Alternate Method of Calculating Hit Points

Blue · Apr 2, 2018

Fanaelialae said:
I think you'd have to be careful with this. 5e is designed around the assumption that low level characters rely primarily on AC for survival, while high level characters rely on hp. Going this route, you might end up with 20th level characters who are effectively more fragile than they were at 5th level. For example, it would be much more likely for a 20th level character to be one shot by Power Word: Kill, since it's far less likely that they will have crossed the 100 hp threshold. Now, there's nothing wrong with that per se, if that's the style of play you're looking to evoke, but it is something to consider.

Personally, characters typically start at 3rd level in my games. (I did recently make an exception for a group that is new to 5e; they started at level 1, and after I nearly tpk'd them with animated brooms in their first encounter, I scaled back the difficulty a bit for them.) IME, experienced players tend to find the first two levels a bit boring due to a lack of options, and by 3rd level characters are robust enough that I don't have to hold back.

I was addressing the OP's question about high level characters having too many HPs at his table in a positive way. If you don't like the basic premise, I'd suggest taking it up with [MENTION=82779]MechaPilot[/MENTION].

It's not a pain point at my table, I don't need this rule personally. Just trying to add constructively to the thread.

Fanaelialae · Apr 2, 2018

Blue said:
I was addressing the OP's question about high level characters having too many HPs at his table in a positive way. If you don't like the basic premise, I'd suggest taking it up with [MENTION=82779]MechaPilot[/MENTION].

It's not a pain point at my table, I don't need this rule personally. Just trying to add constructively to the thread.

Yeah, I got that. I was just offering some constructive criticism (if you go this route, these are the potential pitfalls). The "you" wasn't directed at you, Blue, but was intended in the more general sense of "you, the DM considering this option".

jasper · Apr 2, 2018

HA. My way. 1 hp per level + con bonus for pcs. Everyone else stays the same.

cooperjer · Apr 2, 2018

I've thought about the same thing and proposed to my players that we implement the use of the 13th Age Escalation die. However, I added that is was also acting as a bonus to damage. Thus by round three of combat creatures were hitting at a +2 with a +4 bonus to damage per hit. My players didn't like this idea because the concluded that AC would be negated by round 3 or 4 and the only valuable defense is HP. Thus, they would want to redesign their characters to increase their HP. The net result of the conversation was that we're still looking at ways to take combat with level 12 to 13 characters and keep it limited to 3 or 4 rounds.

I like the idea of using the 13th Age escalation die, but I also see the concern my player had. Since I haven't played in a 13th Age game, I don't know what else is in the rules systems that helps players feel their characters don't need hundreds of HP to live at higher levels.

Satyrn · Apr 2, 2018

cbwjm said:
I'd also keep the hit die at 1st level so that the fighter with constitution 14 has 24 hit points at level 1. That makes the PCs less fragile at level 1 and should hopefully negate a lucky hit by an orc with his great axe.

Something you will likely see is a decrease in constitution since it now has less impact on a character's total hit points.

Oh. This. The only thing I find jinky about [MENTION=82779]MechaPilot[/MENTION]'s proposed method is that the character's hitdice doesn't match their level.

But: what I find jinky about the way the PH handles it is that 1st level maxed hitdie, which annoys me when I'm recalculating hit points, or setting hitpoints for a new higher level character.

So I'd give a first level fighter their Con score plus the hitdie - but not maximize the hit die. Use the half value for every level.

Satyrn · Apr 2, 2018

Oh, and to reduce hit points further, you could lower how many hit points a class gain sat each level. Rather than tying it to half their hit die (or rolling for hp), give the fighter only 4 hp per level instead of the standard 6. With the Con score as a cushion this would be quite manageable..

(Wizards would ger 2 hp/level, rogues 3, barbarians 4, etc.)

This suggestion really boosts the effectiveness of that dwarf's +1 hp/level

Fanaelialae · Apr 2, 2018

As an alternate approach to challenging high level characters, rather than reducing their hp you could simply increase monster damage by however much you feel is appropriate. The reason I suggest it is that while it achieves the same end, it is a more minor alteration to the rules and therefore less likely to cause unforseen side effects.

Yaarel · Apr 2, 2018

Out of curiosity. What if starting hit points was race + class.

Race Hit Points
16 hit points − dwarf, orc, dragonborn
12 hit points − human, elf, tiefling
8 hit points − halfling, gnome

Actually, on second thought, along these lines, I would rather see each race have a minimum Constitution score as a prereq.

Satyrn · Apr 2, 2018

Yaarel said:
Out of curiosity. What if starting hit points was race + class.

Race Hit Points
16 hit points − dwarf, orc, dragonborn
12 hit points − human, elf, tiefling
8 hit points − halfling, gnome

If Constitution adds hp in any way, I don't think it'll help the OP's objective to reduce a character's hit points.

Yaarel · Apr 2, 2018

Satyrn said:
If Constitution adds hp in any way, I don't think it'll help the OP's objective to reduce a character's hit points.

The idea is the race replaces the Constitution score with regard to starting hit points.

But the idea works best if races have a minimum Constitution prereq.

As a prereq:

Minimum Constitution requirement
• 13 dwarf, orc
• 11 dragonborn
• 9 human, elf, tiefling
• 7 gnome, halfling

So really, Constitution score hit points and race hit points are the same.

Along these lines consider size.

Constitution Score − Creature Size
• 26+ − Gargantuan
• 22-23, 24-25 − Huge
• 18-19, 20-21 − Large
• 14-15, 16-17 − Heavyweight (Medium)
• 10-11, 12-13 − Lightweight (Medium)
• 6-7, 8-9 − Small
• 2-3, 4-5 − Tiny

Alternate Method of Calculating Hit Points

Blue

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Fanaelialae

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jasper

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cooperjer

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Fanaelialae

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Satyrn

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