Opinion of Minimum Hit Point Increase House Rule?

[AdamBank]

Hello! I've just started my first D&D3e campaign, and we've already enouncered "hit point envy." Specifically, our ranger and wizard levelled up to 2nd. The ranger rolled a 10 for hp, and (you guessed it) the wizard rolled a 1. So our ranger's hp is in the low 20s while our wizard's at 5.

Yeah, I know that's the way it's supposed to be, but you should've seen the look on the wizard's player's face! (It didn't help that the ranger's player kept gloating). Anyway, I want to introduce a little equity into the hit point increase system without substantially devaluing having a high Constitution. I've come up with a mimimal hit point increase threshold, and I'd greatly value any opinion's on it:

A PC's minimum hp increase per level is the average result of your hit die, rounded up. Thus:

Hit Die Minimum Increase
D4 3
D6 4
D8 5
D10 6
D12 7

So, after randomly determining your new hp (roll hit die, add your Con mod), if the total result is lower than the minimum increase, give yourself the minimum increase instead.

Example:

Zippy the wizard with a Con of 12 (modifier of +1) reaches level two. He rolls his d4 hit die,. He rolls a 1. His roll plus his Con modifier totals 2 hit points. However, if we implement this rule, he gets3 hp instead.

Tal the fighter with a Con of 14 (modifier of +2) reaches level two. He rolls his d10 hit die. He rolls a 5. His roll plus his Con modifier equals 7 hit points. 7 is greater than the minimum of 6 (duh), so Tal adds 7 hit points to his total hp.

The tricky bit about this rule is that the actual die roll result doesn't matter; you compare the minimum to the die + Con modifier instead.

Can you tell I'm a tax lawyer?

Thanks!

 

[Ratama]

That's better for fairness's sake than straight rolling, I suppose.

Personally, I use set hitpoints (average rounded up + con).

 

[MarauderX]

Or do this: have the player roll and the DM roll in private. If the player doesn't like his roll, he can take the DM's roll. In the end the player can only blame himself if he did or did not take the DM's roll. If both are 1's...well it was meant to be, or the DM could take pity and reroll if the evil ranger just rolled a 10.

 

[Andion Isurand]

This is what I do for giving average HP

Average HP rolled at level 20:

4 + 2.5 x 19 = 51.5
6 + 3.5 x 19 = 72.5
8 + 4.5 x 19 = 93.5
10 + 5.5 x 19 = 114.5
12 + 6.5 x 19 = 135.5


give max HP at first level

at every even level: give the average roll, rounded down

at every odd level: give the average roll, rounded up

 

[CCamfield]

It seems reasonable... I contemplated using something similar myself.

But the wizard should be kicking himself for not taking a Con bonus.

In my group the gnome wizard has a Con of 16! 1d4+3 per level isn't so bad!

 

[Khorod]

I'm playing in a game we're the DM & the player both roll the HD, and the player takes the higher roll. The random factor is still there, but its much more likely to get above average and much less likely to get stuck with the 1.

 

[zero skill LPB]

present the option to your players

I presented the following option to my players:

(1) roll it and live with it, same goes for bad guys
(2) use average (round up), same goes for bad guys
(3) take max for hit die, same goes for main bad guys

They went with option (3). I'm happy they did because I prefer it myself. Optimally, the game centers around the characters annd their nemesis(eseses).

I mean, why not? It serves to further differentiate the classes which is, as they say, "all good".

 

[Murrdox]

We allow re-rolls for the bottom third (rounded down) of your hit-die type. I find this works well, and keeps everyone with at least average hit points.

d4 rerolls on 1's
d6 rerolls on 1's and 2's
d8 rerolls on 1's and 2's
d10 rerolls on 1's, 2's and 3's
d12 rerolls on 1's, 2's, 3's, and 4's.

 

[trentonjoe]

We use about different rules for each campaign but our latest two are:

1) All 1's are rerolled. The PC gets one other reroll in the characters career.

2) THe PC rolls. If it is over the average he keeps it, if not he gets the average.

Bothseem to work fine but my players prefer the latest version.

 

[ichabod]

I don't think it's a good idea to base the minimum after con bonus is added. That gives an advantage to lower con bonuses. Take a player rolling d8 for hp. If they have a 10 con, they get extra hit points (in that they get more than they rolled) 50% of the time. The same character with a 14 con gets extra hit points 25% of the time. This means you are evening out the effects of con bonus (which is under player control) rather than the effects of the die roll (which isn't). It seems to me that if the player took a low con bonus that's their own fault. I'd go with something else, like minimum die roll, or some sort of reroll. A mechanic that just popped into my head is you can reroll any hit point roll, but the maximum goes down by one. So if you roll a d8 and get a one, you can reroll with all 8's counting as 7's. If you get another one, you can reroll with all 8's and 7's counting as 6's.