D&D 5E [Hit Points] What method do you use to determine HP after level 1?

[Marc_C]

If you have not voted please do. I would like to have 100 participants on this one. I'm at 64 atm.

 

[Laurefindel]

I tend to take average as a player, and give the choice to my players when I DM. In one game, we allowed a minimum on the Hit Die roll equal to the character's CON modifier. Until we get a 20 Con wizard that comletely breaks the average, it has worked ok...

TBH, I long for a way to add a bit of variance without the full range of the HD. Perhaps one dice category lower + 2? (e.g. 1d8 + Con becomes 1d6+2 + Con)

 

[Marc_C]

TBH, I long for a way to add a bit of variance without the full range of the HD. Perhaps one dice category lower + 2? (e.g. 1d8 + Con becomes 1d6+2 + Con)

Agreed.

• d6 1d3+3 = 4-6
• d8 1d4+4 = 5-8
• d10 1d5+5 = 6-10
• d12 1d6+6 = 7-12

 

[Arilyn]

We use average, ever since my paladin way back in 3e days rolled a 1 for hp several levels in a row. My GM felt so bad for my poor paladin, he just threw him some extra hps. No digs about paladins deserving it. My paladin was down to earth and friendly. His mount was a mule.

 

[Sithlord]

Increasing hp after first level? That’s so RAW

 

[Hawk Diesel]

I picked other. In my most recent game I've had my players take max at level 1, then for each level up they roll their hit die with advantage. It works well enough.

 

[The Green Hermit]

They roll and accept the roll. That's it. That's all.

 

[schneeland]

In the 5e game, I'm currently in, each player made a choice regarding the method and stuck with it (out of habit, I personally always roll).
If I were to run a new game (in any edition), I would probably adopt Whitehack's method to roll all hit dice on each level up and the result of the roll if its higher than the current HP value.

 

[Wulffolk]

The variant that I have used in the past is d4 + X, with X being the difference between the HD size and 4.

d4 = d4
d6 = d4 + 2
d8 = d4 + 4
d10 = d4 + 6
d12 = d4 + 8

I do like the idea of just rolling with advantage, perhaps re-rolling 1’s

 

[Wulffolk]

Just an untested idea here, but what about rolling HP after each long rest? Some days you are just better than others, more focused or luckier. On the low HP days the character might feel more cautious and on high HP days they could afford to be more daring. The group might need to adjust tactics around the “fitness” of certain members of the group, giving other characters a chance to step up and shine.