DM Management Tools

[Xian]

What are some computer tools that you'd recommend to help with all the micromanaging that comes with DMing? I have a Word .doc to help keep track of the general info for my players so that I'm not constantly having to load their web-based profiles, but is there anything out there that y'all would suggest I use? As an added catch, it has to be Mac-compatible.

[Daze]

What are some computer tools that you'd recommend to help with all the micromanaging that comes with DMing? I have a Word .doc to help keep track of the general info for my players so that I'm not constantly having to load their web-based profiles, but is there anything out there that y'all would suggest I use? As an added catch, it has to be Mac-compatible.

there's a shareware program called Dungeon Master Assistant. Just use google/yahoo, you should find it. Decent program, has a lot of nifty features. Treasure tables, monster tables, character sheets, world design, weather, time, tons of stuff. And I'm pretty sure it's mac compatible!

[Xian]

Right idea, but it's Windows-only.

[Avenger337]

Excel is the DMs best friend!

I use excel spreadsheets for everthing -- from character sheets, to keeping track of important details about the party that I want to keep track of, to keeping track of who all the NPCs are that the party meets, what their name is, and where they live.

Virtually everything you could ever want to know about your gameworld can be encoded in an excel spreadsheet, with really nice organization and fast searching capabilities.

[Leadfeathermcc]

Excel is a good idea. I use a wiki, specifically tiddlywiki.

[Daze]

Right idea, but it's Windows-only.

whoops, sorry man.. see thats why Pc's are superior.. 3rd party support... but thats for another thread... :P

I looked around for ya and found D20 RPG assistant version 7.02, seems to be freeware also (and mac compatible). Can't verify much about it, never used it.. and unfortunately I'm at work, so cant view it...

The other guys are right though too, excel and word can be a good combo... though they can sometimes get cumbersome if you have tons of content....

[Zeta Kai]

I agree with the above statements. Spreadsheets can simplify a combat significantly. I just ran a massive ship-to-ship battle, laying out each enemy & ally on a separate row in Excel. I could not have ran that encounter with a SS. Illustrator is great for maps & other drawings. I mean, look what it did for the Giant...

[Dreyden]

If you use a laptop and can't be online when you play, download the SRD here: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html

To add a hyperlink in Word:
1. Open up the page in the SRD that you want. If it's a particular part of the page, eg. Spritual Weapon on 'spells P-T' (or whatever), it's easiest to get there by clicking a link from elsewhere within the SRD (say, cleric spell list).
2. Select the 'URL' in the address bar. Press Ctrl+C, or right-click and choose 'copy'.
3. Select the text in the word document that you want to act as the hyperlink. Press Ctrl+k.
4. Paste the text into the 'address' window at the bottom of the dialog box. Press OK.

Done. I ran 2 5th level casters (1 cleric, 1 wizard) today, and wouldn't have been able to do it without hyperlinking their spells.

[RandomNPC]

i use a 70 sheet notebook and those tape tabs that are half sticky and half color coded so you can find stuf. then any npc characters (notecards) or maps get paperclipped in. just make sure you have a good quality notebook, you want the low page count so when it does fall apart its almost used up anyway.

you don't need to charge it, your files can't get deleted, and if your really paranoid about looses of some of your work keep it in one of those trapper keeper things i used to use in school, they zip closed and you've got all your info.

yea yea, i know, im old fashoned, but i have no load time, all the encounters are in order and all i need to do is turn a page.

[Galathir]

I make heavy use of Excel and Word. One of my best timesavers is to put vital information and world information in seperate notepad or word documents. I then hyperlink all the documents on another seperate word document. They are all visible and only a click away.

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

If you're using a computer while you're DMing (from which I assume you're going for PbP), then I'd personally reccomend a wiki of some kind.

One of the biggest time-expenditures a DM has to make (at least, in my experience) is referring back to related information that was covered earlier; a wiki article generally has the links to the biography/goals of the NPC's allies, etc. ad infinitum; and since it's freely editable, you can update entries to reflect the player's actions as you like.

The greatest 'tool' is always going to be extensive preperation, though. Nothing beats a plan and a notebook full of everything you need to refer to.

[Xian]

Well, as far as materials go, I have everything I need. God bless the digital age. The bugbear in this is just keeping track of the stats (though hot-linking to spells and feats sounds like an immensely useful touch). After scouring the net, it looks like the only reliable (and free) option I'm going to get is to do custom Excel sheets (as was mentioned by a few people). I say custom because, after seeing the offerings available online in the way of spreadsheets and hating virtually all of them, I'm definitely going to have to make my own. The only problem I have now is actually working with Excel; I can't get the bloody program to work the way I want it to. Any suggestions on how to make it operate? My idea is to have the first page be a "summary" with all of the important stats, which it will get from the character sheets, which will be the other pages. The character sheets I essentially want to have set up like the ones on TheTangledWeb or RPGProfiler, etc. I cannot get it to format properly, though. Could anyone help with this?

[Ranis]

I second using Excel. It is wonderful.

[Xian]

Ok, I've finally created an Excel table, and quite honestly I'm rather proud of it. Is there any way to upload it to share?

[Ranis]

Well, you could take pictures of it and post pictures of it, if nothing else.

[Xian]

Eh, not quite the same. I'd just want to provide a tool for other players to use should they find themselves in a situation similar to mine.