Tracking Monster Damage With Xs and Slashes
Mike Shea (Sly Flourish) on the Lazy RPG Talk Show:
Turns out subtracting is hard [when tracking monster damage]…so instead of subtracting damage from its monsters hit points, I would just track the damage up…when the damage it took crosses over its hit points, then it’s time to die…so what I started doing was just using X’s and slashes.
This is a great suggestion! I’ve just been using standard tally marks, but I could definitely see how this streamlines things. Going to have to try it out at my next game.
TLDR: Use / for 5 damage and X for 10 damage. Cross a / with \ to make an X. Use standard tallies for remainders. When you cross out 5 tallies, create a new / and disregard those tallies.