D&D 5E Capping Hit Points

[Horwath]

Yikes! That is a lot less. I was suggesting dropping off after 10th level. Are you keeping or dropping Con bonus? I was dropping after 10th, so if you are keeping it, maybe it evens out.

keeping. it should matter

 

[Jd Smith1]

So yeah more and more I'm interested in the concept. I personally wouldn't use a flat HP amount, as then wizards catch up to fighters eventually which seems wrong. But a level limited Hp cap makes a good amount of sense.

I really don't see that a warrior and a wizard would have that major of a difference in hit points. Flesh is flesh. Hence the flat cap. Of course, a warrior type would hit the cap a lot sooner than a non-warrior, and thus would see a distinct benefit.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I don't think this works because it penalized characters with higher HP (high con, high hit dice) at high level.

No, it doesn't. It motivates them toward teamwork.

 

[dave2008]

keeping. it should matter

OK, so that means at 10th level you have:
d4 = 22 + (Con x lvl)
d6 = 33 + (Con x lvl)
d8 = 44 + (Con x lvl)
d10 = 55 + (Con x lvl)
d12 = 66 + (Con x lvl)

and at 20th level you have:
d4 = 22 + (Con x lvl)
d6 = 36 + (Con x lvl)
d8 = 53 + (Con x lvl)
d10 = 73 + (Con x lvl)
d12 = 94 + (Con x lvl)

I guess that could work. But it really makes CON important for everyone. I 20th level wizard with only 36 hit points is a fragile thing!

 

[dave2008]

I really don't see that a warrior and a wizard would have that major of a difference in hit points. Flesh is flesh. Hence the flat cap. Of course, a warrior type would hit the cap a lot sooner than a non-warrior, and thus would see a distinct benefit.

Of course HP don't model just flesh. It is a serious nerf for fighter types at higher level as their class assumes /balanced around having more HP than a wizard.

If you want HP to = flesh (like we do to a point), I would suggest my bloodied HP idea from post #5, it allows HP to be abstract like the game wants and gives you the flesh you want too.

 

[Umbran]

Of course, a warrior type would hit the cap a lot sooner than a non-warrior, and thus would see a distinct benefit.

How is hitting the cap a distinct benefit?

 

[Laurefindel]

Hard cap gives a hidden feature to d6 classes (and to a lesser extent to d8 classes) as they will keep increasing all the way up to to 20th level (assuming no Con bonus) while d10 and d12 classes will cap earlier. As mentioned, it also diminishes the importance of Con (which I don't mind as much, presently players feel obliged to put at the very least a 12 Con, if not 14, just to stay in the game).

There is a fine line between "so many hp!" that prompts DMs to cram more combats and/or tougher encounters to keep challenging the players, and "not enough hp!" that prompts players to take frequent breaks just to survive the DMs' encounters.

 

[Horwath]

why not split HPs into two categories as mentioned by @dave2008 ?

you could have health points and stamina points.

Health would be constitution score plus size/race bonus

Stamina would be points derived from class.

Health would recover on long rest
Stamina on short rest.

they you can have instead of current 6,8,10,12 plus 4,5,6,7 HP per level, you add 2,4,6,8 plus 1,2,3,4 per level of stamina points.

 

[Jd Smith1]

How is hitting the cap a distinct benefit?

I don't consider it a distinct benefit, but the fact that a warrior would have more hit points for longer in a campaign could be considered an advantage.

 

[Jd Smith1]

why not split HPs into two categories as mentioned by @dave2008 ?

you could have health points and stamina points.

Health would be constitution score plus size/race bonus

Stamina would be points derived from class.

Health would recover on long rest
Stamina on short rest.

they you can have instead of current 6,8,10,12 plus 4,5,6,7 HP per level, you add 2,4,6,8 plus 1,2,3,4 per level of stamina points.

I am not a fan of nap time = healing. I haven't junked that particular rule yet, but I am eyeing it closely. I do like that it encourages sleep discipline in prolonged operations, which is why I haven't just discarded it.