Calculate damage taken or hp left?

[Blackbrrd]

I noticed that quite a few character sheets have a box for current hp.

Personally I just add together the damage I have taken instead. Now I wonder what people usually do?

 

[Boarstorm]

My game group weighs in: three votes for damage taken, two votes for current hps.

 

[Cadfan]

I calculate hit points remaining. In 3e, the math worked better if you did damage taken,* so I used to run things that way, but now I'm going back to current HP.

3e didn't admit this up front, but if you look at it, the way constitution and temporarily gained hit points work only makes sense under a "damage taken" paradigm. 3e actually expected you to do a small amount of mental juggling in order to accomplish a "damage taken" style outcome, while writing down "hit points remaining." It was better to cut to the chase and count damage taken.

 

[zerotkatama]

I go with Current HP myself, just for ease of seeing when I'm bloodied (when it's not quite half Max HP)

 

[Particle_Man]

In 3rd ed, I would do wounds taken.

In 4th ed, I think I will switch to current hp, because when one goes to negative hp things get a little different with respect to being healed. As long as one has negative hp but is not dead, any amount of healing at all will put one at (0 + amount healed) hp, regardless of what negative hp total (and thus what wounds) one had previously, so damage taken no longer precisely compliments current hp.

 

[Henrix]

I have enforced a uniform 'damage taken' track for 3.5. Mostly because it is better as the rules stand, bue I have enforced it because occasionally some players could not remember what system they had used.

In 4e perhaps we'll go for remaining hp - I haven't decided yet.

 

[VBMEW-01]

I do damage taken, and since we use initiative cards now I keep the players' damage as well. I put a section on the card to tell me how much they have to take to be bloodied (which always equals bloodied or bloodied+1 depending on whether their hit point total is even or odd)

 

[cdrcjsn]

I never realized before now that I do both until this question was asked...

As a player, I mark down current hit points, since it's easier for me at a glance to know where I stand.

As a DM, I usually write the damage monsters have taken on the battlemap, so mark damage taken. PCs can know how hurt the monsters are, but don't know their HP totals.

 

[mattdm]

As a DM, I count down.

As a player, I keep track of both in two columns, which makes it easier to notice if I've made a mistake.