I find D&D 4th ED to be the anathema of what an RPG should be: it's like World of Warcraft with pen and paper! Tracking all that stuff on IRC gone be a *****.
....in you place I'd much rather use D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder (often dubbed D&D 3.75) as they're lighter on rules and are streamlined mature systems (especially Pathfinder which is pretty much D20/D&D 3.5 streamlined even further to create slick, fast system).
BTW I'm running a game on FAKKU every saturday. (Well actually another guy runs it, but lately I've pretty much taken over as the GM of choice). I've found that character interaction and less combat oriented adventures are more fun for the players when you use IRC.
You might need this:
http://www.d20source.com/roleplaying-tools/dicebotIt's the best damn dice bot to date, it can do complex rolls and will indicate NAT 20 and fumbles.
...finally if you insist on combat, you might wanna take a look at this:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jgm0wyyejbwCodex Martialis is a combat system for D&D 3.5/D20/Pathfinder. It replaces the "I attack" boring actions by fighters with a myriad of options. It's one of those rare and awsome systems, that's simple to use and has a wide range of options and complex results. The system also addresses the biggest flaw (IMHO) of D20 that armors make you harder to hit, but don't protect. It introduces damage reduction for all armors with a simple bypass mechanism. The main mechanic is the use of a D20 dice pool: you can roll more than one die and you take the highest result. This avoids the dreaded flat curve, but adds a lot of flexibility.
...if you like it, please support the makers by buying it here:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65250
