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GM's Request: What Needs to be Made Easier

I am always looking for ways to make GM prep take less time and to make my game time job easier and quicker.  After all, a person has only so much time to put into game prep, and in game delays waiting on the GM are no fun.  Some of these I have found solutions for, and some of them I am still looking for.


  • Creature Stat Mobility -- There should be an easier way to bring creature stats into game plans.  Currently it means either copying creature stats into my GM notebook or scanning stat blocks out of books.  Why can't, for example, there be a common interchange format for Pathfinder stat blocks that come with all resources (including 3rd party ones) so I can drag and drops them into a plan.

  • Tracking HP for Large Numbers of NPCs / Creatures -- Tracking HP for a large number of NPCs/creatures can become problematic.  Stuffer Shack has a great set of markers for 'labeling' minis to keep track of them, but it still requires a separate sheet of papers. Litko has a nice set of counters, but no matching markers, and they kind of scatter when trying to keep track of a lot of them.  Litko's counter are also rather expensive.
    STATUS: Open
  • Random Tables -- I love the idea of using random tables to generate all sorts of things on the fly, but finding them and keeping them together is a royal pain.  There must be a better way.
    STATUS: Open
  • Initiative Tracking -- I wanted to have an initiative tracker that worked on my dual-display laptop game setup.  I also wanted something simple to use and that really had the look and feel of my magnetic initiative tracker.  In this case, I wrote my own in Java that I call JInitTracker.  At some point in the future, I will clean up the java code and release it.
    STATUS: Solved, Waiting to Release
  • Making Big Plans -- This one took me a while to get down.  I had trouble making big plans on paper.  Paper is hard to manage at the game table.  I ended switching to FreeMind, a mind mapping software.
    STATUS: Solved.
  • Dealing with Large Numbers of NPCs -- This one caught me off guard when I started with the Wormood Skull and Shackles module.  Tracking the 29 NPCs and their attitude toward the PCs is a big task.  Even tougher is making the NPCs memorable.  In this case, I ended printing out folded cards that had the NPC portrait on one side and the NPCs stats on the back.  This can then hang on my GM screen, monitor, or laptop when that character is 'in play', allowing me to see stats and the players to see and remember the NPC.  For me, this type of thing was awesome, and I would like to see NPC and creature cards become a standard part of every module release.  Just stick them on pages in the back, and the GM can cut them to use them if he/she wants.  For PDFs, it easy enough to include them and let the GM print them if he needs them.  If would also be good to have an 'electronic' NPC/creature card with software that display the pictures to the players while displaying the stats to the GM.
    STATUS:  Not Completely Solved Yet
  • Modules -- I haven't found a module yet that was organized the way I need it for play.  There are always sections based on topic.  I don't play based on topics like NPCs or Bestiary.  I play lineary from beginning to end.  What I need are modules written so I can GM them without reading them first.  Adding Bestiary and NPC topic sections are nice, but really they are appendices that I can yank from when I making a new adventure.  (This could be replaced by given me portable NPC / creature stats that I can stick in a library.)  The meat is what I need to GM the adventure now.  NPC/creature cards would help a lot, but really this is about writers thinking more like GMs.
    STATUS: Need to write an example
  • Minis -- Minis don't match what is played.  I get tons of humans, a few less elves, fewer dwarves, and even fewer of other races.  The combinations are cliche (halfling rogue, human fighter, elven ranger, etc) and don't match my PCs (or even my NPCs).  So many minis look coll, but offer no real help for game play.  Too many times they are esoteric or unique creatures that I won't ever play more than once (aka. blackwood dryad).  I think Pathfinder paper minis and Wizkid Pathfinder Battles are starting to go a long way to fix this problem.
    STATUS: Maybe solved?
  • Fast Rule Checking -- Checking rules during a game is a pain when its slow.  Books are not feasible (there are so many of them.)  The Pathfinder PRD (online) and PFRPG RD Mobile App (Android, IOS) help a lot, but they aren't easily searchable, and don't address the 3rd party rules.  It seems like a standardized format for providing pathfinder and 3rd party rules would be good.  THey should interface into a multi-platform app with improved search capabilities.
    STATUS: Getting There
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