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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 5838549" data-attributes="member: 32164">Personally, I like the notion that a first level FIGHTER should be able to take 3 average hits before he goes down. He may be an ordinary man, but this isn't his first experience with combat. He's picked up a little something.Taking the die code (d8), a longsword does 4.5 hp, on average. That means three average hits equates to around 13 hp. To give a little leeway, let's assume that our average PC gets his CON score in hit points plus a certain (small) kicker based on class.Personally, I feel that 15 hp sounds about right for an average 1st-level fighter. The question is: can this character be dropped by a single "perfect hit" from a sword? And the answer is an unabashed "yes!"Ignoring bonuses, a longsword does 1d8 damage. If we assume that a crit does either [double damage] or [max dmg +1d6], then we're talking about up to 14-16 hp. That's enough to drop our fighter in one blow, even if, on average, he can take 3 hits.The only problem is that an ordinary man should have only a few hit points, since, for example, a dagger to the throat can kill him. And that doesn't reconcile easily with any hit point system where "starting hp = Con score + <blank>."I like <blank> + Con Bonus, but I'd like to see hp go up by a lesser degree than happens with the traditional class hit dice. Or possibly see them cap out at a certain level again.</blockquote>