I have mentioned using sheet protectors to cover things so you can make notes with either dry erase markers or grease pencils. I shared my Spell Slot Tracker idea, and my Troop/Horde Tracker idea.

Today, I just mention character sheets. With all the the erasing and re-writing that can occur, they can become a mess.

I developed my own way of preparing an AD&D character sheet, whether I used notebook paper and hand wrote it, or took the same format and typed it up. When it is in a sheet protector, I can make temporary notes, and only make changes that are long term or permanent after the session. For example, a level change with requisite level title, and change in mas hit points.

In the online game I play in on Wednesdays, I use the form fill-able PDF our DM gave us, so I print that out and make notes. I need to get more sheet protectors because I have been writing and erasing a bit on it.

I use a separate sheet for tracking experience points and money, since those are the things that change the most often.

As a player, I recommend that when you are a player, that you are organized and have all the information you need at your finger tips so that the game is not delayed while you fumble with papers.

As a GM, I recommend that you suggest ways for your players to be organized, even giving them examples, or mandating they use a certain form, if they are never ready. Especially with online play, there are so many other potential interruptions, by weather, family & pets, phone calls, trains [I live near the tracks], technical issues, etc. that anything to minimize difficulties and interruptions will have big dividends in the long run.

In yesterday’s post on my spell slot tracker idea of a printed sheet with spaces to write information about spells and put in a sheet protector, I mentioned another idea.

This is something I came up with to speed up tracking all the followers and mercenaries Griswald has. I divided them into units of ten, or less if there were not enough of the same troop type for a full ten.

I outlined ten squares on graph paper, in two columns of five rows. I wrote the type of troops, their weapons and armor, and wrote their hit points in each box, For mounted troops, I put their mounts in a set of boxes to the right, with their armor, harness, and hit points. I then put this in a sheet protector. I could then mark and track hit points with a dry erase marker or grease pencil.

As a DM, I do the same with monsters in a lair. For example, 200 goblins, and assorted females, children, chiefs, sub-chiefs, shaman, etc. I don’t go to that much detail unless the players intend to attempt to clear out the goblins. For wimpy creatures, like kobolds and goblins that are less than 1 HD, I don’t roll their hit points. If they take a big enough hit, they are going down. I only roll the hit points for the leaders, or assume maximum hit points.

For multi-hit die creatures, for speed, I often give them average hit points, for each hit die. I make sure that if there are several of them, like an ogre lair, that the leaders have more hit points. I tend to do that more for on-the-fly scenarios. If I prepare ahead of time, I go with rolling them up.

Putting the prepared list in sheet protectors makes it easy to re-use that group of monsters again, for example, if I want to re-set the events of the live campaign for use when I start the online version of my campaign.