How do you determine hitpoints?

[wingsandsword]

I hate random elements in character creation and progression, so I go with point-buy character creation, maximum starting GP for characters, and average HP (round up) on each HD.

 

[General Barron]

The notion of rolling HPs always has struck me as a bit odd. I mean, you don't roll to see how many skill points you are going to get, or whether your BaB will increase, or whether you get a feat or not. When making and levelling up a character, every aspect can be relied upon to be something for certain, except HPs.

Actually, ability scores are another one, but those are now generally chosen via point buy instead of rolling I would think, as opposed to previous editions.

I've usually used something like this: max HPs at 1st-3rd level; from then on, roll for them, but the minimum is 1/2 max. For monsters I've always gone with median, +/- a small random amount.

 

[genshou]

I find that low rolls tend to balance out over time. I use straight rolls, excepting the RAW with respect to 1st-level PC hit dice.

 

[wingsandsword]

I find that low rolls tend to balance out over time. I use straight rolls, excepting the RAW with respect to 1st-level PC hit dice.

Let's say you're playing a barbarian. You've got a 13 CON, so at 1st level you have 13 HP. At 2nd level, if you get a 1 on your HP roll, you'll have 15 HP, while a 12 means 26. Those 11 HP could mean an awful lot about survivability and power at lower levels. If the character's build was for Rage Mage or the like, where they might take one or two levels of Barbarian along with otherwise being a Wizard or Sorcerer, one bad die roll wrecks what could otherwise be an advantage in terms of HP.

If you just have a class have a fixed value of HP per level, then you don't have to worry about this inequality.

When only 3 HP is worth an entire feat, the difference between 15 HP and 26 HP being nothing but a die roll seems to underscore how the entire "rolling for hit points" system is a relic of the old eras. If you use point-buy for ability scores instead of randomly generating your characters, why do you use random generation in other places as well, like HP?

 

[Dougal DeKree]

The player rolls his die and I roll the same die in secret. The player can then choose to go with either his number or the one I rolled without him seeing it before. This can be good but also be devastating for the char. It's fun, however (and I tend to roll high).