I have tried several programs that presume to help the hapless DM behind the screen but this is the one I have found to be the most helpful. I have been using this program for about two months now and feel very comfortable using it.

The screen is very plain at first glance but the real power is just hiding behind the clean interface. The entire structure is based on a Codex which is a very nice tree structure using a mini-word processor. There is data for Rules, Monsters, Magic, Weapons, Feats, Skills, Spells, NPCs, and PCs.

All sections allow you to customize and add data as you like. The program comes with the SRD content and monsters. There are many files available with data for other books too. With a click of the mouse any skill, spell, or feat is at your beck and call. This is much faster than thumbing through a book to find the rule you're looking for.

The codex allows you to build a dungeon completely within the program. You can 'plug in' monsters just by dragging from the monster database and dropping them into the codex. The same goes for magic items and weapons.

The real strength of the program is the Combat Board. This wonderful feature allows the DM to handle all aspects of combat. You just drag and drop NPCs, PCs, or monsters to the Combat Board and the program will assist with everything. It handles initiatives and allows the DM to keep combat flowing smoothly by keeping track of hit points, attack rolls, damage rolls, and spells cast. It will even keep track of a spell's duration notifying the DM when a spell expires.

All in all, this is a very complete program with a very short learning curve. Coupled with this is a very active user community that converses regularly via message boards. Paladin Programming also supports its program with absolute top-notch customer support. They are never too busy to answer the most trivial of questions and are very responsive to user requests that usually show up in the next update.

For me, it was money well spent and I think my players will agree, with DM's Familiar I am able to focus on the story and let the program help with the numeric details.