D&D 5E Do you ever roll for monster HPs in 5E?

[payn]

No, it means exactly that. They should all have the same hit points. We don't randomise whether you get other class features as you level up either, it is crazy to randomise the HP.

IDK, about crazy, but it sure seems a waste of time to me. Though, im a pretty lazy GM.

 

[Maxperson]

No, it means exactly that. They should all have the same hit points. We don't randomise whether you get other class features as you level up either, it is crazy to randomise the HP.

Nah. The more cookie cutter you make things, the more boring they become. It's why a loathe(and that's not an exaggeration) point buy/array and set hit points per level. I will literally not play in a game that requires me to do either of those things.

 

[payn]

Nah. The more cookie cutter you make things, the more boring they become. It's why a loathe(and that's not an exaggeration) point buy/array and set hit points per level. I will literally not play in a game that requires me to do either of those things.

 

[Maxperson]

IDK, about crazy, but it sure seems a waste of time to me. Though, im a pretty lazy GM.

Nah. Wanting to do less work for the same enjoyment isn't lazy, it's sanity saving sometimes. I just don't view rolling as that much more work, especially when you have online die rollers that can do it with a click.

 

[Maxperson]

Hey!!! We all have our preferences I'm pretty sure I've seen people here who go the other way and won't roll.

 

[el-remmen]

Will you notice the difference between 88, 92, 97, 99, 103?

Yes.

My players do too. I have one player who is not the type to ever look up monster stats, but LOVES keeping track of how much damage monsters take to get a sense of them from the experience of play/of the world and the other players frequently ask her opinion on how tough a monster might be based on the data she's gathering. Maybe my players are easily entertained, but when a monster has more or fewer hps than they expected it sets the table abuzz.

 

[payn]

Yes.

My players do too. I have one player who is not the type to ever look up monster stats, but LOVES keeping track of how much damage monsters take to get a sense of them from the experience of play/of the world and the other players frequently ask her opinion on how tough a monster might be based on the data she's gathering. Maybe my players are easily entertained, but when a monster has more or fewer hps than they expected it sets the table abuzz.

I mean, I kinda get it. We finish fights and are like, "dayum that thing took a beating." Though, not a single soul will notice if one of them had 88HP and the other 79.

 

[Xamnam]

It definitely was very fun for the table, early on in LMoP, when after a couple attacks whittled down a 12 HP goblin, the next player rolled minimum damage, and still managed to take out the undamaged 2HP goblin in one blow.

 

[Maxperson]

I mean, I kinda get it. We finish fights and are like, "dayum that thing took a beating." Though, not a single soul will notice if one of them had 88HP and the other 79.

Except the DM. I think I might be offended that you've implied that we don't have souls!!!

Although, that player of @el-remmen's if she tracks enough ogres or hill giants will notice that one giant died at 103 and another at 91, and the party killed the 103 hit point giant with a 7 point firebolt. That 7 points won't cover the difference in hit points, so she will know that monster hit points are not static.

 

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

I grew up playing original, and my dad did most of the DMing for me, so I don't know how he played it, but I don't remember him rolling for monsters, so I can't say for sure on that. What I do know is that now that I DM, I take the average for them, as I'm still very much learning to DM 5E coming from playing original, so it's taking me a little while to try and change things over without defaulting to what I'm so use to lol.

With that said, I find that the average HP for them seems to make things a little easier when it comes to taking my notes for DMing and planning things out. Honestly, it's one less thing I have to worry about and keep track of lol.