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I am looking for a program or app that will allow me to track when spell durations expire. The party is getting a lot of buffs and the the encounters have a lot of spell casting involved and as the GM I want to make sure that I am 1) keeping the players honest, and 2) keeping honest myself. I have a lot going on and would love something that I can add a spell to a list with the duration in rounds and just click a button to decrement the duration as well as a some visual or audio indication that the spell duration has expired.
I know I am asking for a lot, but does anyone know of something like this that can help?
I totally get it that I'm not answering your question the way you've asked for me to. But maybe this'll be helpful anyway.
As a DM, I use technology where it's helpful, and use old school tools where they're helpful. This kind of stuff I find works best without electronics.
When I'm running a combat, I write down the initiative in a vertical descending list. Then I write down the bad guys in a horizontal list beside it.
18.Alfred..........Worg1.....Worg2
14.Zimitz..........24........24...
7..Worgs..........................
6..Simon..........................
4..Unlucky........................
Now, if someone stuns a worg for 2 rounds, I'll put "stun 2" right above Worg1 or Worg2. When a round goes by, I cross off "2" and put "1".
Oh, and the "24" there is the Worg's starting HP. Each time they take damage, I cross of the number and put a smaller number below it, until dead.
Similarly if Simon gets paralyzed, I put "para 3" beside him. Each round on his turn, I tick it down.
Work with pencil and paper, using the backs of spare paper from old character sheets, maps, NPCs, monster statblocks etc. I'm never hurting for sheets to DM on. A typical combat takes up maybe 3" by 3" so I can fit an entire session on a sheet.
This is really, really flexible because with pencil and paper you can really quickly mark up and edit your "state of the combat" grid. My point is simply that electronic aids for this stuff do exactly what the developer created it to do, the way they created it to do it. There's no improvisation involved, so if you have a condition or spell, or anything that doesn't fit the app perfectly, or if you just mentally think of things differently, then you're lost. With pencil and paper you can note anything, anywhere that's useful to you.
Hopefully this is helpful.
I am looking for a program or app that will allow me to track when spell durations expire. The party is getting a lot of buffs and the the encounters have a lot of spell casting involved and as the GM I want to make sure that I am 1) keeping the players honest, and 2) keeping honest myself. I have a lot going on and would love something that I can add a spell to a list with the duration in rounds and just click a button to decrement the duration as well as a some visual or audio indication that the spell duration has expired.
I know I am asking for a lot, but does anyone know of something like this that can help?
Check out Hero Lab, specifically its Tactical Console.
You know, it's a bit low-tech, but... I just use spindown dice from Magic the Gathering in most cases. If it's a really short duration, I just use my d12's. Just put it on the round/minute duration needed, and remember to tick it down each turn.
I realise this is a bit of a late answer, but my campaign has been using the free Android app called Spell Tracker: Pathfinder Edition to track spell durations etc.
The app is aimed at players rather than DMs (one character at a time on the app, or one per tab for the web version), but it tracks spell duration automatically on casting, advances time automatically as other spells are cast (based on their casting duration), and players can advance time manually by 1 round/minute/hour/day as necessary. So it solves the problem for each player, provided they are honest.
Doesn't really help with your NPCs or monsters, though. :-/