Stop Subtracting: The Slash-and-X Revolution for 5th Edition

In the high-stakes environment of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition by Wizards of the Coast, the most significant bottleneck isn't the wizard’s complex spell list, but the Dungeon Master’s scratchpad. We have all been there: the fighter lands a critical hit, the rogue adds a mountain of sneak attack dice, and suddenly you are staring at a pile of double-digit math while the table’s energy evaporates. Mike Shea, the veteran voice behind Sly Flourish, recently highlighted a method adapted from Elizabeth at Patchwork Paladin that replaces traditional subtraction with a visual tally system using slashes and Xs. It is a deceptively simple shift that addresses the math tax inherent in d20-based systems.

The mechanics of this system are built on the cognitive reality that addition is faster than subtraction for the human brain. Instead of starting at a monster's maximum hit points and counting down, you start at zero and count up. In this specific iteration, you assign a numerical value to a slash (/) and a cross (X). For a high-level encounter in the Commander Format of a homebrew campaign or a standard 5th Edition module, you might decide that every / represents 5 damage and every X represents 10. When a player deals 17 damage, you quickly mark an X, a /, and two dots. You aren't calculating 144 minus 17; you are simply building a visual representation of the pain inflicted upon the creature.

From a mechanical standpoint, this removes the need for a calculator or heavy mental lifting during the most dramatic moments of the game. It allows the DM to maintain eye contact with the players rather than burying their nose in a ledger. Sly Flourish’s Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master has long advocated for reducing the cognitive load on the referee, and this tally system is the logical evolution of that philosophy. It scales perfectly; for a CR 30 Tarrasque, your Xs might represent 50 damage each, while for a swarm of goblins, a single / might represent their entire meager life force. The system is flexible enough to handle the swingy nature of critical hits without breaking the flow of the narrative.

While hit points are often criticized as a mere meat soak abstraction, this tally system provides a better narrative bridge for the lore of your world. In the gritty settings of Ravenloft or the blasted wastes of Dark Sun, hit points represent more than just physical health—they are luck, stamina, and the sheer will to survive. As the Xs and slashes accumulate on your notepad, they serve as a physical manifestation of the monster’s mounting fatigue. You can describe the creature's state based on the density of the marks. A page covered in Xs tells a story of a grueling war of attrition, providing the DM with a clear visual cue to transition from scratched to bloodied to near death without needing to check a stat block or do a percentage calculation.

Beyond the DM's side of the screen, there is a psychological benefit for the players. When the DM is hunched over a calculator, the tension of the battle breaks. The players start checking their phones or discussing out-of-character topics. However, when a DM uses the slash-and-X method, the pen moves instantly. The feedback is immediate. The player says the number, the DM marks the tally, and the narrative continues. This maintains the action economy of the table's attention span, which is just as important as the action economy of the combat itself.

The verdict for the table feel is unanimous: this is an essential upgrade for any veteran GM. The primary friction in modern tactical RPGs is the transition between narrative roleplay and mechanical resolution. By streamlining the tracking of damage, you shorten the dead air that occurs between a player rolling dice and the DM describing the result. It encourages players to be more descriptive with their attacks because they aren't waiting ten seconds for the DM to finish a math problem. If you want to keep the momentum of your Kill Team 2024 sessions or your weekly D&D grind, you need to stop treating your combat log like a checkbook and start treating it like a tally of victory.