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I DM. Last night my players hit level 4 in the middle of a dungeon. They bashed down a bunch of skeletons, but they lost a ton of hitpoints in the process.
I told them they had leveled, and they said that in their previous games whenever they had leveled they had instantly gotten all their hit points back.
Now, to me this doesn't make much sense. After all, they hadn't been healed in any way. And leveling up, to me, isn't some magical event with glowing sparklies that happens in-world, it's just a point at which the characters improve their skills and abilities.
So I said no, you don't get any hitpoints. Then I compromised and said they'd regain a number of current hit points equal to what they roll for their new level's hit die (so they'd still be missing the same amount from their new maximum).
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
I DM. Last night my players hit level 4 in the middle of a dungeon. They bashed down a bunch of skeletons, but they lost a ton of hitpoints in the process.
I told them they had leveled, and they said that in their previous games whenever they had leveled they had instantly gotten all their hit points back.
Now, to me this doesn't make much sense. After all, they hadn't been healed in any way. And leveling up, to me, isn't some magical event with glowing sparklies that happens in-world, it's just a point at which the characters improve their skills and abilities.
So I said no, you don't get any hitpoints. Then I compromised and said they'd regain a number of current hit points equal to what they roll for their new level's hit die (so they'd still be missing the same amount from their new maximum).
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
My PCs don't level up when they hit the required number of XP. They level up when they hit the required number of XP *and* they finish the current arc. (Or at night time, if it's a long long arc)
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That's just a videogame trope. Tell them to suck it up and put their big boy pants on. (Politely).
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My PCs don't level up when they hit the required number of XP. They level up when they hit the required number of XP *and* they finish the current arc. (Or at night time, if it's a long long arc)I DM. Last night my players hit level 4 in the middle of a dungeon. They bashed down a bunch of skeletons, but they lost a ton of hitpoints in the process.
I told them they had leveled, and they said that in their previous games whenever they had leveled they had instantly gotten all their hit points back.
Now, to me this doesn't make much sense. After all, they hadn't been healed in any way. And leveling up, to me, isn't some magical event with glowing sparklies that happens in-world, it's just a point at which the characters improve their skills and abilities.
So I said no, you don't get any hitpoints. Then I compromised and said they'd regain a number of current hit points equal to what they roll for their new level's hit die (so they'd still be missing the same amount from their new maximum).
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
Sensible. I also made them go back and rest for the night as they take their level (though they're sleeping in the dungeon).
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In my game, their damage doesn't go away, but they get a higher total. So I do what you ended up doing. Works better if you keep track of total damage taken vs. max rather than a running total of hit points (i.e., HP X, damage taken Y; then X goes up while Y stays the same).
I don't know that there's specific rules that address this, but it seems lame to auto-heal just because you got a level.
Every group I’ve played with levels up during rest/downtimes only. As long as the PCs take some token precautions to ensure they aren’t ambushed at camp, they awaken fully rested and leveled up.
The players know it. The GMs know it. Everyone plays along to keep the hand waving easy and the cheese factor at a reasonable level.
Sometimes the PCs try and chance it with what they’ve got. Other times they give the BBEG an extra day to plan too. Let the party decide which risk looks better to them.
In my game, their damage doesn't go away, but they get a higher total. So I do what you ended up doing. Works better if you keep track of total damage taken vs. max rather than a running total of hit points (i.e., HP X, damage taken Y; then X goes up while Y stays the same).
I don't know that there's specific rules that address this, but it seems lame to auto-heal just because you got a level.
This.
I started the dungeon with 48 hps, I took 39 damage.... At the end of the game night, I leveled up.
Now I have 55 hps, but the 39 damage never went anywhere.
Typically speaking, I don't hand XP out until the mission is over, they are back to town, etc. So the question would not come up. Some roleplay usually takes place for the leveling up, though I am not as hard about it as some GMs might be.
The one caveat I will throw out, is that over many, many years of playing, I have had occasion to be ruling when a character who has technically earned enough XP to reach the next level, was hit for a lot of damage. Sensing the player may be upset (I think understandably so), that his character is technically about to die because I didn't "let" him level up, I have extended that player "credit."
What that means is, I have let him roll his next Hit Die, add his Con bonus, just as if I had let him level up. He otherwise does not adjust any other stats - that must still wait until everybody does later, but it gives him a chance. If the new hit points save him, so be it. If not, so be it.
This has come up about three times, going back to 2nd Edition. It has always met with approval, and it has always seemed fair to me.
Not on any of these occasions did I allow him to get ALL of his hp back. That's crazy.
No. I give out XP at the end of every session. Your max hit points can go up if you level, but current hit points stay the same.
I don't give out XP...
Nah, just playing. I dont think I've ever leveled people in dungeon. Your solution was good though. That's what I would have done.
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
I always refresh everything on level up. Hit Points are such an abstraction anyway, why not?
And I don't use XP per kill or whatever, I honestly just give it essentially arbitrarily, based vaguely on how I think they did, so if I really didn't want them to recharge, I just wouldn't level them yet.
I don't level up my players in between story arcs. I level them up between sit down game sessions. Doesn't matter if they are in the middle of a dungeon or not.
If they are, and they are hurt, they gain the new level's hit points, but do not heal to full.
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I DM. Last night my players hit level 4 in the middle of a dungeon. They bashed down a bunch of skeletons, but they lost a ton of hitpoints in the process.
I told them they had leveled, and they said that in their previous games whenever they had leveled they had instantly gotten all their hit points back.
Now, to me this doesn't make much sense. After all, they hadn't been healed in any way. And leveling up, to me, isn't some magical event with glowing sparklies that happens in-world, it's just a point at which the characters improve their skills and abilities.
So I said no, you don't get any hitpoints. Then I compromised and said they'd regain a number of current hit points equal to what they roll for their new level's hit die (so they'd still be missing the same amount from their new maximum).
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
In the few and far between situations in which PCs level up in the middle of a dungeon/combat situation, they just get the new HPs as a new "max value", but they heal none. So, if you are at 26 HPs over a max value of 50 before level up and gain 6 new HPs (dice roll!), you are now at 26 HPs out of a max value of 56.
Yeah, I'm harsh.However usually I give out XPs at the end of specific part of the adventure, and leveling requires at least a day of rest/light activity, so it's really strange to be in such a situation.
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?
When I began DMing my own group, I followed the advice of my first DM and leveled everyone between adventures. They weren't keen on it at first, but after a few sessions, the arguing over game mechanics went away. Players switched from fighting over XP rights to kill count competitions *in character*, skill-monkey players felt just as useful and stopped falling behind, and players stopped going "meta" in the middle of the game when they knew a level-up was imminent ("Let me kill that goblin! 5 more XP and I'll learn Fireball!").
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In my game, their damage doesn't go away, but they get a higher total. So I do what you ended up doing. Works better if you keep track of total damage taken vs. max rather than a running total of hit points (i.e., HP X, damage taken Y; then X goes up while Y stays the same).
I don't know that there's specific rules that address this, but it seems lame to auto-heal just because you got a level.
This is how I would do it.
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When I ran Pathfinder, I always had characters level up during downtime, even fairly brief downtime like a day or so.
However, my current GM did it the "video-game" way: white glow, sudden full HP restoration, refresh on all spells and powers. I thought he was being ridiculously gameish until I realised that (a) he's not like that, and (b) his setting is quite realistic otherwise.
So I narrowed my eyes and muttered to him "The only possible way that would make sense IC would be if a powerful outsider's keeping a direct eye on this party." I got a level look in reply.
...guess what I've since found out is happening? :)
I'm curious: how do other DMs usually handle this? Is it a common practice to give injured PCs some HP back when they level?When I began DMing my own group, I followed the advice of my first DM and leveled everyone between adventures. They weren't keen on it at first, but after a few sessions, the arguing over game mechanics went away. Players switched from fighting over XP rights to kill count competitions *in character*, skill-monkey players felt just as useful and stopped falling behind, and players stopped going "meta" in the middle of the game when they knew a level-up was imminent ("Let me kill that goblin! 5 more XP and I'll learn Fireball!").
I know another easy fix for this kind of behavior. Everyone levels up together, always. This is especially easy in Pathfinder, where nothing costs XP.
This IS supposed to be a cooperative team game, after all.
I know another easy fix for this kind of behavior. Everyone levels up together, always. This is especially easy in Pathfinder, where nothing costs XP.
This IS supposed to be a cooperative team game, after all.
This. Call me lazy, but everyone leveling at the same time is not only easier, but fits the idea of a cooperative game, and makes it easier for me to plan their next bout of horror.
CR is CR. Party of four. Check, please!
When the party has taken enough hp damage that they need to heal up before continuing, let them camp enough days to heal up, between a combination of the following:
- Heal skill - can heal hp/character level per day, or even twice hp/character level per day, in certain situations.
- Heal spells - how many days does it take for a druid, cleric, bard, or ranger to use up their cure spells and then rest another day to be fresh and ready to start?
- wands of CLW
- potions of CLW
If you were running some kind of crazy gauntlet-style campaign, where the PCs couldn't rest and always had to be on the move (in a drow city, perhaps), then you can insert a GM-controlled object that makes sense for them to insta-heal, such as an orb, given to the party by a powerful beneficiary, that transports them to a demiplane, where time flows faster, letting them take a few days (protected), while almost no time passes on the prime material plane.
I prefer to make level-ups when the situation is quiet, but in certain situations (random example: between two consecutive boss fights, if I see it fit) I let them be "on the spot".
In such case, the HP I let the PCs recover are those given by Con (and Toughness). That's all.
i did this a couple of sessions. I give points after encounters/challenges, sometimes this is just one fight other times it is a couple fights.
When they level in the middle they get new HP added to their total but no damage healed. I allow them uses of feats that they get. But new spells they do not get to use until they have rested.
I started the dungeon with 48 hps, I took 39 damage.... At the end of the game night, I leveled up.
Now I have 55 hps, but the 39 damage never went anywhere.
Precisely. None of my groups have a video-game style leveling system. We all need to manage a good night's rest to level and once complete your maximum and current hit points both go up by your rolled value plus your bonus (for one level) from Con, Toughness, Favored Class and any other rider effects.
End result is you're still down as much damage as you were before. As in you still need the same amount of healing.
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I don't level up my players in between story arcs. I level them up between sit down game sessions. Doesn't matter if they are in the middle of a dungeon or not.
If they are, and they are hurt, they gain the new level's hit points, but do not heal to full.
This is what I do too. Levels are metagame constructs, not game world realities. You level when you level, no matter where you are. But you don't gain lost HP or spells slots or anything else you've expended until you rest. You get your new HP, and your new spell slots, and other things like ki points and what not, but if you're a prepared caster, those slots aren't going to be useful right away.
I know another easy fix for this kind of behavior. Everyone levels up together, always. This is especially easy in Pathfinder, where nothing costs XP.
This IS supposed to be a cooperative team game, after all.
This. Call me lazy, but everyone leveling at the same time is not only easier, but fits the idea of a cooperative game, and makes it easier for me to plan their next bout of horror.
CR is CR. Party of four. Check, please!
Me three! I don't bother with individual XP. It doesn't get used for anything but determining level. That's if I even bother with XP instead of just leveling the party at required plot points.
recruits fight each other
To the death, yes? :P Gotta be an actual challenge and not just padded wooden swords.