D&D 5E How should hit points be gained? [5E specific]

[Ogre Mage]

Max at first level. After that the player has the option to take the average or roll (no rerolls).

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

I don't think 1st level being too flimsy to face a few rats makes sense, when a week later many mundane sources of damage have long ceased to affect them. So... I'd like to raise the floor and lower the ceiling.

1st level: survivable, somewhere around 20, so like Constitution score + racial hitpoint bonus
after: quite low, like 2-3hp depending on class

 

[doctorbadwolf]

But you can never, ever take down the dragon. Sounds like you've traded being Superman for being Burt Ward Robin.

Of course you can. What an absurd jump from what I said.

 

[Lanefan]

But you can never, ever take down the dragon. Sounds like you've traded being Superman for being Burt Ward Robin.

Maybe the dragons get toned down some as well?

My go-to example of a combat "upset" is low-level-Fighter Merry taking down a Ringwraith, one of the most powerful monsters in Middle Earth. This is the flip side of @doctorbadwolf 's example of the farmer being able to, with luck, take down a powerful PC. Both outcomes should be possible (if highly unlikely) and the only way to achieve this is to somehow flatten the power curve between low and high level for both PCs and their opponents.

 

[Reynard]

Of course you can. What an absurd jump from what I said.

Your 10th level character with 9 hp is not going to survive against the dragon.

 

[TwoSix]

I marked average at all levels, but really I’d prefer none at level up. Your ability to survive increases by virtue of you being better at defending yourself and taking down opponents, and a farmer with a quarterstaff can always, always, take you down with enough luck.

PCs shouldn’t ever become Superman. Full stop.

That's a pretty aggressive change from standard 5e. Since this is a 5e thread, how would you change the system such that a high-level character could still do high-level things while never gaining hit points?

You did say "none at level up", were you thinking of a system where hit points were gained in other ways?

 

[Vaalingrade]

This is why they should have published some optional 0 levels

So people who want characters made of glass and less capable than a modern teenager can have them without disrupting the normal 1-20.


But I do agree that PCs shouldn't fly at relativistic speeds, breath in hard vacuum, or transfer tactile telekinesis to their clothes. Which are things Superman can do rather than 'can take two hits from a sad farmer'.

 

[Lanefan]

Your 10th level character with 9 hp is not going to survive against the dragon.

Well, maybe.

If those 9 hit points are all considered "wound" or "body" points - i.e. losing any of them is a big deal - perhaps the rest of the character's defenses come in other ways such as level-based damage reduction/negation, armour-based damage reduction/negation, evasion-dodge-parry abilities, and so forth. Result: a typical monster attack - even from a dragon - is unlikely to do more than a point or two of actual damage to Our Hero.

Couple this with monsters simply doing less damage (a logical corollary to lower PC hit point totals) and I can see how this could work. Not sure it's the route I'd go personally, but I can see the logic behind it.

 

[Shardstone]

I personally wish hit points only increases with TIER. So at 5, 11, 16, and why not 20 too. This to me makes more thematic sense; as you enter a new tier of power, you become harder and harder to kill.

 

[Reynard]

Well, maybe.

If those 9 hit points are all considered "wound" or "body" points - i.e. losing any of them is a big deal - perhaps the rest of the character's defenses come in other ways such as level-based damage reduction/negation, armour-based damage reduction/negation, evasion-dodge-parry abilities, and so forth. Result: a typical monster attack - even from a dragon - is unlikely to do more than a point or two of actual damage to Our Hero.

Couple this with monsters simply doing less damage (a logical corollary to lower PC hit point totals) and I can see how this could work. Not sure it's the route I'd go personally, but I can see the logic behind it.

Now you are just creating invisible hit points. It doesn't actually result in "not Superman" which was the stated goal.