Keeping Track of Things

Information can be stored in many ways and how you handle it is based on how you are going to use it. So in 3rd edition D&D you have basically 6 important numbers that you need to track. Your Armor Class, your three saves, you bonus to hit, and your damage. There are lots of ways to write this information down on your character sheet, and I've come across a few that I like that make things go easier.

First, I think breaking down a bonus is a good idea. It is always good to know what factors make your AC 24. THis will allow you to easily know how other factors will affect you. Does the +4 Deflection bonus from a spell add a full +4. You can search for what items you have that are affecting your AC or you could just check your AC line. So here is some possible AC information

AC: 25 (+1 Size, +4 Dex (+6 Limited by Armor), +2 Deflection from Magic Ring, +7 Magical Armor, +1 Natural Armor from Magical Necklace)

This makes it easy to see how other factors can affect your AC. Also you can put in things that may not affect your AC, but would if other factors changed. For example, say you have +3 Chain Mail and Bracers of Armor +3. The amor wouldn't help against Incorporeal attacks, but the bracers would. Another issue is named bonuses, you can explicitly say what bonuses have what names which makes stacking determinations easier. If you have all these factors listed out it is easier to see what your AC will be at any point. The same thing can be done with saves, and saves tend to be simpler.

I like to do hit and damage a little differently. I like the table design with each row being a different weapon and the columns being, Hit Bonus, Damage, Critical Info, and so on. I would probably add a 'break down' column to break down the hit and damage bonuses like I mentioned above for AC.

I used this (without the breakdown) for a long time. But I had a Dragonbane weapon, so I added another row for my main weapon that was "--Versus Dragons" so I didn't need to refigure things all the time. This was a really good strategy and I used this line of my table a lot more than a line for my backup handaxe or bow. So it is also good for people with options. For example, adding a line for "--Smiting" is useful. Or maybe you sometimes use a weapon one-handed or two-handed. If you have Power Attack you might want to put down your favorite power attack choices. If you regularly get certain magical buffs you might want to have a line that represents your bonuses when you have that buff. You could go overboard and you don't really want a huge table that you have to scroll through, but a mid or high level character should probably have at least 5 lines that represent the most common attack scenarios. This will reduce the math you have to do each time you attack and can help speed up the game.

Anyway, the general idea is that you want to arrange your characters information in such a way that it makes play easy. Doing this can make managing your character much easier. Remember that it is fine to repeat information in multiple places as long as things are clear and you prevent conflicting information.