Constitution variant: fast healing instead of extra HP?

[Sammael]

To preface this post, I do not have a problem with the concept of HP (such as it is). I am not interested in various wounds/vitality systems. I want to keep HP.

However, I am not a fan of huge piles of HP. From my perspective, one of the main reasons for those huge piles of HP in D&D 3.x games are the ridiculous Constitution scores for both monsters and PCs. I tried several variants of my own devising, for instance: "instead of bonus HP, whenever you suffer damage, a number of points of damage equal to your Con modifier is turned into subdual damage." Sounded nice and balanced enough, turned into a bookkeeping nightmare

So, I've decided to ditch Constitution from the hit point total; however, doing so means that it will serve no meaningful role other than adding to Fort saves and certain skill checks, which will turn it into the most useless attribute of all.

What if Constitution provided fast healing instead of bonus HP? Remember, hit points will be considerably lower without the Con mod added in. What about the negative Con modifier - should it automatically cause the Bleeding condition (when injured)? Should Con-induced Fast Healing work only during combat encounters (to prevent PCs from entering every encounter fully healed)?

It seems to me that this change would increase the survivability of low-level encounters (a good thing, in my book), while (at the same time) speeding up high-level encounters.

Bob the 5th level fighter with Con 16 would normally have an average of 47 HP. Under this proposed system, he would have 32 HP and Fast Healing 3.

Merlin the 5th level wizard with Con 8 would normally have 9 HP (*shudder*). Under this system, he'd have 14 HP and suffer from Bleeding 1 every time he is injured in combat.

Again, the system seems a bit more favorable towards classes that have lower HP on average.

Opinions? Ideas?

 

[Dandu]

Fast healing does not work when you are at negatives. Lower HP totals make it more likely for you to get sent into the negatives since monster damage is, theoretically, still calibrated for people with more HP.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Given that even fast healing 1 will take you from nigh-dead to full hit points in a short amount of time, this affect will be rather far-ranging.

 

[Dandu]

Basically, all fights will start with the party at full health, but it now becomes easier for people to be one-shotted.

 

[anest1s]

Sounds like a bad, bad idea.

• Monsters with huge CON would be much harder to kill.
• Monsters that have already fast healing or regeneration, would be much, much harder to kill.
• Your PCs will never again buy healing potions (they will have some strong ones for extreme situations but they won't usually need them) and also,
• They will be able to stand more than the average battles per day without spending the expected resources (even fast healing 1 will have this effect)
• The bleed system has a tiny problem, -x damage per attack isn't equal to -x hit points per level. It is not the opposite of fast healing either. On the other hand, in a world where everyone has fast healing, not having is punishment enough.

It will be a hell of a mess fast healing is way too strong.

What you don't like about piles of hps?

 

[Sammael]

I agree that it will be theoretically easier to one-shot PCs. I have, on the other hand, tried very hard to scale down monster damage as well, so hopefully that will balance it out.

As for Fast Healing while in negatives, let's say (for the sake of balance) that it doesn't work, or works at a greatly reduced rate (e.g. Con mod per hour instead of per round).

Incidentally, the cheapness of Wands of CLW makes me wonder if starting each encounter with full HP isn't what the vast majority of people are doing anyway.

 

[Dandu]

It is.

How are you scaling down monster damage?

 

[Sammael]

Monsters with huge CON would be much harder to kill.

A normal combat encounter usually doesn't last more than 6 rounds.

Under normal rules, a 10th level monster with Con +10 effectively starts the encounter with +100 HP. Having Fast Healing 10 will reduce this to about +60 HP in a normal combat encounter.

Monsters that have already fast healing or regeneration, would be much, much harder to kill.

I will obviously have to tone those abilities down.

Your PCs will never again buy healing potions (they will have some strong ones for extreme situations but they won't usually need them) and also,

Not sure about this one. Receiving a huge amount of healing at once in a battle is a big advantage, compared to receiving a tiny bit of healing every round. Plus, I'm not too bothered about PCs not having to spend money on healing potions.

They will be able to stand more than the average battles per day without spending the expected resources (even fast healing 1 will have this effect)

My sessions rarely have more than one or two combat encounters per day, so not too big of a deal. I don't do dungeon crawls.

The bleed system has a tiny problem, -x damage per attack isn't equal to -x hit points per level. It is not the opposite of fast healing either. On the other hand, in a world where everyone has fast healing, not having is punishment enough.

Since Bleeding can be stopped fairly easily, and the character will have more HP, I think it's better than having a negative Con modifier under normal 3.x rules.

What you don't like about piles of hps?

They are too anime for my liking. And they lead to ridiculous exponential damage growth at high levels (which I have already dealt with).

 

[anest1s]

Incidentally, the cheapness of Wands of CLW makes me wonder if starting each encounter with full HP isn't what the vast majority of people are doing anyway.

I can't remember the last time I had full HPs. With d12s and +5 CON I need like a ton of cures- and my party runs out of curing magic every single day. (That happens when spellcasters go to the front line. And when you don't have a cleric. lol)

Now, if I had a bit less HPs and fast healing 5 I am confident I wouldn't need so much healing. Or I would, since the DM would have to pile me till I dropped.

 

[Dandu]

They are too anime for my liking.

The Illiad
The Odyssey
The Aenied
Herakles
The Spartans at Thermopylae
Gilgamesh
Beowulf
Sampson
Cú Chulainn
King Authur and the Knights of the Round Table

Seriously.