4eTurnTracker

4eTurnTracker 1.0.07 has just been released. The new version is able to display complete Monster Stat Blocks. The Stat Blocks are shown in the latest D&D Essentials format, and include all information about the Monster, including: Traits, Powers, Skills and Ability scores. The Stat Blocks are also dynamic, and show all current changes such as Hit Points, Healing Surges, Defenses, Saving Throws and ongoing Conditions and Effects.

The program accepts the text of a Stat Block copied from practically any source. For example, if you have a Stat Block in a PDF file, just select the text and paste it into the text field in the Monster Manager window. Text from Stat Blocks can also be copied from the D&D Adventure Tools or the online D&D Compendium (see below for more details). So creating a monster is quick and easy: just press the New button in the Monster Manager window, paste the text of a Stat Block, and you're done!

1.0.07 also includes improvements for selecting multiple monsters. The left mouse button works as before while the right mouse button can be used to easily select additional monsters in the main Initiative List. A left-click in the Conditions and Effects column immediately brings up the Conditions and Effects dialog, so that you can apply damage, healing and affects to all monsters you have selected. See below for more details on the new selection options.

You will find a complete list of changes for version 1.0.07 in the release notes.

Creating Monster Stat Blocks

I have added a large amount of intelligence to the program in order to parse and interpret the text of a Monster Stat Block, and display it correctly in the standard format. Note that 4eTurnTracker only accepts plain text. HTML source, XML or RTF formatted text will not be correctly displayed.

However, the plain text of a Stat Block can almost always be obtained while the other formats usually require an export function. So you create a monster by simply selecting all the text in a Stat Block, and transferring it to 4eTurnTracker using copy and paste. This works in all cases except PDF files that have been locked so that the text cannot be selected.

The best source of monster stat information is the D&D Adventure Tools. In the D&D Adventure Tools the monsters are listed in a list-box on the left-hand side. To copy a monster, right-click on the monster in this list. Select the option to copy the monster as plain text. Then go to Monster Manager window in 4eTurnTracker. Click on New on the left side of the window to create a new monster. Then paste into the edit box provided.

Now flip to the View panel, and check that the Stat Block has been correctly interpreted.

Mac users will need to use the online D&D Compendium as the source of monster information. However, there is a problem with text copied from a D&D Compendium page. The icons on the page are not copied. This means that the some information may be missing, and must be added manually after pasting the text:

1. Recharge Dice: If the recharge dice are missing you need to find the spot in the text where it reads "recharge", and add a number (usually 4, 5 or 6) after this. Then 4eTurnTracker will display the dice correctly.
2. Basic Melee/Ranged Icons: Check that the program correctly indicates attacks as basic or not (icons in a circle indicate basic attacks). If not, you need to add the character 'm', 'M', 'r' or 'R' to the start of the title line of the power. The letter depends on the power type: m = Basic Melee, M = Normal Melee, r = Basic Ranged, R = Normal Ranged. 4eTurnTracker will then display the correct icon for the attack.
   

New Multi-selection Options

Selecting multiply creatures, and then applying damage or some effect to all of them saves a lot of time. But, until now this has been a fiddly business, especially on a laptop. Read carefully the new short-cuts described below, and you can save a lot of time selecting and applying effects during an encounter:

1. Left-click selects a single creature, and right-click selects multiple creatures. Right-click will toggle the selection of one creature.
2. Clicking in the Health column will select the Hit Point box on the Tool Bar (in addition to the action in (1) above). You can then immediately enter a value or use the arrow keys to adjust the value up or down.
3. Clicking in the Name column will cause the keyboard input to focus on the list box (in addition to the action in (1) above). Up and down arrow can then be used to change the selected monster. Shift-up and Shift-down can be used to extend the selection in the upwards or downwards direction.
4. Left-click in the Conditions and Effects column will bring up the Conditions and Effects dialog with the selected creatures as targets.
5. Right-click in the  in the Conditions and Effects column will bring up an context menu. A menu item allows the current creature to mark all selected creatures.
6. Shift-left-click extends an existing selection to the row on which you click (this feature was in previous versions).
7. Double-click on a creature will select the creature, and bring up the Conditions and Effects dialog (this feature was in previous versions).

Note that if you do not have a right mouse button you can use Control-click.