Turning the HP/Healing Dial

[Mercutio01]

Caveat: This is just my first brush at this, and I'm not 100% sold on it.

Method Mercutio01 (sort of hybrid):

• Starting HP: Characters have starting HP equal to their CON score.
• Hit Dice: Characters have a single Hit Die at level 1. Characters gain additional HD with each level.
• Short Rest: Characters with at least 1 HP can take short rests of about 10 minutes. For each 10 minutes spent in a short rest, characters can use one use of a healing kit and expend 1 HD to regain some lost HP equal to the die roll plus CON modifier. If a short rest is interrupted, the use of the healing kit is expended, as is 1 HD, without the benefits thereof.
• Long Rest: Characters must have at least 1 HP to take a long rest. Long rests last about 8 hours, and can only be taken once in any day, a minimum of 16 hours after the end of the last long rest. All HD are restored after the long rest.
• Below 0 HP: When healing a character at negative HP, add the healing amount to the negative number. For example a character at -5 HP who is healed for 4 HP is now at -1 HP. Characters below 0 HP regain HP according to the normal playtest rules for stabilized.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I like the recovery of character level + CON modifier in hp/day with normal rest. I would probably go to double that with complete bed rest (i.e no traveling, fighting or even strenuous exercise).

As for starting hps I'm starting to like my own idea of warrior types (fighter, paladin, cavalier, barbarian, ranger) having CON score + X (some number between 6-10 depending on the class, 6 for paladins, 7 for cavaliers, 8 for rangers, 9 for fighters and 10 for barbarians) while all other non-warrior classes get half their CON score (rounded down) +1-5 hps (+1 for wizards up to +5 for rogues). Since hps are supposed to represent combat savvyness as well as physical hardiness the more combat focused your class the more hps you should get. After 1st level the class would just get the +X hps plus their CON mod.

 

[n00bdragon]

A man with one hit point fights just as effectively as a man with full hit points. What exactly is he recovering from?

 

[Mercutio01]

A man with one hit point fights just as effectively as a man with full hit points. What exactly is he recovering from?

This is a misreading of it, from my POV. He does NOT fight just as effectively. His offense is just as effective, but his defense is not. That is evidenced by the fact that he only has 1 HP, and one more hit will get past his defenses and knock him out.

Obviously, YMMV, but I find this argument to be specious.

 

[Obryn]

IV looks a lot more generous than 4e to me. If you were looking for a 4e-like option, you'd need to make healing spells use up those hit dice...

It's good to get some dials on there, but I'd like somewhere between III and IV. Say, like the playtest, but all rolled dice for healing are maximized.

-O

 

[n00bdragon]

This is a misreading of it, from my POV. He does NOT fight just as effectively. His offense is just as effective, but his defense is not. That is evidenced by the fact that he only has 1 HP, and one more hit will get past his defenses and knock him out.

Obviously, YMMV, but I find this argument to be specious.

So if HP is only his defenses why does it take so long to recover them? Also his defenses are exactly the same. Your AC, NADs, saving throws, movement, damage... everything is just as effective at 1hp as it is at a million.

 

[CM]

IV looks a lot more generous than 4e to me. If you were looking for a 4e-like option, you'd need to make healing spells use up those hit dice...

It's good to get some dials on there, but I'd like somewhere between III and IV. Say, like the playtest, but all rolled dice for healing are maximized.

-O

Actually, method IV is a little more stingy with self-healing than default 4e. A 1st-level 4e fighter with 16 Con can self-heal 84 HP per day, which is 271% of his 31 HP. At levels 10 and 20 with Con progression to 18 and 20, that number increases to 314% and 348%.

A 5e (sorry, "Next") fighter with method IV is closer to 200% of maximum HP self-healed per day, regardless of level. With its variable nature, however, it could end up anywhere from 75% to 250%. This is assuming you take the 50% of HD static amount that the playtest characters gain per level and an average amount rolled on each healing hit die.

The ratios are similar but totals lower for wizards (the other class I tested with).

I will concede that second wind on higher-level characters starts to creep closer to 30% and 40% of maximum HP, away from the 4e 25%. Maybe the solution for that is to lower the additional hit die to one per 5 levels instead of one per 4.

 

[CM]

So if HP is only his defenses why does it take so long to recover them? Also his defenses are exactly the same. Your AC, NADs, saving throws, movement, damage... everything is just as effective at 1hp as it is at a million.

Let's not get into badwrongfun, please. We already know that some people like slow HP recovery and some people don't. You're not going to "fix" that by "correcting the error of their ways."

 

[n00bdragon]

Let's not get into badwrongfun, please. We already know that some people like slow HP recovery and some people don't. You're not going to "fix" that by "correcting the error of their ways."

Any problems with my actual argument or do you think being dismissive of problems simply makes them go away?

 

[CM]

Any problems with my actual argument or do you think being dismissive of problems simply makes them go away?

Like I said, this thread is for discussing variable healing rates which cater to different tastes. It is not for discussing why people are "wrong" when they prefer one rate over another.

It's only a problem because you choose to make it one.