Short & Sweet - Discard hit die rolls less than con modifier.

[Michael Morris]

Well, aside from the wizard with an 18 con being guaranteed 8 hit points per level I don't see a problem with this simple idea (and really, I can live with that - d4 hit die still sucks). Here's the complete rule.

If you roll less than your constitution modifier on a hit die roll you may re-roll the die unless your constitution modifier is already higher than the highest roll you can make (in which case you take the highest roll the die can make).

So when a dwarven barbarian with a 20 con rolls for con he keeps re-rolling until he rolls 5 or more.

 

[Tharian]

How does that help (or hinder) a player that has a negative modifier due to their Constitution being lower than 10? Since they can't roll lower than that modifier, a roll of two (or higher) could still potentially mean a 1 for the character.

 

[reanjr]

Well, aside from the wizard with an 18 con being guaranteed 8 hit points per level I don't see a problem with this simple idea (and really, I can live with that - d4 hit die still sucks). Here's the complete rule.

If you roll less than your constitution modifier on a hit die roll you may re-roll the die unless your constitution modifier is already higher than the highest roll you can make (in which case you take the highest roll the die can make).

So when a dwarven barbarian with a 20 con rolls for con he keeps re-rolling until he rolls 5 or more.

I think it might make some creatures a bit too tough. Unless you mean only PCs, then I suppose it would work out fine.

For simplification, I'd make it, roll once, but if that number is less than Con Mod, take the Con Mod instead. Saves rerolls, doesn't greatly reduce the average result.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I like it-- it's a good system for people who prefer to roll hit dice.

 

[Rystil Arden]

It really makes life a living hell for characters who don't have a great Con score, and it makes Con even more powerful, thus implicitly strengthening dwarves and weakening elves.

Current: +2 Con = +1 hp / level
Proposed: +2 Con = +1.5hp / level (for the average) if you have 12 or more Con before raising until you hit the cap, with a +2hp / level to the minimum.

So-

Normal level 10 Dwarf Cleric, Con 26- HP: 128
Normal level 10 Elf Barbarian, Con 16- HP: 101
The dwarf has 27 more.
Proposed level 10 Dwarf Cleric, Con 26- HP: 160
Proposed level 10 Elf Barbarian, Con 16- HP: 110
The dwarf has 50 more.

Or: Rogue5 with 12 Con vs Rogue5 with 20 Con-
Normal HP with 12 Con: 24
Normal HP with 20 Con: 40
Proposed HP with 12 Con: 24
Proposed HP with 20 Con: 48

 

[Hodgie]

It seems that it may make Con too important. Con already adds directly to HP and this makes it doubly important. Perhaps it is just my groups, but Con is never a dump stat to begin with.

Assuming you did use it, I agree with all of the provisions listed. Limit it to PCs (or at least not high-con monsters) and allow a single roll and take the Con if it is higher.

 

[Octal40]

My DM came up with a rule we all liked. DM and player each roll their own hit die for the player. Player can choose to keep their roll or use the DM's if they rolled poorly. It's possible to get a lower score (e.g., rolled a 2, DM rolled a 1) but that happened infrequently.

 

[Hodgie]

We tried somethign similar for a while but simply allowed you to take the better of the two rolls. It seemed to increase averages in line with the Living Greyhawk static hp, so we liked it.

 

[Szatany]

I just came up with another possibility - check it out:
Con modifier does not modify hit points per level. Instead it determines how many dice you roll and which result you choose.
Con mod. -2: Roll 3 dice and choose worst result.
Con mod. -1: Roll 2 dice and choose worst result.
Con mod. 0: Roll 1 dice, same as normal.
Con mod. +1: Roll 2 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +2: Roll 3 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +3: Roll 4 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +4: Roll 5 dice and choose best result.
And so on. I think its a good alternative for DMs who think that game could benefit if hit points were little lower (but not much so game balance isn't really upset).

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I just came up with another possibility - check it out:
Con modifier does not modify hit points per level. Instead it determines how many dice you roll and which result you choose.
Con mod. -2: Roll 3 dice and choose worst result.
Con mod. -1: Roll 2 dice and choose worst result.
Con mod. 0: Roll 1 dice, same as normal.
Con mod. +1: Roll 2 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +2: Roll 3 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +3: Roll 4 dice and choose best result.
Con mod. +4: Roll 5 dice and choose best result.
And so on. I think its a good alternative for DMs who think that game could benefit if hit points were little lower (but not much so game balance isn't really upset).

Thread Hijack:

Szatany,I think your "Ultimate" class variants are great. Very innovative and original!