'll write up character sheets the old fashion way and use MIC (3.5) magic item slot sheet if I'm a PC. I will print crib sheet grids for monsters and write in by hand when I DM or reach into my binder of them. Most maps are drawn with dry erase, but I have been known to print something when my artistic skills aren't up to par or I used digital means to render it. I use paper and pen for most everything...unless it's something I need to be able to search. I use digital resources for rules so I'm able to find things quickly.
If I'm playing online character sheets are digital for easy sharing, plus roll20 has built in macros. I transpose things from my binder when needed...as it doesn't make much sense to use paper online.
Thanks! You have a very good point! I'll rename the video to make it more accurate.
Craig Larson, I'm afraid I can't answer your comment directly but I'm glad to hear from someone using Fantasy Grounds. I toyed with the idea myself but now that I've been lucky enough to form a new group locally, I've put trying FG off. All those core book databases sound really nice, though...
Thank you for your amazing support, dear RPG aficionados! This went over way better than I expected. Every view, like and sub feels unreal (not that I'm in it for the attention) and I hope I can refrain from disappointing in future videos. :)
I love those encounter cards. I haven't ran many games (I definitely prefer playing to GM'ing), but I noticed my home group DM always uses a legal pad & tracks everything there. I found myself doing the same. I have no idea how my version compares to his, but I'll list each threat in an encounter, their positions relative to the PC's (ie: right, center, left) and then deduct hit points as the PC's do damage. It works ok and one advantage is it gives me a running record of what happened in a session (or campaign, if I ever get that far). I do like, however, how your encounter cards has it all in one, easy to access location & you could still have a running record if you simply store everything in a binder or folder. Thanks for sharing!
Chris Johnson Thanks! I like your approach with the relative positions. Like you said, it gives a nice record of what happened in a battle for later. :) I'm still experimenting with different ways to track combat. I've played a lot on Roll20 lately, which makes tracking super easy.
The combat tracker is amazing! Thank you! I stumbled on this video in google and it's exactly what I was looking for! I'm gonna run a modified version of Wolves of Welton with some added October/Halloween stuff for fairly new players and these trackers will definitely be useful! Printing them right now!
Great advice. Preparing for games I use electronic tools and track encounters mostly on my computer but for quick record keeping at the table I find pen and paper to be faster. So in other words pre-planned encounters are electronic but improvised things mostly P&P.
Thanks! That's a good way to go. For a while, I tracked combat in excel but it felt a bit clunky. You can't go wrong with pen & paper, though. :)
Great job. I use theater of the mind exclusively. I like narrative combat and loose on the crunch. I find there's more creativity from players. I use a small whiteboard to track things, and also give the players an even smaller one (each player gets one) to track whatever. I use cardstock folded on top of my DM screen to track initiative. I have a bookstand for my MM. I use index cards for basic encounter notes. Low tech, simple, lots of room for improv and creativity. That's the way I like it.
Thank you sir, those initiative monster trackers are super helpful!
Thank YOU!
I use the MM and place blank 3M sticky notes as book markers, I then put monsters hp on the note. If dealing with more than one monster I do index card for the least amount or creature with the lowest hp as an index card and use it as a bookmark for the other creature, I use the back of the index card to track hp. If I have numerous different monsters I try to put all onto one page and print it, and do hp on the page in pencil in the margins. (last one is effective if running a module or expedition.
That's a great way to do it. Combat encounters are the one thing I prep for this extensively, but I'll definitely give your style a go if I need a quick stat for one type of enemy. :)
Nice useful little topic. I had downloaded the Pathfinder version of that app awhile back and hadn't even looked at it; that changed after watching your vid! Cheers!
Thanks! I'm glad you got some use out of it. :) Lion's Den makes some pretty nifty stuff.
I buy cheap little pocket notebooks and write down the stats of the monsters that I plan on using.
+Sean Stevens That's a great option, Sean. I too used lined spiral notebooks to jot down monster stats in at one point. It's simple and effective. Call me lazy but I wanted to go with minimal work on my part', hence the app... :P
Paper with rulers, grides that can be walked over, cardboard walls and oddly, hub worlds.
cool tattoos
Can you provide a link to the app you mention?
+Aaron Collins Sure thing! It's in the description.