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L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend
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<blockquote data-quote="Ainamacar" data-source="post: 5916271" data-attributes="member: 70709"><p>The designers had their work cut out for them, and I think they really took a good whack at it. Whether it works, much less gains supports, is another matter. As a synthesis with clear 4e and pre-4e influences, the risk is always that both groups come away unhappy. My first impressions:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It addresses at least one huge thematic complaint about healing surges by positioning HD as mundane (and apparently out-of-combat?) resources which are largely independent of what spells can do.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It could potentially be used to run a campaign with mundane healing resources alone, hopefully treating combat (usually magical) healing from being an expected component of combat to a bonus. (Note that healing surges could have done the same thing, but 4e in fact went the opposite direction by baking a baseline of easily accessible combat healing into every single character and many classes.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Could more easily support different adventure (as distinct from encounter) grittiness with modules compared to other editions of D&D. Increasing or decreasing the number of HD regained during an extended rest could have a big impact over the long term without having a large impact at the per encounter basis. Neither 4e or earlier editions could really claim that (although 4e came closer). In 4e's case one could change the number of healing surges per day, but because they are so closely tied to combat they still have a clear impact on encounter outcomes. In earlier editions there are only hit points, and changing the amount a character possesses directly changes the encounter balance. This flexibility obviously isn't necessary for a fun D&D system, but if lots of ways to spend hit dice in combat show up the benefits are lost. It would be a temptation for designers everywhere because designers love exploiting character resources in new ways.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alternately, they could choose to emphasize the magic vs. mundane distinction as more important than the in-combat vs. out-of-combat distinction. That would eliminate the previous point, but open up lots of interesting mechanics and interactions with distinct flavor. This might be better than trying to emphasize the previous point anyway because most campaigns will probably stick close to the default and because the previous point is so easy to invalidate with future materials. On the other hand, it would also mean the "quantum wound" criticism of healing surges would stick around.</li> </ul><p>In about a week we'll have much more useful information, and in about a month we'll start to see if people's first impressions (whether warm or cold) turn out to be accurate. I'm willing to give it a fair shake.</p><p></p><p>I also remember from the very earliest playtest reports that quite a number of people found the healing system wonky. I wonder if this is basically what they had in January, or if this is a more recent attempt.</p><p></p><p>That also makes me think about multiclassing, since they will have hit dice of different size. Does one use the hit die for each class, so a heavily multiclassed character might be able to spend 3d6 + 2d8 + 5d10? Or will they use the highest or lowest die of any of their classes? (That would have very negative implications for multiclassing, and I dislike it.) What if the character gains fewer than its level hit dice over an extended rest, can the character choose which dice to get first? When spending can they choose which dice to spend first? At least the latter two options will lead to predictable behavior, with characters always gaining and usualy choosing to expend the highest hit dice available first. This part of the system could be wonky.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Notice that there is a distinction between "spending" HD while casting a healing spell versus referencing the size of the die itself. For certain values of "ignore" the example spell might be an acceptable interpretation. (Although referring to the size of the die and not spending a specific die could lead to problems in a multiclassing character. There are several ways one might choose which size to use, but none of them are as nice as simply saying "2d8+level hit points.")</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ainamacar, post: 5916271, member: 70709"] The designers had their work cut out for them, and I think they really took a good whack at it. Whether it works, much less gains supports, is another matter. As a synthesis with clear 4e and pre-4e influences, the risk is always that both groups come away unhappy. My first impressions: [LIST] [*]It addresses at least one huge thematic complaint about healing surges by positioning HD as mundane (and apparently out-of-combat?) resources which are largely independent of what spells can do. [*]It could potentially be used to run a campaign with mundane healing resources alone, hopefully treating combat (usually magical) healing from being an expected component of combat to a bonus. (Note that healing surges could have done the same thing, but 4e in fact went the opposite direction by baking a baseline of easily accessible combat healing into every single character and many classes.) [*]Could more easily support different adventure (as distinct from encounter) grittiness with modules compared to other editions of D&D. Increasing or decreasing the number of HD regained during an extended rest could have a big impact over the long term without having a large impact at the per encounter basis. Neither 4e or earlier editions could really claim that (although 4e came closer). In 4e's case one could change the number of healing surges per day, but because they are so closely tied to combat they still have a clear impact on encounter outcomes. In earlier editions there are only hit points, and changing the amount a character possesses directly changes the encounter balance. This flexibility obviously isn't necessary for a fun D&D system, but if lots of ways to spend hit dice in combat show up the benefits are lost. It would be a temptation for designers everywhere because designers love exploiting character resources in new ways. [*]Alternately, they could choose to emphasize the magic vs. mundane distinction as more important than the in-combat vs. out-of-combat distinction. That would eliminate the previous point, but open up lots of interesting mechanics and interactions with distinct flavor. This might be better than trying to emphasize the previous point anyway because most campaigns will probably stick close to the default and because the previous point is so easy to invalidate with future materials. On the other hand, it would also mean the "quantum wound" criticism of healing surges would stick around. [/LIST] In about a week we'll have much more useful information, and in about a month we'll start to see if people's first impressions (whether warm or cold) turn out to be accurate. I'm willing to give it a fair shake. I also remember from the very earliest playtest reports that quite a number of people found the healing system wonky. I wonder if this is basically what they had in January, or if this is a more recent attempt. That also makes me think about multiclassing, since they will have hit dice of different size. Does one use the hit die for each class, so a heavily multiclassed character might be able to spend 3d6 + 2d8 + 5d10? Or will they use the highest or lowest die of any of their classes? (That would have very negative implications for multiclassing, and I dislike it.) What if the character gains fewer than its level hit dice over an extended rest, can the character choose which dice to get first? When spending can they choose which dice to spend first? At least the latter two options will lead to predictable behavior, with characters always gaining and usualy choosing to expend the highest hit dice available first. This part of the system could be wonky. Notice that there is a distinction between "spending" HD while casting a healing spell versus referencing the size of the die itself. For certain values of "ignore" the example spell might be an acceptable interpretation. (Although referring to the size of the die and not spending a specific die could lead to problems in a multiclassing character. There are several ways one might choose which size to use, but none of them are as nice as simply saying "2d8+level hit points.") [/QUOTE]
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