D&D 5E A Compromise on Hit Points

[ren1999]

These ideas are not mine, they are compiled from several of your comments on this forum.

A character starting a game with 6 hit points is just too low. That absolutely leads to a lot of serious problems. It is a deal breaker and it really sours the new player experience. NO!

A character should start with his or her full constitution score plus a 1 hit die roll. If the roll is less than 1/3 his or her constitution score he or she can take 1/3 the constitution score and add it to the full constitution score at 1st level.

Every higher level a player can roll 1 hit die. If the hit die is lower than 1/3 his character's constitution score, he can take 1/3 the constitution score and add that to his existing hit points.

Level 1: con score + 1/3 con score or 1 hit die
Level 2: add 1/3 con score or 1 hit die

Do you agree or do you have an even better compromise? Hit points that are too low at 1st level, is no good for me.

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[Jester David]

6hp is too low for some types of game. For others it is just right.

Looking at your example a fighter with a 12 Con would have at least 16hp and an average of 21 with a max of 22. That's too much for me. A dwarf with 16 Con could easily have 28hp. That's comparable to 4e's inflated numbers, which leaders to either having to inflate monster damage to maintain threats or increase the number of rounds of combat. Neither is appealing at first level.

But adding bonus HD or hp is a super-easy rules module. Taking away is harder. With rules modules, it is always easier to add than subtract.
Or just start at 3rd level. It worked fine for three editions and it easier than every.

 

[timASW]

6 HP is perfectly fine to me. I like low powered games where you can be dropped to negative with one decent shot at 1st level.

1st level shouldnt be more then slightly better then an NPC class IMO. So this compromise leads to way, way too many HP for my taste in gaming.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

If 6 points is an average roll, it's too high for any non-warrior. Max should be 10-14 for a warrior depending on con. Maybe have an option for pcs to start with an extra hit die, but not as the default.

 

[Dozen]

Heh, if someone dies at first level, it's never because of the hit points. Assuming the DM knows what he's doing, the cause is either the player who flipped him off or him being a *censored*. Not only there shouldn't be an encounter that endangers the PCs this way(though assuming your PCs are smart enough to not run headfirst into a group of crossbowmen is just common sense, and if they do, serves them right), half the time, in a low combat campaign, they shouldn't even be forced to encounter anything. They are first level, for crying out loud, they are a couple of class features above peasants! They barely could make a living on skill checks, much less fight against worse odds than one on one! And that's fine, because that's how the world works!

Seriously, we are talking about throwing 2-8 half-trained 16-27 year old idiots at monsters, and expecting something useful to happen. The fact it works out sometimes is a pleasant surprise in itself. I don't see changing that on the grounds you preferred not to die when you do something as deadly as adventuring, armed with 5-10 spells, pointy sticks, mundane armor, and no combat experience to mention. If you want to fight like you would at higher levels, start at a higher level.

 

[tlantl]

Add me to the low hit points is better camp.

So far the last couple of playtest packets have resulted in boring unfulfilling combat even with those low hitpoint totals.

I like to use the lower levels as opportunities RP heavy sessions while the new adventurers get acquainted with their abilities and their mortality. I certainly do not want Mr invincible running rough shod over my finely crafted game world. A PC has the potential for greatness, it isn't handed to him.

I think the best compromise is to default to low hit points and stress the option of using higher totals if the low ones seem too anemic for you. Just remember that heal spells are low even when maxed and HD recovery is only one die/lvl of the type used for your class, so high initial HP will be more difficult to get back during adventures without taking more frequent long rests.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Yep, low hit points for me and my group, too, please. But I see no reason not to make options for people that want more survivable characters (or make low HP optional for people that want it... I don't care how it's setup if it's optional). As always, play what you like

 

[Li Shenron]

Do you agree or do you have an even better compromise?

I think this variant is ridiculously and uselessly complicated.

I think just starting with HP = Constitution score is neat and simple.

If some difference is wanted between classes, then each class could provide a small HP bonus on top on Constitution score, for example classes with HD d4 would give no bonus, those with HD d6 would give +2, those with HD d8 would give +4, those with HD d10 would give +6.

Or in other words e.g.:

Wizards start with HP = Constitution score
Rogues start with HP = Constitution score + 2
Clerics start with HP = Constitution score + 4
Fighters, Paladins, Rangers start with HP = Constitution score + 6

These are VERY generous IMHO, so they might be appropriate for a modern low-lethality campaign but not for a traditional high-lethality campaign.

 

[Steely_Dan]

I'm for low default HP, but definitely want optional generation methods, double HD at 1st level (like the 1st Ed monk and ranger), or something like 4th Ed (Con score +), HP are an easy area of the game to tweak.

 

[Iosue]

Right now, I think they've got the perfect set-up. Fighter HD is 10, Cleric is 8, Rogue is 6, and Wizard is 4. Right now the default is Max HD + Con. All they need to do is just add a sidebar that says, "For a more lethal, older style of play, don't add Con to HD for starting HP. Or you can even roll one HD for starting HP. This will make characters more fragile at earlier levels, but will emulate earlier editions' playstyle."

Done and done.