Quote from: Steerpike;709264Similarly, I sometimes ask my players how many hp they have left in order to get a better mental picture of the battlefield.  Even with abstracted hp, I figure that characters at lower hp would be visibly wounded, fatigued, shaken, bruised & battered, etc.  Some monsters might be able to smell blood or sense fear, and intelligent monsters may factor in the state of their enemies when prioritizing attacks - either to finish off a weak enemy or to concentrate on more robust enemies and let henchmen target the wounded ones.

If youy can't keep track of half a dozen numbers that only change in relation to PC , moster or environmental actions what sort of GM are you

I never ask my PCS their HPs but I always know within a tight (+/- 10%) range what their HP are at currently.
I rarely let it effect what the other guys do unless I am playing with kids. So if I am running a game for little ones and I know the elf has 8 HP I will have the guy attacking deal 1d6+1. I want them to feel threatened but not to die in one hit.

Quote from: jibbajibbaIf youy can't keep track of half a dozen numbers that only change in relation to PC , moster or environmental actions what sort of GM are you

Like I said, I do keep track of PC hp, but with 6-7 PCs and often a dozen or more monsters plus spell effects, items, etc I do occasionally lose track if I haven't scribbled it down in awhile.  If I wrote down every single effect currently on various PCs stats (poison damage, energy drain, disease, spell ability damage, non-lethal damage) I'd spend all of my time record-keeping and the game would move at a snail's pace, which I don't consider good GMing either.

Quote from: Steerpike;709306Like I said, I do keep track of PC hp, but with 6-7 PCs and often a dozen or more monsters plus spell effects, items, etc I do occasionally lose track if I haven't scribbled it down in awhile.  If I wrote down every single effect currently on various PCs stats (poison damage, energy drain, disease, spell ability damage, non-lethal damage) I'd spend all of my time record-keeping and the game would move at a snail's pace, which I don't consider good GMing either.

I was joking Well mostly .....

To be honest of late I have been playing out combats using sheets of A 1 paper our stuff was wrapped in when we packed to move to Singapore.

I stick it on the table sketch out the area use coins for locations of the various folks. I track initiative on my end of the sheet and scribble down damage to NPCs or whatever down the bottom.
The current game is pretty combat heavy, being a Strontium Dog game with that fast paced high action feel. Although we had one session that was a court trail and for the last half of yesterday the PCs were investigating a murder having spent the first 90 minutes resolving the bank heist from last time.

Typically combats are taking about an hour but they are combats with 3 PCs +2 war drones vs 12-20 bad guys. The last one included a chase through a shopping Mall. I would say one 10 second combat round takes about 10 minutes to play out with each PC taking about 3 minutes and the bad guys about a minute. Making use of Advantage/Disadvantage has made a huge difference as wrangling over possible modifiers and then doing a bunch of mental arithmatic has been replaced with 'Sure you have advantage' or 'you have double disadvantage' or whatever. Makes it a lot smoother.

Thinking on it... Isnt anyone bandaging and aiding the fallen to, ya know, prevent them from shuffling off the mortal coil?

Convenient raise dead temples might not be so common in some groups campaigns, or even non-existent. But are players really not taking steps themselves to assist eachother when down?

Quote from: atpollard;709238I am a lot older now than I was then (and potentially less of a 'pathetic wanker'.)

You assume that other gamers will act just as childishly if their characters are killed in the game, and that they must be protected from the same middle-school melancholia that led you to be the young pathetic wanker you once were, but are no longer . . . potentially.

Quote from: atpollard;709238"Those who chain their passions, do so because their passions are small enough to be chained."

You know that going from pathetic wanker to pretentious douchebag is a lateral move, right?

Quote from: rancke;709274These comments are as valuable and insightful as they are polite.

I'm sorry, did I miss atpollard's safe word or something?

If you announce to the world that you pouted for months over losing a game as if that's somehow relevant to anything, yeah, expect ridicule.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;709353

Quote from: ranckeThese comments are as valuable and insightful as they are polite.

I'm sorry, did I miss atpollard's safe word or something?

No, you just made a rude and inane comment.


Hans

Quote from: Omega;709326Thinking on it... Isnt anyone bandaging and aiding the fallen to, ya know, prevent them from shuffling off the mortal coil?

Convenient raise dead temples might not be so common in some groups campaigns, or even non-existent. But are players really not taking steps themselves to assist eachother when down?

In 'death at zero hp' systems it's not an issue.

This is just the antibody phase, newcomers! As long as you avoid appeals to authority or decorum like swim floaters as if this is the kiddie pool, you should be fine. Remember, don't be that whiner with scraped shins. Stick it out, it gets better! We believe in you!
:cheerleader:

Quote from: rancke;709366No, you just made a rude and inane comment.


Hans

For your support in atpollard's trolling, and for ruining trav's image everywhere, here is a golden gnome, you earned it: