D&D 5E As a DM, how do you handle monster hit points?

[Ruin Explorer]

Generally, just increasing the hit points does nothing to make an encounter more interesting.

This could not be more true. Most monsters in 5E are a little on the flabby side HP-wise anyway, they could afford to lose a few - it's better as you say to have other things protect them (especially tactics) rather than making them even more of a giant bag of HP.

I do appreciate some DMs are dealing with some very hyperoptimized DPR characters and may need some cushion though!

 

[TheDelphian]

Up to about 6-7 level average hit points then almost always maximum.

I also play with a 5-6 person table with a few effective characters (Not quite optimized but good at their job). Fights over in 2-3 rounds are not worth wasting game time if they happen too often. Once in a while is good for the players and characters to feel powerful. Hit points are one of the more fluid statistics (May go up or down mid combat) I might adjust mid fight to keep a combat interesting which some people will think is blasphemous but to each their own.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I’ll often use max hit points, though sometimes I’ll even add on more hit points for a particularly tough encounter boss. Though this is never the only improvement I add to such a boss.

 

[Stoutstien]

I determine the NPCs hp based on whatever is going on in game. A bunch of well rested and fed NPCs are going to be in a better state of mind and healthier than a half starved band of bandits during a harsh winter.

This also makes a good shortcut for setting up potential scenarios because not being at "full" HP is going to make intelligent creatures act differently. A lot better potential to make interesting gameplay than a thousand and one different stat blocks of different ways to do damage.

 

[James Gasik]

A related concept, I suppose, is whether or not monsters and NPC's should ever start combats at less than full power, as the PC's are always down some resources after the first encounter. It's also interesting that, in every adventure I've ever been on, the first fight, where you're at full power isn't usually the hardest of the day, but the last fight, when you're down resources and beat up, is.

Food for thought.

 

[Reynard]

I answered "it depends." Most of the time, I just use the listed average. For bosses I use max or even higher, depending on the purpose of the encounter.

One thing I do not do except in rare circumstances is fudge HP during fights. Even if a player attack leaves the giant with 1 HP, I don't pull that giant off the board. Or, if a PC gets lucky and destroys an enemy in one shot, I don't arbitrarily add more HP. I'm in the "let the dice fall where they may" camp and if I want a different sort of pacing mechanic for the fight, I'll use clocks or other goals rather than monster deaths. Right tool for the job, and all that.

 

[Chalice]

Almost always average.

 

[el-remmen]

A related concept, I suppose, is whether or not monsters and NPC's should ever start combats at less than full power, as the PC's are always down some resources after the first encounter. It's also interesting that, in every adventure I've ever been on, the first fight, where you're at full power isn't usually the hardest of the day, but the last fight, when you're down resources and beat up, is.

Food for thought.

This makes me think of part of the reasoning for moving away from spellcasting monsters and NPCs having actual prepared spells and slots in favor of just some powers that emulate their having spells.

My issue with this that some NPCs need/want other kinds of spells that are unlikely to be listed as it’s own ability as they don’t have clear combat use. But opponents might still need a light spell or levitation or have identify or detect magic prepared bc they are searching for a specific magic item and the PCs want to stop them etc.

My point being that some opponents are not going to be optimized and at full power because of other goals and agendas and as DM I keep these kinds of possibilities in mind when building scenarios.

 

[el-remmen]

BTW I had a poll about this topic recently

D&D 5E - Do you ever roll for monster HPs in 5E?

One of the things I remember doing, basically every time, when prepping monsters in previous editions, was actually rolling their hit dice to determine their hit points. In this way, some examples of a monster were weaker than average (some much weaker) and others were heartier than average...

www.enworld.org

 

[the Jester]

I prefer to roll, but in practice, I usually go with the average. Sometimes a specific monster might have more or fewer hps than average; perhaps it's a sickly ogre or an especially burly death dog.