DMs only: Do you actually track numbers behind your screen?

[Sammael]

Yes, because the system is more objective than I could ever be, and the game must be at least somewhat objective to be fair and balanced. Sure, I forget to apply some modifiers occasionally (as well as account for terrain, weather, etc.), but I sure try.

 

[Rafael Ceurdepyr]

Yes, I definitely do. Improvisation is NOT my strong suit, so I stat everything out. This has, in the past, led to a tendency to railroad players because I had way too much planned out. I'm getting better--I'm in a d12-step program for DMs who don't give freedom to PCs. I still stat NPCs and monsters, but not the entire adventure. (The few times I *have* done things on the fly, I've screwed up in a big way.)

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Yes, I keep track of almost everything. This is, I'm bad at it. I'm a big rules lawyer. I like to make sure the players have the same chance of beating an enemy that the rules allow.

I agree with an above poster. I don't feel like I'm telling a story to the players. I am running a world. I'm just a referee in the world, I don't make it up. I control what the bad guys think and do, but I don't control whether it succeeds or not anymore than the players control whether they stop the evil plot or not.

This has happened once before when I found out that our DM made up a big, bad fighter that he expected to have a long, drawn out fight with us before dying. Only he put the fighter at about 2 levels above our average level. We managed to kill it during the first or second round. He didn't like that so he kept adding hit points to him every round. I managed to catch a glance over his DM screen and see the fact that he had "total hitpoints" written down and damage beside it. He kept stroking off the total hit points and replacing it with a higher number. I also noticed that the 5th level fighter we were fighting had total hitpoints at the end of the list of 154. I discussed it with the DM and said I would prefer he not cheat. He said that it was appropriate to the story and he'd do it again. I eventually convinced him I didn't like him cheating and he said he'd stop. But I always assumed he lied to me and just kept cheating. It made me feel so cheated I never really enjoyed the game anymore.

What it comes down to is this as a player: What is the point in having +20 to hit and +30 damage if the DM is going to make the enemy last 5 rounds regardless of the damage you do? You might as well not play the game at all and have the DM tell you a story.

That having been said, if I'm not prepared for a battle in advance, I estimate pluses to hit and damage and abilities of the enemies, trying to be as objective as possible. I normally write down some estimated stats at the beginning of combat, for instance: +15 hit, 1d8+9 damage, 67 hp. And stick with that for the combat. I'm also not perfect. I've gotten 2 generic guards mixed up in the middle of battle and switched their hit points or forgotten spells cast on them. But I try to run the battle as correctly as possible. I want it to mean something when the players get to the end of an adventure, not just have them get there because I wanted them to.

 

[Driddle]

I think I'm about to fall to one side of the fence on this question. Because as I age, I'm finding that I have less patience for keeping track of dozens of modifiers that arise from specific combat tactics and special-use magic items -- there are some days I'd rather play a small town "Expert" class PC merely tagging along to see the sights. It's at least 10 times worse as DM, of course.

And I've also got a fairly good sense of when a monster should fall down after taking so much damage. So if the DM fudges badly against me as a player, it's going to frustrate me; if the on-the-fly adjustments are handled well, I won't care.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I typically stat out most major NPCs beforehand, but often finding myself having to make up new ones on the fly.

 

[JoeGKushner]

If you just go by the seat of your pants, how do you justify it when the PC's loot his body and don't find even remotely the abilities the guy had?

For example, you could say that it was some weird feat/ability that let a mage cast Mage Armor on a non-mage or Stone Skin but if in the middle of combat you decided that the guy's AC was like 28 or something and there's nothing there because you didn't write anything down.... well, that sucks.

 

[Goblyn]

I like to track the numbers, because I am trying to follow the rules and play the game that was made. I'm sure in time I will attempt various ways of making thumb-ruled NPC's, though. I'm like that.

 

[S'mon]

If you just go by the seat of your pants, how do you justify it when the PC's loot his body and don't find even remotely the abilities the guy had?

For example, you could say that it was some weird feat/ability that let a mage cast Mage Armor on a non-mage or Stone Skin but if in the middle of combat you decided that the guy's AC was like 28 or something and there's nothing there because you didn't write anything down.... well, that sucks.

I don't like to improvise anything I can't justify later (and I don't change stats during a battle) - I might give a high level NPC AC 28 on the fly but if so I'll have a rough idea how I got there - +2 full plate +1 DEX +2 shield would make AC 25, so then I need 3 pts of buffs - say a +2 ring & +1 amulet.

 

[S'mon]

My normal approach though using the Quick NPC system would be to say:

"OK, he's a Fighter-8, so STR DEX CON +2, +2 full plate & +1 greatsword, +1 DEX, let's say a +2 cloak of resistance... AC 21."

 

[the Jester]

With the plethora of gaming supplements -- books, pdfs, magazine articles, etc. -- available to add variety and personalize your campaign, it's nearly impossible to justify why an NPC can't do something during a game scene. New spells, feats, prestige class abilities, templates, variant core classes ... the sky's the limit when you need to design an encounter.

Combine that with the DM's legitimate right to roll his dice behind a private curtain, and I have to wonder why anyone would bother keeping track of elaborate NCP character sheets... Merely maintain the thrill of adventure regardless of how much "fudging" it takes...

So be honest. Do you actually keep track of all the esoteric digits? Isn't it OK for the ends to justify your means?

A big part of the fun of big gnarly bad guys, for me, is designing them. It's an art in itself. Fudging it is ok, but nowhere near as satisfying.

If I'm winging an encounter, I pretty much make key decisions at the start (save DC for spells, AC, hp, level, etc.) and then logic the rest out as required ("hm, you hit him with a fireball, eh? Lessee, he's a wiz 5, so Ref +1... and dex +2 [established while thinking about AC]... so his Ref is +3.")