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<blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9798486" data-attributes="member: 86051"><p>True.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Heh. Or a combination of all of the above.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Same here.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, that’s a bit of a big one, too. Although one might suppose it is “fairly easily” solved for human NPCs (leader types of men, NPC parties)—which it actually isn’t because cavemen vs, say, berserker leader types vs, say, 10th-level dervish clerics—the real problems start with non-humans.</p><p></p><p>For how many hit dice does a mountain dwarf lieutenant (MM, p. 35, 36) have? The hill dwarf has 1 hit die, so I suppose the lieutenant has 4 hit dice as a 4th-level fighter. But the base mountain dwarf has 1+1 hit dice. So does that give the lieutenant 4 hit dice as a 4th-level fighter just like the hill dwarf? Or 4+1 hit dice as a 4th-level mountain dwarf fighter? And does said lieutenant have THAC0 18? If so, then why does a 4-hit-die monster “without a character class” have THAC0 15?</p><p></p><p>And that is only the beginning. For what to make of the locathah leader, which has “18 hit points (treat as a 4th level fighter)”, and its “4 assistants with 14 hit points (treat as 3rd level fighters)”?</p><p></p><p>And what of the “class abilities” vs the hit dice of the ixitxachitl leader types? MM, p. 55, has “a leader with 8th level clerical spell ability and quadruple normal hit dice, two guards with 6th level clerical spell ability and triple normal hit dice”, and “1+1(+)” for the hit dice of the ixitxachitls in general in Appendix E, and then a footnote saying “This is for those without extra hit dice or spell use; adjust the numbers accordingly for such monsters”.</p><p>Sure!</p><p>But adjust <em><strong>bloody how</strong></em>?</p><p>Triple normal hit dice for a “guard with 6th-level clerical spell ability”? Why not 6 hit dice like a hill dwarf lieutenant has 4 hit dice? Or, possibly, 6+1 hit dice like a mountain dwarf lieutenant?</p><p></p><p>And what, exactly, is “triple normal hit dice”? Is it 3+1 hit dice? Is it 3+3 hit dice? Do the sahuagins suggest the latter?</p><p>But then why does the glossary in the DMG (p. 228) say “<strong>Hit Dice</strong> – The number of dice rolled to determine the creature‘s hit points”? In my book, this means that one rolls one die to determine the hit dice of a standard ixitxachitl, and then adds +1 to the number rolled, for a grand total of “1 hit die, plus 1 hit point”.</p><p></p><p>And then there’s the svirfnebli, which fall into the category “monsters before the Fiend Folio was published”, and which, um… start as 3rd-level fighters with 3+6 hit dice? And then have “4th-level leaders” with 4+7 hit dice. Does that suggest that there’s “0-level svirfnebli” with 1+4 hit dice and that Gygax took it from there with the “classed” specimens? Meaning that a mountain dwarf lieutenant has 4+4 hit dice?</p><p>But then why does the glossary in the DMG (p. 228) say “<strong>Hit Dice</strong>—”</p><p></p><p>—and round and round we go.</p><p></p><p>Mind = blown.</p><p>And then I haven't even mentioned the ogre mage chieftain with its "5 + 2 + 2 die". Nor, obviously, the lich.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ilgatto, post: 9798486, member: 86051"] True. Heh. Or a combination of all of the above. :) Same here. Yeah, that’s a bit of a big one, too. Although one might suppose it is “fairly easily” solved for human NPCs (leader types of men, NPC parties)—which it actually isn’t because cavemen vs, say, berserker leader types vs, say, 10th-level dervish clerics—the real problems start with non-humans. For how many hit dice does a mountain dwarf lieutenant (MM, p. 35, 36) have? The hill dwarf has 1 hit die, so I suppose the lieutenant has 4 hit dice as a 4th-level fighter. But the base mountain dwarf has 1+1 hit dice. So does that give the lieutenant 4 hit dice as a 4th-level fighter just like the hill dwarf? Or 4+1 hit dice as a 4th-level mountain dwarf fighter? And does said lieutenant have THAC0 18? If so, then why does a 4-hit-die monster “without a character class” have THAC0 15? And that is only the beginning. For what to make of the locathah leader, which has “18 hit points (treat as a 4th level fighter)”, and its “4 assistants with 14 hit points (treat as 3rd level fighters)”? And what of the “class abilities” vs the hit dice of the ixitxachitl leader types? MM, p. 55, has “a leader with 8th level clerical spell ability and quadruple normal hit dice, two guards with 6th level clerical spell ability and triple normal hit dice”, and “1+1(+)” for the hit dice of the ixitxachitls in general in Appendix E, and then a footnote saying “This is for those without extra hit dice or spell use; adjust the numbers accordingly for such monsters”. Sure! But adjust [I][B]bloody how[/B][/I]? Triple normal hit dice for a “guard with 6th-level clerical spell ability”? Why not 6 hit dice like a hill dwarf lieutenant has 4 hit dice? Or, possibly, 6+1 hit dice like a mountain dwarf lieutenant? And what, exactly, is “triple normal hit dice”? Is it 3+1 hit dice? Is it 3+3 hit dice? Do the sahuagins suggest the latter? But then why does the glossary in the DMG (p. 228) say “[B]Hit Dice[/B] – The number of dice rolled to determine the creature‘s hit points”? In my book, this means that one rolls one die to determine the hit dice of a standard ixitxachitl, and then adds +1 to the number rolled, for a grand total of “1 hit die, plus 1 hit point”. And then there’s the svirfnebli, which fall into the category “monsters before the Fiend Folio was published”, and which, um… start as 3rd-level fighters with 3+6 hit dice? And then have “4th-level leaders” with 4+7 hit dice. Does that suggest that there’s “0-level svirfnebli” with 1+4 hit dice and that Gygax took it from there with the “classed” specimens? Meaning that a mountain dwarf lieutenant has 4+4 hit dice? But then why does the glossary in the DMG (p. 228) say “[B]Hit Dice[/B]—” —and round and round we go. Mind = blown. And then I haven't even mentioned the ogre mage chieftain with its "5 + 2 + 2 die". Nor, obviously, the lich. [/QUOTE]
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