I am wondering how y'all deal with tracking spell components, standard arrows, and food. Do you keep track of these things in your campaign? It seems like a pain in the butt to mark off each time you shoot an arrow, for instance. How do you balance realism with fun in this regard?
It is no harder to track arrows and food than it is to track spell slots, hit points or other consumable resources. Spell focus and Component Pouches almost eliminate the need to track basic components so should not really be an issue.
Spell components with a monetary cost are always tracked, and no - you cannot retroactively trade in gold for spell components. You want to be able to resummon that familiar in the field? Best buy some incense while you're in town. 'Flavor' spell components I don't generally bother with unless the player wants to do so, in which case more power to them. Most of those things are super weird and specific anyways, no regular shop is going to sell them.
Food/water I generally haven't tracked in the past, but I'm starting to consider the benefits of doing so. I'm mid-campaign right now and so not likely to change Adventuring Rules that hard, but in the future I believe I am going to track food and water supplies. Characters will have to concern themselves with ways of keeping track of their adventuring fodder. Easy way to do it would simply be to mark off one day's rations every time the party completes a long rest. Water would be waved as being part of 'rations' so long as characters have a means of carrying it (keep a waterskin, you're fine), unless a situation calls for water tracking to be more important than food tracking. if so, I'd figure out how to track water usage then. Foraging would not be a thing - characters could hunt for additional food, but you don't get to just loot free rations from the scenery when traveling. If a DM allows that, they may as well not track rations.
Non-recoverable ammunition, such as firearm loads, are tracked. You shoot a gun, you expend a round. Unless magic says otherwise, no exceptions. if your gun misfires, you also expend a round. Anybody with any firearms training whatsoever knows that a misfired round does not go back in the gun.
Recoverable ammunition I would run by Angry's rules, were I designing a new campaign. Would link the article if the Internet was working right now, but it's not so a short summary instead.
EDIT: Internet working again, so here's the link: Angry GM on Ammunition Lots of good points in here about why you bloody well should track ammunition, even though the default PHB ammunition tracking methods kinda suck donkey dick and are no fun. And why letting rangers get away with unlimited arrows while barbarians only get two javelins they have to hit Investigation checks to recover post-fight is moose piss. Original summary I wrote in this post spoiler'd below, because reasons.
Large recoverable ammunition, such as handaxes, javelins, or other throwables that are carried in small quantity, are expended when used, but the character automatically recovers those after a fight. A barbarian in my group actually commissioned a custom javelin scabbard to keep her six (!!) javelins ready to hand, which I encourage other DMs with javelineers to make an option.
Small recoverable, i.e. darts/shuriken, arrows/bolts, or other high-quantity ammunition, are expended when the player misses on an attack roll or scores a crit. Otherwise they don't mark off a shot when they fire. When a character with such weapons returns to town for downtime, their ammunition supply is considered expended regardless of how much ammo they have left and they need to restock. This strikes a balance between quick bookkeeping (ammo is only ever counted down, and only when an attack happens), immersion (arrows don't always vanish into smoke when they're fired) and fairness (ammo IS limited, and ammunition-dependent characters need to either keep a healthy supply of it or have a backup plan).
The intent of making logistics matter, even when it might not otherwise be narratively dramatic, is a deeper sense of immersion on the world, as well as a means of allowing the players to empower themselves. That Bag of Holding matters a lot more when you can stuff it full of food and arrows to let you go on longer trips, and players who have to carry supplies are also players who start investigating things like wagons, mules, or other mundane means of transporting gear. Give them even a basic framework for logistics, and some player groups will start actually planning expeditions instead of just saying "A'ight, we peacin' out to go kill more shit and take its stuff. Deuces, townies!"
Frankly, I've been considering the benefits of designing an entire logistics side system for the game, making the (shitty and unfun) standard D&D rules go away and building something more online game-friendly into my next campaign. Shit like variant encumbrance, tracking expendables, Roadside Complications ("y'all sure you want to make this trip with no carpenter's tools in that wagon? A'ight...") and other rules tweaks designed to put logistics back into the game in a way that's faster and easier to track and implement than the shitty, kludgy default rules. I think it could add a lot to the game for the sortof group I game with.
For spell components, we just follow the rules. The section in the player's handbook for material components states: A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5, “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.
So you don't need a dab of butter, or bat guano or whatever. But if you want to revivify, you need that 300 gp diamond.
For mundane ammunition, we don't track it. Same for food unless its important to whats going on (like the beginning of Out of the Abyss)
I always try to track ammo (it is hard sometimes since it is not on the attack page). Tracking food is easy, I just tick off a ration during long rest. Water is the hardest because DDB can't show the amount of water in a waterskin.
I imagine costly components will have the same issue as ammo, but I haven't had an opportunity to use those spells.
In the campaigns I've played and DMed I haven't tracked those things.
Beyond level 1 the characters will always have enough gold to get way more than enough ammo and food, and it's not really any fun to track every arrow for no real change in the game state because of it.
I think it would take a good deal of investment and setup on the part of the DM to make tracking those things interesting - it has to add an extra challenge to the game (not just extra bookeeping) but also not dominate the game. The D&D rules don't really have a good setup for that as written.
I've never been at a table that tracked food and water or costless spell components. Most games that tracked encumbrance I played in decided to buy a donkey and ignore it(led to some great how did that donkey get down the ladder moments). I've done ammo tracking, but never had it turn into an rp moment (2-3 quivers restock every trip to town)
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I am wondering how y'all deal with tracking spell components, standard arrows, and food. Do you keep track of these things in your campaign? It seems like a pain in the butt to mark off each time you shoot an arrow, for instance. How do you balance realism with fun in this regard?
Personally, I go by the “you have enough until it’s dramatically interesting for it to matter.” So regular adventuring? Ya got enough for what ever.
But if they’re stranded in some place for a few game days? Now every arrow matters. Swarms is undead flooding the outpost? Yep. Mark each shot.
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It is no harder to track arrows and food than it is to track spell slots, hit points or other consumable resources. Spell focus and Component Pouches almost eliminate the need to track basic components so should not really be an issue.
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Spell components with a monetary cost are always tracked, and no - you cannot retroactively trade in gold for spell components. You want to be able to resummon that familiar in the field? Best buy some incense while you're in town. 'Flavor' spell components I don't generally bother with unless the player wants to do so, in which case more power to them. Most of those things are super weird and specific anyways, no regular shop is going to sell them.
Food/water I generally haven't tracked in the past, but I'm starting to consider the benefits of doing so. I'm mid-campaign right now and so not likely to change Adventuring Rules that hard, but in the future I believe I am going to track food and water supplies. Characters will have to concern themselves with ways of keeping track of their adventuring fodder. Easy way to do it would simply be to mark off one day's rations every time the party completes a long rest. Water would be waved as being part of 'rations' so long as characters have a means of carrying it (keep a waterskin, you're fine), unless a situation calls for water tracking to be more important than food tracking. if so, I'd figure out how to track water usage then. Foraging would not be a thing - characters could hunt for additional food, but you don't get to just loot free rations from the scenery when traveling. If a DM allows that, they may as well not track rations.
Non-recoverable ammunition, such as firearm loads, are tracked. You shoot a gun, you expend a round. Unless magic says otherwise, no exceptions. if your gun misfires, you also expend a round. Anybody with any firearms training whatsoever knows that a misfired round does not go back in the gun.
Recoverable ammunition I would run by Angry's rules, were I designing a new campaign.
Would link the article if the Internet was working right now, but it's not so a short summary instead.EDIT: Internet working again, so here's the link: Angry GM on Ammunition
Lots of good points in here about why you bloody well should track ammunition, even though the default PHB ammunition tracking methods kinda suck donkey dick and are no fun. And why letting rangers get away with unlimited arrows while barbarians only get two javelins they have to hit Investigation checks to recover post-fight is moose piss. Original summary I wrote in this post spoiler'd below, because reasons.
Large recoverable ammunition, such as handaxes, javelins, or other throwables that are carried in small quantity, are expended when used, but the character automatically recovers those after a fight. A barbarian in my group actually commissioned a custom javelin scabbard to keep her six (!!) javelins ready to hand, which I encourage other DMs with javelineers to make an option.
Small recoverable, i.e. darts/shuriken, arrows/bolts, or other high-quantity ammunition, are expended when the player misses on an attack roll or scores a crit. Otherwise they don't mark off a shot when they fire. When a character with such weapons returns to town for downtime, their ammunition supply is considered expended regardless of how much ammo they have left and they need to restock. This strikes a balance between quick bookkeeping (ammo is only ever counted down, and only when an attack happens), immersion (arrows don't always vanish into smoke when they're fired) and fairness (ammo IS limited, and ammunition-dependent characters need to either keep a healthy supply of it or have a backup plan).
The intent of making logistics matter, even when it might not otherwise be narratively dramatic, is a deeper sense of immersion on the world, as well as a means of allowing the players to empower themselves. That Bag of Holding matters a lot more when you can stuff it full of food and arrows to let you go on longer trips, and players who have to carry supplies are also players who start investigating things like wagons, mules, or other mundane means of transporting gear. Give them even a basic framework for logistics, and some player groups will start actually planning expeditions instead of just saying "A'ight, we peacin' out to go kill more shit and take its stuff. Deuces, townies!"
Frankly, I've been considering the benefits of designing an entire logistics side system for the game, making the (shitty and unfun) standard D&D rules go away and building something more online game-friendly into my next campaign. Shit like variant encumbrance, tracking expendables, Roadside Complications ("y'all sure you want to make this trip with no carpenter's tools in that wagon? A'ight...") and other rules tweaks designed to put logistics back into the game in a way that's faster and easier to track and implement than the shitty, kludgy default rules. I think it could add a lot to the game for the sortof group I game with.
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For spell components, we just follow the rules. The section in the player's handbook for material components states: A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5, “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.
So you don't need a dab of butter, or bat guano or whatever. But if you want to revivify, you need that 300 gp diamond.
For mundane ammunition, we don't track it. Same for food unless its important to whats going on (like the beginning of Out of the Abyss)
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I always try to track ammo (it is hard sometimes since it is not on the attack page). Tracking food is easy, I just tick off a ration during long rest. Water is the hardest because DDB can't show the amount of water in a waterskin.
I imagine costly components will have the same issue as ammo, but I haven't had an opportunity to use those spells.
In the campaigns I've played and DMed I haven't tracked those things.
Beyond level 1 the characters will always have enough gold to get way more than enough ammo and food, and it's not really any fun to track every arrow for no real change in the game state because of it.
I think it would take a good deal of investment and setup on the part of the DM to make tracking those things interesting - it has to add an extra challenge to the game (not just extra bookeeping) but also not dominate the game. The D&D rules don't really have a good setup for that as written.
I've never been at a table that tracked food and water or costless spell components. Most games that tracked encumbrance I played in decided to buy a donkey and ignore it(led to some great how did that donkey get down the ladder moments). I've done ammo tracking, but never had it turn into an rp moment (2-3 quivers restock every trip to town)