D&D 5E Player Hit Points

[Stoutstien]

I like how WWN does it. Always roll all your HD at every level. If you roll lowers HP than your previous level, you get your previous level’s HP+1.

At first level, you can end up with only 1hp but over time, it averages out or, if you roll luckily on a given level, you can have lots of hp.

I wonder how it would work in 5e.

Works well for E12-13 or just games that cap about that time. After that the systems different design directions make it difficult to use that approach.

The without number family has a goal of keeping combat focused on logistical thinking so combat is always a risk where DnD has a sharper power ramp. While more damage is received at higher levels there are also a ton of recovery factors both in and out of combat to counteract it that are cheap enough to allow much more risky decisions. If you also bring over system strain however...

 

[ezo]

We generally just let the player choose between rolling or taking average.

But one method I have always wanted to try is this:

Start at maximum hp at level 1.
At each new level, roll ALL your hit dice. If the result is greater than your current hit points, use the result as your new hit points. Otherwise, use your current hit points + 1.

 

[James Gasik]

Rerolling all of your hit dice at every level seems a bit tedious. But it makes me think of biorhythms and tracking performance; people don't tend to perform physically the same every day. So if it wasn't such a pain, it might be interesting to reroll hit points at the start of each session!

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Rerolling all of your hit dice at every level seems a bit tedious. But it makes me think of biorhythms and tracking performance; people don't tend to perform physically the same every day. So if it wasn't such a pain, it might be interesting to reroll hit points at the start of each session!

It's not so tedious because you don't level all the time and rolling gobs of dice is fun!

 

[Stoutstien]

Rerolling all of your hit dice at every level seems a bit tedious. But it makes me think of biorhythms and tracking performance; people don't tend to perform physically the same every day. So if it wasn't such a pain, it might be interesting to reroll hit points at the start of each session!

There only one HD size for PCs, and one for NPCs for that matter, and you don't tend to rely on HP as a primary form of mitigation so it works well within the system. It's a neat little psychological trick to break that connection with players that they're supposed to be hit all the time. A fighter who goes all in in combat is death but they still can't just charge across an open field and not expect to potentially go down.

It's not so tedious because you don't level all the time and rolling gobs of dice is fun!

Aye. Take a little bit of time to get players used to it but after a few sessions level ups are super easy to fit in to recover time back in town and fits the narrative pacing.

 

[humble minion]

I play in one game where it's max at first level, then roll afterwards with no do-overs.
I play in one game where it's max for the first five levels, then roll afterwards with no do-overs.
I run a game where it's max for first three levels, then roll afterwards, re-rolling on a one but second roll stands.

 

[ezo]

Good lord that's going to increase hit points. A single roll is already on average more than the averaging in the book, and rolling with advantage is just going to pump that up even more.

Expected value ends up around 60-66% of max depending on hit die. Hardly a “good lord”, pearl-clutching moment.

I don't think the benefits are outrageous, through, in practice in tier 1 and 2 it would be maybe 5-15 hit points depending on hit dice. A nice increase, certainly, but not crazy.

Rerolling all of your hit dice at every level seems a bit tedious. But it makes me think of biorhythms and tracking performance; people don't tend to perform physically the same every day. So if it wasn't such a pain, it might be interesting to reroll hit points at the start of each session!

You could even do it after each LONG rest!

 

[Li Shenron]

I definitely let the players choose, unless we use pregens, in which case I use averages.

 

[James Gasik]

There only one HD size for PCs, and one for NPCs for that matter, and you don't tend to rely on HP as a primary form of mitigation so it works well within the system. It's a neat little psychological trick to break that connection with players that they're supposed to be hit all the time. A fighter who goes all in in combat is death but they still can't just charge across an open field and not expect to potentially go down.

Aye. Take a little bit of time to get players used to it but after a few sessions level ups are super easy to fit in to recover time back in town and fits the narrative pacing.

Multiclassed characters will have different HD sizes. I'm not sure if that's really relevant, but I figured I'd point that out.

 

[James Gasik]

I play in one game where it's max at first level, then roll afterwards with no do-overs.
I play in one game where it's max for the first five levels, then roll afterwards with no do-overs.
I run a game where it's max for first three levels, then roll afterwards, re-rolling on a one but second roll stands.

Does the difference noticeably impact play in those games?