Keeping track of monsters hp

[The Dead DM]

Okay so we've been playing D&D for a little over a year now - I mostly DM but I've handed it over to another player so i can actually 'play'. so this new DM doesn't keep track of the monsters HP and it's driving me nuts. We got into it tonight - what he does is after you roll and hit the monster for say 30hp - he just says 'okay' - he doesn't take any damage off, he doesn't write anything down - the monster dies when he desides it's gonna die! - I mean what's the point of rolling if the hits don't mean nothing? I tell him you HAVE to keep track of the monsters HP - so he askes everyone else in the group - and they say they don't care - but it just bothers me to know my roll isn't taking any dam of the mosnster until HE desides it's dead - so what does everyone else think? Is this an okay way to play - or is he sucking at being a DM ??

 

[Jack99]

Unless its because you made some cheesy character directly copy/pasted from CharOps, thenI would say yes, he sucks. Unless he just keeps the numbers in his head.. In which case he certainly doesnt suck

Did he come right out and say that the monsters die when it suits him?

 

[Unwise]

In my games, I make sure to write down all damage, but the monsters still don't die until I want them to, it is rare for a monster with an interesting ability to die before using it once (or at least one of its type to get a chance to use it). It's not like I tell the PCs how many HPs the monsters have. I often fudge things the other way more often though, lowering the HPs of monsters once it looks like the fight is won.

The GM not writing down the damage means that it feels useless to buy feats and equipment to do more damage. What is the difference between rolling well or rolling poorly? If he wants to run a game like that, I think he should go the extra step and just say that all attacks do average damage. It would make the game run much quicker.

A secondary complaint would be that every victory in a tight battle would feel like a Deus Ex Machina to me. The last shot of the fight got lucky and killed the boss just before a TPK, big whoop, there is no real excitement in that, it was just a scripted event. On the flip side, it can also make players whose characters die a bit more resentful. After all, it is more of an arbitrary decision that they lost the fight, rather than the normal combination of luck and decision making.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

Maybe he's keeping track of the damage in his head? Not the best way to do it, but it could work if one could handle the numbers.

Or more likely he's just using an odd houserule. Now it sounds like you're the only one in your group who minds this, so perhaps you should start by asking him how he specifically decides when the monster is dead. Best-case scenario: you end up liking his method and the problem is solved. You might not like it of course, but it's worth a shot and even if it fails you get more info about how he's doing this.

 

[The Human Target]

It is not possible for non math savants to keep track of monster HP in their head.

Okay, unless its a solo.

 

[The Dead DM]

the last time we played - my wife hit this monster for like 30 points, she keeps telling him - i him him for 30 points! - hey - i hit him - and he's like oh, okay - and don't write it down. HE desides when the fight goes on long enough, and takes the characters off the grid our rolls mean nothing - and as a DM, and I know all the other DM's are with me in saying that if you have 5-6 guys you're fighting then there's NO way to keep track of any of them unless you write it down. - and i do agree with the one person who says he writes it down, but then adjusts it to the fight, that's exactly what I do. if the fight is going on too long, I'll adjust the HP - or if it gets killed too quickly, sometimes I'll give him an extra 20 hp or something, but that's the DM's job, is to keep it going, or to keep it short. not to just deside it's time this monster dies, and takes it off the board.

 

[Scribble]

He's only doing it "wrong" if everyone in the group is annoyed and things it's a crappy way to game.

It's not "by the rules" but D&D has a long history of being modified to suit your own play style. (It's part of what makes tabletop gaming great.)

Obviously you dislike doing it that way. Have you talked (rationally) with him about it?

Have you talked with the whole group?

If everyone hates the way he does it, and even after rationally discussing it, then maybe get someone else to DM.

 

[The Dead DM]

yeah i tried talking with him, telling him the point of rolling is to see how much damage you do, and if you don't do the damage, there's really no point in rolling if it's up to him to deside when to just take the monster off the board.

he says what does it matter if the monster dies? It still dies. - let me as you would this bother you at all if you rolled for damage and no damage was taken off the monster, and the DM just says - okay- after you roll? - he doesn't DM a lot - I do most of it but I like breaks now and then - so he might do it for a week or two. (we play twice a month when we can get everyone together)

 

[TerraDave]

The solution is obvious:

When your charecter takes damage, say "OK", and don't write anything down.

 

[The Dead DM]

lol. good idea