L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend

billd91 said:

Sounds kind of quirky. It sounds a bit to me like they're just trying to find a place to use a pre-4e term - "hit dice" - rather than come up with the most agreeable solution to the problem. I suspect that the random element will not be favored by 4e fans and the people who reject using random hit points in the first place.

Frankly, I think it might just be easier to recover half the hit points lost in an encounter with a modest rest after a fight.

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4e fans, like myself, can just turn a 1d10 hit die into a 5 point healing surge. I long ago stopped rolling damage in my 4e campaigns anyway. We just replace all references to dice with their average values, except for wild magic sorcerers who get to roll.

Now “energy drain” can inflict “negative hit dice”.

In this way, a character must rest to replenish any deficit hit dice to mundanely recover from an energy drain - before any real healing can happen.

This will make energy drain somewhat scary (disturbing), knowing that they become unable to heal.

I love this article. We've partly handled it like this already, and not to have to house rule a mundane healing system would be very much appreciated.

Wait a second...

Da Article said:

Hit Dice allow that character to regain hit points. Your character is bandaging wounds, applying healing herbs, having some food and water, and otherwise spending time to recover. You can roll one or more of your character's Hit Dice to determine how many hit points mundane treatment allows him or her to recover. It's important to note that Hit Dice come into play to represent mundane healing. Potions and spells restore hit points and ignore Hit Dice. If a character relies on natural healing, it takes quite a while to recover.

When a character rests for an extended period of time, he or she regains Hit Dice. In other words, a longer rest allows your character to regain Hit Dice. Shorter rests allow you to spend those Hit Dice to regain your character's hit points.

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Does this say that magic, short rests, and long rest are 3 different mechanics?

Claire the level Cleric1/Figter1
Cure Light Wounds: Heal 5 HP per spell level prepared
Long Rest: Roll Hit Dice for Hit points. Gain 1 d8 HD and 1 d10 HD
Short rest: Spend Hit Dice and roll them for Hit points.

C'mon Thursday.

Libramarian said:

OK so hold on.

If you're above half your HP, you barely have a scratch. If you're below half, you're noticeably injured.

But what is the fictional meaning of the number of hit dice you have left?

What are you if you're above half HP but you've used up all your hit dice? You don't look injured but you're tired or something?

There needs to be some sort of fictional meaning that is consonant with the fact that it's going to feel a lot safer to take an axe blow when you have hit dice in your pocket than when you're out of them, at the same HP.

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I'm pretty much going to flavor it as fighting spirit and determination. If you're above half hp but have used up all your Hit Dice (assuming that is possible - there may be a rule that prevents you from using the last half of your Hit Dice unless you are at less than half hit points), your character is starting to feel nervous. He's had a lot of close calls in the last day or so, and he's starting to get worried that his luck will run out. When he's finally dropped to less than half his hit points, it takes all the willpower he has left just to keep going. He has none to spare for a last-ditch burst of effort.

Minigiant said:

Wait a second...



Does this say that magic, short rests, and long rest are 3 different mechanics?

Claire the level Cleric1/Figter1
Cure Light Wounds: Heal 5 HP per spell level prepared
Long Rest: Roll Hit Dice for Hit points. Gain 1 d8 HD and 1 d10 HD
Short rest: Spend Hit Dice and roll them for Hit points.

C'mon Thursday.

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I think it should be "regain" rather than "roll" for the long rest, but yes, I think that's how it should work.

I really like this article for several reasons.

A. The first part about how HP manifest in the world is extremely important and should be written in CAPITAL BOLD LETTERS in the PHB and DMG with the DMG version having a couple of pages with examples and "how to"s for DMs.

B. Divorcing mundane healing (HD healing) from magical healing is a big plus IMO, first of all the fact that each character don't have a base of 125% of its hp is a good step forward to combat hp bloat, both on the character side and more importantly in the monsters side.

Secondly, the HD mechanic is a great foundation for a 4e like module for those who like it, what to have 4e combat? Easy peasy, every character gains the second wind power that allows it you roll x HDs.

Third, the HD mechanic open the gates wide open for themes, equipment and classes that can heal outside of combat, like healing herbs and the means to get them, what if one of the ranger core abilities is to find healing herbs in the wilderness? Some of them will allow you to reroll any 1 on your HD roll some will add a flat +X to your roll and the more powerfull ones might be able to trigger an HD roll while in combat, suddenly you got a new mechanic that is tied to all three pillars of the game.

And forth, the HD mechanic is a great foundation to a stamina mechanic, from the paladin lay on hands ability that restore both hp and stamina (HD?) to penalties for exhausting your strength, it could also add HD damage to the mix, another thing to think about.

All in all I'm optimistic with this, now I need to see how it plays in the playtests.

Warder

MortalPlague said:

John MacLean and a rookie cop fall out of a window; who lives?

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Jon MacLean, mostly because the rookie broke his fall.

FireLance said:

I think it should be "regain" rather than "roll" for the long rest, but yes, I think that's how it should work.

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But what does the difference mean?

On a long rest does a level 1 fighter gain 1d10 HP, 10 HP, or 1 HD which requires another rest to gain HP?

Also..

HEALING HERBS!!!!!

Blackwarder said:

A. The first part about how HP manifest in the world is extremely important and should be written in CAPITAL BOLD LETTERS in the PHB and DMG with the DMG version having a couple of pages with examples and "how to"s for DMs.

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With any luck, the vast majority of gamers might even read it this time.