DM Table Tip Video: The Portable Dungeon Master Kit

13 Responses to DM Table Tip Video: The Portable Dungeon Master Kit

1. mthomas768 says:

   February 13, 2010 at 10:24 pm

   Nice video! The hang-tags are a great idea, consider them Yoinked!
2. Sandman says:

   February 14, 2010 at 1:32 am

   Once again: nice video Mike, lots of cool ideas, simple and cheap.

   Look forward to seing more about the initiative cards.
3. Dornak says:

   February 14, 2010 at 10:32 am

   Like everything I see. Good advice. Like the hanging tabs. Going to give it a try.

   – New 4e DM (returning to DMing after 10 year break as a player only) and loving it.
4. Chuck says:

   February 14, 2010 at 1:32 pm

   Very nice video and great ideas for just about whatever game you happen to be running.
5. Alex says:

   February 14, 2010 at 6:25 pm

   Useful, a lot of this I already use but the tokens and that map are definitely things I will have to pick-up.
6. Simon Newman says:

   February 15, 2010 at 4:23 am

   Have you thought about maybe taking along some rule books? >:)
7. Mike Shea says:

   February 15, 2010 at 8:26 am

   @Simon Newman: Usually SOMEONE at the table has any books I might need. As long as I have the monster stats and the DM screen, there isn’t much from the rulebooks I might need.

   I ended up running a quick 1 hour 30 minute adventure for some folks yesterday and we never needed the rulebook at all.
8. Simon Newman says:

   February 15, 2010 at 5:37 pm

   Hmm, I GM at a pub, and lug around a heavy suitcase full of minis & stuff. Last week I tried not bringing a PHB – that did not go well! And I need my MM & MM2 for monster stats. I manage to do without bottle rings and wire pipe cleaners though. >:)
9. Simon Newman says:

   February 15, 2010 at 5:38 pm

   Oh, to be more constructive – one thing I thoroughly recommend for the mobile GM is a blank Paizo flip-mat; far more portable than a roll-up.
10. Vic says:

    February 17, 2010 at 11:34 pm

    And an awesome adventure that was. Short and to the point, but full of very fun moments. “I hate evil, particularly tenticular evil.”

    Thanks for running for us.

    -Vic
    Gamers’ Syndicate
11. York says:

    March 10, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    Hang tags are very innovative. Unfortunately, I don’t use a DM screen. I’ve spent a very long time testing out different ways of tracking initiative. I use an alternate method that seems to be pretty fast. I figured I would share.

    Instead of writing down / recording / showing the initiative, I have everyone roll initiative and keep it to themselves. I do the same for all monster groups. Then, I start at something obscenely high (like 30 or 40, depending on tier) and just start counting down. 35 – 34 – 33 – 32 … somebody will eventually raise their hand and say “it’s my turn” when I call out their initiative.

    The advantages of this system are:

    1. Fastest start out of any technique I know (since you don’t have to write down / sort anything at the beginning of combat). I just say “roll init” and start counting down.

    2. Minimum DM work –> this has consistently led to lower “initiative overhead” than the other techniques I have tried, since I don’t have to move my eyes and look somewhere to figure out who goes next (which actually takes a surprising amount of brainpower for me — I already have to look at a half dozen monster stat tables)

    The disadvantages are:

    1. The first round can be slow. I usually rattle off 2 or 3 numbers per second (which is negligible compared to overall combat time). Most of the overhead occurs when two people have the same initiative and have to figure out who has the higher dex. Sometimes I will pass somebody’s initiative and 5 counts later they will say “oh wait you missed me.” To expedite things I always let the players go first if they tie with a monster group. Subsequent rounds go much faster (since I tend to remember which numbers are “important”).

    2. You can’t check to see whether you are on deck. The longer the combat goes, the less of a problem this is.
12. Will Fuqua says:

    April 1, 2010 at 2:14 am

    What a lot of DMs in the Nashville area do for iniative is have all the players fill out flash cards with their character’s name, passive stats, and three iniatives they rolled before the session started. Also the DM already has flash cards for the monsters made with their iniatives rolled and recorded on them. Then when the encounter starts the cards are put in order with highest iniative first and the names are called out. If someone wants to delay, then the card is pulled and put back in when the player wants to go.

    With the passive skills, i have a piece of paper that I fill out with all the passive info so I can see quickly who would notice things while others wouldn’t.
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    July 26, 2010 at 9:09 pm

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