D&D 5E Burning Hit Dice

[Tales and Chronicles]

You could always use the same recovery as the Plot Point from the DMG: recover x amount at level 1. 1 seems a little low, given that HDs are used during the day to recover, meaning that a low level character can quickly be unable to recover on a short rest until it's next level up. It depends on how quickly they reach a level in your game, I guess!

 

[ezo]

It depends on how quickly they reach a level in your game, I guess!

IME with 5E:

Level 2 is after 1-2 sessions
Level 3 is another 2-3 sessions
and then leveling up is basically 4-8 sessions depending on the pace of the game, etc.

In my current campaign, I can tell you exactly:
Level 2 took 2 sessions, 9 encounters, 1 adventuring day.
Level 3 took 3 sessions, 8 encounters, a few days of travel + 1 adventuring day.
Level 4 took 3 sessions (a bit longer), 18 encoutners, several days of travel + 1 adventuring day.
Level 5 took 4 sessions, 11 encounters, a few days of travel + 1 adventuring day.
Level 6 took 7 sessions, 19 encounters, downtime, days of travel, + 2 adventuring days.

Currently in level 6 we have had 3 sessions and 14 encounters, just finished our 2nd adventuring day.
I am estimating 2 more sessions about about 6-7 encounters and a final adventuring day maybe, we'll see.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I'm sure we'll play test it. If people seem to be using it too often and for not the "right moments" then I'll probably drop it.

The opposite is actually more likely.

To take the Shadowrun example, in my years of playing 4 and 5e (no one plays 6 because the editing has devolved that badly) I've seen Edge burned once and that was a roll against damage to prevent death. The player had to be reminded it was a mechanic because no one else wanted to interact with it due to it being a resource they couldn't* get back.

It's a bit of gamer psychology: with a resource that cannot be recovered, people tend to save it 'just in case' up until they have no choice but to use it.

If you've ever played JRPGs, they often give you an item that does the maximum damage that can be done but that is one use. Almost no one ever uses them; saving them 'just in case' until the credits roll.

And that's with Edge, a stat that exists only to generate rerolls and not to heal you. *Edge can also be repurchased with Karma, meaning it's not actually unrecoverable. Hit Dice are way more necessary to survival than Edge, so there's even more incentive to not burn them.

It can be an interesting mechanic, but what I'm saying is, don't expect to see much active use, or if you do see use, it'll be early before the players realize what they're sacrificing.

 

[ezo]

It can be an interesting mechanic, but what I'm saying is, don't expect to see much active use, or if you do see use, it'll be early before the players realize what they're sacrificing.

Actually, the bolded part is exactly what I am hoping for.

This is not a mechanic to be used willy-nilly or on a whim. It is rare and super powerful, allowing players to literally tell the DM "THIS is what is going to happen right now!" by burning HD to buy a success or whatever. It is for a "dice and DM be damned! I am doing it my way" moment.

Anyway, thanks for your insight.

 

[dave2008]

In some games of ol' that I used to play, I recall players had options to "burn" resources for a greater in-game impact or influence. ShadowRun is an example. You would use karma for minor things, but had to burn karma for major ones, and could burn your entire karma pool for a "Hand of God" IIRC.

So, what about in D&D? (2024 included... but we don't have a tag for "both" 2014 and 2024...).

The discussions about players getting to decide if their character actually died or not, as well as the threat on harsh house rules, got me thinking about this.

The primary use IMO would be for auto-success on a d20 roll. This would include any ability check, attack, or save (including death saves). Now, I don't just mean an auto-20 for that roll, I mean auto-success for that roll, since sometimes a 20 might not do it.

For things like critical hits and death saves, perhaps even 2 HD?

EDIT: (added) It could also be used to simulate "level drain" from AD&D... make it HD drain instead.

Once "burned", the HD are lost forever. This includes how many you have to spend on a short rest to recover HP.

This makes it a very hefty cost, but perhaps such a sacrifice is better than the alternative?

Frankly, I really like this idea and will propose it to my group Friday night. But, I would enjoy hearing other peoples' thought. Not a (+) thread, so if you don't like it feel free to rant why not.

We have been doing this for almost the whole run of 5e (actually started in 4e). It works well for us. Here is or rough list, but as the DM I let players spend HD creatively outside this list as well. It is really just guide.

• You can spend 1 HD to recharge a short rest ability
• You can spend 1 HD to increase your speed for 1 round: add roll x2 in feet
• You can spend 1 HD to increase damage: add roll to your damage
• You can spend 2 HD to recharge a daily ability
• You must spend at least 1 HD anytime you are healed (even by magic)
• You can spend HD to recover Exhaustion. 1 HD per level. If you have 2 levels of exhaustion, you must spend 2 HD to get to level 1 and an additional HD to get to 0.
• Spend 1 or more HD on a heroic action*

*a heroic action is just something cool the player describes their PC doing. Typically you can also attempt without spending HD, but spending HD increases chance of success up to auto-success even.

 

[payn]

We have been doing this for almost the whole run of 5e (actually started in 4e). It works well for us. Here is or rough list, but as the DM I let players spend HD creatively outside this list as well. It is really just guide.

• You can spend 1 HD to recharge a short rest ability
• You can spend 1 HD to increase your speed for 1 round: add roll x2 in feet
• You can spend 1 HD to increase damage: add roll to your damage
• You can spend 2 HD to recharge a daily ability
• You must spend at least 1 HD anytime you are healed (even by magic)
• You can spend HD to recover Exhaustion. 1 HD per level. If you have 2 levels of exhaustion, you must spend 2 HD to get to level 1 and an additional HD to get to 0.
• Spend 1 or more HD on a heroic action*

*a heroic action is just something cool the player describes their PC doing. Typically you can also attempt without spending HD, but spending HD increases chance of success up to auto-success even.

In my 3E/PF1 games I used hero points for largely the same effect. I love having this resource as a player and as a GM too!

 

[ezo]

We have been doing this for almost the whole run of 5e (actually started in 4e). It works well for us. Here is or rough list, but as the DM I let players spend HD creatively outside this list as well. It is really just guide.

• You can spend 1 HD to recharge a short rest ability
• You can spend 1 HD to increase your speed for 1 round: add roll x2 in feet
• You can spend 1 HD to increase damage: add roll to your damage
• You can spend 2 HD to recharge a daily ability
• You must spend at least 1 HD anytime you are healed (even by magic)
• You can spend HD to recover Exhaustion. 1 HD per level. If you have 2 levels of exhaustion, you must spend 2 HD to get to level 1 and an additional HD to get to 0.
• Spend 1 or more HD on a heroic action*

*a heroic action is just something cool the player describes their PC doing. Typically you can also attempt without spending HD, but spending HD increases chance of success up to auto-success even.

Not the sort of thing I was talking about in the OP. This is too much for my tastes but glad it works for you!

 

[dave2008]

Not the sort of thing I was talking about in the OP. This is too much for my tastes but glad it works for you!

Just pointing at there a lot of options to use HD as a resource. If I had to pick only one, I would pick the last one on my list.

 

[Horwath]

spend HD when your are magically healed by a spell or a potion, up to 1 HD per spell level or potion potency.

 

[Distracted DM]

spend HD when your are magically healed by a spell or a potion, up to 1 HD per spell level or potion potency.

Are you saying you use this in addition to healing granted by the spell? Interesting idea.

On the topic of burning hit dice as a resource, I've used it on and off... But it's funny, my players tend to use their hit dice to heal pretty frequently, and run low on them because I tend to push them and decoupled sleep from long resting (a long rest takes a couple uninterrupted days).

The idea of losing them as part of level drain creatures is interesting- though, again, the long rest = multiple days means that the max HP reduction is actually dangerous!