Speeding Up Combat | Running the Game

Episode 59. Let the players track the total damage to monsters! Maybe you already do this, but for us it was a little breakthrough.
#RunningTheGame #MattColville

[@mcolville]

I did some soundproofing to kill the echo, I *think* it's working.

[@PartyWipeGames]

It definitely sounds different. Im not sure if its better but it is noticeable.

[@28ZackBlade]

Interesting! Sounds good. A bit of an echo still. Is this in the new office or still just the room?

[@kailkay]

I think the echo that is audible now lends a certain gravitas to the video. It is now the "wise voice from on the mountain".

[@Jelliphiish]

wow, congrats on the 200k subs.. also, sound is better. :)

[@PyroX792]

I think you need a bit more sound proofing. One thing that helped me when I built my recording studio was to add a futon. I specifically got the one at IKEA called LYCKSELE LÖVÅS because it has a cover you can put over it so there is no exposed metal bits that would reflect sound. Oh, if you haven't already grab some bass traps for the corners along the ceiling. You can grab a four pack on amazon pretty cheap. Speaking of ceiling, don't neglect the ceiling! An untreated ceiling can be a big source of echo. Love the videos! Good luck with the new space!

[@MonarchsFactory]

I should really get at least one player who isn't a theatre student so that we have SOMEONE competent at keeping track of numbers.

[@mordiveer5957]

xD

[@simongissler]

But like, at least we're pretty fun to roleplay with, right?

[@bknwuzheer1]

I FEEL you so much on this... we've all long abandoned math courses for at least 2-3 years..

[@blufosil11]

MonarchsFactory Because of Matt I found your channel, and I think your videos are pretty great.

[@jamesfisher9594]

You need someone from a STEM school.

[@mikegould6590]

Speeding up combat: Initiative: I track initiative by clipping clothespins to the top of the DMs screen so everyone knows where they act and can be ready. The monster is only inserted in this order once it acts. Clear understanding = faster. Monsters don’t roll initiative. Their “initiative” is their Dexterity score. Less rolling = faster. Players either have spell cards or I make them for them. Less looking up stuff = faster. Exploration and RP are theatre of the mind, but combat is grid and minis. Visual aids = faster. Familiars, followers, animal companions are RPed by me, but are run in combat by the player. Agency = less work for DM = faster.

[@abellius66]

"Exploration and RP are theatre of the mind, but combat is grid and minis. Visual aids = faster." I fully agree from my experience.

[@luiken3]

These are good. I'm not super thrilled with the "Dex is initiative" thing. I always preroll initiative if I'm able to prepare for the combat, and that works quite well.

[@toastghost9145]

I follow along on a lot of what you do, and I think I'm gonna have to steal that Dex=Monster Initiative thing. Clever and consistent. Thanks for the idea.

[@jamesbrooks9321]

players have trouble keeping track of their own HP

[@Humorless_Wokescold]

This is why I'm so grateful my current players are also big mmo fans. I get that the D&D community doesn't think much of people who enjoy video games but a player who's used to tracking stats, used to thinking about positioning, *really* speeds up the game.

[@nick_goldy]

My players have trouble tracking who's sitting in what chair....irl...

[@weebeegoblins5683]

Ooh, burn

[@bmike3000]

too true XD

[@theDMLair]

James Brooks Yeah...you're probably onto something there... 😀

[@BrokenDpad]

Personally I don't feel like that would have a great impact on my speed of combat. I find that the easiest way to track HP of monsters, is rather than count down, count up. Much easier to add than subtract, in my mind. Even more so if a fight is going just a biiiiit too easy, add some HP. Once the damage => HP, dead.

[@dougmcnair3748]

I do the same and it really doesn't slow me down much at all.

[@MetaKaios]

My DM also goes up rather than down, but I think his reasoning is so that he doesn't have to hide the numbers from the players, haha.

[@Sofus.]

That players knows the HP of enemies can diminish the DM's dramaturgical tools.

[@Germishkid]

MetaKaios I go up for ease of use and so I don't have to hide my numbers.

[@matthewclements6603]

That’s how I do it.

[@stitchthealchemist1520]

I play online using Roll20, I make it so that the monsters have a “health bar” that the players can see so that they can strategize better, and it makes sense. You’d be able to see whether or not something is bleeding (usually).

[@abellius66]

I prefer the health bar too to represent a monster's current health. Works very well on Roll20 games and it does the simple + - math for you!

[@fafhrdkreig4739]

My group uses roll20 as well and the health bar helps the healer as well to see who is about to go down.

[@tomasxfranco]

"Let's speed this video up" (switches playback to x1.5 speed) That's some fast speech there.

[@Falmosta]

O_O oh my.... that speed is amazing!

[@danewhite2547]

Exactly what I did!

[@blablubb4553]

It also helps to always roll attack and damage dice simultaneously: "My attack roll is a 23 for 16 points of damage. Does that hit?" - "Yeah, that hits." (DM goes ahead and narrates the effect of that hit).

[@christiandharma4116]

So I tried this in my session this weekend. I had heard this idea before & was skeptical it would speed up combat. I don't think it reduced time in & of itself, per se. My player who volunteered to keep track is great with math too. We did a summary at the end of every round or 2, hat helped the players as well as me. What did make a very big difference was the cognitive load. It was one less things my brain had to work on during the combat. We know that multi-tasking is a basically not true (our brains perform single tasks & just switch between them rapidly), and that our productivity drops the more switches our brain has to perform. So the benefit here wasn't that things got faster. It's that as a DM, I was able to devote more of my mental resources to keeping the combat running smoothly, & allowed me to spend more time improvising conversation & how to make things more exciting, cinematic, etc. I'm going to stick with this for a while. Thanks Matt for encouraging me to give it a try.

[@ShaneNaeger]

This is similar to something I do. I always encourage my players to create a bestiary of any enemies they run into through the campaign. Track HP, AC, and anything else that might be relevant to know for future encounters with the same/similar enemies.

[@Saint_Ada]

my group of friends and i are all begginers in D&D, we all started un 5th edition, i almost dropped playing whem i tried to GM 'cause i thought i was a bad GM, i don't know why, but listening to your videos (i normaly open another window and do other stuff) helped me to convince myself to write a story and try GM'ing again. Thanks for all and i wish to you all the best, sorry if wrote something wrong, still getting used with english

[@ForeverYoungKickboxer]

If you and your players are having fun, there is no wrong way to play, brother. Reading this comment a year later, I'm hoping you're still playing, man!

[@Sliverik]

I feel like this is an excellent way to keep everyont engaged during long combat rounds. I have 7 players, and some get easily distracted when they don't have to play. Having them do a bit of maths is a great idea! Thanks for the awesome video and tips, as always!

[@rokkkrinn2793]

I've never had a problem with this as a DM. I have my notebook, and I just do a running total. Simple addition until the monsters are dead.

[@SergeManGaming]

I tried this for a session, and it was measurably 15-20% slower. I honestly think spending 30 seconds to set up a small grid with your monsters' HP before the combat will save vastly more time than this. Sorry Matt!

[@Jake007123]

I think the same way. I don't think it's so hard to track monster's HP, and I DM Pathfinder, which has billions of monsters with Damage Reduction and energy resistance.

[@thomascoull2019]

First Pathfinder Society game I played, which was also my first RPG game as a player ever, the DM would write the damage numbers on the battle mat. Though we didn't know the total HP of the monsters we fought, it gave that video-gamey feeling of seeing the health bar go down as you chipped away at an enemy without dragging us out of the RPG headspace. I've used that in every game I've GM'ed thereafter and it's always gotten a good response from my players. Totally agree with Matt's point here that it just gives players a sense of progress during a fight.

[@stephenvincentgiles1306]

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around HOW this speeds up combat. It sounds like it would slow it down. My players barely know what they're going to do on their turn. Asking them to keep track of damage sounds like creating chaos. But who knows? Maybe this will turn out to be a counter-intuitive trick. Only one way to find out...

[@aneph96]

I’m also struggling to see the point. I already track the ammunition for my players because they want it to be a finite resource but they don’t want to track it. I think having the damage visible on the map might lead to overthinking and thus slow the game down. I rather track it myself and tell them if they ask which orc looks worst. In my experience players are happy when they don’t have to deal with numbers other then their their gold and health. Nonetheless I will try this tonight, maybe it really works, let’s see

[@_UPRC]

Yeah, same here. I keep track of all of my encounter hit points. As my players damage them, I'm updating the creature hit points from behind my screen and simultaneously telling them how the attack lands. I don't feel like this slows things down at all, and Matt's system sounds kind of flawed to me.

[@fergochan]

These comments surprise me and make me realise just how varied people's tables are. I'm just struggling to imagine the kind of human that says they want finite ammunition but don't want to track it (I couldn't stand not knowing how many arrows I have left). Heck, I consider myself pretty lazy (keep forgetting to track spells) but I've got all sorts of lists tracking my carrying capacity and bonuses and such.

[@LW123LW]

Basically instead of "24 damage, alright that's 73 minus 24, borrow a one, that's 9, 6-2=4, it has 49 HP" the DM can say "24 damage? Cool. Jeff it's your turn."

[@ericnexus1810]

The GM can track a damage total instead of subtracting damage from HP just as easily on their side of things if it makes the math easier. I'm not sure how having the players track it makes it quicker? Also, as a GM I usually adjust a monster's tactics based on how close to death they are. Some monsters who are near death will run, try to heal, offer to surrender in exchange for their life, fight defensively, fight more recklessly, or whatever. I feel like the players tracking damage only works if the monsters just mindlessly attack each round regardless of their HP total.

[@MysticVRB]

I would like to know how exactly this was used to speed up your combat. What does the DM do on the other players turns if not keep track of the monster hit points? How was basic addition by one person making your combat take longer than a group of people (and all THEIR mathematical failings in tow) doing it while that same one person has to recalculate the hit points to account for resistances? I've done a lot of things over the years to try to keep combat moving at a regular pace. I've used clearly visible markers to show everyone the order so they know who is next (if you haven't seen Acquisitions Incorporated The "C" Team, look it up and you'll see this in action), I've pushed for attacks and damage to be rolled together as one roll so that we don't have to waste time waiting till after you do the math to figure out if you hit before we can get your damage, I've picked up the habit of alerting the person who is next after the current round that they are "on deck" so they know to get ready with their turn, but I've never considered the idea of having the hit points of monsters tracked via assembly. Maybe it's just me and my players, but I can barely trust these kids to remember the bonus they get to an attack from a spell that's been going on for ten rounds and they've had to be reminded of it every one of those 10 rounds...these are not the people to trust to remember to keep track of monster hit points.

[@matthewmarting3623]

In your case it doesn’t make sense to do it. But I suck at math and am DMing for 3 other DMs and two very experienced players. This just changed my world.

[@theDMLair]

Tim, I gotta agree there. I'm not sure it will gain any speed. I also don't like the idea of players knowing the exact number of hp of damage something has and then being able to know it's total hp, once it dies.

[@igotsmeakabob]

I started doing this the first time you mentioned it a long while ago- I never stopped. It's a great thing to try, worked out for me. I don't mind just telling the players that a monster has taken less damage from resistance etc, they cut the damage themselves when they're marking it down.

[@zagobelim]

I can't believe I haven't seen this idea anywhere before. Very simple and very interesting.

[@Nukacrepe]

I love this idea so much. Matt keep giving me these brilliant ideas and you might become my favorite Matt.

[@medea8395]

A Matt Colville Running the Game video less than 10 minutes long?! What a world!

[@quetzalcouatl]

This is a great idea! In my previous games players were already asking how much damage they'd done to some of the targets and others would generally respond with "Both of us have hit that one, that one is unharmed." etc. This would cut out all of that since they'd be able to see exactly how much damage has been done which would inform them and help them decide who to go for faster. If I end up DMing again, I will have to try and remember to do this.

[@HebigamiShinobi]

I've basically always done this. I place percentile dice down next to a creature once it takes a hit, to track the total damage it has taken. Oftentimes I'll dial up the total myself, but my friends jump in and do it for me if I ask them to (sometimes I don't even have to ask), say when I turn away to reference a book or something. If a creature has an immunity or damage resistance, I straight up announce it the first time it is triggered. I also let my friends keep track of initiative for me using one of those white erase magnetic sheets paizo makes, and I have condition tokens and other gewgaws to help with situational effects.

[@crunchydragontreats6692]

Ok. I’m 3 minutes into the video and I’ve had two thoughts on this subject. 1. There is almost always somebody who likes being the “secretary” at the table. Often this is the person who would keep track of initiative or names of NPCs or names of towns and various places in the towns. (Also, our group rewards people for “helping” the GM in or out of game.) 2. I have a bard in my current game who is all about documenting the exploits of their parties adventures. Either of these people would be great for tracking a monsters damage.

[@joshthompson8506]

One thing I've started using is a constant initiative. Instead of rolling initiative for every single little encounter I have the party roll initiative each morning, then they only have the option to reroll for a boss monster. So for dungeons that have can have like ten enemy clusters I don't have to faff about figuring out turn order, I just roll for the monsters and add them in wherever.

[@yucaipawarrior]

In the campaign I am currently playing in, one of my fellow players made a program that tracks initiative and damage done to monsters. We all sent him images of characters that resemble our character for our icon in the app and pictures of any enemies we will be facing. It made combat go plenty faster because we were no longer backtracking to remember our damage rolls. However it does make combat that much worse when he is absent because now we dont know how we did combat without the program. 😂

[@Sporadicus1976]

A DM/Player friend of mine uses 1 inch poker chips where he writes a damage numbers using an erasable marker. I LOVED this way of damage tracking. I might buy some damage chips myself because of it.

[@JKevinCarrier]

Our group has done this for a while. I don't know how much it speeds things up, but it definitely makes life easier on the DM.

[@willhenry2523]

I typically used to appoint one player as the "DM assistant" who was tasked with tracking stuff like that or flipping through the books if we needed to lookup rules so that I could focus on keeping the game running. It had the same effect and it worked very well. I say USED TO because my current group is online and so it doesn't work quite as easily.

[@bardogimbal4449]

This is rad, I already have a initiative tracker viewable to my players, and now I'm going to try having 1 player write damage taken next to monsters names. Perhaps a 'monster wrangler' now too. I like the feel of a the whole party acknowledging the 'real-ness' of the situation outside of my personal imagination

[@faviodiciocco4489]

I love the idea, and as you say, it is information they have. It should make keeping track of the monsters damage really easier.

[@pyra4eva]

Since it was mentioned at the end of the video, I figured I'd put this out there for anyone still asking about skill challenges or even timed challenges. I did a bit of a timed skill challenge recently that went pretty well. My players entered a tournament, as a group of adventurers in a series are want to do, and one of the games was basically an escape room. There were no monsters. It was strictly environmental. I altered how I did time where real time didn't represent in-game time. I told them that they had an hour in-game to solve the puzzle but they had roughly 2 real hours to. I deducted time whenever they would use a spell that took 10 mins to cast and things like that. I didn't deduct 20 real life minutes when they did a spell that took 10 mins. I only deducted the 10 mins. There were puzzles they had to solve and obstacles that they had to overcome with a few traps sprinkled in here and there and I even gave them a map of the area which lead to about 15mins of them discussing how to read the map since they were in an upside down sinking ship so they had to know which way was right and which way was left so that they knew where they were. They had to actually communicate and work together to solve the map and the various obstacles. They ended up going over their time which lead to water cascading into the ship as the pressure of the water crushed and opened parts of it. One character almost drowned and there were a ton of close calls when it came to characters almost dying but they made it through and all got out alive. I present this idea for anyone who wants it. Maybe tweak it where it's a moving dungeon on the back of a turtle or something. It was very experimental on my part and I'm hoping to take what I learned and apply it to the next time I do it in the future. My players seemed to like it and I hope yours do too.

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

This would be useful for tabletop games. But this is why i really like Roll20. You just give all the monsters health bars (either visible to the players or not, the GM decides what the players see), and whenever a monster takes damage, click on the token, bubbles come above the token, click on the bubble and type +/-X (X being the Hp difference), makes multiple monsters, or 1 high hp monster very easy to track. We've been doing the game for just over a year now, and they still tend to add up their damage as it shows up, and i have to keep telling them "Don't worry about totaling it for me, i take the health off as the damage comes in" also makes the maths easy if someone does Weapon Damage + Elemental Damages + Sneak Attack + Spell Damage. Instead of adding them all up, i can just take off the health in the segments.

[@MichaelDBruce]

One of the things I've always had a hard time with is how long combat takes, and maybe part of this related to some unresolved feelings of my first experiences in 2nd Edition as a cleric, smashing my foes with a damage output of 1d4. It's hard to feel the narrative of the story unfold when a combat encounter might take an hour to finish up. When I run a game, i tell my players that they are starting with max hit points but that's it. When they level up, they are always going to have their starting hit points. Now maybe they find a magic item or they get a con boost at some point, but there is a tension that comes knowing that life can be fragile. Ac changes too. Armor doesnt provide a difficulty to hit - if anything I'd think that plate armor is easier to hit... armor instead adds some temporary hit points that = the destruction of the armor when they are gone (and make the repair skill useful). I give monsters lower hit points too. Minions are normally erased in one hit or two - the tension comes then from erasing them before they can erase you and I've found my players to be more tactically minded during combat scenes. I ran the lost mines of pha... phale... phalendodahnay... with my daughter. She skipped through to the last dungeon and encountered a flameskull. It was a challenge to best. I wanted her to feel tension but I wasn't out to punish her since it was my fault that she wanted to push through to the higher level content and I believed it was her right to choose that. Even with 20hp, the flameskull was tough. It killed one of the npc fighters she brought with her, but when she beat it she felt really accomplished. I have a lot to iron out in my thinking because most of the time I am winging combat to tell a story and feel dramatic rather than an hp grind.... idk. Just my thoughts

[@flametitan100]

Generally, I find it's not the numbers that slow down my fights, as roll20 has an HP tracker for character and monster tokens. Instead, it's the tactical minutiae of moving ever so to avoid Attacks of opportunity, or getting your AoE effects just right to hit every enemy but not your allies... It's a big reason why I'm tempted to drop using minis altogether and go back to Theatre of the Mind games (and also why I don't follow the advice of ripping abilities from 4e).

[@ScottHillberry]

Matt - as a new DM, I've been steadily consuming all your helpful videos. Even 5 years later, most of the wisdom you share has been timeless. There are many digital encounter trackers (including a beta version on DnDBeyond, which I have been using), so keeping track of math may not be as common a problem as it once was. I'm looking forward to a "future" video that addresses other common problems keeping combat as quick as possible!

[@Hydrein17]

I just got off from my new job and I’m glad to come home to this :)!

[@willsuttie3683]

For DR, I think it's easiest to add to the monster's total HP by the amount that it resists. If a 10hp orc takes 6 damage with resistance it's now a 13hp orc that has taken 6 damage.

[@Skulknght]

1. I love all videos you make 2. Advice for chase scenes is something I have a hard time explaining to new DMs

[@justicea.4521]

While I think some groups could use this, I also think it could get messy with multiple resistances, spells, and magic items. Paladin Divine Smite with a frost brand is slashing, 1d6 frost, and 2d8 radiant. Then again, the group is at 13th level, so stat blocks are on the advanced size. I also think it takes a bit of the immersion out of it as players get more familiar with recurring monsters.

[@knoxminis1211]

Good idea. I mean this is what a lot of games like 40K do in using dice to tracking remaining wounds. Just the opposite here in tracking the damage done.

[@HowtoRPG]

I see more than a few issues. One being that resistance and immunity still need to be worked out by the DM without the players having information they should not. Yes a player can just memorize the Monster Manual, but if the DM has modified it.

[@ethankegley14]

works if the DM is bad at math. But I am pretty good at mental math, not the best, but I can often times figure things out faster than the players. I feel like everyone writing on the battle map especially every time something moved would get messy. I think the best thing for speeding up battles is for the player to think about their action while they are waiting and then roll their damage with the attack. A lot of players just cross talk when it is not their turn, then they spend time thinking about their action, then they roll, do the math, then they find their damage dice, then roll and do more math... This is what slows down battle

[@mbalazs3544]

I love these type of videos :D

[@abacadian]

I tell my players when they're running against resitances and immunities anyway.

[@xanathar8659]

It's a good strategy but think about it. You would still need to track damage because players (at least in my group) might lie about it or forget. Plus you need to know when the monster is dead. Example: You are fighting an ogre, it has 54 hp. A player does 7 damage, another does 4, another 6 and another 9. That's 26 right. Thats the first round. Instead of asking how much total damage at the end of each round, just do what I do and have graph paper ready with each grid as 1 hp. When it takes 6 damage, cross off 6 grids. It takes 2 seconds. And while you cross them, the next player can say what they are doing. Then they can roll. This idea might work for serious players, but not mine. It's a good idea.

[@MarcioLiao]

About resistance. I think is easier to just describe that the monster is Resistance and let the players adjust the damage. Because i think is pretty obvious when your strikes aren't very effective against a target. PS. Is funny to me when people think 5e combats takes too long. I remember that in early versions some battles would take entire sections, sometimes even more.

[@antonbonin5003]

Skill challenge: I had a patrol on an open road try to track down my players into the forest nearby. Both the patrol and the players rolled off on a perception vs. stealth. First to get best 3/5 wins. Fortunately the players barely won, and escaped into the forest unscathed.

[@PhoenixHavok]

Yeah my group definitely needs to increase combat speed

[@28ZackBlade]

Love this video and concept!! Might try it out soon. Thanks for the video!@ Small question... spinach in the teeth? Maybe im just seeing things.

[@alexmateiu2904]

That is a great idea. Thank you!

[@minecraftmage1134]

I run combat in roll20, at the very least its cheaper, free as opposed to needing to figure out grid and minis, but also it allows for tracking of stats such as health as token (mini)-bound variables. you lose a physical aspect, but most of my players seem to like doing it this way, it cuts down on work, and allows for remote play if necessary (remote play is very convenient, but is easier to get off-task, kinda why i watched this in the first place. the only other idea i can think of is addition of turn timers where if you just kinda dont say anything for so long on your turn you forfeit it to a predetermined action (dodge, blade ward, etc.)

[@swiggityswooty3497]

Such a helpful idea, thanks Matt!

[@JSculls52]

Awesome idea, I run on roll20 at the moment so the tokens keep track of it themselves at the moment but next time I play in person will try it out!

[@13e7h1n]

I already do this when there is more that 3 monsters. I run in adventure league that means 6 to 7 players on a regular basis. This makes it much easier to run large combats. The playes write on the battle mat and if the monsters move they will keep track of the numbers for me.

[@scottspam1]

I'm looking forward to trying this at my table. I like it.

[@danfiorini101]

This idea is still valid, which can certainly be done, but I did note one other type of damage reduction which could potentially come up. Not sure if this has already been said, but off the top of my head, high-level fighters have a damage reduction of 3 points to certain damage types (slashing, etc.). Just saying.

[@78Mathius]

I have a super detail oriented player. She tracks everything for me. Allows me focus o narrative and massively speeds up combat.

[@UNYEILDING]

Combat is drama, and like any good villain plot, the players shouldn't know exactly what they're up against. I roll the dice in front of them, so changing AC or HP for allies and enemies behind the screen is how I keep control of the narrative tension while still appearing to be fair. However, a more hack-n-slash or tactical table would probably benefit greatly from players having more direct oversight on combatants.

[@jackdavis98]

Used this method for a while, but now I have a question: how do you handle monsters that heal using this method? I know I could just say “the monster gets better suddenly,” but how would you suggest tracking (or having the players track, rather) that?

[@Sewrays]

I just ran a vampire encounter yesterday. We also have regeneration of hit points.

[@taragonleaf8005]

speeding up combat: get rid of initiative entirely. You all declare your moves and roll your attack dice. Resolve the rolls from highest to lowest.

[@mgnthalentyr]

I DM with a laptop, over the years I have build a system in excel to manage the encounters for me, including randomised monster hp based on its hit dice, as well at tracking the monsters damage, that alone has cut down a lot on the battle time

[@recursivecoin359]

I use knit counters that go from 0-100 to let players track the damage it's great. I got the idea from my friend Ed. You can order them on Amazon... They are listed as AKOAK 10 piece per pack plastic knit counter knitting crochet stitch marker row counter - 5 large size and 5 small size - blue and red

[@mattiasnordstrom86]

Heavy Armor Master gives you a damage reduction of 3 vs non magical Piercing, Slashing and Bludgeoning.

[@SkiSummer]

The best way to speed up combat is for players to role the damage dice with the D20.

[@jordensjunger]

I can only see this speeding up combat for groups that do everything with pens and paper. If you've got screens at the table, just let the computer keep track of hp.

[@oranged2075]

I can't wait to try this!

[@maleulex3]

If you have a monster or a creature, that is build like a PC, it could have the feat: "Heavy Armor Master" and it says that the damage you take from nonmagical weapons is reduced by 3. ( 1:56 )

[@DanielMt.]

Matt please talk about handling infinite skill check rolls aka players wanting to keep making skill check rolls after they have failed the first time. For example: Failed to unlock a chest first time, wants to re-roll again, fails again, wants to re-roll again or the infamous meta infinite skill check roll; Player 1 fails to unlock so Player 2 attempts to unlock and fails so Player 3 asks to roll. etc.

[@SamRandolph]

It's really simple: don't roll the check unless there's some sort of cost or risk (e.g. time, something bad happens if you fail) to make the check and a chance of both success or failure. If a player wants to pick a lock and they have the skills for it (i.e. it's possible for them to pick it) and there's nothing stopping them from trying repeatedly for an hour, just let them succeed automatically. More info: theangrygm.com/five-simple-rules-for-dating-my-teenaged-skill-system/

[@junge412junge412]

My players started tracking damage, Ac and other stats and are building their own Monster Manual

[@3titansofglory]

has it ever happened using this method where a monster slips through the cracks and you end up checked how much they've hit it and the number is significantly higher than it's intended hp?

[@ceramicchicken1]

Sounds interesting, I’ll have to try it in a one shot and see how it goes! I just wait for the player to tell me the damage, and I quickly write that number down. And then describe the impact of the hit. Then the time spent shifting to the next players turn to act I do the math. But also my games slog during combat primarily do to tabletaking the “best” action every player can take. And I’m fine with that cause my players like that slow tactile-ness to that campaign’s combat!

[@Yora21]

I'd love to see a video on running Star Wars games.

[@jacobs483]

It sounds like some of the confusion and dislike is coming from either DMs having particular types of players who they do not believe would be able to handle this responsibility well, or from a misunderstanding of how the HP tracking works. Matthew explained a technique that worked very well at two tables he was running, which has specific players. Those are not the players in your games, and thus it may not apply. Matthew has always been forward about how he does not offer advice, just shares his experience for you to take or leave. So feel free to leave it if your judgement of your group says you should not. Secondly, Matthew said quite specifically that the players used dice attached to the monster models to track their damage, so it would be clearly visible to everyone, including the DM. He would not have to ask after monster HP, he could see it. Finally, and least importantly, I see no problem with players knowing what kind of punishment it takes to defeat a certain monster. If the concern is that your players will think you are manipulating stats and they will notice, justification one way or another is easy. A creature may be described, even in the moment, as “tougher looking than his fellows” or “weaker than ones you have fought before.” More broadly speaking, it is perfectly logical for players to learn what it takes to kill something. That’s how hunting/killing works. You learn where to aim, what weapons to use, and what the creatures limits are. I personally wish my players would do this for me, but I think it would not work as well for my group. Maybe another game though:)

[@user-gj7lp5iz6k]

I use Roll20, so subtracting Hit Points from a monster is literally as easy as clicking the token and making its health bar smaller. Ironically, it would slow my combat down to implement this system.

[@TawanWorapol]

Good content ! And !! In 6 minute !, that’s a good timing cause other video it’s like more than 15 minute

[@SASAPUNKS]

Thank you Matt! I have been looking for some methods to speed up the combat a bit. On another note, where did you find a Stormbringer poster!?

[@RonnieLunn84]

Another skill challenge video would definitely be appreciated!

[@ThePenguinsKing]

What about throwing the to hit and damage dice at the SAME time? I think that speeds it up too. 😁

[@FishoD]

I may be a math nerd but i have zero issue keeping health tabs on all my monsters and i love throwing dozens at a time so that heroes feel like heroes, so this doesnt help much.

[@thealmightyego6339]

I've been doing this for years, just thought this was how it was lol

[@Zjivarra]

Hi Matt, First of all, I really enjoy your videos. Keep them coming please! So... I've started a baby project of my own, which I've been encouraged to do by my role-play group. They want me to write a guide book for the mechanics I've mashed together in our games. Some of it is "stolen" or at least "modified" to various degrees (nothing new under the sun and all that), but the core of what we are using, or how we are using it, is perhaps something unique and I was wondering if I could perhaps give you, in confidence, a peak at the stuff I have in the draft and keeping it confidential, ask your opinion as a veteran RPG hobbiest, as I have great respect for your knowledge and insight on these things. Hope to hear back from you, Johann

[@Finalwolfe]

I don't know why I've never heard this before, it makes so much sense, can't wait to put this into action

[@masonbhunter2]

Hey Matt. When the DM asks how many hit points they've done and the DM discovers the players have actually killed the Orc, would you just say "Oh well then in that case he falls over dead." or would you wait until the next successful attack on the Orc to describe his death?

[@SkyPGShow]

This would be helpful a thousand times over if I wasn't already using an app to track monster HP.

[@adimiss]

What app?

[@SkyPGShow]

I use Fight Club, both the player version and the Game Master version, for 5th edition. You have to sync your phone with a dropbox file. Searching for Fight Club files on google helped me find someone who has compiled a lot of the current material to appropriate files. If there is no entry for new monsters like in Tome of Foes or Volo's, I just create a monster in the app with the appropriate name and hit points. Anything else, I can just look in the book for and roll dice for as normal. I mostly use it for tracking HP over everything else.

[@adimiss]

Is the app just called fight club?

[@SkyPGShow]

Yeah, I'd search Fight Club 5e if you can't find it. It's also only on iPhone, unfortunately.

[@adimiss]

Ah. Darn it! I Don't have apple products.

[@Tybuscus]

Hey Matt, if you see this, any tips for using this online? Without the die next to the enemies, I feel that my players would lose track.

[@Impossible_Emporium]

For the monsters with DR, just double the HP.

[@MetaKaios]

Holy carp, a RtG video that's less than seven minutes?

[@Wizardously]

I just use an app that tracks monster hp, you can add/subtract right on the app, so tracking hp has never really factored into the speed of the game

[@BeurenZac]

But Matt, don't you lose part of the battle's weight that way? Describing how much the enemy is hurt gives the sense of how much the players are winning or losing. Do you compensate this with another things or you just don't mind it? I absolutely love your videos man, thanks a lot for them!

[@mcolville]

How do you normally keep how much damage the players are doing secret from them?

[@BeurenZac]

The classical way, writing on a paper. And it is not efficient indeed

[@mallygd774]

I just keep the numbers in my noggin

[@benandthejets]

Instead of having me or the players track HP, why not a computer? I use an excel sheet with a column for each monster were I list all damages it has taken, and a single cell = initial HP - (sum of damage) keeps track of the damage. Requires minimal prepwork of having a couple of combat sheets prepared, but no math required during the session (other than dividing by two for resistances)

[@ApprenticeNick]

Great advice, though I exclusively play online (due to circumstances) via roll20, which can automatically track HP for players and monsters. It's a great tool!

[@keithhealy3318]

My team already does this so they have an idea but I still track it. I dont see how this would speed it up. The DM now has no clue how much each monster has left and would have to ask how much is left over and over. Especially if they are fighting a large number of foes.

[@TheMegacoolman5000]

What four videos released? Matt are you okay?

[@SamWickens]

My players DO keep track of the total damage. The problems are a) So do I just in case and b) often there are disagreements because someone misses something. This breaks immersion, because you can end up with disagreements between players or players and the DM that drag out over what happened 3 rounds and 20 minutes ago. So my way doesn't work. I'll try letting the players do it on their own, though. Our combat has been a slog for a while now.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Have people roll damage with their attacks. It cuts down about half the die rolls.

[@kerryburt9498]

As a DM combat is always my least favorite part of this game. It always feels like such a slog. Might give this a try to speed things up.

[@Humble197]

as a dm it can be fun but as a player its boring

[@peterjames5887]

I believe that you get out of combat what you put into it. If I use a countdown of 5 during combat for players decisions, and narrate the actions in combat with a fast pace and a dire tone, it excites the mood at the table and immerses the players in the situation. By the same token, I don't spend a lot of time deciding what the monsters will do, I just pick the worst thing I could do to the player most vulnerable and do it. They usually do a good job of protecting each other and working together, so they usually survive. Usually. :)

[@kerryburt9498]

Perhaps my earlier comment came off a bit harsh. I don't hate combat in D&D per se, I actually love how much my players seem to get out of it. I just prefer things like puzzles and social interactions that rely more on the players being clever than on how optimized the characters are. My favorite moments come from players doing something clever, not from high dice rolls. This is probably more of a failure of my skills than any problem with the game. I wish combat had more of a cerebral feel to it.

[@randomusernameCallin]

I enjoy combat in a RPG it one of the few thing in a PnP RPG that offer the player enough depth that they can have a complex role playing in the game play. I find puzzle and Social interaction often become just about a roll.

[@patrikg.6320]

Well then use monsters above the partys CR and give then tools to fight this monster, a lvl1 player can fight a young dragon with a balista on his side and good aim, let your players set up traps for high level monsters you dont always have to make the encounter "random" give players time to prepare for fights they would otherwise loose. You can use the same thing for your monster, maybe some bandits want to hunt your players and while in normal fight they would just die like pigs they instead use traps and terein to make the fight equal. I once knocked out 3 lvl9 characters with bunch of goblins because they had their noses too far up and wernt even checking their premises.

[@Chozo_hybrid]

Can you post your chat with Adam on your youtube channel after if possible? I won't be able to watch it live (work) and I will forget about it!

[@mcolville]

I think it'll go up on his KZbin when it's done, and I'll link to it.