Staying Organized at the Table

[Proley]

Hey all,

I play a conjurer wizard who usually brings something big and smashy into the fight, with a cohort, and a hired goon. Running the three is easy enough, they stick to their roles and things go quickly. Adding in a summoned creature is fine too, but my biggest problem is that of space.

I'm referencing 12 pages worth of spell cards in a duo tang folder, three standard character sheets, and a bestiary but if there isn't a spare bestiary floating around, I'm referencing my phone, which I also use to look up rules, or special abilities, etc... I have the Masterwork Tools and Spellbook apps for quick reference, but the table is only so big and with my 3 sheets + a book +spell binder +swapping between the apps on my phone... Suffice to say this is a lot of paper being shuffled around and I'm finding while my builds are viable and optimal, my structure isn't.

What common tricks of the trade do you have to take up as little space as possible and streamline things? I've considered buying a tablet, and digitizing things, but I don't really feel like dropping $200 for a solution to a cluttered seat if there's a better, cheaper, way. Is a giant binder with division tabs per character, frequent summons, and spells unwieldy? Any help or input would be much obliged.

[alchemicGenius]

I've found that just running a summoner/conjurer long enough, you begin to memorize your summons' abilities. You may want to consider bookmarking the bestiary pages of the monsters you can, or frequently summon as well. The binder idea you suggested should probably work fine, so long as you know how to work your own organizational methods.

[DTrueheart]

I have found as from a DM stand point using index cards is best way to go. Condense the cohort down to a quick reference index card if you can. All the numbers on the front, and equiptment on the back. Same with hired goon. I would assume could get away with doing same for your summoned creatures. I am willing to bet everything you summon is heavily modified from feats and templates so using the bestiary is a waste anyways

[Proley]

Thanks, that sounds both simple and organized, why didn't I think of that?

[Muad'Dib]

summon monster cards.

I've used these free summon monster cards in the past. Very handy!

Cheers,

-MD

*Update...nm, the link no longer works. Sorry..

[Lamontius]

SECOND UPDATE:

Your link works just fine without a <br /> tag

[Muad'Dib]

Thanks Lamontius,

Alas it looks like the file has been removed and is no longer on the server. :(

I'm glad I saved them when I did.

-MD

[Lamontius]

Hmmm, perhaps these purchaseable summon monster cards might fill the void?

man why am I doing product promotion for free
I need to call my agent

[Tormsskull]

How about creating a spreadsheet in Excel, Name, AC, Attack Bonus, etc as the rows, PC, cohort, summoned monster, etc as the columns. Then print it out, and you have all the info you need on one sheet. Just need to remember to update it upon leveling up and such.

[Mystically Inclined]

Is your phone an iPhone? There about 4 apps that taken together fill all my GM and player needs.

[CigarPete]

Lamontius wrote:

Hmmm, perhaps these purchaseable summon monster cards might fill the void?

man why am I doing product promotion for free
I need to call my agent

I use those and the Summon Nature's Ally cards from the same company all the time as a player and normally carry them with me as a GM for the inevitable person who shows up at my table searching for stat blocks without them. I do have several apps as well, but I prefer to use paper at the table, especially when there may or may not be an outlet to keep my phone/tablet charged.

[Pan]

Binder is a great idea and doesn't have to be giant just big enough to hold a few character sheets. It also makes tracking dailies and HP easy with plastic sleeves you can use wet erase on.

[Guy Kilmore]

While more for running a game. Obsidian Portal is free and lets you make your own Wikis and stuff, you can put this information there and organize it as well.

[Dark Vicar]

I don't know if this will help.
I did this when I played 2nd Ed, D&D.
I bought some different colored plastic recipe holder boxes, they hold 3x5 cards.
One color used for Cleric spell cards and the other for wizard ones.
I'd hand print a list of favored spells on a few 3x5 cards with a quick description of the spell plus what book it was out of and page number.

[Laithoron]

I make use of a Windows-based program called, TheBrain — a mind-mapping/relationship-mapping application.

Basically, for any given "thing" (or "thought" as they are called) (e.g. character, spell, dungeon room, plot point, etc.), you can link to any number of other "things" that you want. I might link "fireball" not only to a master list of spells, but also to specific NPCs, and to a trap that uses the spell's mechanics.

In addition, you can copy and paste links, PDFs, image files, etc into TheBrain. I frequently will paste monster and NPC stat blocks that I've taken screenshots of in Combat Manager, and paste them as the summary graphic for a given thing/thought. Since the whole interface is click and drag, it's very quick to jump around and see what other "things" are related to what you're currently looking at — much moreso than flipping pages in a book or PDF.

Examples: Encounter Location | Adventure-Building Template