Do you roll for a Monster's HP?

[The_Gneech]

For NPCs/named monsters, I assign.

For "a room of six orcs" I generally roll, because I like the variability, and to individualize 'em a bit. ("This guy has max HP, he's a big bruiser; this guy has low HP, he's the runt of the bunch but is a little more conniving.")

For a random encounter yoinked out of the book ("Oops, I figured you guys would avoid the displacer beast, not attack it! Lemme grab those stats..."), I use the stats in the book.

-The Gneech

 

[Shayd3000]

It depends on the circumstances. When I'm preparing in advance I ALWAYS either roll hit points or assign a value (if I'm going for a spcific monster strength). I usually prepare random encounters in advance, and for those, I also always roll the hit points, the idea being the monsters could still be recovering from a previous encounter or perhaps are stronger than average, etc etc.

I only use the average hp value provided in the MM when rolling a random encounter during play to save time, or if a module I'm running calls for it.

 

[Patlin]

i make the players roll for hps at all lvls.

so why shouldn't i do some ground work and roll ahead for the monsters too.


i always roll.

We don't even have the player's roll anymore. After 1st (which is max hp) PCs get average hp, rounded up. We also use point buy for attributes. I guess we just have a distaste for randomness in character generation -- there's enough randomness in actual play without someone rolling 3 1s in a row for their Barbarians hp (or 3 12s, either.)

 

[Khairn]

Like many others who have already posted, the HP's can change based on a some different criteria's that I use, usually based on the monster's purpose. If its a random encounter or just a "filler" I use the average. If its a beastie with a purpose then I will add on anywhere from 10 - 20% to the total. But if its one of my "specials" then its max hits all the way.

My players fear the specials!

 

[WizDrag]

Rolling Hit Points

I do roll hit points fro some enc.

I do it this way, all humanoid class based monsters get, rolled or averaged + con adjustment, depending on the encounter. monsterous races get full hit dice. Wild animals get half hit dice to full, again depending on the encounter. All npc type enc get rolled with no ones accepted.

Remember most of these encounters are done before game play, and no time is used during play to set up enc. I usually have a stack of encounters ready at all time, and roll random, if wondering encounter, or pick for special or story pased encounter. I even have back up enc in case they stray away from story line. This very seldom happens.


PS; Once you have played for over 18 years and all the diffrent versions of D&D it gets easy to set up good encounters fast.

"The best resorce a parson has is an active imagination!"

 

[Psion]

I generally just use the value in the book. For classed creatures or other specific baddies, I'll roll or assign an above-average value.

 

[Wolf72]

hey I loved the original MM!!

anyway I usually assign max hp to 1-2 HD creatures ... it's bad enough I see PC's usually carve through them like butter.

generic big monsters I'll take the book value, and special monsters I might assign more than 50% ... closer to 80-90%.

I'll roll for any class lvls though.

 

[Thanee]

I wanted to avoid the assumption of how many HPs monsters have, so I generally roll for a monster's HP.

I either use the average or just decide, whether the monster is higher or lower than the average speciman and adjust accordingly.

I surely do not roll the hps for my monsters!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Andy_Collins]

I haven't rolled a monster or NPC's hit points in probably four years.

I'll *rarely* vary the hp total from the mean average, but usually not by more than 10% or so unless I intend to change the critter's CR. A frost giant with maximum hp is just flat-out more challenging than one with average hp, and the XP reward should reflect that.

Heck, I don't even roll monster initiative any more--they just "take 10." Makes starting a fight quicker, and also makes the PC initiative rolls more significant (since they're effectively rolling against a fixed "target" rather than making opposed checks).

 

[francisca]

I'll *rarely* vary the hp total from the mean average, but usually not by more than 10% or so unless I intend to change the critter's CR. A frost giant with maximum hp is just flat-out more challenging than one with average hp, and the XP reward should reflect that.

That is a very good point. Whereas 1E (didn't play 2E) had a mechanism to figure in the HP when awarding XP, 3E doesn't.

If you don't mind me asking, how much would you increase the CR of creature with 75% and 100% of the max HP? +1 and +2 respectively, or more/less?