Tabletop 4E

[Nightgaun7]

I'm just starting up a game irl with a bunch of newbies. As the only (modestly) experienced 4E player I'm trying to help both the other players and the GM track everything, but it's tough. We have a battlemat that can take dry erase, and a decent assortment of cardboard stand-ups and some minis, but that's about it.

I run a game on the forums here but I'm looking for any tips and tricks, play aids, etc that can help 4E run smoother on the table; preferably not too expensive. One nice thing is that the GM and myself both have insider accounts, makes rules and such much faster to look up.

[Kurald Galain]

Get an initiative tracker, and have someone who's not the DM call out initiatives, including informing the next player that he'll be up soon.

Mandate that every player has his powers available in front of him in easily accessible form. The cards that the charbuilder prints work for this, although personally I prefer having everything on one piece of paper.

Strongly encourage a player who spends too much time thinking about his turn to take the "delay" action instead.

[Nightgaun7]

Get an initiative tracker, and have someone who's not the DM call out initiatives, including informing the next player that he'll be up soon.

So far we're just writing it off to the side on the battlemat. Think we need anything beyond that?



Mandate that every player has his powers available in front of him in easily accessible form. The cards that the charbuilder prints work for this, although personally I prefer having everything on one piece of paper.
That's been slowing us down a little, we can't get the online builder to print properly so people are looking at tablets and sharing laptops.



Strongly encourage a player who spends too much time thinking about his turn to take the "delay" action instead.

So far everyone seems to be deciding quickly once the uncertainty with powers and such is accounted for. I'm the only person to delay so far, I figured they should get basic tactics down before getting to initiative changes and delaying synergies.

[MunkeeGamer]

My gaming shop had a magnetic initiative tracker with little nameplates and dry erase markers for everything. The left hand side is the initiative side the right hand side is a big open area for notes (HP for each bad guy, an on going statuses, etc). That thing has been a huge life saver for me, as far as tracking marks, combat advantage from abilities, and whatnot.

Also worth mentioning is the power cards from insider. Try to find a way to make that work because it was a huge help for my players.

[Daracaex]

So far we're just writing it off to the side on the battlemat. Think we need anything beyond that?
I had a DM once that wrote the player and monster names at either end of a piece of paper, folded the paper in half, and hung all of them along the top of his DM's screen in the order of initiative so we could see it all left to right, he'd see it right to left, and he could easily change the order around as needed.

[UndertakerSheep]

My gaming shop had a magnetic initiative tracker with little nameplates and dry erase markers for everything. The left hand side is the initiative side the right hand side is a big open area for notes (HP for each bad guy, an on going statuses, etc). That thing has been a huge life saver for me, as far as tracking marks, combat advantage from abilities, and whatnot.

This is most likely's Paizo initiative tracker. It's one of the best purchases I've made, ever. If you choose to use this and not the DM screen method, remember to call out initiative like this: "Player A, you're up. Player B, you're on deck!"


I had a DM once that wrote the player and monster names at either end of a piece of paper, folded the paper in half, and hung all of them along the top of his DM's screen in the order of initiative so we could see it all left to right, he'd see it right to left, and he could easily change the order around as needed.

I do this whenever I have my screen up. It's great and my players seem to appreciate it.

Also, we have a house rule in our 4e games. If your turn comes up, and you immediately know what you're going to do that turn, you get a +2 bonus to whatever it is you're doing that turn. It's a huge incentive, especially in tougher fights (which tend to drag on, so the speed boost is noticeable even more).

Also, if the GM forgets, ask the players the following question after they attack.

"Do you move?"
"Do you minor?"

[Nightgaun7]

"Do you move?"
"Do you minor?"

One thing I'm thinking about doing is taking a dry erase board and putting a table on it that has each character with little check boxes for standard, move, minor. They can be checked to indicated you did it, crossed out to indicate you can't, etc. Could also add Free and Immediate, I guess.

[GPuzzle]

Actually, I'm gonna follow the advice in this thread. My group says that when I DM 4e, things go too slow (if the game doesn't have a tabletop, it's a lot better). And I like 4e's tactical combat and the sheer hilarity of combos.

*checks money*

Oh, damnit.

[UndertakerSheep]

Actually, I'm gonna follow the advice in this thread. My group says that when I DM 4e, things go too slow (if the game doesn't have a tabletop, it's a lot better). And I like 4e's tactical combat and the sheer hilarity of combos.

*checks money*

Oh, damnit.

Have you tried the ''folding index cards over your DM screen for initiative tracking'' method? It's very cheap (provided you already have a screen) and saves some time.

Another tip is to always include a combat out in every combat. Basically, make sure there is another way to win besides killing all the baddies.

There's also this thing I've tried a handful of times, with mixed results. When I feel that combat is taking too long for my players, my monsters go into 'overdrive' (I narrate this differently every time) which means they deal and take double damage (sometimes only when bloodied).

You could also try keeping an eye out for what kind of powers your players are using. Once they fall back on nothing but at-wills despite having dailies, it's often safe to assume the players are going to win anyway. When I notice this, I sometimes just finish the battle early, either by allowing them to narrate how they won or by removing the threat.

Just throwing some ideas out there.

[Living_Dead_Guy]

That's been slowing us down a little, we can't get the online builder to print properly so people are looking at tablets and sharing laptops.


If you have the PDF version of the books you can always copy and paste powers into Openoffice and then print them.

Otherwise you can use this template (http://strangedicedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/power-card-template-www.pptx) for Microsoft PowerPoint
http://strangedicedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/atwillpower_thumb.png?w=176&h=244

Or this template (http://godeckyourself.com/core/card/card-list.seam?deckId=4518&categoryId=2) for PDF
http://godeckyourself.com/gallery/card.24740.36.jpg

Or you can use Magic Set Editor and use any of the dozens of templates from this thread (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?220953-Making-your-own-power-cards)
http://www.quindia.com/graphics/powercards.jpg

The best thing about creating your own cards is that you can have all of the math done on the card. So instead of showing Str Vs. AC you can change it to +9 vs. AC (+5 Str + 3 Proficiency + 1 Expertise)

You can also write little reminders like +2 for CA, or conditional effect from feats, or items. Its also a great reminder for tactics. For example adding the following text to Twin Strike if you use frozen arrows and have world serpents grasp. *If the first arrow hits the target is slowed. If the second arrow hits the target is knocked prone.

Using cards saves tons of time flipping through books, and at a glance you can see what powers are left if you flip them after use.

[DHKase]

You could have your players write out their powers on index cards if they don't have access to the character builder. Same effect just lower tech.

[Rezby]

What I do is I type up every little mechanical thing about my character into a google document, using a format I created to be easy for me to read and find what I need at any point. By copying it down from each book (and listing where each thing came from), I had a better memory of everything my character could do, and by using a format I created, I knew where everything was. This allowed me to look at my powers easily and determine which I wanted to use.

This is for a tabletop group where everybody or almost everybody has a laptop available to them and where we all have google doc character sheets that are shared with our DM that way, so that works for me. It might not be the best thing for your group though.

[Kimera757]

So far we're just writing it off to the side on the battlemat. Think we need anything beyond that?

Yes. Players ready actions sometimes :) I like the folded paper idea, but worry that players might have trouble reading it.


That's been slowing us down a little, we can't get the online builder to print properly so people are looking at tablets and sharing laptops.

One of these days I'll post my grand rant on how much I hate the Character Builder, but now is not the time.

[Yakk]

Living_Dead_Guy, can you spoiler-wrap those wide images?

Thanks.

[Laserlight]

That's been slowing us down a little, we can't get the online builder to print properly so people are looking at tablets and sharing laptops.


I "print" to a PDF generator, then print that PDF. Works well enough.

[Nightgaun7]

I "print" to a PDF generator, then print that PDF. Works well enough.

That's the problem; the pdf keeps coming out blank