Fanaelialae
Legend
Nobody tosses a dwarf!A dragon! A dragon! Quick, someone toss the dwarf!
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D&D General Rolling HPs
- Thread starter Yardiff
- Start date
A dragon! A dragon! Quick, someone toss the dwarf!
Fortunately for us, this particular dwarf is self-tossing - he never needs any encouragement to head straight into combat.
Johnathan
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
I am a firm believer that however you play at your table is the best way, as long as your group is having fun. Whether you make decisions together as a group, or make them for the group, if you communicate with each other and trust one another, you can do whatever you like, even if it goes against the rules. That makes every table unique.
Reading through this thread, however, I can't help but feel dismayed by some of the arguments being presented. In particular, I find it simultaneously comical and maddening that a lot of people who strongly prefer rolling for hit points because it adds fun and randomness to the game, simulating the unpredictable nature of fate just like "real life", will immediately follow up by describing at least one or more safety net rules to ensure the player who takes their chances with dice doesn't get a result that may be deemed too low or too bad.
I'm not saying that's wrong, and I would certainly do something similar if I were making players roll for their hit points. But I wouldn't defend or justify that decision by claiming greater adherence to the rules as written, intended, or otherwise. In fact, I might suggest I was enticing players with an opportunity for better than average results by padding the odds in their favor. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Personally, I loved how 4th Edition introduced fixed hit points as the standard, and I'm glad that 5e includes fixed average results for everything so it can be easily adapted or ignored as an option. In my games, I give my players max hit points for their protection, in case I underestimate a tough encounter or a batch of bad rolls begin working against them. It's much easier to bump up encounter levels and challenges on the spot than it is to fix a dead character and bad feelings.
Also, did you know it can take more resources for a group to heal and maintain more hit points than your average party? Just because you max out their hit points doesn't mean the cure spells and potions max their effectiveness, too. Food for thought.
Reading through this thread, however, I can't help but feel dismayed by some of the arguments being presented. In particular, I find it simultaneously comical and maddening that a lot of people who strongly prefer rolling for hit points because it adds fun and randomness to the game, simulating the unpredictable nature of fate just like "real life", will immediately follow up by describing at least one or more safety net rules to ensure the player who takes their chances with dice doesn't get a result that may be deemed too low or too bad.
I'm not saying that's wrong, and I would certainly do something similar if I were making players roll for their hit points. But I wouldn't defend or justify that decision by claiming greater adherence to the rules as written, intended, or otherwise. In fact, I might suggest I was enticing players with an opportunity for better than average results by padding the odds in their favor. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Personally, I loved how 4th Edition introduced fixed hit points as the standard, and I'm glad that 5e includes fixed average results for everything so it can be easily adapted or ignored as an option. In my games, I give my players max hit points for their protection, in case I underestimate a tough encounter or a batch of bad rolls begin working against them. It's much easier to bump up encounter levels and challenges on the spot than it is to fix a dead character and bad feelings.
Also, did you know it can take more resources for a group to heal and maintain more hit points than your average party? Just because you max out their hit points doesn't mean the cure spells and potions max their effectiveness, too. Food for thought.
Fanaelialae
Legend
So he's a Bootstrapper!
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