Combat Tracker monster names

[GarthGiantbane]

Greetings,

I was wondering, does it bother any other DM's that the monster name shows up on the combat tracker to the players?

I haven't seen or found a way to pre-plan a name change without individually typing in new name before making the monsters visible to the players. Most of the time I forget until I realize, 2 or 3 rounds in that the players can see the monster name or their title.

I don't care about the names showing for the more mundane critters like goblins and kobolds but sometimes I would like the characters to be puzzled about what they are fighting, especially if it's the first time they come across one.

Any experienced FG DM's have tips about this?

When you have the ID setting off, it's nice all of the parcel loot does not have a name but instead labeled "unidentified". And then there's a second field that will show if you need to describe the item but not detail its exact nature. Is there something like this for encounters that I've missed?

Appreciate your replies and input!

Garth Giantbane

[Trenloe]

If you use encounters to populate the CT with creatures, change the creature name in the encounter to something descriptive of how they look. The this name will be used when the creature is added to the CT from the encounter.

You might also be interested in this extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?31699-Alternative-to-NPC-numbering-in-combat-tracker

[Gix]

For combat with named NPC's I create an encounter and then Manually re-name the creatures.

[GarthGiantbane]

Thanks Trenloe -

I didn't realize I could edit the encounter name and that change would be the "template" for the name in the combat tracker. I will use that!

Garth