one token to represent a quantity of npc's

[Niles]

Is there any kind of extension to make a token represent more than one npc? For example, my group and I ran in to a swarm of 80 rats. Instead of having 80 tokens on the map which would clutter the map, is there a way to have combat tracker keep track of the quantity of monsters that die as you kill them, kind of like arrows being tic'd off as you use them on the actions tab?

[Moon Wizard]

I haven't heard of anything like that; but I would probably change to use one or more of the "Swarm of Rats" creature from the SRD / Monster Manual instead. In general, when dealing with that many creatures, it's always best to group them in the tracker as well as the token.

Regards,
JPG

[GavinRuneblade]

I agree with Moon, don't use individuals use a "swarm". In your case you could also have a few individual rats too. Also remember to think about waves or reinforcements. If you lay them all out at once not only do things bog down, but AoEs become overly powerful. So using half up front and having some more join in each round can keep things manageable.

I usually (but not always) have a way the PCs can figure out to stop the reinforcements or reward their coming up with ideas on their own. Something like a pipe they can clog off, or a passage they can block with fire from an oil flask, or even a magic portal a wizard can spend a few actions on a "mini ritual" to close.

[Niles]

I agree with Moon, don't use individuals use a "swarm". In your case you could also have a few individual rats too. Also remember to think about waves or reinforcements. If you lay them all out at once not only do things bog down, but AoEs become overly powerful. So using half up front and having some more join in each round can keep things manageable.

I usually (but not always) have a way the PCs can figure out to stop the reinforcements or reward their coming up with ideas on their own. Something like a pipe they can clog off, or a passage they can block with fire from an oil flask, or even a magic portal a wizard can spend a few actions on a "mini ritual" to close.

Thanks guys, good advice. We do use the Swarm of Rats from the monster manual and not the individual. It would be kind of cool to drop swarm of whatever into combat tracker and have a quantity and ticker field pop up so you could tic off, just so you could keep track of the number of creatures killed. Is there any kind of window you can open anywhere where you can tic items off besides the ammo on the record sheets?

[LordEntrails]

Thanks guys, good advice. We do use the Swarm of Rats from the monster manual and not the individual. It would be kind of cool to drop swarm of whatever into combat tracker and have a quantity and ticker field pop up so you could tic off, just so you could keep track of the number of creatures killed. Is there any kind of window you can open anywhere where you can tic items off besides the ammo on the record sheets?
No window I know of.

I've always envisioned the hit points of swarms really being a representation of the the number living. maybe not 1 to 1, depending on rats or insects etc. In part its why swarms don't do as much damage once they have lost half their hit points.

[Halfront]

I ran into something similar running HotDQ. The player were doing the Sanctuary mission. I made a townsfolk token and just made it represent "x" number of people and the HP of the token represent that many grouped. If the token took damage then that many townsfolk died. My players did a fantastic job and saved them all.