Do you roll for a Monster's HP?

[derelictjay]

I usually roll the HD, when I'm designing an adventure or pre-reading an off-the-shelf one. But in random encounts and such, I usually take the MM value.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

For a single critter, I'll just use the average unless I want to toughen him up a little. I'll often adjust HPs as a way of smoothing out CR bumps.

If there are several of the same thing, I'll use the average but make some a few higher and some a few lower.

 

[dcollins]

If you're not rolling for monster hit points (an expectation of the game), you're giving an additional advantage to the PCs. As discussed in the DMG (under Ch. 3: Variant: Instant Kill) "Since the PCs win most fights, a rule that makes combat more random hurts the PCs more than it hurts their enemies," and of course the reverse is true as well.

Quick example from my game: A player's PC is a fighter with a warhammer and Strength 16 (damage 1d8+3). In a combat with a squad orcs, if I used the average value, then every one of his hits would down an orc out of the fight, automatically. But if hit points vary, then there will be about 50% who could possibly survive a poor hit to make another attack on the fighter.

Another example: In the last game the PCs fought (3E) skeletons. Some had 1 hp, and were destroyed just as if they had 2, or 3, or 4 hit points. But the ones that came up with 12 hp managed to last and fight for as much as 3 rounds.

I feel that using no variation in hit points for squads of grunts gives too much numerical advantage to the PCs.

 

[Ferret]

I use the averages in the book unless it's like a bunch of orcs then I roll for them, or a group of gnolls etc, that way you could hack away at one or/gnoll for ages and then knock down another with ease. My players haven't played enough to know toughness' of monsters.

 

[dren]

NPC character level below 5 = max HP
standard beastie = use book value
undead or construct = max HP, regardless of HD value
Major Guard, Important NPC = 80% of Max
Unique individuals, End Bosses = 100% of Max

Of course, PCs get max hp until 10th level.

 

[Wombat]

I roll for hps for monsters when the whim strikes me

For most mook-monsters, I just use the average

For Deadly Monsters, I use maximum

 

[el-remmen]

I just choose a number that works.

And since PCs get max hit points at first level, the first HD on my monsters is always maximum as well, unless they are young or infirmed or something.

 

[francisca]

If you're not rolling for monster hit points (an expectation of the game), you're giving an additional advantage to the PCs. As discussed in the DMG (under Ch. 3: Variant: Instant Kill) "Since the PCs win most fights, a rule that makes combat more random hurts the PCs more than it hurts their enemies," and of course the reverse is true as well.

Quick example from my game: A player's PC is a fighter with a warhammer and Strength 16 (damage 1d8+3). In a combat with a squad orcs, if I used the average value, then every one of his hits would down an orc out of the fight, automatically. But if hit points vary, then there will be about 50% who could possibly survive a poor hit to make another attack on the fighter.

Another example: In the last game the PCs fought (3E) skeletons. Some had 1 hp, and were destroyed just as if they had 2, or 3, or 4 hit points. But the ones that came up with 12 hp managed to last and fight for as much as 3 rounds.

I feel that using no variation in hit points for squads of grunts gives too much numerical advantage to the PCs.

Agreed. And beyond that, it I think it detracts from the game. By using standard HP for every critter, you open up the can of worms of simply treating each encounter as an exercise in "plug and chug" formulation. If I didn't roll, I would certainly vary the HP as others in this thread have described.

Not that there is anything "wrong" with just snagging the listed HP and running with it -- I have done it before, too. I just do not like that level of predictability in the style of D&D I play. Matter of taste, I suppose.

 

[the Jester]

I prefer to roll, but in off-the-cuff encounters I don't always do so, especially if it's gonna slow the game down a lot. Also, if there are tons of roughly identical mooks, I'll often assign them average hps or a range that I arbitrarily decide on ('the guards have 16-20 hp each').

 

[billd91]

For low-HD monsters, I generally won't roll the hp. But since I've been making my players take the dice they roll for hp, I think it's fair that I also roll my more significant monsters or NPCs. The more HD they have, the most they'll tend toward the mean anyway, but a little variation makes the game more interesting.