Insubstantial =?

[reff42]

what about say another monster that gives said wraith +5 temp hp? What about healing? What about resistances? what about vulnerability? what about that minion killer the mage has that only does 1 damage? 1/2=0 for D&D.

Boom, insubstantial is better than double hit points.

 

[Agamon]

Not to mention, people expect insubstantial creatures to be insubstantial. Just giving them double hit points doesn't explain things very well.

 

[D.Shaffer]

There is exactly one such effect in the whole Player's Handbook--the Inescapable Force feat. Easier to say it just doubles damage versus insubstantial creatures when using force attacks.

there is one such effect NOW. I will be very surprised if we dont get some equivalent of 'Ghost Touch' in the upcoming equipment book.

And what about possible effects that grant PC's Insubstantial? Do you really want to double their HPs each time it happens?

 

[Dausuul]

what about say another monster that gives said wraith +5 temp hp? What about healing? What about resistances? what about vulnerability? what about that minion killer the mage has that only does 1 damage? 1/2=0 for D&D.

Not to mention, people expect insubstantial creatures to be insubstantial. Just giving them double hit points doesn't explain things very well.

Monsters that give temp hit points are very much a corner case. So is a "wizard ability that does 1 point of damage" (as far as I know, there is no such power unless you play a wizard with an Int of 11 or less). Resistances and vulnerabilities are actually a point in favor of the double-hit-point approach, since it removes any chance of confusion over whether you apply resistance before or after insubstantiality.

And the players have no way of knowing whether the monster has X hit points and is taking half damage, or has 2X hit points and is taking normal damage. It comes out to the same in the end. You whack it until it dies, just like any other monster.

However, see below.

And what about possible effects that grant PC's Insubstantial? Do you really want to double their HPs each time it happens?

Well, as I said, it looks like insubstantiality is more common as an on-and-off thing, so I'm admitting defeat on this one. It does make more sense to have it as half damage rather than having a lot of special cases. If most cases of insubstantiality were "always on," then I'd have said just include the half damage effect as a special bonus from whatever turns you insubstantial.