Reserve Hitpoints

[Frostmarrow]

Back at Wizard's this tidbit can be found:

For example, Tordek has 22 hit points, so he also has 22 reserve points. In a battle with orcs, he suffers 6 points of damage, dropping his hit points to 16. After the fight, Tordek's reserve points begin to "convert" to hit points. Over the course of the next six minutes, his reserve point total drops by 6 and his hit point total increases by 6, up to his maximum of 22. During the next fight, Tordek suffers 24 points of damage, dropping him to -2, and is then dying for five rounds before stabilizing, leaving him at -7 hit points. Over the next 16 minutes, his remaining 16 reserve points convert to hit points. After seven minutes he's conscious but disabled (0 hp). After the eighth minute he's back on his feet (1 hp), and after all 16 minutes he's up to 9 hp and 0 reserve points.

The whole article: Reserve Points

So, what do you think? Is reserve points a good idea for a low magic/no cleric kind of campaign? It's not at all as my solution to the problem but I must say that I think Wizards are more clever than I. My idea is basically to have all hp heal after each combat yet label characters who has sustained at least one critical hit "wounded". Wounded characters lose 1 hp per round if in combat again. (It's a little more complex than that but this will suffice for the discussion.)

Do you have an alternate system for low magic/no cleric campaigns and how does it compare to Reserve Hitpoints?

 

[Urbannen]

This looks like the system presented in the Omega World article of Polyhedron quite a while back.

The alternative to low magic/no cleric campaigns is the Wound Point/Vitality Point system currently used in the Star Wars d20 RPG. Unearthed Arcana will have a WP/VP system usuable with D&D. In this system, characters have wound points equal to their Constitution that represent only physical health. Characters also have vitality points equal to their D&D hit points that represent how well they can avoid attacks. In this system, a character gets back vitality points every hour, allowing them to keep fighting, whereas in D&D it takes days to heal the same damage.

 

[Bauglir]

Seems to me that after a couple of fights you'd be out of reserve points and right back where you started again.. (ie healing naturally too slowly to keep the story moving)

 

[Darklone]

Right. If you are looking for something like that, I recommend the Wound point etc system like Urbannen.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another possibility, which I use in my campaign:

If you have positive hit points, you recover your level in hp per hours rest, or all remaining hit points after 8 hours sleep.

If you are at 0 or less hp, you recover 1 per day until you are at +ve hp, whereupon you start recovering per hour.

This was introduced for my low-cleric campaign, and to encourage rest breaks during adventures.

Cheers

 

[Ranger REG]

Reserve Point is helpful in a low-magic campaign without having to go through the D&D ruleset and change the cure spells' mechanics.

But for standard- to high-magic campaigns, I'd probably offer them as feats.

 

[dema]

something I used to do for games and still do sometimes is give 20% of the character HP back after a good combat if they survive, I figure Hp are not all about damage, and the fact that you have made it past a fight might lift your sprirts and such hench the 20% HP healing thing, it's not much at low levels but it's something cool.


Variants can be like, take 10% less xp for 10% more HP gained, or the 50% of the damage you suffered is not subdual damage instead, or something like that.

 

[daTim]

I plan on using this rule in my game, but only allowing people to recover a number of hitpoints gained through their class hit dice. In other words, their HP minus their Con bonus. This kinda helps represent how Con is your actual toughness, and class HP is your training. Just my two cents.