Temporary Hit Points and Stacking

[Thanee]

Temporary Hit Points do not stack, right?
Then they surely also do not overlap, as that would be pretty much the same.

But what happens, if you gain Temporary Hit Points from multiple sources (i.e. multiple Vampiric Touch spells)?

Do you just get the new value, if it's greater than the old one or otherwise keep the old value?

Can you heal yourself with Temporary Hit Points, or do they disappear as normal, even if you were injured before aquiring them?

Bye
Thanee

 

[kreynolds]

Temporary Hit Points do not stack, right?

Depends on the source. From the FAQ...

How is the body feeder weapon quality supposed to work?
Do the temporary hit points from the weapon stack? The
same question applies to mind feeder weapons and to spell
effects, such as vampiric touch.
Temporary hit points from a body feeder weapon stack with
each other, but not with temporary hit points from any other
source. Likewise, temporary psionic points from a mind feeder
weapon stack, but not with temporary psionic points from any
other source.
In general, any effect that allows you to gain temporary hit
points over time allows you to stack those points, but only
those points. For example, if you use the vampiric touch spell,
the temporary hit points you gain from that particular casting of
the spell stack. They don’t stack with the temporary hit points
you get from an aid spell, nor would the effects of two
vampiric touch or aid spells stack. If you were to use two body
feeder weapons (or two mind feeder weapons), you could not
stack the temporary points from the two weapons.

Then they surely also do not overlap, as that would be pretty much the same.

I agree.

But what happens, if you gain Temporary Hit Points from multiple sources (i.e. multiple Vampiric Touch spells)?

Do you just get the new value, if it's greater than the old one or otherwise keep the old value?

I believe you get the new value, just like with two different castings of Bull's Strength.

Can you heal yourself with Temporary Hit Points, or do they disappear as normal, even if you were injured before aquiring them?

They disappear after 1 hour unless stated otherwise. Not sure if I answered this last part of your question though.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, guess that covered it all, thanks!

I really had to think for a moment to get behind the meaning of THIS:

For example, if you use the vampiric touch spell,
the temporary hit points you gain from that particular casting of
the spell stack.

Bye
Thanee

 

[kreynolds]

I really had to think for a moment to get behind the meaning of THIS:

For example, if you use the vampiric touch spell,
the temporary hit points you gain from that particular casting of
the spell stack.

Yeah, that threw me off the first time I read it too.

 

[Piratecat]

Okay - explain it to someone less clever! That made no sense to me.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

If you cast vampiric touch and get 20 temporary hit points, they all stack with each other so you get all 20, not just 1 hit point 20 times that does not stack with the other 19 hit points.

 

[Thanee]

Okay - explain it to someone less clever! That made no sense to me.

As Dr. Zoom said. Each individual Temporary Hit Point from one batch stacks with each other from the same batch.

That sentence really makes you stop, when reading and think like "huh!?".

Bye
Thanee

 

[the Jester]

Er, I believe that if you cast bull's strength and you already have one going, they overlap (giving the higher bonus extant) as long as both last.

Or did I miss something?

 

[kreynolds]

Er, I believe that if you cast bull's strength and you already have one going, they overlap (giving the higher bonus extant) as long as both last.

Uhm...yeah, they do.

Or did I miss something?

No. Why do you ask?

 

[Rel]

I don't know how relevant this is to the discussion, but the non-stacking of Temp Hit Points came up in the solo campaign I run for my wife's Wizard.

The Wiz has a staff that 1/day summons a Lantern Archon for 7 rounds. The LA can cast Aid each round. Although the Temp Hit Points don't stack, multiple castings can be beneficial.

Say the Wis is fighting a goblin. On round 1 the LA casts Aid and we roll the Temp HP gained and roll a 2. Goblin misses the Wiz.

Round 2 the LA casts Aid again and this time rolls a 5. This replaces the 2 extra HP the Wiz had before. Goblin hits for 4 points damage. Now the Wiz has 1 Temp HP.

Round 3 the LA casts Aid again and rolls a 4. The Wiz is back up to 4 Temp HP. Etc.

This example isn't likely to come up very often in most games, but if one of the spellcasters gets high enough level to summon a swarm of Lanter Archons, they could keep replacing the Temp Hit Points every round if necessary.

Of course, in the example above, the LA should have just burned the little goblin down with his pair of light rays and been done with it. Sometimes a good offense really is the best defense.