Help Me Help My Players

[Suteinu]

I just started running a campaign for both my children. Their characters are third level, and we're having fun :smallbiggrin:! I want to help them get the most out of their characters, and could use some help in that, myself. Not really concerned w/ optimization so much as ease and efficiency of play.

My son, 14, is playing a cleric of Obad-Hai. He's a melee-type, and wields a flail like an old-fashioned 1st-ed cleric. He's a wandering avenger-of-nature sort, but has his eye on making converts as he goes. My son is an experienced player, so his character can get a little complex. Has his eye on crusader-dip into RKV, modified for diety. Domains: Earth & WAter. Feats: Militia (Bckgrnd), Animal Devotion, Fire Devotion.

My daughter is 9. She plays a ranger w/ a preference for archery and has a dog and a wolf (actually a young direwolf, purchased w/ Wild Cohort; dog will become Animal Companion). FEats: Wild Cohort, Track, PBS, Rapid Shot, Endurance, Precise Shot.

[Captnq]

Actually, I'm thinking of putting this in my DM handbook:

Streamlining

At a certain point in the game, it starts to bog down. The problem is that the game loves to throw in a million tiny bonuses. +1 to MIND-AFFECTING Will Saves. +2 to Fortitude saves for Spells-and spell-like abilities ONLY. A +2 Bonus on the three days the moon is full. A +2 Synergy bonus that only applies on a month that ends in a R.

Which is easy to keep track of at low levels, but when you start to get into double digits, your character sheet starts to sprawl. About the time you have four or more pages of character notes is about the time your PC becomes impossible to manage. You have no idea how often I have heard, "Damn it! I forgot my [insert obscure bonus here]." And as the DM, it's worse for you. You might want to make a customized, optimized BBEG horror to put the Fear of DM back in your players, but handling 27 mooks in mass combat is tough enough, forget keeping track of the BBEG's bonus against giants when the player's cast enlarge on themselves.

So I make a point, starting at 10th, to take the players aside and ask if they are having problems. If so, I offer streamlining. You got a +2 to all mind affecting will saves? Would you like a +1 to all will saves all the time so you don't have to keep track? I notice you have this Power you never use, would you like to retrain because it simply seems to be wasted space on your sheet. Yes, it's house rules. Yes, your players are no longer "street legal". But the fact that they can condense their combat notes back down to one side of one page again will greatly improve their enjoyment.

And that applies to you as well. Yes, figuring out every last detail of a BBEG's power list is awesome. However, I find you can condense any BBEG down to a paragraph or two and still have 90% of his powers that he would use in a normal combat. Chances are he's have time to cast this buff and that buff and this NPC cohort would cast this...

So you keep two versions: BBEG at full power. BBEG with his pants down. Or maybe three versions, if it's possible that the BBEG might actually get caught on the toilet. Then you can have power notes like: Spam Fireball. Spam summoned Mook, Big Ass Sword, Full Attack Notes.

I've found very few combats last more then ten rounds. So you don't need to plan that far in advance. Now, you might have a problem with what basically amounts to "rounding". Because that's what you are doing. Rather then figure out every possible outcome, you are rounding. He's got a bunch of +1s in obscure situations. Lets trade those in for one solid +2. It's all the same "power level", you are just simplifying the BBEG. By Streamlining, combat goes faster, the players get more done, and everyone has more fun. Done properly, the PCs won't even notice.

Oh Yeah. Check out the EVD in my Sig file for help with stuff. And have your player... err... second thought.. don't. I have a Noob Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=9479.0), But it's not really "kid safe" if you know what I mean. Maybe YOU should read it, copy out parts that you think is safe for them to read, then email them a copy.

[Maginomicon]

Kind-of a slim shot here, but does everyone have access to a laptop or smart phone?

Even if it's just you with the laptop, rather than simplifying character sheets, it might help to make the full text of what they have readily text-searchable through a Google Document. This allows you to (among other things) organize those conditional modifiers logically to wherever you like. I'd recommend using keywords like "[DEXmod]" and liberal use of the intra-document bookmarks and table of contents entries. It might feel like "homework", but it's a very practical task that'll save you from going page-hunting a hundred times a session.