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Do you guys allow for set hit points per level? I tend to let them roll for hp, the lowest they can receive is half the die type. But I was thinking of just giving them 75% of the hit die with no rolling. It seems silly for a barbarian to roll a 1 on a D12, than have a wizard roll 6's and be really close to the front line assualt character in hp.
Also I am in different to monster HP as well. I always want to give them full HP. I am not a fan of chance that has a long term effect, like HPs and starting gold.
What do you do?
Do you guys allow for set hit points per level? I tend to let them roll for hp, the lowest they can receive is half the die type. But I was thinking of just giving them 75% of the hit die with no rolling. It seems silly for a barbarian to roll a 1 on a D12, than have a wizard roll 6's and be really close to the front line assualt character in hp.
Also I am in different to monster HP as well. I always want to give them full HP. I am not a fan of chance that has a long term effect, like HPs and starting gold.
What do you do?
We roll for HPs but we up the average by rolling 1d4+(the difference between 4 and the max roll).
So 1d6 HD = 1d4+2, 1d8 = 1d4+4, 1d10 = 1d4+6, 1d12 = 1d4+8
Average HP for everything, monsters and players.
I have been considering changing that to full HP for everything, and would love to hear some pros and cons from people that have made that change.
Do you guys allow for set hit points per level?
What do you do?Max hit points for first level, + Con Bonus + Racial Bonus (from PF Beta).
After that, half HD+1 per level + Con + favored class bonus.
Oh and 1st level for good survivability you can do max + con bonus + con score.
So fighter with 18 con would have 10+4+18 = 32hp at 1st.
I give them (half die size)+(con modifier, etc.) each level and twice that at 1st.
I am not a fan of chance that has a long term effect . . .
I dislike that kind of random determination as well. I usually give average rounded up.
d6 = 4
d8 = 5
d10 = 6
d12 = 7
Let them roll, and anything below half gets rounded up to half. So on a D6 you always get minimum 3, D12 minimum 6. This method results in an average hp gain of just under 2/3 of max (so not much higher than half), is a random system without 1's or 2's for hp bringing huge disappointment, and having the excitement of the chance to roll max.
edit: for fun calculated actual average hp gains
D12=64.3%
D10=65%
D8=65.625%
D6=66.7%
I currently do straight rolls. Max at first level.
In a game I play in, the DM does Max at first, roll after. If you do not like your roll, than you may roll again using the next die type lower. You may repeat the process till you end up with one HP. d12>d10>d8>d6>d4>d2>1hp I like this method.
In 3.5, our regular DM gave us max at first with choice of roll or 50%max.
Oh, and for NPC/monsters I usually roll as well.
Greg
I do max at first level, then roll for the rest.
But always reroll ones. d10s and d12 rerolls twos as well.
The same rules apply for all monsters.
I witness all HP rolls, but you would shocked how many high rolls there are when HPs are on the line!
When a rule is almost universally house-ruled, it's time to change the rule in the next version. Over multiple versions, D&D has moved from rolling stats strictly, to rolling them more generously, to point buy.
Hit points have gone from all rolled all the time, to max at 1st level, to static for monsters, to adding 1 per level for favored class and increasing most of the lower die sizes. The next step in that progression really should be eliminating the HD roll altogether.
In my group the players roll for the hit points, and if they don't like the number they can choose to take whatever I roll as a DM. They have to take whatever I roll though. Most people don't go for the reroll unless they roll less than half.
we always roll in my group, the funny thing is that one of the players in my group was playing an elf monk with a 12 con, and he rolled only 1's and 2's for every level, we made it to 8th level before everyone but the monk died. he had the highest AC of everyone in the group so he almost never got hit.
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Hello Everyone,
I have used the following system which favours the higher die types:
You roll your die (for example a d10). You can accept the roll or go down to the next die (for example roll a 2 on a d10, reject it and then roll a d8). You can keep doing this until you are happy with the result or you roll a d4 and therefore must accept the result. I have found that this gives a neat advantage to the fighter types over the casters.
In the future (Pathfinder 2E?), I can see feats and class abilities getting melded into the same mechanic. What would be interesting is attaching an hp value to each of these abilities (normally 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4). For example, choosing the toughness feat may contribute 4hps to your total where as skill focus (basketweaving) would contribute 0hps. In this way, the abilities your character garners determines their hit points in a more natural way while allowing for a good spread of hit points rather than the somewhat robotic non-rolled results.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
We roll the die twice and take whichever is higher. It seems to work pretty well and eliminates alot of the lower rolls while still giving something around the average.
I use the average myself, max at first level, half round down for each even level, half round up for each odd level.
The way we do it is: Full hp at 1st level, then half +1 from there on out.
Back when I started playing DnD, we also had max at level1 and rolled for every level after that. We had the house rule, that if you rolled a 1, you get max at your next levelup. Which I got a few times, also rolled a lot of 2s and 3s :(
With my newest group, I had max. hp at first level, + racial bonus (from the beta rules) of 1d6 or 1d8. As we did not get higher than 1st level yet, the question did not come up. In my last campaign, I had my players roll twice and take the better result. I had the idea to have the players rolling some smaller die + bonus, like d6+4 for fighters to have at least average results every time, but did not use that idea yet.
Stefan
I always use the following rule :
Max HP at 1st level, half the HD rounded up for all others levels.
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I have pretty good experiences with the following:
At first level you get max hp + CON + CON-Modifier.
Thereafter roll normal, and if you don't like the result, you may use a heropoint to roll again and take the higher of the two values.
This looks like a lot of hp for 1st level, but it really helps in the first few encounters. What I absolutely didn't like at the beginning levels of play was the fact, that my players made an 8 hour rest after almost EVERY encounter.
With the above rule, that problem almost immediately dissapeared.
Ya
Always do CON + Con-modifier then Roll for all class levels as normal.
Monster are done same way.
Like Dryder said, it really helps at low levels, were low HP are a problem vs instant death by sword or arrow.
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In my group the players roll for the hit points, and if they don't like the number they can choose to take whatever I roll as a DM. They have to take whatever I roll though. Most people don't go for the reroll unless they roll less than half.
We do this as well, though the player gets to keep the higher of the two rolls. Makes for higher hit point totals on average.
We roll for HPs but we up the average by rolling 1d4+(the difference between 4 and the max roll).
So 1d6 HD = 1d4+2, 1d8 = 1d4+4, 1d10 = 1d4+6, 1d12 = 1d4+8
I used to do something similar, but this is much simpler & cleaner and allows for enough randomness/fun of the die roll, while hedging bets in favor of the players.
we have historically rolled hp. but this always frustrated me as it's the one char advancement thing out of player controll. after some discussion the option to roll or use average rounded up was proposed. used it for current Campari and all the large hd classes have used it over rolling.
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My opinion is that 1st level hp = HD+con+con modifier seems to be a little too much. a barbarian could easily hit 35hp at level 1. They would win fights just on attrition.
Maybe at level 1 just get your hit points from your con score and mod alone. with HD no factoring in until level 2.
I do like the idea of half the hit die given, and role the remaining hp value. such as a D12= 1d6+6, that seems pretty balanced.
Thank you for all your ideas.
For level 1 hit points, I do max + your Constitution score(not including modifier), roll for 'em from then on. This usually leads to slightly more resilient characters, but not to the point that they're invincible.
Full Hit Points seems like it would give an advantage to the Martial Classes. I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing.
If I ever run a Pathfinder game, I will likely do full Hit Points. I want the PCs to be larger than life.
We still roll for PCs.
1d6 = 1d3+3
1d8 = 1d4+4
1d10 = 1d5+5
1d12 = 1d6+6
I have my players roll this way because it creates discrete bands of HP a give HD, but it still allows for a little variation.
For NPCs, average HP for normal encounters, max HP for bosses if necessary.
I had an idea that I'm going to try out in my next campaign. Max + con mod at first level, as usual. Each level after, you roll for hp but if the result on the die is equal to or less than your con mod you reroll.
I had an idea that I'm going to try out in my next campaign. Max + con mod at first level, as usual. Each level after, you roll for hp but if the result on the die is equal to or less than your con mod you reroll.
Do you still get your con bonus on top of that?
I've seen too many imbalances created by rolling HP NOT averaging out over time.
I do max at level 1, then happy side of average after that.
I should also add that giving monsters max HP really screws marshal types, and makes healing and damage dealing spells much weaker. Given the number of complaints about how underpowered these things are, I'm beginning to suspect a correlation...
In my game, characters (and creatures) with PC class levels receive max HP at 1st level and the average of two rolls for each additional level. Monster hit dice and NPC class levels are just straight rolls (no average).
House rule I wouldn't mind trying: Con score + rolled HD at first level, rolled HD every level afterwards, no Con bonus added in.
I tried something like that one of my first times around, but it lead to characters that were just too anemic for my liking, especially with my critical hit houserules.
I've played around with the Racial HD kicker and the Con Score + HD model a couple of time for tests and I haven't really decided which one I prefer.
My major problem with the Con Score + HD model is that it boosts the HPs of mooks too much which makes direct damage attacks even more problematic at low level.
The Racial HD kicker is kinda nice because it's smaller than Con Score and certain races should be tougher than others but I also understand that it could be perceived as biased against small PCs.
HPs are maximum at 1st level for PCs and major named NPCs. Generic cast and monsters use average. PCs can roll (rerolling 1s) or take average HPs. NPCs use average after 1st unless it's a named NPC or monster.
A dragon for example might have 75-100% of HPs. But goblins will be average.
I've played around with the Racial HD kicker and the Con Score + HD model a couple of time for tests and I haven't really decided which one I prefer.
My major problem with the Con Score + HD model is that it boosts the HPs of mooks too much which makes direct damage attacks even more problematic at low level.
The Racial HD kicker is kinda nice because it's smaller than Con Score and certain races should be tougher than others but I also understand that it could be perceived as biased against small PCs.
HPs are maximum at 1st level for PCs and major named NPCs. Generic cast and monsters use average. PCs can roll (rerolling 1s) or take average HPs. NPCs use average after 1st unless it's a named NPC or monster.
A dragon for example might have 75-100% of HPs. But goblins will be average.
I've found the best way around this is to not do this(Con Score + HD) for the NPCs, even important ones.
I've found the best way around this is to not do this(Con Score + HD) for the NPCs, even important ones.
I could do that but one of the key things that appeals to me about 3.x in contrast to other versions of D&D is that NPCs and PCs use the same build rules. While that might make them needlessly complex to generate and play from an aesthetics reason I like having both types of characters operate on the same ruleset.
So for me the kicker needs to be scaled for both PC and NPC use.
I've found the best way around this is to not do this(Con Score + HD) for the NPCs, even important ones.I could do that but one of the key things that appeals to me about 3.x in contrast to other versions of D&D is that NPCs and PCs use the same build rules. While that might make them needlessly complex to generate and play from an aesthetics reason I like having both types of characters operate on the same ruleset.
So for me the kicker needs to be scaled for both PC and NPC use.
You could use the old "PC classes are better than NPC classes and racial HD" trick. The rules already specify that if your first level is a PC class level, you get max for that level.
So why not: if your first level is a PC class level, add your Con score. Important NPCs with PC classes get a survivability boost, while warriors, adepts, and the like can still function as low-HP mooks.
We do max at every level. The understood rule we have is you get max hit points and into the meat grinder.
For example , a typical fight at level 1 for us would be 4 zombies and 2 ghouls. One of the fights we had last saturday at level 6 was 2 winter wolfs and 4 vamipre spawns followed by the vampire ( had to run from vamp ).
I do rerolls on certain HD as follows:
1D6 no reroll
1D8 reroll 1s
1D10 reroll 1s and 2s
1D12 reroll 1s, 2s, and 3s
Nothings worse than having a Wizard with more hit points than fighter. I've seen it happen with wizard who has a good con stat and fighter rolling a string of 1s for hit point over 8 levels. In fact in this case the rogue as had more hit points too. Sucked for the fighter.
This doesn't eliminate the problem entirely but it makes it much less likely to occur.
I like the way Pathfinder does this, i.e. let groups/GMs decide how they do things like HP or attribute generation.
Personally, I've banned all randomness from character generation and advancement.
I use purchase for attributes.
For HP, I use average rounded up (i.e. a d10 is 6, since it has an average of 5.5, which is 6 rounded up). All dice are like that (no maximised die at first level). As a start-up boost, characters get a virtual d8 (i.e. extra HP equal to 5 + con modifier, plus 1 if they have toughness). This makes it irrelevant which class you started with in case of multiclassing (together with PF's improved skill system) and usually gives you a bit of a boost, which is especially useful at 1st level.