Here is what we do, and I am pretty fond of it. There is always an element of mystery involved.
- Players rolls
- DM makes secret roll
- Both re-roll 1's
- Player can decide between their result or the mystery DM result
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I've been playing around with a house rule that's been working pretty well for softening bad rolls while still giving my players that thrill of rolling. I let them roll an additional die per point of CON mod, taking the best result from that pool. So a character that puts a lot of focus into their constitution can be pretty sure that their HP totals will fall more in line with the best that their class hit die can offer.
The ways I've seen it done (other than just taking average or average+2, that still involve rolling):
Player rolls and the GM secretly rolls. The player decides between what they know they got and whatever the GM may have got.
Roll normally. If you roll under average, roll again. Keep whichever of the two is higher.
I prefer the average or average+number methods, personally.
Been doing this for awhile and players like it.
Levels 1-5 Max HP
Levels 6-20 Either take average or roll players choice. Have to decide each level and before rolling. If you take two levels of average you get the two 0.5 hp's to add together granting you one higher HP on the second level.
However I also give companions and Edolions Max HP on each HD at player request, due to the fact that my players usually bring "optimized to concept" characters and the only AC/Edolion/Cohorts they have tend to be a big part of their characters. Without this Houserule companions were getting killed every fight.
Funny thing is my synth summoner still generally seems to feel like the weakest in the party.
Really?
Sneak Attack: Each time you gain a level as a Rogue, roll 1d3-1: the result (zero to two) is the number of extra Sneak Attack dice you gain at that level.
Yes, really. Randomized in the same way that channel energy is. And d2-1 SA dice each level would yield a median result closer to the actual progression. Your range is zero to forty SA dice.
DM Dudemeister, you're right. I also prefer average hit points.
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The amount of Sneak Attack dice you get is not randomised, nor the dice of Channel Energy. It's only the damage done which is random, just like any weapon damage.
Refusing to play just because the HP result is random makes as much sense as refusing to play because my fireball damage is random, or my longsword damage is random.
I'm used to the rerolling natural ones on the dice.
The amount of Sneak Attack dice you get is not randomised, nor the dice of Channel Energy. It's only the damage done which is random, just like any weapon damage.
Refusing to play just because the HP result is random makes as much sense as refusing to play because my fireball damage is random, or my longsword damage is random.
I don't know who is refusing to play that you're referring to. I prefer average hit points, but we roll in the group I'm in.
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In this thread someone said that they refuse to play in any game that rolls for hit points, unless they also randomly rolled for class each level.
The only D&D/PF game with rolled stats and hp I could see playing in is one where race and class is rolled, too. And the class rolled for each level.
Since that would be absurd, he's essentially refusing to play any game where hit points are rolled.
That's quite unrolly of him, but I guess some people do prefer to be on the safer side and just take the static result.
My group gets a choice - take half+1 (rounding the 0,5 upwards in fact) or roll rerolling 1s. Simple as that.
The retraining someone mentionned is a great catch too. Should help me fix that 2 on my swashbuckler dip..ugh, took a dip into a higher hd class just to roll a 2 can you believe that
In this thread someone said that they refuse to play in any game that rolls for hit points, unless they also randomly rolled for class each level.
The only D&D/PF game with rolled stats and hp I could see playing in is one where race and class is rolled, too. And the class rolled for each level.Since that would be absurd, he's essentially refusing to play any game where hit points are rolled.
Right.
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Thats is quite absurd. I have gaming preferences too, but its better to actually be able to play an RPG with your friends than concoct reasons to not play. I don''t like Rifts PRG, but played it for a few years anyways because thats when my gaming group at the time was into.
Thats is quite absurd. I have gaming preferences too, but its better to actually be able to play an RPG with your friends than concoct reasons to not play. I don''t like Rifts PRG, but played it for a few years anyways because thats when my gaming group at the time was into.
When I had more time than RPG games I played everything I could (ok nearly everything). But now that I have less time I tend to be more selective. Now no gaming is really better than bad gaming.
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At one point the OP asked if there was plenty of downtime in Carrion crown... I'd say you can get some if you place it there. While it is a "race to the grand mcguffin" styled game, alot of research and occult forces are in play. So you can add time here and there. For instance, at the end of book two, I had Count Caromarc promise to give the party a sealed invitation to the Ascanor Lodge in the third book. It takes time to get things such as this so they had a full month to wait. This allowed the Alchemist to craft plenty of goodies, the wizard to get his student debts paid off, and the Bard to actually perform so well over a weeks time that an Azata was intrigued and gave him a unique instrument/whip (I modified the halfling string cord thing that gives bonuses to fear effects as a scorpion whip with 1d4 flaming, and some other goodies.)
After the first book I actually had the players go through the entire time frame of 1 or 2 months (can't remember how long it is) of looking after the professor's daughter and enjoying the winter feast of the village.
My friends and I generally just take straight die roll on whatever is rolled. However, you can always request for a GM roll after you see your result. The thing is, you are stuck with the GM roll if you do this, ever if it is worse than your personal roll.
Most will ask for GM roll only if they get a 1 or 2. One session, I had one guy ask me for a reroll on a 6 of 10, I got him a 10 on the GM roll. Next guy asked for a reroll on a 2 of 8. I rolled him a 1.