Starting hit points?

TheAuldGrump · Dec 26, 2008

I waffle between max + CB and 2x max + CB. For the game with younger players I have been going with the latter, and it does seem to make 1st level less dicey - they are able to take an average blow from an ogre without being knocked into negatives by the first hit.

But sometimes I miss that fragility, you know?

The Auld Grump

Abraxas · Dec 27, 2008

I use my own system for Hit Points
Characters use the following formula to determine Hit Points per level.
levels 01-04 [Level x Fixed HP] + [Con Score + Con Mod]
levels 05-09 [Level x Fixed HP] + [(Con Score + Con Mod) x 2]
levels 10-14 [Level x Fixed HP] + [(Con Score + Con Mod) x 3]
levels 15-19 [Level x Fixed HP] + [(Con Score + Con Mod) x 4]
levels 20+...[Level x Fixed HP] + [(Con Score + Con Mod) x 5]

Fixed HP Value determined as follows
4 Casters: Sorcerer, Wizard - generally any d4 class
6 Support: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Rogue - generally any d6 or d8 class
8 Tank: Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin - generally any d10 - d12 class

jreyst · Dec 30, 2008

Con score + 1 roll of class HD

For my last (short-lived) campaign I had player's roll their class HD 1 time and add it to their Constitution score. For example, a fighter with a 14 Con gets 14 + 1d10. A Wizard with 10 Con gets 10 + 1d4. This allows for some randomness as well as providing a solid base of hit points. However, in my next campaign I will probably revert back to just doing max HD + con modifier, as characters just had an insane amount of hit points quickly and fights just lasted longer.

jreyst · Dec 30, 2008

Kerrick said:
I was thinking of trying HD (random roll) + Con mod + Con score, instead of max HD + Con score. L1 PCs would still get a lot more hp than now, but not a whole lot more - they're still 1st level, after all.

I do the same thing, just minus adding the Con modifier. The way I see it Con is already factored in when you add in their Con score. Adding in the modifier also double-rewards high Con characters.

Mokona · Jan 2, 2009

Seems like 4th edition rules are winning the poll.

Corinth · Jan 4, 2009

Initial HP equal the character's Constitution score, modified by his Size category. (This is a multiplier; Small is .75, Medium is x1, Large is x2 and so on.)

Wulf Ratbane · Jan 4, 2009

I give out (3 x max HD) + CON.

And then I beat the hell out of them with EL+2 encounters.

Big fun!

Darrin Drader · Jan 4, 2009

I used to start games at level 3 and then make them earn all the XP to advance to level 4. I did this because I felt that level 1 and 2 characters were simply too weak, and between their overall lack of resources to spend on healing potions, and the frequent breaks they would have to take to heal up before adventuring on, the first couple levels were too much of a drag to bother with.

I've been using the Max HD + Con stat for starting hit points, and then started the PCs at the beginning of Rise of the Runelords, and worked out fairly well. What I found was that with increased HP, they were more likely to survive, which is good, but they were actually having a little too easy of a time with the adventure, so to counter this, I upped the difficulty of the encounters a bit to compensate.

At second level, the increased hit points were somewhat less noticeable, so I didn't compensate as much. By third level, it was hardly noticeable at all, so I ran things straight out of the book.

Max Money AWA · Jan 29, 2009

Current game

I used the racial modifier option for my game. It is a war scenario where the party has a deep recon/skirmish role. The extra hit points from race was more than enough to keep this party going for extended runs behind enemy lines.

The other options would all depend on the type of game or game style. Though I must say, I'm kind of biased against the full HD + full Con score option as it's how 4E works.

Aus_Snow · Jan 30, 2009

Max Money AWA said:
Though I must say, I'm kind of biased against the full HD + full Con score option as it's how 4E works.

Heh. I get that. But, in my case, I had a house rule working exactly this way long before 4e came on the scene, so I don't even have a potential problem with it.