HP: how many per level?

[Nonlethal Force]

I also agree - except that our game spends about 5% of our time actually in combat. Thus,part of the reason people don't mind not rolling for hitpoints is because combat is such a minor part of our roleplaying game.

I would imagine that in most games airwalkrr's conclusion is correct. But it doesn't autmoatically make it into a wargame. It can simply be streamlining a part of the game that players find less significant. I also admit that my group's take on how much time we should spend in combat is rare and thus more an exception and not the rule.

 

[Chupacabra]

For PC's they get max hit points per level.
Boss or critical NPC's/critters get the same treatment.
Tough NPC's/critters get 70-80% of max hit points.
Scrubs and cannon fodder get whatever I roll (high or low) or the printed average (if I'm lazy and just using something straight from the MM)

For me as DM, the game has to be fun too. I don't have fun when my players are constantly wussing out because of crummy hitpoints. I have more fun when then act like heroes. Heroes do die, but only after 1) doing something incredibly stupid or 2) taking massive amounts of damage in a truly memorable combat or series of combats.

 

[IanB]

That's interesting... so you actually give LESS hit points on average than the core rules?




Besides the fact that IMHO making CON less important wasn't bad, granting max compared to rolling means for a Wizard to have 4hp+Con instead of 2.5+Con (avg) per level, and for a Barbarian 12hp+Con instead of 6.5hp+Con (avg). Not counting Con bonus, the Barbarian gets 3x the Wizard's base hit point, while with rolling he would get 2.6x. It doesn't seem to me that it's too much a "strong favor".

The aspect of this that it seems like you're missing, to me, is that you're keeping damage constant while creating a difference in resilience. A 5th level barbarian with 60+con hps is a lot less threatened by a 5d6 fireball than a 5th level barbarian with 38+con hps, but a 5th level mage with 20+con hps is still very threatened by a d12+6 greataxe compared to his counterpart with 14+con hps.

If you still roll hps for NPCs, this is obviously less important though.

 

[jeffh]

Systems I have used recently or am considering using in the near future:

1. Roll as normal, but if you get less than half your maximum, use half your maximum instead.

2. Roll your usual die and 1d6. Take the better of the two rolls (even if it's better than your normal maximum, for d4-using classes).

3. At first level, start with 1.5x your normal maximum for your class, not just the maximum. For example, a Fighter would start with 15 hit points, plus Con. After that, gain half the maximum each level, plus Con. For example, a Fighter would gain 5 plus Con each subseqent level. Makes low-level characters much more survivable, but later on it does reduce your hp slightly compared to the average you expect by the RAW despite this boost.

 

[Stalker0]

The interesting thing about hit point increasing strategies is that they then make Con a less valuable commodity and steer players into loading up Dex instead of Con as a secondary ability score.

1) Its all about the hitpoints.

2) You can never have too many hitpoints.

I use half +1, max at 1st.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

For PC's they get max hit points per level.
Boss or critical NPC's/critters get the same treatment.

That's how we go. The DMs like to unload on us, and it helps if we're not dead.

Heck...my 19th-level psion had 258 hp, and after two rounds of combat last session had 37 left. (I then proceeded to commit a horrific blunder that almost caused a TPK, but that's another story)

Brad

 

[mvincent]

My groups use averaging (example: d8 would be 4.5 level ... the 0.5 is kept for next level). Benefits include being able to make a high level character quickly and without a dice witness, and no desire to suicide your 2nd level character after a bad roll.

The DMG method is average round down (d8 would be 4 per level).
The RPGA method was average round up (d8 would be 5 per level).

 

[kaomera]

I've seen it mentioned a few times that max hit points per level contributes to the party being able to handle more encounters before resting... I'm assuming this is because the rule is only applied to the PCs; or am I incorrect and simply the reduced chance of one lucky crit drastically swinging things towards a TKP enough?

I've been leaning towards staying with 1/2 + 1 (although I usually refer to it as "average die result, rounded up), but I'm now thinking I might raise that by a point per level, or even go with max results per die.

Does anyone have any experience with using a "kicker" at first level (as per HackMaster)? I've typically seen it described as either +20 or else a bonus equal to the character's Con score, but I haven't known anyone to actually use it in a game...

 

[Fieari]

Depends on the campaign.

Average, round up at every level for typical campaigns.

For higher powered campaigns, I generally use:

d4 = 2+1d2
d6 = 3+1d3
d8 = 4+1d4
d10 = 5+1d5
d12 = 6+1d6

This one. Always at least half+1, but the excitement of the possibility of rolling high. Barbarians always have more HP than the Wizards, which is a huge plus.

We used to do "Pick either half, or roll" but they always rolled. Diceaholics, my group is. I hate having mega-long term effects from single dice rolls, so I try to mitigate the randomness for character creation.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I've seen it mentioned a few times that max hit points per level contributes to the party being able to handle more encounters before resting... I'm assuming this is because the rule is only applied to the PCs; or am I incorrect and simply the reduced chance of one lucky crit drastically swinging things towards a TKP enough?

I would make the same assumption as you - that those who play with a standardized system don't give the same couteousy to NPCs.

In my experience, giving players and NPCs (including goons and BBEGs) max hitpoints along with the main characters strongly favors the bad guys and makes for fewer encounters per day. [This is also true of the system that I use: 75% round up on odd lcass levels and down on even class levels]. That is because the bad guys benefit more than the players. If one bad guy dies, big deal. There's always another. The PCs dying is a bit more dramatic upon the game.

But, then again, we combat so little that it really doesn't matter too much anyway.