HP: how many per level?

[airwalkrr]

You know, I actually cannot think how could it even have been a reason at all...

That was a bit of sarcasm on my part. My apologies.

As an aside though, fixed hp does make D&D more of a wargame and less of a roleplaying game. As long as you don't mind that, go for it.

 

[Plane Sailing]

PC rolls and DM rolls hidden. Player may choose which roll he wants.... and has to take it then.

A campaign that I play in uses this technique. Easy to choose to take the DMs roll if you get very low (or your roll if you get very high), a harder choice to make if you are just below average...

In my last campaign you rolled HD, but if you got less than half, your minimum score was raised to die average (rounded up).

e.g.

1d4  -> 3 3 3 4                      (avg 3.25)
1d6  -> 4 4 4 4 5 6                  (avg 4.5)
1d8  -> 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 8              (avg 5.75)
1d10 -> 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 8 9 10         (avg 7)
1d12 -> 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 11 12   (avg 8.25)

 

[Plane Sailing]

As an aside though, fixed hp does make D&D more of a wargame and less of a roleplaying game. As long as you don't mind that, go for it.

I don't see how that follows at all. How would fixed hit points make it any less of a roleplaying game?

I wouldn' have thought that someone can't roleplay a surly drunkard or smooth ladies man or absent minded professorial wizard because they've got fixed hp!

Regards

 

[The Human Target]

I don't see how that follows at all. How would fixed hit points make it any less of a roleplaying game?

I wouldn' have thought that someone can't roleplay a surly drunkard or smooth ladies man or absent minded professorial wizard because they've got fixed hp!

Regards

Because man, playing a fighter with 14 hp at first level is so much more rewarding than playing a fighter with 24 at first level.


<sarcasm>

 

[Zogmo]

As above so below.
My players for years have enjoyed my rule of maximum hp at each level up to tenth.

They do roll for ability stats but if something comes out low that's ok because they can role play around it. But low HP just leads to feeling a bit unheroic and fragile.

Of course it's always fun to see how long before somebody realizes the monsters get the same treatment.

 

[Li Shenron]

A campaign that I play in uses this technique. Easy to choose to take the DMs roll if you get very low (or your roll if you get very high), a harder choice to make if you are just below average...

On a probability point of view, I believe it is always convenient to keep your result if you rolled more than average, and to take DM's result if you rolled less than average.

But then of course you could just gamble it

 

[Li Shenron]

That was a bit of sarcasm on my part. My apologies.

I may be a bit slow sometimes, so no need to apologize

As an aside though, fixed hp does make D&D more of a wargame and less of a roleplaying game. As long as you don't mind that, go for it.

Come on, it does not turn it into any more wargamey.

Actually it could even be argued the opposite: because all characters are tougher than normal (thus safer), you have a margin to make some voluntarily sub-par tactical choices, thus roleplaying "mistakes" or anyway choices that aren't the best but make sense with the PC's personality.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Somewhere I heard of rerolling all your hp each level. If your reroll is higher than your current total, take it. If it is lower, take your current total plus 1. (You still get max hit points at first level; it's all the other dice you reroll).

A bad roll will only set you back for a level; a good roll is something you'll probably only enjoy for a level. But it's not very different from just rolling the numbers once. The difference is that people shouldn't give up on a character that rolled poorly- they get to start from scratch the next level.

Never tried it, but it sounds like it could be fun.

 

[Pierson_Lowgal]

For the last few years, my group has rolled HD, but if you got less than half, your minimum score was raised to die average, rounded down. It's worked well.

I could see us moving to an even more controlled system, like d8 becomes d4+4.

 

[Artoomis]

<Ax at lvl 1 and 23. 3/4 after athat:

d4 = 3
d6 = 4 (I think - no d6 characters right now)
d8 = 6
10 = 7
12 = 9