This is an excellent suggestion that I forgot, (because I don’t use it myself.) - Many tables really like this, because nobody needs to remember anything and everyone has the info to hand.
Definitely consider this approach if your players are constantly asking you questions like “how much damage did this ogre take again?” or “which of those two minotaurs has taken the most damage?” - it can really help you out.
Yup. This covers “forgetful players”, but it also helps me: a DM with ADHD that can get very lost in “meatspace” (“which of these four monsters that look exactly the same took 40 damage, again?” or “I am sure I had that monster token here somewhere…”)
So I make tokens with pictures for the creatures on the top and space on the bottom to scribble the damage with dry-erase marker. Really helps.
Also: adding up is much faster than subtracting damage
Really recommend that method for anybody that wants to try and speed up combat
Adding in to the way of “tracking health secretly”, there’s a way, but you gotta think in reverse:
Track damage, not health. Just jot down quickly on paper how much HP an enemy has and track damage dealt, which can be a public info anyway
If you figure HP needs changing, change it on the fly on the paper and adjust your description of the scene
This is an excellent suggestion that I forgot, (because I don’t use it myself.) - Many tables really like this, because nobody needs to remember anything and everyone has the info to hand.
Definitely consider this approach if your players are constantly asking you questions like “how much damage did this ogre take again?” or “which of those two minotaurs has taken the most damage?” - it can really help you out.
Yup. This covers “forgetful players”, but it also helps me: a DM with ADHD that can get very lost in “meatspace” (“which of these four monsters that look exactly the same took 40 damage, again?” or “I am sure I had that monster token here somewhere…”)
So I make tokens with pictures for the creatures on the top and space on the bottom to scribble the damage with dry-erase marker. Really helps.
Also: adding up is much faster than subtracting damage
Really recommend that method for anybody that wants to try and speed up combat