Dungeons and Dragons Tips

Rangers Get a Bonus on Spot and Listen Checks against Favored Enemies

2012-01-27T13:53:00.000-06:00

The characters are moving through the dense jungle listening to birds, reptiles, mammals, and sounds they cannot identify. The Dungeon Master (DM) asks each character to roll spot and listen checks, for the party is secretly being followed by Drow enemies. The players and their characters, are unaware of the pursuing Drow. Only the DM knows the Drow advance. But the DM knows there is a chance
the party will hear some of the Drow if a party member listens well enough and if the DM's roll for the Drow to Move Silently does not beat each character's listen roll.

The characters roll.

The DM rolls.

The DM compares the numbers and realizes that none of the character's heard the Drow. Not yet. But one of the characters only missed the check by one point.

[break] - Unbeknownst to both the players, and the DM, is that rangers get a +2 on spot and listen checks against their favored enemies. The DM is unaware of this rule, and may not even recall that Drow are a favored enemy of the ranger in this party. If the DM had declared that the party was being stalked by Drow to the players, the player of the ranger may have pointed out that his ranger
should get an additional +2 listen bonus; but we can't expect the DM to reveal everything that is coming upon the characters because this would take some of the fun out of the game. [break]

The characters continue, unaware of how close the Drow are. The Drow attack the party gaining the element of surprise. Several party members are wounded greatly by the Drow's surprise attack. The Drow win initiative killing a party member and wounding more. The party responds by fighting back, and eventually, after two rounds of intense melee requiring two hours of gaming time, the Drow are driven away.

The players, on behalf of their party, begins to wonder if there is any way to save their dead comrade. Could they have done something, or could they do something now to reverse his death.

Only now does the player of the ranger recall the +2 bonus he should have received on his listen check
to the Drow, and how well he rolled, and that it might have been enough.

What should the DM do? What would you, as DM, do? Would you roll back the battle and undo hours of play time and replay it all? Would you declare that the statue of limitations for corrections was one round and that it is too late?

Clarification of the FlyBy Attack Feat - 3.5 Edition (third ed.)

2012-01-23T19:02:00.000-06:00

I think Wizards could have done a little better clarifying the FlyBy Attack feat. I read the text several times before I discovered their intent. If a creature has the FlyBy Attack feat, the creature can either:

move then attack while moving again, or
attack while moving, then move.

A creature without the FlyBy attack feat can:

move then attack, but not move beyond the opponent, or
move then Move without attacking, or
attack then move, provoking an attack of opportunity.

FlyBy Attack does not mention that no attack of opportunity is allowed and therefore I believe that it is. Thus, if a demon with Fly '90 and the FlyBy Attack feat saw an elf 120 feet away, the demon could:

spend its first move action moving toward the elf,
then spend its second move action moving past the elf,
and while moving past the elf the demon could make a Standard Attack.

As the demon moved beyond the elf, the elf would be able to take an attack of opportunity on the demon. If the demon survived, it could keep flying and end its turn 60' beyond the elf, and 180' from where the demon started its move.

If the same demon attacked an Ogre with 10' reach, the Ogre could take an attack of opportunity before the demon struck as the demon moved from 10' away from the Ogre to 5' away from the Ogre. If the Ogre's attack of opportunity did not kill the demon, then the demon could make its standard attack and fly beyond the ogre.
Of course, if the demon also had 10' reach it might not move so close to the ogre. And if the demon had 10' reach, it could completely avoid the attack of opportunity from an elf with 5' reach.

Rules for waking a sleeping character

2012-01-05T07:10:00.000-06:00

According to the rules under the Listen Skill in the PHB for 3.5; a sleeping character can roll a listen check with a minus 10 penalty in order to awaken, or wake up, in response to noise.
You may desire to use a different rule if the character is asleep but may wake up due to vibration (such as an earthquake). I recommend a fortitude save. If the character fails a DC n fortitude save, then the character wakes up. You will need to decide the DC.
In the sleep spell definition, it says that a sleeping character that gets wounded will wake up.

Off-hand weapon damage bonuses

2011-05-15T16:14:00.000-05:00

3.5 Rules
If you wield a weapon in your off-hand, you do not get to apply your full strength bonus to damage from your off-hand attack. Thus, if you have a strength of 18 and you fight with a long sword and a dagger, you can add +4 for your strength bonus to attacks made with the long sword, but only +2 for your strength bonus to attacks made with the dagger in your off-hand.
You can find this information on page 134 of the Player's Handbook.

Benign Transposition - a favorite 2nd level spell

2011-05-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

One of the spells we have had the most fun with is a 2nd Level spell from the Spell Compendium called Benign Transposition. My Rogue/Wizard has it and usually has 2 memorized each day. She has used it to take the place of another party member on the verge of death and she has used it to put herself inside a trap that she was small enough to get out of but that the other party member could not escape. She used it to replace the party monk in the mouth of the T-Rex with the heavily armored party dwarf, who was then enlarged by a cleric with the Enlarge Person spell which trapped the dwarf in the maws of the T-Rex, but also prevented the T-Rex from spitting out the dwarf or swallowing the dwarf or attacking anyone else. She has also moved into flanking position behind powerful enemies that ignored her because of her small size, then used the spell to replace herself with the party half-ogre who is definitely more threatening to most enemies.

If you take a moment to learn this spell, I suspect you too can find many creative uses for it.

Fun Stuff - A Pentagram on the Ceiling

2011-04-24T17:11:00.002-05:00

As DM, I once had the party enter a room with a pentagram painted on the floor and a succubus contained within it. The party, knowing the rules of pentagrams, entered the room assuming the succubus could not attack them as long as they did not cross the boundary of the circle around the pentagram. Despite their careful movement, it attacked them and the party fought and killed the succubus. Only after the battle, when the party was wondering why the pentagram did not contain the succubus, did they notice the larger pentagram painted on the ceiling above; which was the true container for the demon.

Flat footed and initiative order

2011-04-09T07:34:00.002-05:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

Catching your opponent flat-footed is an advantage of high initiatives that is easy to overlook. From page 137 of the Player's Handbook: “At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed.”

This gives characters the same bonus they would get when surprising an enemy. This is especially valuable to rogues because it can allow them to apply sneak-attack damage to their attacks.

Dealing damage by a Halfling rogue

2011-04-01T20:19:00.002-05:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

My Halfling rogue long envied the amount of damage her fellow party members could deliver to opponents. Her small hand crossbow, while convenient and light-weight, delivers only a d3 of damage sans modifiers. Though it gives her range and keeps her out of the thick of the battle, she rarely catches the enemy flat-footed and thus cannot apply her sneak-attack damage. Recently, that all turned around when she acquired a ring of invisibility. Being invisible, her enemies are denied their dexterity bonus to AC, thus making them vulnerable to sneak attack damage. She also has taken the crossbow sniper feat which allows her to perform sneak attacks from 60' instead of just 30'.

Bottom line: being invisible is very good for ranged sneak-attacks from rogues.

Quick Draw benefits for throwing weapons

2011-03-27T11:43:00.002-05:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

If your would like to play a character that throws daggers or other weapons, then you should have your character take the Quick Draw feat. Not only does Quick Draw allow you to draw a weapon as a free action, it provides a secondary benefit of allowing a character to throw one weapon per his number of attacks instead of being limited to throwing one weapon per round.

Apply your sneak attack damage to all your attacks

2011-03-19T08:22:00.000-05:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

We applied our sneak attack damage to a rogues first attack for a long time. We finally discovered that we were playing it wrong, and immediately our rogues became must more dangerous in combat. The correct method is to apply sneak attack damage to all rogue attacks that qualify for a sneak attack. This means that an 8th level rogue, with a Base Attack Bonus of +6/+1 and wielding two weapons and thus getting 3 attacks (2 from his primary hand and 1 from his off hand) gets to apply sneak attack damage to all 3 attacks. If he hits with a long sword in his primary hand twice and a short sword in his off-hand once, the damage would be (d8+ 4d6) + (d8+4d6) + (d6+4d6). That is potentially a lot of damage.
Source: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040217a

Overcoming Damage Reduction with a Sneak Attack

2011-03-12T11:02:00.001-06:00

3.5 Edition Rules:

Many situations were not clearly addressed in the 3.5 edition of books. One case is how to treat sneak attack damage when attacking an opponent with Damage Reduction (DR). Fortunately for us, this case is specifically addressed on the Wizards site in one of the excellent "All about..." series. In "All About Sneak Attacks (Part Three)", Skip Williams tells us that the damage from a sneak attack does count toward the amount needed to overcome DR. Therefore, if your rogue deals 4 points of weapon damage against a creature with DR5, and includes 7 more points of damage from the sneak attack, the total damage of 11HP is enough to overcome the DR5 and the creature will take (11-5)=6 points of damage from the attack.

Source: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040302a

A battle on ice

2010-08-22T17:14:00.001-05:00

As a DM I enjoy spicy up the environment in unique ways to try and increase the fun and challenge of a battle. Recently I had the party on a lake of ice. In order to implement realism, I looked for the various ice related rules in the books. Some information about the thickness of ice relative to its hitpoints, and adjustments to movement rates could be found, but I had to improvise others.

Ice slows by 50% per page 52 of the DMG II (I think). This I found in a section about an ice bridge.
I wanted to give each square about 30HP, thus the ice was 10 inches thick. The ice is immune to cold damage, but vulnerable to fire damage (per the DMG) and thus takes 50% more damage from fire attacks than the die rolls on the fire attacks show.
The rules that I came up with before the battle were that the ice has DR10/bludgeoning. Also, if a section of ice takes 30HP it will break; and then each adjacent section (the 4 squares touching it) also take 10HP (which may cause any of them to fail if already damaged).

If you are standing on ice and it breaks, a Reflex DC20 save is required to move to another 5' section of ice, but if your weight causes that section to break then a Reflex DC 30 is required to move to an adjacent section of ice; and if that section breaks a Reflexc DC or 40 is required, and so on.

If you step onto a patch of ice and your weight causes it to break, base reflex DC is 15 (this is different than the ice you are already standing on breaking beneath you).

Each 1HP of ice can hold 50 pounds before breaking.

The temperature was 10 degrees. I had CON checks for cold damage after 10 minutes then every minute thereafter.

If a character fll in the water, I required a Fortitude Save DC5, and the DC goes up by 4 every round. Save for 1HP cold (non-lethal), fail for d4 cold (non-lethal).

After getting out of water characters continue to take 1HP for next 4 rounds unless cure spell applied due to continue cold sinking in.

How to split a wish with the whole party

2010-07-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

Our characters long ago decided that wishes would not be treated the same as the rest of the party treasure. We decided to cast a wish that would benefit all party members. We have our characters discuss what wish they would like to try, and then we hire a sage to word the wish for us, then we cast it. Some of the things we have used wishes for, that we apply to every member of the party, include:

We all learn to speak a new language. This is usually an obscure language because the purpose of it is to allow us to converse in front of strangers without them being able to understand us.
We all get a +1 on initiative.
We all increase base movement rate by 5.
We all gain +2 charisma toward members of the same race and opposite gender.
We all heal a little more quickly.
We all gain a skill point or two in a specific skill.
We all gain a bonus to a specific save.
We only need 4 hours of sleep each night to qualify as fully rested.
We all have a permanent affect of Endure Elements.
We all have a permanent affect of Freedom of Movement.
We all have faster swim speed.

Be creative, but try not to do too much with the wish. We especially like some of the ideas that the characters would like (such as Endure Elements), that rarely has much impact on the game mechanics.

New uses for an old familiar

2008-08-25T09:54:00.002-05:00

My halfling wizard/rogue has had her hummingbird (Mater) familiar for years now. I often tend to forget about the little buzzer during game play, but I recently realized a new use for the bird. A cleric in our party can cast Silence on Mater, and then the wizard can send the hummingbird to fly around the heads of our spellcasting enemies. Not only does this silence those casters, but the silence effect travels with them via Mater. The enemy spellcasters are often confounded by the source of the silence, especially if they can determine the silence is not applied directly to themselves.

Never roll for Hit Points again

2008-07-13T21:04:00.002-05:00

The fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is out with lots of rule changes to digest. The first shocker to me was that we no longer roll new hit points upon gaining a level. In fact, you never roll hit points. You gain a fixed amount of new hit points every level.

Initially I was perturbed by this. Rolling hit points always seemed like a rite of passage as I gained a level. Now, this long-held rolling has been eliminated without even a mention of the past in the books.

However, after allowing time for the revised rule to set in, I am starting to feel that it is not such a big deal. I actually see a few benefits of the new approach.

One benefit is that it is one less thing I need to do when I gain a level.
Another benefit is that it is one less thing I need to keep track of. Many of us, that are experienced at losing levels, keep a record of how many hit points earned as we gained each level. We no longer need to do that in fourth edition.
A third benefit is that there are no concerns that your fellow players may be fudging their hit point rolls.
The fourth benefit is that we have more hit points in fourth edition than we would in earlier editions because we add our constitution score, not our constitution bonus, to our initial starting hit points.

So I will accept this rule change for what it is. Maybe my group will even adopt that approach for our 3rd edition campaigns.

I haven't found a Wizards of the Coast official outline of the revisions, but I did find this blogger's post with a lot more of the changes: http://www.deanesmay.com/2008/06/16/dungeons-dragons-4th-edition/.

A Hummingbird Familiar

2008-05-10T21:25:00.002-05:00

I wanted a hummingbird familiar for my halfling. After researching hummingbirds and the other tiny animals in the monster manual, I came up with these stats:

Hummingbird Familiar: CR —; Fine magical beast; HD 1; hp 1/2 master’s; Init +4; Spd 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (near perfect); AC 23, touch 23, flat-footed 23; Base Atk +0; Grp –22; Atk --, Full Atk --; Space/Reach 1/2ft./0 ft.; SA —; SQ improved evasion, granted abilities; AL any; SV Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +1; Str 1, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 6.

Skills and Feats: Hide +22, Listen +8, Spot +6, Alertness, Uncanny Dodge
Master gains a +4 bonus on initiative checks

Table 2–1: Maneuverability
Hummingbird (near perfect)
Minimum forward speed None
Hover Yes
Move backward Yes
Reverse Free
Turn Any
Turn in place Any
Maximum turn Any
Up angle Any
Up speed Half
Down angle Any
Down speed Double
Between down and up 0

Dragon #323 recommended using the stats for a Thrush to apply to a hummingbird, but those stats do not appear accurate for the nature of a hummingbird. I have created the above stats based on my personal knowledge of the birds. The most noticeable differences between hummingbirds and other birds are their movement ability and the noise they make. Hummingbirds can hover, turn in place, fly backwards and even upside down. Unlike most other birds, hummingbirds are not silent when you are within a few feet of them because the buzzing caused by the wings is very similar to the hum of a bee (hence, their name). They have high metabolisms and huge appetites for their small size, requiring about 75 times more calories per day than a human with a similar body weight would. Sizes range from 2 to 8 inches, and weight from .05 ounces to .8 ounces.

Grapple in Depth - all about grappling

2008-05-07T19:50:00.003-05:00

I have summarized a lot of research on the details of Grapple in D&D 3.5.
Grapple Examples:
Q1. How many grapple attempts can a character make in a round?
A1. The number of Grapple Attempts is based on your Base Attack Bonus (BAB). BAB less than +6 allows 1 grapple attempt. BAB +6 to +11 allows 2 grapple attempts, etc. (Source: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050322a ) Note, PH p156 states that you can attempt to start a grapple multiple times if you have “multiple attacks”. The text should have clarified that this meant “multiple attacks” based on a higher BAB, not multiple attacks due to Flurry of Blows, or because your character has Claw, Claw, Bite.
Examples:
Human Monk, 1st level (BAB +0), using Flurry of blows is only allowed only 1 grapple attempt. If the first strike hits he can attempt a grapple. If grapple fails, he can still attempt a second strike, but cannot attempt a Grapple if the strike succeeds.
· Human Monk, 8th Level (BAB +6), using Flurry of blows is allowed 2 grapple attempts. The monk can attempt to grapple twice due to his higher BAB (not because Flurry of blows allows 3 strikes). His first grapple attempt will use his +6BAB, but his second grapple attempt will use his +1BAB.
· A tiger (or weretiger) is only allowed 1 grapple attempt. It can choose to make the grapple attempt when it hits with either a claw, or a bite.

Q2. If I have multiple attacks, and I attempt to grapple and fail on my first attack, can I still make my secondary attacks?
A2. Yes, but you might not be able to attempt to grapple on a hit from an additional attack unless your BAB allows it.

Q3. If I have multiple attacks, and I begin a grapple after hitting with my first attack, can I still make my successive attacks?
A3. Usually no. An exception is allowed when the attacker is at least 3 size categories larger and has multiple ways of attacking.
Examples:
· Human Monk, 8th Level (BAB +6), using Flurry of blows is allowed 2 grapple attempts and 3 flurries. If the monk hits his opponent on the first flurry, and the monk successfully begins a grapple, the monk cannot perform the remaining flurry of blows strikes.
· My group has ruled that a tiger (or weretiger), could initiate a grapple with a bite and then follow with its rake attacks all in one round.

Q4. If I am fighting with two weapons, or a two-handed weapon, can I make a grapple attempt?
A4. No. To make a grapple attempt you must have one hand free and you must use it to grab your opponent after successfully striking him with your weapon. (Source: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050301a )

Q5. How does a grapple start?
A5. Three things must occur before the two combatants are in a grapple.
1. The attacker must avoid the opponents AoO.
a. The attacker decides to attempt a grapple following a successful melee strike. In most cases, the defender would get an Attack of Opportunity to prevent the grapple. If the AoO succeeds and deals damage, then the grapple attempt fails. (Note, an AoO could fail to deal damage for a number of reasons, such as the attacker has a form of damage reduction.) (Source: PH156)
b. An attacker with the Improved Grapple feat does not provoke an AoO. (PH 95)
c. An attacker with Improved Grab does not provoke an AoO. (MM 310) To use Improved Grab, the attacker must be at least one size category larger than its opponent.
2. The attacker must make a successful melee touch attack. (PH156)
a. The attacker must make a successful melee touch attack, else the grapple fails.
b. An attacker with Improved Grab does not need to attempt this melee touch attack. It automatically succeeds. (MM310)
3. The attacker must make a successful grapple attack.
a. Roll opposed grapple checks. The grapple check is your BAB (which varies per grapple attempt per round) + strength modifier + special size modifier.
i. A combatant with the Improved Grapple feat gets a +4 modifier to all grapple checks (PH 95).

Q6. What happens once we know the grapple succeeds?
A6. Two more things happen before the attackers turn ends.
1. The attacker moves into the opponent’s space.
a. An attacker with improved grab pulls the opponent into his space rather than moving into the opponent’s space.
2. The attacker gets to “deal damage”. Because the attacker succeeded with the above grapple check, the attacker may proceed to roll the damage; another attack is not required. This damage is based on the rules of “Damage your opponent”, and may not be the same as “Attack your opponent”.
Examples:
· Human Monk, 1st level (BAB +0), using Flurry of blows hits twice and successfully attempts to grapple with his second attack. The monk damages his opponent for 2d6 (+ strength bonus) as normal for two strikes, plus he does an additional d6 (+ strength bonus) starting the grapple.
· Human Fighter, 1st Level (BAB +1), using a long sword (one-handed) hits once and successfully attempts to grapple. The fighter damages his opponent for d8 (+ strength bonus) from the long sword, plus he does an additional d3 (+ strength bonus) of non-lethal damage starting the grapple.
· A tiger (or weretiger) hits with one claw, then with a bite and successfully starts a grapple. The tiger rolls damage for the claw and bite, but does not roll additional damage for establishing the grapple using the bite. Any creature using improved grab, such as the tiger, does not deal damage while establishing the grapple. Monsters with constrict attacks however, can deal damage. (MM310 and http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050322a ).

Q7. What options does the character now caught in the grapple have?
A7. Once a grapple has started, the grapple is no longer something that one attacker has done to the other. Each combatant in the grapple now has all the same options open to it. Thus, the opponent now caught in a grapple can perform any of the grapple actions on his turn. He can attempt to “Deal damage”, “attack his attacker”, “Pin his attacker”, “break the grapple”, or take other actions.

Q8. How do I decide whether to “Deal Damage” or “attack”?
A8. The option that works best depends on several factors.
1. For an “attack” you will make a “to hit” roll at a -4 penalty. To “deal damage”, you will make an opposed grapple check.
2. The number of actions is based on your base attack bonus. A character with a BAB of (+6/+1) could attempt to “attack” using BAB of +6, then attempt to deal damage using a BAB of +1 on your opposed grapple check. The number of attacks you would normally get in a full attack action may not apply. If you have a BAB of +11, you could attempt to damage your opponent, then attempt to pin your opponent, then attempt to break the grapple. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050322a)
Examples:
· Human Monk, 1st level (BAB +0) in a grapple can “deal damage”, which would be the same as an unarmed strike, or he can attempt to “Attack”, but the attack would be at -4 on his to hit roll. Therefore a monk may be more effective attempting to “Deal damage”. The monk would not be able to use Flurry of blows, but he may be able to use Stunning Fist with an attack.
· Human Fighter, 1st Level (BAB +1), using a short sword in a grapple could attempt to “deal damage” of d3 (non-lethal), or could attempt to hit with his short sword for d6, but with a -4 penalty to his to hit roll.
· Human Fighter, 6th (BAB +6), using a dagger and a short sword in a grapple could attempt to “deal damage” of d3 (non-lethal), or could attempt to hit with his short sword two times, but with a -4 penalty to his to hit roll. His BAB would be +6 on the first attack and +1 on the second attack. He would not be able to attack with the dagger. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050308a )
· A tiger (or weretiger) that established the grapple with a bite, could attempt to “deal damage” (by winning an opposed grapple check), in which case the damage would be the amount of damage from a bite, or the tiger could attempt to “attack” his opponent with any single attack (a tiger’s BAB is +4). However, a tiger also has the rake ability. This allows the tiger to perform two additional claw attacks along with whichever other action he elected to take. Rakes do not incur a -4 to hit penalty.

Q9. Can I do more than one action in a grapple?
A9. Yes, if you have a high enough BAB. Your BAB determines the numbers of actions you can perform. Thus, a Fighter with a BAB of +6/+1 could attempt to pin an opponent, and if successful, also attempt to do damage on his turn. If his attempt to pin fails, he could attempt to pin again with his second action. Remember, the second action uses the secondary attack bonus (+1 in this example), not +6.

Use both hands

2008-05-06T12:13:00.003-05:00

D&D 3.5 rules:
The longsword is one of the most commonly selected weapons. If you use both hands to wield it, you can apply 1 and 1/2 times your strength bonus to damage. But two-handed use of a one-handed weapon has even more advantages if your character has the Power Attack feat. Power Attack allows you to add twice the amount you subtract from your die roll to your damage roll. Thus, a character with a strength of 18 (+4) and a Base Attack Bonus of (+5) and with the Power Attack feat could do either of the following:

a) wield the weapon in one-hand and hit for d8+4 damage, or

b) wield the weapon in two-hands, use the maximum Power Attack (+5) and hit for d8 +16 points of damage.

Breaking this down, the use of two hands increases your damage from Strength bonus of +4 to 1.5 * your Strength bonus (+6). By using Power Attack and subtracting 5 from your attack roll you can add 5 to damage; but when using the longsword with two hands you double the power attack damage bonus (+10).

Rapid Fire for Halflings

2008-05-05T21:09:00.003-05:00

Don't overlook thrown weapons as a combat technique of choice for halflings. Halflings get a +1 bonus on throwing weapons, and once you reach the +6/+1 base attack bonus, you can throw two items per round. You can throw the alchemical items, and best of all, when doing so, you are attempting to hit the target's touch AC. For my halfling, this means a hit almost every time!

Reduce the DM's workload - let someone else track initiative

2008-05-03T17:54:00.003-05:00

The dungeon master is often the busiest person at the table. You can help the DM by handling some of his tasks. At our sessions, we let one of the players keep track of initiative. We have a spreadsheet with every character's name and we type in the initiative for each, then sort. Our spreadsheet contains an additional column with each character's dexterity as the secondary sort.
Obviously we don't need the spreadsheet to tell us the sequence, but it is easier to manage than scribbling the numbers on a piece a paper. We also write the initiative order on a white board for everyone to refer to. This helps the players waiting their turn to know when they are coming up; and hopefully be prepared.
Of course we don't always know when the bad guys will take their turn, at least not in the first round. But once we do know, we list then on the white board as well.

Have someone take notes

2008-04-30T11:58:00.001-05:00

A few years ago we began taking notes during our gaming sessions. This has proved to be very valuable since we only meet every 2 weeks for a 5 hour session. We note every spell cast and other miscellaneous activities between battles, but once we get into a battle we track each characters action each round. This allows us to review the activities of previous weeks to determine what spells we have left, what state we are currently in ("Hey, I forgot that I am invisible right now!"), hit points remaining, etc.
We found it fairly easy to have one person take notes on their laptop during the night, then e-mail that document to all the others.