New to Pathfinder - How do you keep track of stuff during adventure?

[fatdawg]

I'm new to PF (after taking 30+ years off from D&D back in the day). I'm starting to get my son interested in RPG's, PF specifically, and we don't have very many other players in our area that we know of to learn from. So we are learning as we go, just he and I, starting with the Beginner's Box.

Since we are just one character and one GM, I didn't want to run him through the Beginner's Box adventure for his first experience. To introduce him to the absolute basics (GM describes a scene, PC explains what they do, GM describes consequences, we roll dice and have fun), I made up a simple linear "adventure" with three rooms, a few goblins, a trap, a secret room, and a moral dilemma at the end. It was fun, his Cleric didn't die, and he seems interested in playing and even GM'g. At the risk of breaking my arm patting myself on the back, it was a completely successful experience - except I had no idea what I was doing trying to keep track of everything (and there was not a lot to keep track of as it was - I can see how a full party in a full adventure can get complicated quick).

I just used the margins of my printed Word document to cross out HP and write in new lower values, and he did the same. But after a few misses on both sides of combat I completely lost track of what round we were in. He had used Divine Favor to give him +1 on Att/Dmg rolls, which was supposed to last a minute, which is what, 10 rounds? In the end it didn't matter, it was just a 1 on 1 low level adventure, and he slayed the goblin, but it highlighted for me that if there were more characters and/or baddies, I did not have a good system in place for how to keep track of initiative order, who's turn it was, what spell(s) or attacks they used, how long the effect(s) are supposed to last, monster HP as the attacks keep coming, XP to award at the end, treasure amounts along the way, the list goes on.

Is there a sheet / cheat sheet / system that people use to keep track of everything? I'm still in the "do we really want to play this game" stage, so I'm trying to keep costs low. This stuff might be in the full GM Guide, but I'm opposed to spending more money until I know we are ready to go there, which is why I haven't spent the coin on it yet. I've seen a lot of guides on character creation, builds for different classes, etc, but not as much on "here's an easy form to fill out / system to keep track of what's going on."

Any help greatly appreciated...

[Eltacolibre]

I usually just write down the essential during combat on a piece of paper quite honestly.

Spells duration and the likes, I keep track of my npc spells/abilities, players keep track of their spells/abilities.

There are stuffs that you will get used to with time...it's the kind of system that gets easier the more you play it but it is definitely not an easy system.

[Hythlodeus]

I use index cards for initiative. every player and every monster or NPC gets a card (with their name or descriptions like "Goblin 1", "Goblin 2" etc on it) and they are arranged in initiative order. then I hand it over to one of the players of my group to keep track of that (or do it myself, if there's not that much else for me to keep track of)

players keep track of their own spells and abilities, often use dice as counters for longer lasting effects. I do the same for monsters and/or NPCs.

HP, I just scribble on wherever it fits on my notes. The exact system varies from day to day, sometimes I add the damage, sometimes I substract it from the monster's total HP.

Whenever possible I go into battles with a very clear strategy which spells are used when.

That said, there are tools, programs like DMMinionPF, PCGen and HeroLab, that help you with all of that and some of them are free. I don't use them, but I see the possibilities. (especially with PCGen and their GMGen tool that is very easy to work with, but I guess the others are great too, depending on what exactly you want from it)

[Loengrin]

I usually use this sheet : Time Sheet to keep track of rounds, time etc.

I use this sheet for init

I use thise site for they wondeful calendar on which I or a player notes what has been done everyday if it's important... ;)

I use blank paper for tracking monster hp... :p

You can ask your players to help... Either by using token for the spells in round or taking track of what is done when in the calendar...

Oh I forgot, it does not come often but sometimes you need a weather table it can help... :p

[rainzax]

Materials
Cardboard slate, paper clips, golf pencils, slips of paper, sharpie.

Job One
Now you have a free Initiative Tracker. Give this to one of your players and have them keep track of the Initiative Order (left) and Round Number (right).

Job Two
Have players use specially designated dice to track durations (of spells and other short-term effects). Appoint a person to make sure these are being tracked at the end of each round.

Job Three
Give one of your players the book - if you need to look up a rule mid-scene, delegate that that player tries to look up the rule in a timely manner, else "wing it" and have them take a note to look up the rule after the session.

DM's Job
Run the NPCs, narrate the world, ask players "what do you do?" and make sure everyone has fun. Create new jobs as necessary for your game.

[Arktisk Rev]

I use a 9"x 12" magnetic white board with home made magnetic "white board" strips. you can find a small white board at any office store. You can find magnetic strips and a roll of white board material at a hobby store like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Cut strips to the length you want and the apply to back of white board material and trim material to sides of the strips. I marked the sides of the white board with permanent numbers and a small strip the slide down the number to keep track of rounds. The larger strips are used for initiative order, HPs and any thing else that needs tracking.

Paizo has the Pathfinder Combat Pad, that does the same thing.

[Loengrin]

Arktisk Rev wrote:

I use a 9"x 12" magnetic white board with home made magnetic "white board" strips. you can find a small white board at any office store. You can find magnetic strips and a roll of white board material at a hobby store like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Cut strips to the length you want and the apply to back of white board material and trim material to sides of the strips. I marked the sides of the white board with permanent numbers and a small strip the slide down the number to keep track of rounds. The larger strips are used for initiative order, HPs and any thing else that needs tracking.

Paizo has the Pathfinder Combat Pad, that does the same thing.

I use transparent plastic sheet and rewritable marker, you can print map and put the sheet on it so you can write directly on it and put token as players and monsters (My players love to play tactical).. That's quite practical... ;)

My tablet has freed me from the need of all the heavy books and the research function is really nice :p

[Rylar]

First, welcome to pathfinder.

When prepping a new session I print out new sheets that have the basic stats and abilities that I need for whatever my players are going to fight. Special characters will get their own sheet, but mooks generally share their sheet with each other if they are similar. I'll have their attacks, the way they are going to fight in combat, maybe a line or two of tactics.

My two main sections are defense and attack. The attack section will have all my common attacks and things like fireball damage and sleep saves. I don't often have more than 3 types of "attacks" to try on my players as it just gets too complicated.

Movement options also go in the offense section.

The defense area has anything I think I will need when my players are attacking. AC, Touch AC, FF etc. If these change during combat I can cross it out and write the new number in. If I know they are going to change (such as casting mage armor round 1) then I will just print them with the mage armor stats. Make sure to keep resistances and Damage Reduction numbers here as well.

Health is given a little extra room for each bad guy. When they are damage I subtract the damage from their total health just crossing out the old number and writing in the next.

I have another player track initiative.

Players usually track their own spells (sometimes I have to remind them...). Generally if something lasts minuets per level, they last 1 combat. If it lasts 10min per level they will last past the combat, but only are in effect during the next if the combat comes close in story succession. Hour per level we stop tracking after level 5 or so. If it lasts rounds per level they need to be tracked (and cannot be cast before combat).

Don't get too bogged down with keeping track of too much. If weather has minimal effect on your story, don't track it. Most everything can be hand-waved. I played in a group for years before we ever bothered with a battle map.

Last advice, Don't let rules get in the way of fun. It like the pirate code, they are more guidelines than actual rules...

[Loengrin]

Rylar wrote:

Don't get too bogged down with keeping track of too much. If weather has minimal effect on your story, don't track it. Most everything can be hand-waved. I played in a group for years before we ever bothered with a battle map.

Last advice, Don't let rules get in the way of fun. It like...

lol you're right I've just given the meteo table 'cause it's something handy to have, last session my players asked me the weather from the first time in about 5 years, having this in your favorites can help... :D

Once again it depends on the players, my current group like the tactical combat... :)
It's a trend since 4e and the diverse D&D like Tabletop Game... ;)

Which are interesting but lack the liberty of a real RPG :p