How do you keep track of game time? Or do you?

[caudor]

I've tried various systems of keeping track of game time during play; but so far, nothing has worked out well for me. I often get wrapped up in other aspects of the game; time is something I easily lose track of. I've tried using tick marks, pre-printed tracking sheets, and also not worrying about time at all (the latter was a disaster ).

So how do you do it? There seems to be so much to keep track of...torches burning, take-20 searches, spell durations, food, fatigue...I could go on and on.

If you have found a system that works well for you, please, do tell.

 

[Arnwyn]

We sort of track it, kind of - at some of the levels you mention (torches, searches, spell durations - things that last in the minutes or a couple of hours) the DM hand-waves it away arbitrarily, with a quick guesstimate (and the player's general approval/guidance).

However, for longer periods of time (food, travel, etc), we keep track of that with a game-world calendar that leaves room for notes.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I only generally worry about it in two instances - rounds for combat and spells duration purposes, and days for campaign timeline purposes. I only worry about hours or time of day during the day if it seems like it will matter - they're appraoching the haunted castle at nihtfal, etc. Then I'll tick off an estimate of time, but I won't get too specific about it.

 

[NewLifeForm]

And in the climactic final battle...the torch went out



I don't clock how long you go without sleeping, eating, how long torches last or the like any more then I check how long it's been since your character has visited the outhouse. If it feels like a long time or it's part of the atmosphere of the story I'll say something like, "It feels like a day since you've eaten and your parched for water". Often rangers and druids (and probably learned wizard types) can tell time by the position of the sun or some such.

Usually spells last a number of rounds or can be broken into rounds, so I can follow their durations that way. Other then that I only worry about how long it takes to get from point A to point B and whether a year has passed and aged you (as your Elven counterparts point and laugh).

NewLifeForm

 

[Gruns]

Always handwaved.

If it has little to no impact and makes the game easier (i.e., more enjoyable) I handwave it. You walk 3 miles to the local dungeon? You left sometime in the morning, now it's around noon. Torches, oil, food, etc is never even kept track of. It's just assumed that when your lantern runs out of oil, you put more in it. Likewise, it's also assumed that when you left town you stocked up on enough oil to keep the lantern going for a while. Then again, we rarely pay much attention to lanterns at all come to think of it. Ditto for food. You bought lots of food before you left. And you can always Magic Missle a rabbit or two along the trip.
The one time time does matter is for spell durations, but usually combat ends before the spells end.
Later!
Gruns

 

[caudor]

And you can always Magic Missle a rabbit or two along the trip. Later!
Gruns

LOL!!! Oh, man that cracked me up. Poor rabbit.

Thanks for the responses. Somehow, I had imagined I was the only DM that didn't have time-tracking nailed down following more strict interpretation of the rules. It looks like many folks simply track time when it matters (not to say there is anything wrong with that).

Nevertheless, having a torch burn out during a big battle might be kinda interesting. It might serve those who took ranks in the blind fighting feat or perhaps justify a player's reason for choosing a Half-Orc/Dwarf over another race.

I'd like someday to be able to apply all the game rules seamlessly simply for balance, but I'm not that good at DMing yet. Thanks again for the responses.

 

[Zappo]

I don't keep track of time very precisely. I use about the level of precision you'd find in the average fantasy book; unless the plot demands it, I don't know what day of the week it is, but I know the month.

I don't keep track of torch duration 'cause everyone uses perpetual torches, and I don't keep track of food 'cause the cleric can create it or purify the last dead monster. Really, that sort of stuff is only an issue for, what, four levels?

 

[ThirdWizard]

I just pretend to keep up with it, then guess.

 

[haiiro]

If it has little to no impact and makes the game easier (i.e., more enjoyable) I handwave it.

That's about right for me, as well -- it's just never been that big of a deal in my games. I'd rather be thinking about a whole heap of other things than keeping track of the burn times for the party's torches.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I try to do everything in minutes and specify a start time, when it matters. I keep a simple vertical timeline. If I'm particularly concerned about spell durations I list the round they were cast as decimal minutes and then roll a d10 to choose what round in a minute the encounter occurs.

noon - party read to go
60 minutes - walk to dungeon
5 minutes - get out gear (torches x1, lantern oilx1, spells X, Y, Z)
30 minutes - make their way to burnt out room
6 minutes - search room (take 20x3 ea)
20 minutes - descent to lower level (torch x2, oil x2, spells X2, Z2)
24.3 minutes - notice sounds, Bob cast Divine Protection (22 rounds)
1.5 minutes - encounter with ogre
etc