Can a character with the sun blessed trait choose NOT to take temporary HPs?

[2bz2p]

After a battle a cleric rolled up a whopper of a burst of healing. One of the PC's had the sun blessed trait and was disappointed when I ruled that the Temporary HP's were activated and faded away a minute later while the party inventoried treasure. They didn't argue with the ruling but feels it is an error to force a character to take the temp HPs when they would rather save them for a more dire time.

Are they right?

Sun-Blessed:

Your birth came at a time when the sun was auspiciously aligned with your birth sign. As a result, you have a natural affinity for light and life.

Benefit(s): Whenever you’re affected by a healing effect that would heal more hit points than your maximum hit point total, you gain the excess healing as temporary hit points. You can gain up to a number of temporary hit points per day equal to your character level in this way. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute.

[Ryze Kuja]

Although it is not explicitly enumerated as such in the trait as to allow a PC with this trait to *choose* when/where/how the Temp HP are gained, I think it would be fair to allow the PC in question the ability to *choose* to accept or reject it. We're only talking about [Character level]x1 Temp HP for 1 minute here, so it's hardly game-imbalancing to allow them to choose, and it would keep your PC happy to have that choice/flexibility.

I mean, you could rule as a strictly RAW ruling of how this trait works as to disallow the PC the ability to choose when/where/how they gain these temporary HP, and you wouldn't be wrong to do so per RAW. But, you're also establishing the precedent that this trait entirely up to GM intrusions in the future, and tbh, this makes this trait somewhat worthless in the circumstances when the PC really wants to have it active.

[Diego Rossi]

Your decision was correct. The PC accepted the healing, and, AFAIK, there is no ability that allows you to "take" only part of the healing. Simply, if there is excess healing, for most people, it is wasted. For a sun-blessed character it is a bit less wasted in the right circumstances.

At most you could allow him to declare how much healing he will refuse before the cure is used, but he should state how much he will refuse, not how much he will accept. And even that is stretching the trait beyond what it does.

Remember, it is a trait. Traits aren't that powerful (theoretically, there are exceptions).

If you look at how it works, it is meant to help with healing during combat, not post-battle healing.

[Zwordsman]

Yep. The trait doesn't have an optional or voluntary activator. Its simply "max hp = temp hp overflow" with no control. it is sad. But it is sort of how it works.

So RAW Rules yep. You are correct. it activated and wasted.

All of that said.. I think th trait is a bit weird even for a trait. Giving a max per day and a time limit is odd.

So. If I wa at a home game I'd change it. I'd remove the daily limitor. But keep it character level and 1 min duration. So its never 'used up" per day. I think that's just useless tracking and doesn't jive with the general passive benefits traits give. Even if they used it as prebuffing that'd still eat healing resources to do it.

[Diego Rossi]

Zwordsman wrote:

Yep. The trait doesn't have an optional or voluntary activator. Its simply "max hp = temp hp overflow" with no control. it is sad. But it is sort of how it works.

So RAW Rules yep. You are correct. it activated and wasted.

All of that said.. I think th trait is a bit weird even for a trait. Giving a max per day and a time limit is odd.

So. If I wa at a home game I'd change it. I'd remove the daily limitor. But keep it character level and 1 min duration. So its never 'used up" per day. I think that's just useless tracking and doesn't jive with the general passive benefits traits give. Even if they used it as prebuffing that'd still eat healing resources to do it.

Temporary hp normally have a duration, otherwise, people would stack different sources of temporary hp for days to get the maximum benefit.

I agree that the daily limit is a bit weird, but without it, a character would receive a Heal before battle and start it with more than a hundred temporary hp.
Making the limit to 1 temporary hp/character level as the maximum value of temporary hp from this source, without a daily limit could keep it balanced. You need to try it and see how it works in actual play.

[Zwordsman]

Diego Rossi wrote:

I agree that the daily limit is a bit weird, but without it, a character would receive a Heal before battle and start it with more than a hundred temporary hp.
Making the limit to 1 temporary hp/character level as the maximum value of temporary hp from this source, without a daily limit could keep it balanced. You need to try it and see how it works in actual play.

Spoilered because its off topic of the rules forum~:

Its true most temp hp's have a time limit. Not all of them though. I think they should all have a limit though The ones that don't are small temp hp amounts though. and AFAIK Temp Hp can't stack regardless of differing sources. So I figure they probably just didn't care about the small one. For instance that Arcane Strike for wyrewood race one has no limit. But is very small amounts on a specific class. I feel like there really should be a general rule about losing all Temp HP when you sleep rest though.
So good point it needs some kind of limit. Given the thematics of that trait.... I feel like "lost at sunset" or "sunrise" or some phrasing that just means "next solar cycle" that covers set and rise would be good time limit for any left overs.

I did suggest keeping the character level limit per instance, and removing the daily limit. You remove the per day limit but you retain the character level. So if they wanted to spend a healing spell, channel, or whatever before a fight. They could prep up for some temp HP but it would eat the daily resources in exchange.

So you could spend healing to get Char Lv before a fight, lose it all and do it again the next fight if you wanted. Its still pretty niche and still eats a fair bit of resources of the day if you do that. It effectively becomes pre-healing.

About the only time I see that being problematic is at lv 15+ where level 1 slots are pretty rarely used for a lot of things but could be usued to prebuff if you saw something coming. Though with the time limit it would compete with other buffs and time. Still pretty niche and just becomes a trait of the character which i'm fine with. High level is often wonky anyway.

[Diego Rossi]

Only temporary HPs from the same source don't stack.

FAQ wrote:

Temporary Hit Points: Do temporary hit point from the same source stack?

No. Generally, effects do not stack if they are from the same source (Core Rulebook page 208, Combining Magical Effects). Although temporary hit points are not a "bonus," the principle still applies.

This prevents a creature with energy drain (which grants the creature 5 temporary hit points when used) from draining an entire village of 100 people in order to gain 500 temporary hit points before the PCs arrive to fight it.

Temporary hit points from different sources (such as an aid spell, a use of energy drain, and a vampiric touch spell) still stack with each other.
posted September 2013 | back to top

[Zwordsman]

Huh. That makes me (As an alchemist) wanna use that combine elixir to make a supe temp hp elixir