D&D 5E [Poll] How does your group do hit points per level?

[GuardianLurker]

Other. Max 1st level, then 3/4 HD/lvl, drop fractions. Add Con bonus as normal.

So a 5th level character with 16 Con would have
63 hp as a Barbarian (12+(9*4)+(3*5))
or 37 hp as a Sorcerer (6+(4*4)+(3*5))
or 47 hp as a Cleric (8+(6*4)+(3*5))

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Other: my players happily roll because it's fun.

I'm interested in seeing how many of my players take the average option myself. We are old school and nobody ever takes point buy or anything like this so its a first.

 

[Lanefan]

I agree with whoever above said "Wow, you guys are generous!"

Hit points are rolled, con. bonus added, and the game goes on. End of story.

What amazes me is while it's expected that some individual characters will get lucky on h.p. and others not, I see it affecting entire campaigns. Using the same rule-set the characters in the campaign I currently play in seem to have boatloads more h.p./level than those in the campaign I'm DMing; and over time I've seen similar disparities between other campaigns. I don't mind it at all, just find it interesting.

Lan-"and point-buy happens here only over my cold dead corpse"-efan

 

[thalmin]

My monsters get the same hit point decisions as I allow my players, but I'm lazy. Player chooses roll and stick with it, or choose default. They can choose at each level. Same choice goes for the DM.
If players want to get a guarantee, they can have that too, but then the monsters get guaranteed max hit points. I won't waste time fiddling.

edit: corrected typo

 

[bgbarcus]

I give my players the same choice every time they level up. Roll one die with a minimum result of the average. Or, roll the dice and take the best. Option one has no risk for lousy results. Option two has a high chance of very good results but I've seen players come out with three 1's and have to accept it.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I left the choice between rolling and average, so far (4 players, 1st to 5th level) everybody has chosen the average. I guess they don't like the tension

It's also nice to be able to remember all of your character's stats in your head via six numbers (stats) and a couple of feats. For my NPCs I always take the average, because if I ever lose the sheet where I wrote down the NPC, I can easily recreate his HP with some simple math. It's one less thing to keep track of.

 

[leinadvirgo]

Max HP for all levels. Taking the average waters down the difference between classes. More HP means less I as the DM have to worry about, hit them with a tough fight and its fine. Finally it makes it easier to string together more encounters without having to rest the party.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

Fixed max hit points per level every level. Seems to work fine so far and no one has complained about not being able to roll it instead.

 

[Ohillion]

My monsters get the same hit point decisions as I allow my players, but I'm lazy. Player chooses roll and stick with it, or choose default. They can cheese at each level. Same choice goes for the DM.
If players want to get a guarantee, they can have that too, but then the monsters get guaranteed max hit points. I won't waste time fiddling.

Our DM is staunchly old school and prefers that everyone roll EVERYTHING. I'm not opposed. And...he rolls everything for monsters as well. I think it's fair to say that what's good for the goose is good for the fodder.

Odd scenario: There could be a bit of contention in rare circumstances. A mage could roll fours every time and a barbarian could roll 1's or 2's...aside from the Con bonus between the two it could mean you've got a barbarian considering multiclassing as mage just to get mage armor. Hopefully the INT is up there to allow for it. ZOIKS!

 

[CapnZapp]

I answered "Allow player to choose between rolling and average"

However, in my game the average is rounded down, not up; or there would be no incentive to choose rolling.

Specifically: if there is risk there must be reward.

Having the average being rounded up and thus higher than the rolled average effectively means you are penalized for taking the risk of rolling. It means penalizing those players who are gamblers and players who are naive at math.

Since the drawbacks of rolling low are, in my opinion, larger than the benefits of rolling high (at least at the lowest levels) all my players deduced that using the RAW the correct choice is always to take the average.

With my tweak, the decision is not as clear-cut. Most players chose to roll. Some choose the safe average.

I expect this to trend towards rolling more at higher levels when you already have a cusion of hp, and thus aren't devastated by rolling a '1'.