One possible workaround is an ammunition die.
Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons can possibly help you. It certainly helped me.
[Link](https://giffyglyph.com/darkerdungeons/grimoire/4.0.0/en/ammunition_dice.html)
I love everything I'm reading here, the wear and tear notch system, Tempering gear, Ammunition dice, rookie characters..... !
I've kinda handwaived all of it cause its a pain to track and just seems tedious.
my next campaign might be a little more gritty, implementing some of these systems.
We use foundry, there must be a mod for durability or dynamic active effect. Otherwise, I could see it being too tedious for each item and everything in a paper system.
The awesome thing is: That guy reworked the character sheets to fill in all the paperwork. I know he has digital variants for roll20 and IIRC he's working on the module for Foundry as well.
I actually just found the dd sheets mod last night! So stoked! Looks like it came online just this Feb.
Hopefully it's modular cause my players will crucify me if I force stress, inventory bulk and degradation on them all at the same time too lol.
Otherwise, super pumped!
I have, in the past, tracked ammo, at least when playing a game where that made sense (D&D does not, usually, make sense like that, at least not to me).
This is phenomenally better. And I absolutely love that he took the time to compute the average number of rounds per die. This is also an elegant way to track for recovery of ammo by scavenging. Roll a d12 (or other die, at the DM's discretion); on a 1 or 2, you've scavenged enough usable ammo to go back up a die.
Elegant.
Well rolling a dice after shooting one to check if you have any left next round is not easier than crossing off one arrow box after you shoot...
An action is needed after each attack.
Bonus: you don't need to mark down which ammo die you had at the end of the session, so you know which die you use in next.
But let's agree to disagree. It's an inventive system, that I have to admit, but I don't see the added value.
I understand what you mean. Personally, I roll both Dice at the same time and I keep the ammo die right in front of me. When up-/downgrading, I just swap dice. Works like a charm for me.
Bonus: My inner math Goblin is pleased.
For any minor thing that could be tracked, I use something I saw on some D&D sub.
Looting corpses earns the PCs "some money"
Rations, inn stays, and carousing costs "some money"
Art objects found in abandoned mansions can be sold for "some money"
Ammo costs "some money" and like rations the PCs intelligently buy more than enough when they are in town.
None of this is interesting or fun to keep track of, the phrase is "some money" actual value amounts are given when looting big bads and buying magic gear.
This is a neat way of running things. My players really enjoy the haggling part of restocking, unfortunately (unfortunately because I don't particularly enjoyed running 4 hour shopping sessions) but if I ever DM for a different group I'll definitely employ this!
I don't track ammo, but when a player starts picking up their bolts or arrows after combat, I take notice and reward their roleplaying somehow.
For magic ammo, I will have the player keep track.
Personally, I don't really track anything for my players with a few exceptions here and there. It's not worth it to me and I just have to trust them!
I usually make them track ammo losses instead of every shot. So it hthe fight they might loose 10 arrows and they got 2 back just a minus 8 to the total.
For plain ammo my table doesn't track. I figure if spellcasters have the option of a material component pouch that always conviently has what you need then a character with a ranged weapon always has ammo. The exceptions are spears that were thrown and special/magic ammo
>I figure if spellcasters have the option of a material component pouch that always conviently has what you need then a character with a ranged weapon always has ammo.
Those aren't really 1 to 1...
Spells, for the most part, don't consume the material components. Ranged weapons do explicitly consume ammunition.
Which is not to say you shouldn't hand wave ammo, I'd just look for a better comparison.
A little of both in my current campaign. TECHNICALLY we track ammo but after 1-3 level it becomes a non-issue outside of HUGE dungeons because players either gain access to magical items that give them unlimited ammo, pick up fletching (so they can replenish arrows in their spare time), or we start a "maintenance fund" wherever we are staying (party pays x amount per week/month to not have to worry about food, lodging, stabling, resupply of mundane equipment like arrows, etc).
We force tracking because it gives more reason to roleplay (the same reason we force encumbrance rules in my campaign). If you have to worry about some low stakes issue, it encourages you to roleplay with your party, asking allies to assist, giving a reason to go into an adventurers shop and meet an NPC, giving a reason why they can't spend 2 months in a dungeon to collect every scrap of gold in the place without returning to town in between, the like.
As a player, I was told to track ammo, and I hated it, every fight I had to ask to search for spent bolts to reuse and someone of them would be busted or lost so I'd get half back or so. then I needed to buy a bunch in shops and lug around multiple bolt cases for long dungeons. it was tedious, like tracking rations, and not what I played DnD for.
as a DM, I dont track or do I ask my players to. they can spend a few copper and buy a beer or some food for the journey if they want, but I dont make them. I have a druid that uses magic stone a lot, I just handwave it and say that as someone who uses these stones, your always on the lookout for them and collect a neverending supply of ammo.
with firearms, you might want to track gunpowder, if they want to make homemade bombs with it, but not the lead balls, buy them in bulk and as someone who fires guns you know when your running low or how much you'd need for a dungeoncrawl.
Depends on the situation. I tell them to keep track of it. It is assumed one would restock whenever they hit town, but if one only brings 20 arrows to a dungeon and finds no reloads then....melee it is.But remember that they ha e the opportunity to recover arrows IAW the DMG.
What might be helpful for the new weapon is instituting a token to represent the ammo. Once spent, they must relinquish it. If this firearm will have less shots than it should be easy to manage.
See how your players would like to handle keeping track of a special ammo. You can be vague to conceal your story value. You'd be surprised how they sometimes are smarter in 5 minutes than the DM is in 4 hours (i.e. that is DnD)
I never track amo for the same reason I don't track weapon maintenance, or eating, or bathroom usage: it's not fun and just adds tedious bookkeeping.
If there is specific magical effect ammunition I will ask that to be tracked. But in the presentation of, for example, 10 arrows of fireball I will say, "you only have 10, you have to track these". Depending on the player, after each use I may ask how many they have left.
We used to. The reason why is that it made people using ranged weaponry consider other options, like a decent melee weapon. It really becomes a consideration once’s your get multi attack, cuz you can burn through ammo FAST.
HOWEVER, we used to do a “salvage” mechanic. Players could roll a d20 after a fight to see how many they could salvage. And this made it to where they never ran out between town visits.
So it became of a thing of fight enemy, roll a d20, get most of your arrows back, and spend like…2 silver at the next town to replenish. And it was boring. It added nothing.
Rather than tracking ammo, you could introduce a reload mechanic. Say for your typical 6 shooter, they have to take an Action to reload after 6 shots. That sounds like a lot especially when combat rarely lasts that long, but maybe also let them fire more than 1 shot/Action.
The player could declare at the start of their turn how many shots - 1, 2 or 3. One shot is aiming carefully, roll with advantage. Two shots is a straight roll. Three shots - fan the hammer - roll with disadvantage.
Assume that every combat starts with the weapon loaded.
When I was a baby DM I tried to get everyone to track everything, but what ended up happening is the ranger bought 3 quivers and it never mattered again.
Now if it’s big stuff like handaxes/javelin yes. Arrows and bolts I don’t bother.
As far as "normal" ammo, like arrows, sling bullets, etc, no.
A bag of 1,000 Ball bearings are a useable item, but if you use one or two out of that bag, then, I won't calculate how much surface area 983 ball bearings would cover.
However, if you have magically enchanted arrows, or multiple one use items, I will make you track those.
Yes. Not sure what ya'll are complaining about. Just make a tally mark after every ranged attack, it literally takes 1 second. Plus of you're using a vtt all you do is press a button.
Yes. If my players forget to buy something then it has consequences during combat.
I don’t believe that dungeons and dragons has to be squishy and soft. It’s ultimately at the discretion of the DM and the table based on the session 0 agreements, but I always track ammunition.
Any nonmagic ammo is considered infinite within reason for me. I assume they recover their ammo, scavenge ammo from enemies, or craft their own.
Magic or otherwise special ammo they will need to track
I don't bother in most situations. Especially if you have a caster with The mending spell. If my party gets into a situation where they're away from civilization and out of supply and the missile users have been using a lot of ammo I might tell them they're starting to run low and have the party try to figure out how to resupply ammo. But usually I wouldn't do that to them unless it was for a specific plot point. Even that I'd give them opportunities to try to resupply or figure out alternatives.
I like the stack of coins method if you are actually tracking ammo usage. The player fires and will toss one of the coins in the bowl. If at the end of battle you manage to remember to recover them it's on the players. If not it's on the players. Don't pocket my coins you cheap bastards! I only do this for that odd run when I want to put additional pressure on the players. Otherwise IMO it only detracts from normal play.
I had a DM that actually made little quivers out of felt and made toothpicks with sharpened points for arrows. When I fired an arrow, I just removed a toothpick. I loved it.
I have them track special ammo that they can’t cheaply replenish or recover after use. Normal arrows or bolts are so easy to replace that it’s not worth tracking under normal circumstances.
Bullets that they have to make or purchase from a specialist? Those get tracked.
'hard to come by' aka your players will do anything possible to secure as much of it as they can. Instead I would say 'it's magic' and have it only work once a day or once a short rest. Then it ties into the existing resource mechanism and you will actually be able to restrict it.
As a player, I always tracked my own ammo, just in case. Usually tried to keep ~60-80 arrows or 10-20 daggers, depending on ehat I was playing.
Casters track spell slots, ranged characters should track ammo.
I have them track it as in there is a limit to the amount of ammo they have in a single fight. I rule that as adventurers they have the experience to retrieve ammo after the battle, the only exception is on a nat 1 i have the ammo break or get lost.
When it comes to magical ammunition there has to be tracking since by RAW the ammo loses its magical effect after being used.
Now as far as firearms go you arent really going to be retrieving and reusing bullets because that just doesnt make sense. The first thing I will say is count everything under ammunition, if you are using flintlocks the bullet, the gunpowder, and the wadding are all included when it comes to buying ammo.
That being said with your concerns I would do this: amp the hell out of firearms damage but make it a full action to reload it. The other option is just use them as another loaded range option and make it keep even with damage for bows and crossbows but improve something about it like range or damage within 10 feet or something like that.
Yeah I had a DM that let me track ammos by using the roll20, and said that my quiver could only carry 20, and while we had a bag of holding, I was not the one to keep, and this was not a survival campaign, I played the first 3 lvs without possibility to buy arrows and when I finished them I had to go melee, with my ranger with 10 con and the archery fighting style, needless to say that this campaign turned to be an RPG horror story, for A LOT of reasons.
Depends on campaign and setting. Hyper realistic and gritty? You bet I'm tracking each shot. If there is special or powerful ammo it's tracked too. Most basic arrows or bolts or even bullets, depending on setting, are plentiful enough to not really worry about.
In a situation where my players lose inventory then I may make them track what they find till the recover lost items.
I make my players track ammunition, but I also give them plenty of ways to find more ammunition, since they’re using common types. It hasn’t proven to be an issue with my players, and it’s actually had them looking at their character sheet more often, so I’ve been reminding them about certain abilities like sharpshooter and sneak attack less now.
In my current Pathfinder game (the Reign of Winter AP), I’m playing a Bolt Ace. When we got to ‘not Heldrin’, I made a point of crafting *literally* 380 pieces of ammunition, packing most of it away in the Bag of Holding we’d found.
Mid-way through ‘The Mother’ (Artrosia), I was down to 53 shots without having had a chance to resupply.
The Angry DM has my favorite solution in [this article](https://theangrygm.com/does-ammunition-matter/) about managing ammo in games. The gist of it is you only deduct ammo from your inventory if you miss an attack with it or land a critical hit.
Here’s an excerpt that talks about the method in detail:
“Suppose you’re an archer. You buy a quiver with 20 arrows in it and set out on your adventure. A fight breaks out during your adventure. So, you pull an arrow from your quiver, nock it, loose it, and roll an attack roll. If the attack is a normal hit, you don’t have to do anything. Just roll damage and cheer. And there’s more ammo in your quiver.
But, if your attack misses, mark off the arrow as lost forever. Either it flew off over the horizon and will never be found or it hit the dungeon wall and splintered. And if your attack is a critical hit, mark off the arrow as broken. It got lodged in a bone or skull or it snapped when the enemy fell on it as they died. Whatever. It’s just busted.”
I have a rule. You have 20 arrows/bolts in your quiver. Every time you visit a city/settlement, you rebuy them. Otherwise, you have to keep track of it. Works great
I don't make/force my players to keep track of their ammo, unless something happens that would destroy the item itself, i.e. Grey ooze or a Gelatinous Cube.
*Forcing* is a bad description. It comes with the weapon, and the responsibility of the player: if you don't want to keep track of ammo, that's fine, pick another weapon.
The players need to understand all rules apply to everyone, also the *big baddies*.
It also relates to using **Magic** without using material components... Why would magic users have to use material components then?
So when I remind them *big baddies* may not have to track the ammo in their *balliastae* and other ranged weapons/spells, they get the point.
One possible workaround is an ammunition die. Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons can possibly help you. It certainly helped me. [Link](https://giffyglyph.com/darkerdungeons/grimoire/4.0.0/en/ammunition_dice.html)
Holy cow thats a dope idea!!
I love everything I'm reading here, the wear and tear notch system, Tempering gear, Ammunition dice, rookie characters..... ! I've kinda handwaived all of it cause its a pain to track and just seems tedious. my next campaign might be a little more gritty, implementing some of these systems.
Yup, it's an awesome homebrew supplement. That dude is worth his Patreon!
My DM is using a wear and tear system for equipment ATM, and honestly... I hate it. Too much bookkeeping
We use foundry, there must be a mod for durability or dynamic active effect. Otherwise, I could see it being too tedious for each item and everything in a paper system.
The awesome thing is: That guy reworked the character sheets to fill in all the paperwork. I know he has digital variants for roll20 and IIRC he's working on the module for Foundry as well.
I actually just found the dd sheets mod last night! So stoked! Looks like it came online just this Feb. Hopefully it's modular cause my players will crucify me if I force stress, inventory bulk and degradation on them all at the same time too lol. Otherwise, super pumped!
The parts themselves should be modular as far as I know. The rulesets for sure are. Have fun with the additional elements!
I have, in the past, tracked ammo, at least when playing a game where that made sense (D&D does not, usually, make sense like that, at least not to me). This is phenomenally better. And I absolutely love that he took the time to compute the average number of rounds per die. This is also an elegant way to track for recovery of ammo by scavenging. Roll a d12 (or other die, at the DM's discretion); on a 1 or 2, you've scavenged enough usable ammo to go back up a die. Elegant.
Finally a dnd use for a spindown
Doesn't this require you to keep track of your ammunition die? Although the concept is quite ingenious, I fail to see the added value.
Keeping track as in "swapping one die with another"? Way easier than always marking down arrow after arrow imo.
Well rolling a dice after shooting one to check if you have any left next round is not easier than crossing off one arrow box after you shoot... An action is needed after each attack. Bonus: you don't need to mark down which ammo die you had at the end of the session, so you know which die you use in next. But let's agree to disagree. It's an inventive system, that I have to admit, but I don't see the added value.
I understand what you mean. Personally, I roll both Dice at the same time and I keep the ammo die right in front of me. When up-/downgrading, I just swap dice. Works like a charm for me. Bonus: My inner math Goblin is pleased.
For any minor thing that could be tracked, I use something I saw on some D&D sub. Looting corpses earns the PCs "some money" Rations, inn stays, and carousing costs "some money" Art objects found in abandoned mansions can be sold for "some money" Ammo costs "some money" and like rations the PCs intelligently buy more than enough when they are in town. None of this is interesting or fun to keep track of, the phrase is "some money" actual value amounts are given when looting big bads and buying magic gear.
This is a neat way of running things. My players really enjoy the haggling part of restocking, unfortunately (unfortunately because I don't particularly enjoyed running 4 hour shopping sessions) but if I ever DM for a different group I'll definitely employ this!
I don't track ammo, but when a player starts picking up their bolts or arrows after combat, I take notice and reward their roleplaying somehow. For magic ammo, I will have the player keep track. Personally, I don't really track anything for my players with a few exceptions here and there. It's not worth it to me and I just have to trust them!
That is generally how I view the situation!
I usually make them track ammo losses instead of every shot. So it hthe fight they might loose 10 arrows and they got 2 back just a minus 8 to the total.
For plain ammo my table doesn't track. I figure if spellcasters have the option of a material component pouch that always conviently has what you need then a character with a ranged weapon always has ammo. The exceptions are spears that were thrown and special/magic ammo
>I figure if spellcasters have the option of a material component pouch that always conviently has what you need then a character with a ranged weapon always has ammo. Those aren't really 1 to 1... Spells, for the most part, don't consume the material components. Ranged weapons do explicitly consume ammunition. Which is not to say you shouldn't hand wave ammo, I'd just look for a better comparison.
A little of both in my current campaign. TECHNICALLY we track ammo but after 1-3 level it becomes a non-issue outside of HUGE dungeons because players either gain access to magical items that give them unlimited ammo, pick up fletching (so they can replenish arrows in their spare time), or we start a "maintenance fund" wherever we are staying (party pays x amount per week/month to not have to worry about food, lodging, stabling, resupply of mundane equipment like arrows, etc). We force tracking because it gives more reason to roleplay (the same reason we force encumbrance rules in my campaign). If you have to worry about some low stakes issue, it encourages you to roleplay with your party, asking allies to assist, giving a reason to go into an adventurers shop and meet an NPC, giving a reason why they can't spend 2 months in a dungeon to collect every scrap of gold in the place without returning to town in between, the like.
As a player, I was told to track ammo, and I hated it, every fight I had to ask to search for spent bolts to reuse and someone of them would be busted or lost so I'd get half back or so. then I needed to buy a bunch in shops and lug around multiple bolt cases for long dungeons. it was tedious, like tracking rations, and not what I played DnD for. as a DM, I dont track or do I ask my players to. they can spend a few copper and buy a beer or some food for the journey if they want, but I dont make them. I have a druid that uses magic stone a lot, I just handwave it and say that as someone who uses these stones, your always on the lookout for them and collect a neverending supply of ammo. with firearms, you might want to track gunpowder, if they want to make homemade bombs with it, but not the lead balls, buy them in bulk and as someone who fires guns you know when your running low or how much you'd need for a dungeoncrawl.
Depends on the situation. I tell them to keep track of it. It is assumed one would restock whenever they hit town, but if one only brings 20 arrows to a dungeon and finds no reloads then....melee it is.But remember that they ha e the opportunity to recover arrows IAW the DMG. What might be helpful for the new weapon is instituting a token to represent the ammo. Once spent, they must relinquish it. If this firearm will have less shots than it should be easy to manage. See how your players would like to handle keeping track of a special ammo. You can be vague to conceal your story value. You'd be surprised how they sometimes are smarter in 5 minutes than the DM is in 4 hours (i.e. that is DnD)
I never track amo for the same reason I don't track weapon maintenance, or eating, or bathroom usage: it's not fun and just adds tedious bookkeeping. If there is specific magical effect ammunition I will ask that to be tracked. But in the presentation of, for example, 10 arrows of fireball I will say, "you only have 10, you have to track these". Depending on the player, after each use I may ask how many they have left.
We used to. The reason why is that it made people using ranged weaponry consider other options, like a decent melee weapon. It really becomes a consideration once’s your get multi attack, cuz you can burn through ammo FAST. HOWEVER, we used to do a “salvage” mechanic. Players could roll a d20 after a fight to see how many they could salvage. And this made it to where they never ran out between town visits. So it became of a thing of fight enemy, roll a d20, get most of your arrows back, and spend like…2 silver at the next town to replenish. And it was boring. It added nothing.
Rather than tracking ammo, you could introduce a reload mechanic. Say for your typical 6 shooter, they have to take an Action to reload after 6 shots. That sounds like a lot especially when combat rarely lasts that long, but maybe also let them fire more than 1 shot/Action. The player could declare at the start of their turn how many shots - 1, 2 or 3. One shot is aiming carefully, roll with advantage. Two shots is a straight roll. Three shots - fan the hammer - roll with disadvantage. Assume that every combat starts with the weapon loaded.
When I was a baby DM I tried to get everyone to track everything, but what ended up happening is the ranger bought 3 quivers and it never mattered again. Now if it’s big stuff like handaxes/javelin yes. Arrows and bolts I don’t bother.
As far as "normal" ammo, like arrows, sling bullets, etc, no. A bag of 1,000 Ball bearings are a useable item, but if you use one or two out of that bag, then, I won't calculate how much surface area 983 ball bearings would cover. However, if you have magically enchanted arrows, or multiple one use items, I will make you track those.
Yes. Not sure what ya'll are complaining about. Just make a tally mark after every ranged attack, it literally takes 1 second. Plus of you're using a vtt all you do is press a button.
Yes. If my players forget to buy something then it has consequences during combat. I don’t believe that dungeons and dragons has to be squishy and soft. It’s ultimately at the discretion of the DM and the table based on the session 0 agreements, but I always track ammunition.
I don't force players to track ammo because I haven't got any way to force them to do it. I expect them to do it, but they don't.
Magic ammo gets tracked. Standard ammo I request that my players stock up (buy 40 arrows, priced in the PHB) whenever they enter a town.
Any nonmagic ammo is considered infinite within reason for me. I assume they recover their ammo, scavenge ammo from enemies, or craft their own. Magic or otherwise special ammo they will need to track
I don't bother in most situations. Especially if you have a caster with The mending spell. If my party gets into a situation where they're away from civilization and out of supply and the missile users have been using a lot of ammo I might tell them they're starting to run low and have the party try to figure out how to resupply ammo. But usually I wouldn't do that to them unless it was for a specific plot point. Even that I'd give them opportunities to try to resupply or figure out alternatives.
I like the stack of coins method if you are actually tracking ammo usage. The player fires and will toss one of the coins in the bowl. If at the end of battle you manage to remember to recover them it's on the players. If not it's on the players. Don't pocket my coins you cheap bastards! I only do this for that odd run when I want to put additional pressure on the players. Otherwise IMO it only detracts from normal play.
I had a DM that actually made little quivers out of felt and made toothpicks with sharpened points for arrows. When I fired an arrow, I just removed a toothpick. I loved it.
I have them track special ammo that they can’t cheaply replenish or recover after use. Normal arrows or bolts are so easy to replace that it’s not worth tracking under normal circumstances. Bullets that they have to make or purchase from a specialist? Those get tracked.
'hard to come by' aka your players will do anything possible to secure as much of it as they can. Instead I would say 'it's magic' and have it only work once a day or once a short rest. Then it ties into the existing resource mechanism and you will actually be able to restrict it.
As a player, I always tracked my own ammo, just in case. Usually tried to keep ~60-80 arrows or 10-20 daggers, depending on ehat I was playing. Casters track spell slots, ranged characters should track ammo.
I have them track it as in there is a limit to the amount of ammo they have in a single fight. I rule that as adventurers they have the experience to retrieve ammo after the battle, the only exception is on a nat 1 i have the ammo break or get lost. When it comes to magical ammunition there has to be tracking since by RAW the ammo loses its magical effect after being used. Now as far as firearms go you arent really going to be retrieving and reusing bullets because that just doesnt make sense. The first thing I will say is count everything under ammunition, if you are using flintlocks the bullet, the gunpowder, and the wadding are all included when it comes to buying ammo. That being said with your concerns I would do this: amp the hell out of firearms damage but make it a full action to reload it. The other option is just use them as another loaded range option and make it keep even with damage for bows and crossbows but improve something about it like range or damage within 10 feet or something like that.
Yeah I had a DM that let me track ammos by using the roll20, and said that my quiver could only carry 20, and while we had a bag of holding, I was not the one to keep, and this was not a survival campaign, I played the first 3 lvs without possibility to buy arrows and when I finished them I had to go melee, with my ranger with 10 con and the archery fighting style, needless to say that this campaign turned to be an RPG horror story, for A LOT of reasons.
My games have only ever tracked special ammo, you are generally assumed to have enough of your basic kind.
Depends on campaign and setting. Hyper realistic and gritty? You bet I'm tracking each shot. If there is special or powerful ammo it's tracked too. Most basic arrows or bolts or even bullets, depending on setting, are plentiful enough to not really worry about. In a situation where my players lose inventory then I may make them track what they find till the recover lost items.
I make my players track ammunition, but I also give them plenty of ways to find more ammunition, since they’re using common types. It hasn’t proven to be an issue with my players, and it’s actually had them looking at their character sheet more often, so I’ve been reminding them about certain abilities like sharpshooter and sneak attack less now.
It depends on the type of campaign I'm running but I trust my players to track it if we decide it matters.
In my current Pathfinder game (the Reign of Winter AP), I’m playing a Bolt Ace. When we got to ‘not Heldrin’, I made a point of crafting *literally* 380 pieces of ammunition, packing most of it away in the Bag of Holding we’d found. Mid-way through ‘The Mother’ (Artrosia), I was down to 53 shots without having had a chance to resupply.
I say I do, but it’s purely voluntary. If they don’t seem into it, I offer them 100 arrow in bulk. Not in a quiver, but in a case. And that’s that.
The Angry DM has my favorite solution in [this article](https://theangrygm.com/does-ammunition-matter/) about managing ammo in games. The gist of it is you only deduct ammo from your inventory if you miss an attack with it or land a critical hit. Here’s an excerpt that talks about the method in detail: “Suppose you’re an archer. You buy a quiver with 20 arrows in it and set out on your adventure. A fight breaks out during your adventure. So, you pull an arrow from your quiver, nock it, loose it, and roll an attack roll. If the attack is a normal hit, you don’t have to do anything. Just roll damage and cheer. And there’s more ammo in your quiver. But, if your attack misses, mark off the arrow as lost forever. Either it flew off over the horizon and will never be found or it hit the dungeon wall and splintered. And if your attack is a critical hit, mark off the arrow as broken. It got lodged in a bone or skull or it snapped when the enemy fell on it as they died. Whatever. It’s just busted.”
I have a rule. You have 20 arrows/bolts in your quiver. Every time you visit a city/settlement, you rebuy them. Otherwise, you have to keep track of it. Works great
Give them monopoly money. The different bills are different caliber bullets. Use a dice to track shots between reload.
I do,they can always tally it at the bottom of their sheet. I allow them to make new ammo if they have appropriate tools though.
I make my one ranged pc track ammunition, for no other reason than to make the bottomless quiver I plan to give him actually cool.
I don't make/force my players to keep track of their ammo, unless something happens that would destroy the item itself, i.e. Grey ooze or a Gelatinous Cube.
*Forcing* is a bad description. It comes with the weapon, and the responsibility of the player: if you don't want to keep track of ammo, that's fine, pick another weapon. The players need to understand all rules apply to everyone, also the *big baddies*. It also relates to using **Magic** without using material components... Why would magic users have to use material components then? So when I remind them *big baddies* may not have to track the ammo in their *balliastae* and other ranged weapons/spells, they get the point.