Combat tracking can turn into a math problem if you’re constantly subtracting hit points from monster totals. Mike Shea of Sly Flourish has a different approach: the Slashes and Xs method for tracking monster damage.
This technique replaces HP subtraction with a visual tally system that scales beautifully for high-HP encounters. Mark a forward slash for five damage, cross it into an X for ten, and watch the notation pile up. No arithmetic required.
Whether you’re running a 20th-level campaign or managing a crowded battlefield, Slashes and Xs offers a practical way to speed up combat and keep damage tracking clear.
What the Slashes and Xs Method Is
The Core Mechanic
Mike Shea of Sly Flourish proposes tracking monster damage with slashes and Xs instead of subtracting hit points. Rather than reducing a monster’s current HP total with each attack, you mark damage visually on paper or a notecard using simple symbols. This approach trades arithmetic for a tally system that becomes easier to read as damage accumulates.
The method marks a forward slash (/) for every five points of damage dealt to a monster. When damage reaches ten points, you cross the first slash into an X to represent the pair. This creates a visual representation of cumulative damage that scales well for any monster, regardless of hit point total.
How Marks Represent Damage
The system keeps a separate tally of vertical bars (|) for each individual point of damage until they accumulate to five, at which point you convert them into a slash. For example, if a monster takes 7 damage, you would mark five points as a slash, then add two individual bars. When the next attack deals 3 damage, those bars combine with the existing two to make five, which converts into a slash.
This layered approach means you never perform subtraction. You simply add marks to a running tally, watching the visual representation grow until the monster is defeated. The method eliminates the need to track exact remaining HP or perform mental math during fast-paced combat.
Visual Tally System
The slash-and-X format creates an intuitive visual language. A single slash represents five damage. An X represents ten damage. Multiple Xs stack up quickly, giving you an at-a-glance sense of how much total damage a monster has taken. For very high-HP monsters, you can organize marks into rows to keep the tally readable and prevent the notation from becoming unwieldy.
Simplifying Further: The Rounding Shortcut
Optional Rounding Strategy
Damage can be rounded up or down to the nearest five to simplify tracking even further. Instead of tracking individual points with vertical bars, you round each damage roll and mark only slashes and Xs. This variant trades minor precision loss for significantly faster table math during combat.
For instance, if an attack deals 7 damage, you round it to 5 and mark a single slash. If an attack deals 13 damage, you round it to 15 and mark one slash plus one X. The rounding happens in real time, and you skip the intermediate step of tracking leftover points entirely.
Eliminating Single-Point Tallies
With rounding enabled, GMs only need to track slashes and Xs without managing individual point tallies. This removes one layer of bookkeeping from the system. You no longer need to watch for five bars accumulating or convert them into slashes mid-combat. The notation becomes even more streamlined.
The rounding approach works best at tables where precision matters less than speed. Since most damage rolls cluster around certain values, the cumulative error tends to stay small. A monster might end up slightly more or less damaged than its exact HP total, but the difference rarely affects the outcome of a combat encounter.
Speed vs. Precision
The choice between the full system and the rounding shortcut depends on your table’s priorities. The full system with individual point tracking is more precise but requires slightly more notation. The rounding shortcut is faster and cleaner but sacrifices exact accuracy. Both versions eliminate traditional HP subtraction and its associated mental overhead.
Origins: Inspired by Patchwork Paladin
Elizabeth’s Roman Numeral Concept
The idea was inspired by Elizabeth at Patchwork Paladin, who used Roman numerals to track damage done to monsters. Her system represented an early exploration of visual damage tracking that moved away from traditional HP subtraction. Roman numerals offered a tally-like notation that accumulated visually as damage mounted.
Elizabeth’s approach demonstrated that GMs could track damage by adding marks rather than subtracting numbers. This shift in perspective opened the door to other visual tracking methods that prioritized clarity and speed over mathematical precision.
Shea’s Adaptation
Mike Shea adapted Elizabeth’s concept into the slash-and-X system for his own table. Rather than Roman numerals, Shea chose simpler symbols that were faster to write and easier to read at a glance. The slash and X are more intuitive for most people than Roman numerals, and they scale better when you need to track large amounts of damage.
Shea’s version also introduced the optional rounding shortcut and the row-based organization for very high-HP monsters. These refinements made the system more flexible and practical for different types of encounters.
Community-Driven Optimization
This evolution from Patchwork Paladin to Sly Flourish shows how TTRPG communities share and refine damage-tracking techniques. A good idea gets tested at multiple tables, modified based on real play experience, and then shared back with the community. The result is a toolkit of proven methods that GMs can adapt to their specific needs.
Why It Works: Advantages for Dungeon Masters
Reduced Mental Math
The method reduces math and makes damage tracking visually easier to read. Instead of calculating “Monster has 47 HP, took 12 damage, so now it has 35 HP,” you simply add a slash and two bars to your tally. No subtraction, no arithmetic, no risk of miscalculation. The cognitive load drops significantly, especially during tense or fast-paced combat.
This reduction in mental overhead frees your attention for other aspects of running the encounter. You can focus on describing the action, tracking initiative, managing NPC behavior, and responding to player creativity rather than managing numbers.
Visual Clarity at a Glance
GMs can see damage progression at a glance without performing arithmetic or erasing numbers. A row of five Xs tells you immediately that fifty damage has been dealt. You don’t need to remember the monster’s starting HP or do any math to understand how close it is to defeat. The visual representation is self-explanatory.
This clarity also helps when you need to describe the monster’s condition to players. Instead of saying “the monster looks badly wounded,” you can glance at your tally and know exactly how much damage it has taken relative to its total HP. Your descriptions become more consistent and grounded in the actual state of the encounter.
Scaling for High-HP Monsters
Shea says the technique worked well in his 3x5e game featuring 20th-level characters fighting monsters with 600 hit points or more. At that level of play, traditional HP subtraction becomes tedious and error-prone. Tracking a monster with 600 HP by subtracting each damage roll leads to frequent miscalculations and slows combat to a crawl.
The slash-and-X method is especially useful for monsters with lots of hit points, because the visual tally scales better than point-by-point subtraction. A monster with 600 HP requires only 120 marks (twelve rows of ten Xs), which is far easier to manage than tracking a six-hundred-point number through repeated subtractions. The system becomes more efficient as HP totals increase.
How to Use It in Play
Step-by-Step Marking Process
Start by marking a forward slash (/) for every five points of damage dealt to a monster. When you receive a damage roll, you count off five points at a time and add slashes to your tally. If a monster takes 12 damage, you mark two slashes and two individual bars. If it takes 20 damage, you mark four slashes or two Xs.
When damage reaches ten points, cross the first slash into an X to represent the pair. This conversion happens naturally as you accumulate marks. Two slashes become one X, four slashes become two Xs, and so on. The Xs stack up quickly and provide a clear visual representation of significant damage.
Organizing Rows for Large Totals
Keep a separate tally of individual points (|) until they accumulate to five, then convert to a slash. For very high-HP monsters, organize marks into rows of five Xs (fifty damage per row) to keep the tally readable. Every fifty points or so, start a new row. This prevents your notation from becoming a chaotic scrawl and keeps the tally organized and easy to count.
For a 600-HP monster, you would have twelve rows of five Xs each. Counting the rows gives you an instant sense of total damage dealt. This row-based organization scales to any monster size without becoming unwieldy.
Tracking Individual Points
Alternatively, round each damage roll to the nearest five and skip the individual point tally entirely. This is the rounding shortcut described earlier. You mark only slashes and Xs, never individual bars. The notation becomes even cleaner, though at the cost of minor precision.
Choose whichever approach feels natural at your table. Some GMs prefer the precision of tracking every point. Others prefer the speed of rounding. Both methods work well in practice.
Scaling to Group Encounters: Damage Pools
Tracking Damage to Monster Groups
Sly Flourish also recommends a general damage-tracking principle of adding damage up until it matches a monster’s hit points, rather than subtracting from hit points. This philosophy extends beyond single monsters to entire groups. The Slashes and Xs method pairs naturally with a broader approach to combat tracking that emphasizes addition over subtraction.
For very large fights, Sly Flourish recommends tracking damage to the whole group instead of each individual monster when there are more than about twelve monsters. Rather than maintaining separate tallies for each enemy, you keep a single running total of all damage dealt by the party.
When to Use the Damage Pool
When the group’s accumulated damage is enough to kill one monster, the GM removes one monster and resets the damage counter to zero. This approach simplifies bookkeeping dramatically. Instead of tracking twelve separate HP pools, you track one number. When that number reaches the HP total of the weakest monster in the group, that monster dies and you start over.
This damage pool approach complements the Slashes and Xs method for managing large-scale combat. You can use Slashes and Xs notation for the group’s accumulated damage, applying the same visual tally system to a single running total. The two techniques work together seamlessly.
Resetting the Counter
The key to the damage pool system is how the counter is handled after a monster dies. When the damage tally is high enough to kill one or more monsters, you remove them from the horde. Then, you reset the tally to zero but carry over any excess damage. For example, if a creature has 8 HP and the damage tally is at 11, you remove one creature, and the new tally starts at 3 (11 – 8 = 3).
When to Try Slashes and Xs at Your Table
Best Use Cases
The method is most valuable for encounters featuring monsters with very high hit points, where traditional subtraction becomes cumbersome. If your campaign features boss monsters with 300+ HP or if you regularly run high-level play where monster HP totals exceed 200, Slashes and Xs will likely streamline your combat tracking.
The system also works well for any GM who finds traditional HP subtraction tedious or error-prone. Some tables simply prefer the visual clarity and reduced mental load, regardless of monster HP totals. If you spend more time managing numbers than describing action, this method is worth testing.
High-HP Encounters
Sly Flourish encourages GMs to try the method and notes that not every trick works for everyone. The system is not mandatory or universally superior to other approaches. It is one tool among many for managing combat at your table. Your mileage may vary depending on your playstyle, table culture, and preferences.
Consider testing it in a single encounter before committing to it as your default tracking system. Run one fight using Slashes and Xs and see how it feels. If it speeds up your combat and reduces friction, adopt it more broadly. If it doesn’t click with your table, stick with what works.
Testing the Method
The system pairs well with other Sly Flourish combat optimization techniques, such as static monster damage or group damage pools. You can combine Slashes and Xs with any of these approaches to create a combat system tailored to your table’s needs. Experiment with different combinations and find what works best for your group.
Comparing Damage Tracking Approaches
Traditional HP Subtraction
Traditional HP tracking requires the GM to maintain a mental or written record of each monster’s current HP and subtract damage from that total after each attack. This approach is familiar to most players and GMs, having been the standard in TTRPGs for decades. However, it requires arithmetic during every combat round and becomes increasingly tedious as monster HP totals grow.
The main advantage of traditional subtraction is precision. You always know the exact HP remaining. The main disadvantage is cognitive load. You must perform math, track numbers, and manage multiple calculations simultaneously during fast-paced combat.
Adding Damage vs. Subtracting
Sly Flourish’s broader philosophy favors adding damage until it matches a monster’s total HP, which reduces mental load during play. Instead of starting with a number and subtracting, you start at zero and add. This shift in perspective is subtle but powerful. Adding feels more intuitive than subtracting, especially when you are tracking multiple values simultaneously.
The Slashes and Xs method implements this philosophy using visual notation. You add marks to a tally rather than subtracting from a running total. The result is faster, clearer combat tracking with less opportunity for error.
Choosing Your Method
Different GMs may prefer different systems based on their table’s needs and playstyle. Some prefer the precision of traditional subtraction. Others prefer the speed of Slashes and Xs. Still others use hybrid approaches or completely different systems. The key is finding what reduces friction at your specific table and allows you to focus on running engaging encounters.
Conclusion
The Slashes and Xs method is a proven, low-math alternative to traditional monster HP tracking that reduces mental overhead during combat. By adding marks instead of subtracting numbers, you free your attention for describing action, managing NPCs, and responding to player creativity.
Sly Flourish encourages GMs to experiment with the technique and adapt it to their playstyle, recognizing that not every trick works for every table. Whether you adopt the full system, use the rounding shortcut, or combine it with other Sly Flourish techniques like damage pools, the goal remains the same: faster, clearer combat.
Try Slashes and Xs in your next high-HP encounter and see if it streamlines your table’s combat experience.