Had a weird scenario come up in our game the other night, in which my wizard with false life was attacked and dealt 16 damage. I rolled 1d10+6 for the false life I had precast, got a 14, and told the GM that I only took 2 actual hit point damage, as false life soaked up most of it. The game moved on.
I've done this in DOZENS of games, with this GM and others. No one has ever had a problem with it.
Later in the same game with the same GM, I told him that I was casting false life again, to get a new batch of temporary hit points. He told me, rather curtly, to roll the result right after casting this time, rather than waiting till I was attacked.
I don't see what the big deal is. Every spellcaster I've ever played who is capable of it has pre-cast false life (or sometimes greater false life) at the start of the day. We print our character sheets and my spell slot that says false life is digitally crossed out to denote this, so its not like I lied about having cast it only as I was getting hurt.
I find that rolling the temporary hit points when I first take damage is easier, as I don't have to write the result down and risk losing the number, or worse, trying to remember it when there is so much going down. I was just trying to be efficient, not pull one over on the GM or anything. What is really weird, is that the GM has never seemed to have a problem with it before. Why the change? What might I be overlooking?
Anyways, I was wondering how other roleplayers feel about this situation. Would you, as a GM or a fellow player, have any problem with a player casting a spell like false life, but not rolling the temporary hit points until it mattered?
I always roll it when I announce I'm casting it. If it's at the start of the day, when I announce that I have that up as a day-starter spell I roll it. It's always announced and in the open, and that way I can monitor it myself without interrupting combat later on.
Seems like a situation of the DM just being irritated with you, and it coming out at that moment...I personally don't see the big deal if you consistently do false life the way you're talking about, though.
To go out on a limb and give the dm the benefit of the doubt as far as sanity is concerned I'll state that he probably thought that you were "casting" your false life more than once per usage of the spell.
That is the only reason I could see for him being upset other than nitpicking over procedure.
I wouldn't care in the slightest. If it does not matter it does not matter.
Meh, only if I started to wonder if they had actually cast the spell. My general rule would be whatever keeps the people at the table happy.
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I suppose there could be a corner-case where it would actually matter...but for the life of me I can't think of one. I guess it is more the fact that the DM may be confused as to when you actually USE your false life - ie. worried you may (accidentally or not) benefit from it more than once if you can just declare the subtraction from any attack.
For me personally, I would prefer it to be rolled when the spell is cast to save time in combat, which is slow enough without adding more dice.
I vote for roll it when you cast it. just seems like a much easier way. you can mark the points down on a scrap of paper and all is well.
not that your way is BAD. but I think as a GM I would want effects to happen at the time they are supposed to happen.
This reminds me of a few dozen Savage Love columns over the years.
Q: What did <person> mean when they said <blah>?
A: How should I know? Ask them.
Seriously though I don't see a problem with it, and if it's the way you've always done it with this GM especially, ask him or her what the deal was. Maybe he or she has wanted to make this change for a while and just snapped at you instead of bringing it up like a reasonable person. Maybe he or she doesn't actually care and was having a bad day. Maybe he or she doesn't care in general, but needed that information at that exact moment, and was too busy holding in a fart to modulate their tone properly. Who knows? Only the GM in question.
I got tired of rolling false life, so these days I just always go with an average result.
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I've taken to putting up sticky notes with all my active buffs and durations up where everyone can see them. I like the transparency and there is no questions or confusion about what's active at any given time. I also ask about how much time has elapsed frequently to and update as appropriate.
I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but I find that the more transparent I am as a player, the fewer weird moments I have with the GM in general. A sticky with "False Life 18 HP 10 hours" written on it would have avoided any sort of jolting mid-combat conversations like that.
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To me that's a really, really, really weird way of doing it. Just seems like more dice rolling in the middle of combat. What's wrong with saying to your GM 'Here are my daily buffs <hands list>, I roll False Life every morning.' Roll after rest, jot down temps on character sheet/scrap paper and off you go.
I have always rolled right away. It's not a big deal, but one less roll during combat means things move that much faster.
If its something you've done with this DM before and it just now became an issue- there really isn't any better solution than to sit down with the guy and talk about it. (or toss 'em an e-mail, or what have you).
Everyone has their off nights and that could have just been one of us. I think everyone is guilty at least occasionally of letting tiny little things irritate them, when they might not otherwise have done so.
That being said- there isn't really a right/wrong way to do it. I do have to admit though that it never would have occurred to me to wait until i was hit in combat to roll the dice. But i'm also a hoarder and rabid user of post-it-notes too.
I actually track my HP on a post-it-note that i ripped down to size and put over the HP box on the sheet. I put /95 in ink and then pencil in the damage on the left side of the slash. When my hp changes permanently or if I take so much damage the stickie needs to be replaced, i just replace it.
For false life i'd just use a slightly bigger sticky and put that on it too.
I don't think your way is "wrong" though.. it sounds more like your DM was jst having a twitchy night to me.
-S
The original poster's technique seems weird but relatively harmless.
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Why not just do it? It's not an unreasonable request and every GM runs his table differently. To be honest? If I were your GM I might owe you an apology for being curt, but I'd be incredibly insulted that you want behind his back and started asking how everyone else did it. It's kind of like a kid being told to go to bed at 8pm and responding that 'Tommy's dad lets him stay up till 9!'
Let the GM run his table his way, and don't get insulted by it imo. If you take offense every time a GM has his own way of doing things, you'll just make yourself miserable.
The reason I do it the way I do is I have really poor memory. I often forget what number of temporary hit points I have, or where I put that sticky note.
If I roll it as I'm damaged, it usually gets used up and I only have to know the result for the two seconds it takes me to do the hit point/damage math.
RD, this is just an idea but:
try cutting out a post it note into the approximate size of the HP box on your sheet.
Then in pen on the upper right (or whatever corner) write your max HP in pen.
On the opposite corner in pencil write the FL amount.
As you take damage, write it in pencil (subtracting the Fl amount to 0 then either counting up to your HP or whatever).
with it taking the place of your HP box, you can't really lose it and its always just right there.
Myself, i've also found this handy for issues where the session ends in mid-adventure whre you aren't necessarily at a good stopping point.
(I have something similar for spells too for that matter).
-S
You could also announce it to the group. Someone will most likely remember the number.
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The reason I do it the way I do is I have really poor memory. I often forget what number of temporary hit points I have, or where I put that sticky note.
If I roll it as I'm damaged, it usually gets used up and I only have to know the result for the two seconds it takes me to do the hit point/damage math.
Most people have poor memories when it comes to numbers like that. That's why we invented pencils.
If a player is constantly forgetting basic things like how many hit points his character has, I start to wonder what else is getting forgotten. If you can't keep track of hit points, how can you reasonably keep track of spells per day? Spell durations? Etc...
Roll it when you cast it. Write the temp hit points on your character sheet in pencil in parenthesis. Mark them off when they get used up.
Temp hit points are a big thing in 4e, they even have a spot on 4e character sheets to track them.
The reason I do it the way I do is I have really poor memory. I often forget what number of temporary hit points I have, or where I put that sticky note.
If I roll it as I'm damaged, it usually gets used up and I only have to know the result for the two seconds it takes me to do the hit point/damage math.
I highly recommend getting a cheap notebook for your character. At the start of every game I pick a page and that is my note paper for the day. Come up with a shorthand for all of your spells and other temporary modifiers and just note time cast and variable effect if its got one. I find this saves me a great deal of time and effort.
It also makes it easier to diagram out your rolls if someone calls shenanigans.
As GM I expect it to be rolled when the spell is cast - sometimes I keep damage secret and for that I need exact hp number of the party. I also prefer to know the current numbers to avoid accidentally finishing someone.
Since we print out our character sheets (which strongly resemble the official stat blocks of NPCs and monsters) there really isn't a HP box or temp HP box for me to fit a sticky into.
Notebook sounds nice though. I have several of those for other purposes, wouldn't hurt to co-opt one for roleplaying.
You could also announce it to the group. Someone will most likely remember the number.
That has not been my experience. It's hard enough to get them all to remember the beneficial buffs I bestow upon them (such as bless, magic weapon, or haste).
Small notepad or index cards might work. That is what I used when I play characters who expect to receive several buffs. That way I don't have to write on my character sheet.
We have and use index cards. They rarely survive from one game to the next, that and they promote doodling, which detracts from the game.
To track temporary items I use wet erase markers and write directly on the plastic sheet protector I have my character sheet in.
I use the wet erase to check off spells, track hit points, note any temporary buff adjustments, etc...
The real great thing about the wet erase markers is that you can end the session at any time, and the next time you start, all your temporary marks are still there. You have to use a wet paper towel to erase them.
Works perfectly.
This is why I use an 8 1/2 by 11 looseleaf sheet of paper for my character sheet.
I dedicate an entire line for my hit points, adding and (usually) subtracting my hit points from left to right, with non-lethal damage going from right to left. I track DR in the margin to the left. Ditto any fast healing or energy resistance.
But when you cast a spell, you should resolve the spell.
Just because you are using index cards that does not mean the other players should be drawing. You should hoard them inside of one of your books or the GM should hold on to them.
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I roll the false life dice the first time my character gets hit too.
He casts it every day (and at lower levels sometimes cast it twice a day to cover the whole adventuring day), and a good percentage of those times there isn't combat that day, or he manages not to get hit in the combat. It saves time overall to only roll when it actually matters. I just roll the false life dice while the GM is rolling damage dice and totalling up damage, so it doesn't slow down combat.
That being said, if I had a GM who would prefer me to roll it every single time, I would. As a GM, I don't care what players do in general, though in my Kingmaker campaign I don't always keep track of days precisely, since I run more on the scale of months, so rolling with every casting would be impossible for the players.
Just a thought... the DM could be interested in the fudge-factor. He likely knows how many hit points your character has. If he knows how many temporary hit points you have, he has a running total. When an orc barbarian with a greataxe Power Attacks you and crits, he might... adjust the damage rolled. He could for instance leave you a hit point or two shy of negative Con, to give your fellows a chance to heal you, or for you to manage to stabilize. If your temp hit points are rolled as you take damage, he loses the granularity.
I'm not advocating fudging or looking to start a debate there, but off the top of my head there's one reason a DM might want to have the roll done at casting time.
To track temporary items I use wet erase markers and write directly on the plastic sheet protector I have my character sheet in.
I use the wet erase to check off spells, track hit points, note any temporary buff adjustments, etc...
The real great thing about the wet erase markers is that you can end the session at any time, and the next time you start, all your temporary marks are still there. You have to use a wet paper towel to erase them.
Works perfectly.
I tried this, but found they rubbed off between sessions :\
How do you keeps yours from doin that?
-S
Discuss it with your GM. Tell him that your character is either pragmatic or paranoid and has a standard operating procedure of casting false life immediately when s/he wakes up unless something prevents it. Then explain why you waited until damage was dealt (namely, if no damage was going to be dealt, why waste time rolling the dice, writing, and erasing?) If the GM goes for it, great; just make sure he sees you roll the dice for it. If not, tough break; just mention it to him every. single. morning, roll the dice in front of him, write it down, and move on. If/when he starts to get irritated about it, he may change his mind.
Do similar things come up when characters cast mage armor or other dailies?