[MNBlockHead]

Okay, I suppose I'll receive (and deserve) some RTFM comments in response to this, but I'm wondering if someone can give me an example in plain English, dumbed down those of us who are a little slow, on how to work HL in your DM workflow.

Here is where I am now. I am a heavy RealmWorks user and run my games from there. What's missing is a tactical tool, which I am hoping HL will help with. I just use a Paizo wet erase Combat Pad right now.

I've re-created all my players' characters from their paper sheets in HL. I have a separate POR file for each character.

I just downloaded and imported the new SRD monsters release, though I have not idea how to access monsters yet.

I know how to connect a POR file to a topic in RW. Right now, I've only linked the POR files for the characters from their Person/Individual topics in RW.

So, how can HL help ME, as a DM? I see the how it is helpful for players, but I'm still working out how DMs use in play.

If I have a Scene in RW, I'm guessing I would create a POR that has the caracters and the monsters in it and then launch it in HL from RW when the time comes and then launch the tactical console...but by the time the character get to that scene, a lot of stuff on there character sheets will not be up to date. If I have to update all that on the fly, well, that's not going to work.

I thought I could instead have a POR with all the characters in the party in it, and update as we go along, and then use the tactical counsel from HL, ignoring RW and add baddies ( which I'm still figuring out how to do), but again, still seems easier to just have the players manage their own characters. What am I adding by duplicating that effort?

Again, I'm not asking you to regurgitate the manual, and I know I have to spend more time reading the help material. I just want a better understanding of the big picture from GMs who use HL to help manage their games. Where does it fit in? What does your prep and in-game workflow look like?