Controlling the passage of time.

Dreckned

First Post
As a DM how do you guys/gals keep track of the passing of time in the game? Such as, do you just use hash marks counting out the rounds? Do you write out every spell and when it was cast and then count down from there? What about when players search bodies and remove the victims gear and stow it for later identifing? What about spell durations? For instance it takes minutes to remove a set of armor from a dead body and to put it in a pack, and all the while spell durations would still need to be accounted for.

The reason I'm asking is because this is something I need to be better at as a DM and came here for advice.
 

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Stoat

Adventurer
I try not to get bogged down in the details. In combat, I might make ticks on a piece of paper. I might also take a spare die, put the "1" side face up, and turn it at the beginning of each round. Of course, most of my gaming is done online these days, and the VTT's I've used all have a method of counting rounds.

Outside of combat I totally wing it. I figure that any spell with a duration measured in rounds expires after 1 fight unless the PC's are truly gung-ho and move with extraordinary speed. Any spell with a duration in minutes usually expires if the PC's give an area more than a cursory search. Generally, I assume that time passes quickly, and that the PC's are moving slowly and carefully.

I sometimes count real time and game time as the same. Frex, I figure that if the players are horsing around trying to decide which door to open, then the PC's are doing the same.
 

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