What's the best way to handle PC hit points/hit dice?

[Bront]

We roll 2, keep the best. Start with max at whatever level we start at (never higher than 5th, probably a different idea after that). Keeps you from being hosed multiple times by very bad roles in general, but keeps it random.

 

[MonsterMash]

IMC
Max at first, roll thereafter, but if a 1 rolled then roll again, but if another 1 comes up that is what you get.

 

[Graybeard]

I use the same method as lonesoldier. I give all my players a 36 point buy for stats so they all end up being relatively equal. Hit die are 1/2 rounded up and max for 1st level.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Is it actually unacceptable for a lower HD class to have more hps than a higher HD class? With the game set up as is, the game designers seemed to accept that this is a good feature worth including.

Sure the wizard is unlikely to have more than a barbarian, especially as levels progress, but I'm not sure it is a good thing to categorically deny the wizard.

I don't think it's about denying the wizard. I think it's about making the player of the high-hit dice class (which is inevitably supposed to be a front-line fighter and therefore capable of taking the hits) useless. ALL a barbarian can really do is take hits. If he consistantly rolls 1s and 2s, then he's liable to end up not being able to do that.He could end up at 10th level with only 58 hitpoints. That's 2 hits before he's dead, and surviving is the main draw of the class.

It's like if you made a wizard somehow roll for whether he could do his next level of casting. "when you gain a new level of available spells, you must make a check with your casting stat vs a DC of 15".

Usually he'll make it. But occasionally he won't. If he gets unlucky, he could potentially be a 10th level wizard with only 1st level spell available. Are you saying that character would be fun to play? Or would you just scrap him and start with something else?

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I can accept that pov, heck I was in part being the devils advocate - it is a pain to DM & player alike to be presented with rotten characters, but then we're faced with the designers decision to leave it in the RAW.

Was it then just a sacred cow not yet ready to be sacrificed or did the designers see value in the risk of mediocraty? Perhaps it was paying homage to the early days of 3d6 in order where to roll well was a mark of a creating a treasured character...?

Btw, for the record, whenever I see a profussion of house rules (e.g. rolled hps & stats) that tells me that the core rules do not enjoy popular support. This imo is a sign of bad game design.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Roll HD once, but gain a minimum of 1/2 the HD. That's IMHO the best method.

Bye
Thanee

Me too.

 

[diaglo]

roll hps for all levels. keep what you roll.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Fixed amount based on class, or if I'm feeling odd, race/type.

Hit dice are a clear indication of the type of character the player wanted to play in the first place. Having something as essential as ability to withstand damage seems very out of place when other totals are not random from skill totals to attack totals.

 

[Felon]

The polls produced some interesting results. Rolling hit dice straight-up is predictably popular, but few of the actual posters advocate it.

 

[Psion]

None of the above.

I wanted to just go with average, but my players like rolling dice. I really don't like the way that a few bad rolls can leave you a straggler. So, I decided that I'd let the players roll the dice at each level, but not let their total fall below the average for their level.

Edit: I picked "fix per level" since I think it's the "best way", even if it's not what my players want.