D&D 5E The Problem with Constitution

[TaranTheWanderer]

Any game that has Hit points based on one stat, it is unlikely people will use it as a dump stat. I rarely see anyone with lower than 12 con.

But Con is important for more than just hps. (See Sadras's point above)

I also wish there were Con skills like concentration or Endurance. Athletics could be based on Con in a long distance running test though. So, as a dm, if you want Con to play a bigger, more 'active' role, you can do so by having it modify certain skill checks.

On Hit points

Hit points would be better if it were a factor based on multiple stats, using some kind of formula:
Con=ability to shrug off pain/damage
Str= ability to withstand damage (less likely to break limbs if you have muscle mass etc..)
Dex=ability to move and roll with punches
Int or/or Wis = ability to mentally work through pain

(I can't see a way for Charisma to come in to play)

Add all bonuses and multiply by level.

Or something like that. That said, if you use that system, everyone would, essentially, have the same hit points. I suppose you could still factor a dice roll in there somewhere.

Unless you broke it into social and physical hit points using the social/physical stats.

 

[Lanefan]

Unless you broke it into social and physical hit points using the social/physical stats.

Social hit points - now that's a concept I've never even considered before.

The possibilities are endless...as is the potential for disaster.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Social hit points - now that's a concept I've never even considered before.

The possibilities are endless...as is the potential for disaster.

Lots of systems have social combat. Using your rapier wit!

In the framework of D&D it wouldn't work...or would be difficult to integrate. And most players not used to the concept would, likely, balk at the idea.

 

[Xeviat]

The numbers DON'T matter when it comes to the roleplay. But you do need them for the game part.

If your player is roleplaying their 8 Charisma character as charming and you aren't calling for Charisma checks, that's on you. I think a character's ability scores influence how you intend to roleplay your character.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[FrogReaver]

If your player is roleplaying their 8 Charisma character as charming and you aren't calling for Charisma checks, that's on you. I think a character's ability scores influence how you intend to roleplay your character.

Then you have to go down the rabbit hole of what each ability score means which varies quite a bit from person to person. Instead his PC can act however he wants to act and say whatever he wants to say. Afterall, it's the NPC's that react to his actions and it's trivially easy to have them view the PC's attempted charm as the most uncharming man trying to act like he's charming, which I'm sure the NPC's would find comical.

 

[Aldarc]

Social hit points - now that's a concept I've never even considered before.

The possibilities are endless...as is the potential for disaster.

Fate Core has both a Physical and Mental Stress track. Social is included in the Mental Stress track. And you can perform the "Attack" action with some Social skills. If your mental stress exceeds your available stress boxes, then you can write up Consequences. So you could take a lot of stress from a social encounter, and then take the consequence "Oh, Teenage Embarrassment!" or "Shamed in the Royal Court."

 

[TheSword]

There are definitely tropes of high Con, low Str characters.

- John Wick : unstoppable force of nature, hard as nails.
- Granny Weatherwax : Tough as old boots and gnarled roots
- Pretty much any dwarf of any class : The very definition of the word hardy.
- The last samurai : shot to pieces and takes a beating but still stands up.

It’s perfectly natural for PCs to want decent Con and the points buy system means a 12 or 14 is more than realistic in a non-primary stat. Come to think of it I tend to aim for 12 in two or three secondary stats.

That said I don’t think it’s essential. I just finished playing a fighter/rogue who got from level 1 to level 12 and between second wind and uncanny dodge was fine with Con 10, even in melee.

 

[Aldarc]

You also have highly agile people with butter fingers, but both of these things get lumped into Dexterity. And incredibly wise, strong-willed people who are unobservant, but this gets lumped into Wisdom. The granularity of attributes are kinda arbitrary. I don't think that we should pretend that D&D's six attributes somehow reflect a deeper universal truth of the universe. Pardon my glib. So the attributes desire depend on what sort of fiction the creators want to emulate in gameplay.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

So, does anyone have any thoughts on what could be done with Constitution to make it more like the other ability scores? To balance it out so an 8 isn't fatal and make it possible that someone would put their highest stat there? Something so the bulk of characters aren't walking around with 14s?

As I see it, the problems are both with maximum HP, and with healing.

As it stands, the difference between a high Con score and a low Con score has more of an effect on HP than whether you're playing a Wizard or a Barbarian. And since you also gain +Con to each Hit Die spent for healing, and you gain all HP back overnight, you get to count each of those HP multiple times. One of the reasons why Con was less impactful in 3E, even though it added just as much to your HP total, was that healing was all independent of your maximum values; having a higher HP capacity meant that you could theoretically survive a really bad fight, but you still couldn't sustainably afford to take more damage in a day than you were able to heal, and healing was restricted in other ways.

The obvious solution, here, is to fix healing such that it no longer accounts for +Con or maximum healing. If you throw out the concept of Hit Dice, and recover a flat amount per night, then Con would be no more valuable in 5E than it was in 3E. As a bonus, you would no longer need to fit six encounters into a single day, before they started mattering.

As an alternative solution, since that would be too easy, I recommend removing +Con from HP-per-level and apply the full Con score as a temporary HP shield that renews with each short rest. The difference between a 6hp shield and a 16hp shield is less extreme than the difference of 5hp per level, but it should be enough for the melee-types to appreciate the difference, while preventing it from being such a decisive factor in boss fights.