D&D General Do you track ammunition?

[Distracted DM]

Magical ammunition, yes. Regular ammunition, absolutely not. Same with rations, rope, basically any non-magical adventuring equipment - if your character probably would've thought to bring it then just say you have it without tracking anything.

This is where I've largely fallen as well- but I do wonder about the implications, lines, slippery slopes and such.

Adventuring gear like rope. "Your character would've thought to have brought it, so don't worry about it."
What about antitoxin? "You knew you were going into a spider den, so your character would've thought to have brought it. You have it."
OK..
What about alchemist fire? "Your character is a seasoned adventurer, you run into swarms of things, trolls, etc. all the time so of course you'd have thought to bring some."

Again, I don't have them track mundane ammo- I occasionally go with the "it makes sense that your character would know/do that, yeah we can say that works," but it's interesting to think about how far one goes when serving the player skill/knowledge vs character skill/knowledge dynamic.

I remember Back In The Day "if it's not on your sheet, then you don't have it." But we've definitely moved away from that...
So is this move more of the "simulationist vs gameist" play preferences/design?

I guess this is a priority thing... what's more important: Player skill and responsibility, or "telling a story together."

 

[cbwjm]

Definite maybe, I think we don't bother but I'm not paying attention to the one player that has a bow in our games.

 

[humble minion]

I keep track of special magic ammunition but I don’t routinely require tracking of mundane ammunition. I treat ‘requires ammunition’ as a Flaw. If the PCs are isolated away from source of new arrows, and are using a lot of them, then every so often I’ll invoke the Flaw, give them an inspiration point, and say ‘you only have 10 arrows left, start keeping count’.

If I was running a ruthlessly survivalist game, I’d do things differently. But I’m not.

 

[el-remmen]

Oh man. I make em keep track of rope, too.

 

[Professor Murder]

In D&D, sorta. If you have say less than 6 of something, then yes, like say daggers or javelins. You could conceivably run out in a single fight. If you have a dozen or even twenty+, as it typical for arrows or bolts? Not really.
A given campaign can change this, especially at lower levels. If resources are scarce, sure. Then it is part and parcel with the themes and goals of the campaign. Like any rule, ask what it adds and does it do so well.
I once again suggest people check out Red Markets for a game that actually makes gear and keeping track of it matter, as opposed to it being tedious busywork that doesn't really add anything to play.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

This is where I've largely fallen as well- but I do wonder about the implications, lines, slippery slopes and such.

Definitely a valid concern, but I think it'll be tough to find a slope more slippery than low level magical spells and cantrips that completely negate the need for just about any adventuring equipment to solve problems. Eliminating the need to track mundane items gives Martial characters a better shot at being useful outside combat but is still nowhere near a match for prevalent magic spells

Also in your examples, Antitoxin and Alchemist's Fire are on my list of Common magic items so I would require those to be tracked (I forget if that's RAW or my Homebrew ruling so your mileage may vary there).

 

[Voadam]

In D&D, sorta. If you have say less than 6 of something, then yes, like say daggers or javelins. You could conceivably run out in a single fight. If you have a dozen or even twenty+, as it typical for arrows or bolts? Not really.

It always seemed feasible in my view for D&D archers to run out of arrows in an adventure, though less likely in a single fight. AD&D archers shot two arrows a round from level 1, and specialists could get off a third with an opening strike. 3.5 archers really got going with iterative attacks and a feat to get in an extra shot so 3/round at 6th level. A dungeon for 6th level PCs can require more than seven rounds of combat before expecting the party to withdraw. The 17th level fighter archer in my 3.5 high level game was a machine gun of five shots a round regularly. His movement and improved many shot was not far behind.

3e archers could generally buy the cheap everfull magic quiver at relatively low levels along with a ton of mundane arrows and generally not run out until hitting a restock normal village/city option though. Also there is the 50% recovery chance for shot arrows in 3e.

 

[Distracted DM]

Definitely a valid concern, but I think it'll be tough to find a slope more slippery than low level magical spells and cantrips that completely negate the need for just about any adventuring equipment to solve problems. Eliminating the need to track mundane items gives Martial characters a better shot at being useful outside combat but is still nowhere near a match for prevalent magic spells

Also in your examples, Antitoxin and Alchemist's Fire are on my list of Common magic items so I would require those to be tracked (I forget if that's RAW or my Homebrew ruling so your mileage may vary there).

Ha yeah, cantrips really screw the curve. That's a good point. However, I am also of the mind that utility cantrips should be limited to a certain number per rest.

Antitoxin, acid, alch fire etc. are standard equipment, not magic items, but yeah no worries.

 

[Voadam]

Eliminating the need to track mundane items gives Martial characters a better shot at being useful outside combat . . .

How so? Most mundane ammo tracking analogous items like daily rations in number of meals are not super useful for a lot of contexts. Are you talking about basically giving everyone summon appropriate individual minor item abilities?

 

[DrJawaPhD]

How so? Most mundane ammo tracking analogous items like daily rations in number of meals are not super useful for a lot of contexts. Are you talking about basically giving everyone summon appropriate individual minor item abilities?

Good question - I don't track them at all so I'm sort of talking hypothetically there.

I would think though that by strict Rules As Written you would need to pay gold for mundane items, track them on your character sheet, include them in encumbrance calculations, etc. If any thought or preparation is involved whatsoever then that's "tracking" to a larger degree than I want to deal with for non-magical items