Hit Points... Up or Down?

[Scribble]

I used to always subtract damage I took (or a monster took) from my list of HP... When I got to 0 I'd be dead.

Then I saw a friend was adding damage upwards, until he got to his total HP tally.

At first, I laughed at him. "You do it different then I do- therefore you deserve my mockery!"

He explained it was faster for him... Adding numbers was easier then subtracting.

I found this amusing at first then I realized that was one of the points of changing to hit numbers and such... And he's a pretty intelligent guy (IT guy n all..)

So I gave it a try... And low and behold- It IS easier.

I tend to game late at night, and usually have a beer or two with dinner... Anything that saves me a little brain power for more important parts of the game is awesome.

How about you guys? Add or subtract HPs?

 

[darjr]

That is what I do. I started doing it while DMing cause I rarely use a DM screen and I didn't want any snoopy players knowing how many hp monsters had left.

It turned out to work great for me.

I do, as some sort of tic, put a - in front of the numbers. So you could say that I'm still counting down.

 

[DragonLancer]

I always start at 0 and add up. It is much easier to work out.

The players in my group however usually work down for some reason though.

 

[WHW4]

We add up as well, but also use the minus sign for damage. All agree it's faster.

 

[Nifft]

Yep, I too find that adding up damage is faster than counting down hit points.

Healing is less frequent than stabbing.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nadaka]

Add damage. I do 3e and d20 modern, so effects that change con are easier to handle when you track damage separately from hp.

However, I do occasionally use W/VP house rules. In that case I can subtract damage from vitality.

 

[Umbran]

When I'm GM, I add up damage to monsters.

When I play, I subtract damage from my hit points.

Why? Because when I'm GM, I generally am not so worried about exactly how many hit points each critter has remaining - what I'm most concerned about is if they are still standing. When I'm playing, what I'm most concerned about is how much longer I'll still be standing, so knowing how many hit points I have left is more important.

 

[Diamond Cross]

I've always added damage totals.

And as a player I actually create a sheet just for keep track of hit points.

 

[Asmor]

I can recall at least one occasion where a player dealt damage to a monster and, as I added that to the damage total, I realized that the monster had actually been killed a couple rounds earlier.

So just keep in mind that if you're adding up damage, it does add one more thing that you need to keep track of--what the monster's HP is. Subtracting damage from HP, on the other hand, makes it obvious when the monster's dead (it reaches 0).

 

[Agamon]

It's easier until you start dealing with negative HP's, when it pretty important to know where you stand (or, more approriately, lay and bleed).

Mental fatigue is an issue, but these days I track that stuff with software, so I just punch the number in and save my brain for roleplaying.