|
It's always the little things that make a DM shine, and I missed a couple of big ones during my gaming session last night. The party was about to face the Grick/sphere trap in the whispering cairn and meet the ghost of Alastor Land. Even though I had planned all week for this encounter, and really liked the idea of Alastor busting the PC's chops while they were in action, I still forgot to play it out that way. I got caught up in the excitement and didn't even realize I missed it until the PC's were on their way back to Diamond Lake with the bones and a smile on their face. I guess I need to start using notecards to remind me of the important details for every encounter. What do all the great DM's here on the Paizo boards use to keep track of everything?
It's always the little things that make a DM shine, and I missed a couple of big ones during my gaming session last night. The party was about to face the Grick/sphere trap in the whispering cairn and meet the ghost of Alastor Land. Even though I had planned all week for this encounter, and really liked the idea of Alastor busting the PC's chops while they were in action, I still forgot to play it out that way. I got caught up in the excitement and didn't even realize I missed it until the PC's were on their way back to Diamond Lake with the bones and a smile on their face. I guess I need to start using notecards to remind me of the important details for every encounter. What do all the great DM's here on the Paizo boards use to keep track of everything?
I always keep a notepad handy. I put a column down the side, and as a creature or trap is dealt with, I write the CR for it for XP generation at a good point. Also, write down other notes, or quotes, or if PC actions pissed of a NPC for later revenge.
My problem is getting to the combat rules quickly - Trip and Grapple rules are the worst, but Cover and Concealment are tricky too. I've started preping a cheat sheet for just quick rules and references. Also, I need to get stick-on tabs so I can just flip to the sections (instead of trying to remember if the encumberance rules are before or after the combat section)
Getting the d20 files onto a handy laptop might also help, but I never remember which of the 40 files the rules would be in (I'd rig a search engine for it, but I'm opposed to doing development on stuff I don't get paid for).
But I forget things too - Like in the resting room for the workers in the beetle section of the WC - I forgot that everyone in the room should have been fatigued. So the party didn't quite get it when I said "Suddenly, a great wave of weariness washes over you", AFTER the fight with the beetle. There was much "Okay, who set off the trap?"
Eric and crew, it would be FANSTASTICALLY helpful if you can "highlight" the areas where special rules are in effect in an encounter - put a box or a different color or just a "*YO LOOK HERE!*" before it. Especially where the special rules wind up on the next page...
|
|
But I forget things too - Like in the resting room for the workers in the beetle section of the WC - I forgot that everyone in the room should have been fatigued. So the party didn't quite get it when I said "Suddenly, a great wave of weariness washes over you", AFTER the fight with the beetle. There was much "Okay, who set off the trap?"
I did the same thing :( haha
3 words....
POST IT NOTES
1 hyphenated word...
HI-LIGHTER.
~Qualidar~
I use those little post-it note like things too (i think they are called page holder?). They are great if you need to look up a rule that keeps coming up, like trip, and grapple. Highlighters are also very useful too. My DMG and PHB look like my college books with all the highlighting and page holders on them.
But thanks for the tip on the two columns for xp. I usually have to delve through pages of notes when it comes to giving out xp. THe gamers don't mind, as usually it is at the end of the night and it gives them a break. but it is rather bothersome.
Later
A.
Try this out: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html
It's an online SRD that can be downloaded if you don't have an internet connection where you are playing. I have found it invaluable, and since I started using it I haven't cracked the PHB, DMG, or MM!
Regarding the room with the grick and the iron balls, I actually changed the iron balls to stone balls because I didn't want the PCs getting their hands on that much iron! I also got rid of the grick because I couldn't figure out how the darned thing managed to survive in a locked room.
Try this out: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html
I concur! This is a marvelous resource and I use it all the time. When I'm at home or can access the net more easily I use http://www.d20srd.org/ purely because its search engine makes looking up obscure things easier :)
In the WC, I scrapped the fatigue in the 'rest-room' before the PCs ever found it, figuring that I would forget it anyway.
I also traded the Grick for a Grell, and wasn't going to have it attack until the PCs returned from the Alastor quest because the room had been previously sealed.
(this last point was moot however, as Filge went all Ed Gein on them and completely stomped their collective asses, resulting in a series of side treks to intro new/lost/dead PCs, and then an eventual TPK - this concluded our AOW campaign for a while).
I always type up a page or so of notes of just this type right before the game, and highlight the cool parts like this. I arrange them in the order I 'expect' the PCs to hit them, then check them right before I say 'roll for initiative' :)
I'm keeping files on each of the AoW adventures and writing little notes to self as I see you all bring up things like this, or as I think of them. When I prep the adventure, I organize the notes so I'll be able to look quickly at them when I get to the appropriate point and won't have to search half a page of text or a long stat-block to pick out the details I didn't want to forget.
On the grick, I just figured there is a fissure in the floor somewhere, under all those balls. Since it is more or less snake-like in form I figure it could get in without providing the characters with another part of the dungeon to explore (even if their bored/greedy enough to remove all of the balls, which mine aren't).