Hit Points Are a Lie (and That’s Okay)
In a previous article about the Encounter Damage Tally, we explored a clever way for tracking monster damage: rather than counting down hit points for each individual monster, we tally up the total damage dealt in the encounter. When the tally reaches a monster’s average HP, we remove one from play, carry over any extra damage, and keep going. This works especially well for hordes—think skeletons, goblins, or swarms of shadowy specters. Mike Shea at SlyFlourish calls this the “damage pool” approach, and it streamlines combat beautifully.
But sometimes, it creates weird moments.
A PC swings at a specter, cleaving through it for 18 points of damage. Nothing happens. Then the next PC deals just 2 points to a different specter—and that one dies instantly. Why? Because the tally crossed the threshold. That second specter just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This can feel strange if we think of HP as a literal stat on a monster statblock. But what if we stop thinking of HP as a fixed stat and start thinking of it as a narrative abstraction?
A Different Way to Read the Tally
Let’s say we’re running a fight with 10 specters. Their HP is 22 on the statblock, but we round that down to 20 for fast play. That’s 200 total hit points for the whole encounter.
Now here’s the shift: instead of imagining each specter with its own 20 HP, imagine that the group has 200 HP and the individual HP varies. Some will go down after a single swing. Others might take two hits. On average, each has 20 HP—but we’re not tracking that damage per creature. We’re relying on the Encounter Damage Tally.
So when one PC hits for 18 damage and the next hits a different target for 2, and that second target dies? That’s not a glitch. That’s just the damage tally telling us that the second specter only had 2 HP left in the story—even if we never tracked it directly. The total encounter damage still works out. The average still holds. We just allowed some variance to show up at the individual level.
This can make the fight feel more dynamic and cinematic. Some monsters are hardy. Others crumble with a scream and vanish.
Lean Into the Abstraction
The truth is, monsters don’t have hit points. In the story at least, not really. They die when it makes sense for them to die—when the math supports it, yes, but also when the story does. The encounter damage tally gives us a way to use “balanced” math without getting lost in the bookkeeping.
When we lean into that abstraction, we gain:
- Speed: No more flipping through notes trying to remember which goblin had 6 HP left.
- Clarity: We always know how much of the encounter has been “burned through.”
- Variety: Monsters fall away in varied, unpredictable moments, not when the rigidity of individual damage tracking tells us to.
And the best part? Most players won’t notice. They’ll feel that their attacks are impactful and that the battle moves quickly—and that’s exactly what we want.
Average Monster HP and the Encounter Damage Tally
So if the wizard firebolts a fresh cultist and the tally says it’s time to remove one, describe that cultist bursting into flame. No one needs to know the damage was mostly from the rogue’s sneak attack two rounds ago. It’s all part of the dance.
The encounter damage tally isn’t about accuracy—it’s about ease of use and variety of monster sturdiness. Some monsters fall fast, others hold on longer. That’s not an error. That’s what makes the fight feel alive. We’re not tracking individual damage—we’re telling a story. Let monsters fall dramatically. Let the damage tally do the lifting. And keep your eyes on the story.
