Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SmoothJedi 01-22-08, 10:19 PM	Hello everyone, I had a quick question that I was hoping someone could answer for me. I was considering taking the "Mind over Body" feat as I am starting with 20 int and a low Con as a Gray elf. This would grant me 5 bonus hit points at first level. Subsequent levels would give me my bonus from Con. Without this feat, hitpoints are completely based on Con, and you gain more as you level. For instance if you started with a 14 Con, you would gain 2 hitpoints at level 1 and every level thereafter. Here lies my question. Without the feat, if, as in the previous example, I am now level 10, and I raise my constitution score to 16, I would therefore retroactively gain 10 hitpoints as I would gain one extra hit point per level from 1 to 10. Would Mind over Body work the same way? Referencing the example above, say I start with say a 20 Int, and 14 con at level one, I would have 5 bonus hit points at level 1. At level 10 I would have 5 bonus hitpoints for level one, and 18 bonus hitpoints for levels 2 through 10, for a total of 23 total bonus hitpoints. If I then raise my Int to 22, would I then gain a bonus hitpoint from level 1? 2 through 10 would stay the same, so I am assuming 24 hit points bonus at this point? Secondly, do you think this feat would be worth taking, as with insight and enhancement bonuses I could easily get a 36 Int, giving 13 bonus hitpoints for level 1, plus 1 for each metamagic feat, plus whatever I had for Con (also +1 insight bonus to AC). On paper it sounds worth it, but maybe there is a better alternative to this. Thanks!
Kouk 01-23-08, 01:26 AM	I would say it is not retroactive, because it mentions that all other levels use Constitution, and you are only level 1 once. The feat was revised in the Player's Guide to Faerun (which was the official 3.5 revision to the FRCS for all the things that were changed) to be significantly better, granting bonus HP at first level on either Int OR Cha, a bonus hit point every time you took a metamagic feat, and a bonus to AC just for being able to cast wizard spells. It still says you use Constitution at every other level though.
runestar 01-23-08, 05:59 AM	You could consider initiate of the faerie mysteries (feat from dragon ???). It lets you use your int to determine your extra hp.:)
Brehon 01-23-08, 10:37 AM	I would rule it as retroactive (and, in fact, have done so for my games). It makes sense that your 1st level hit points would change according to a commensurate change in your attribute bonus. I think the feat is worthwhile, not just for the bonus HP (which are nice), but more for the +1 insight bonus to AC. A +1 insight bonus to AC that can't be switched off by an AMF is nothing to sneeze at.
aelryinth 01-23-08, 07:05 PM	Do the Math. At first level, do you gain more then +3 hp over your Con by doing this? then it's better then Toughness (but Toughness kind of sucks). At level 6, you are much better off with Improved Toughness (Train and swap) which gives you +1 hp/level, and improves every level. ===Aelryinth
SmoothJedi 01-23-08, 11:00 PM	I agree with you Kouk, retroactive was a bad term to use there. I guess the real question was if that first level of hitpoints scaled as my int went up in value. It made sense to me that it would, but I wanted to get some other opinions. My con is only a 12, so yeah I would be gaining 4 hit points more than I normally would. You make a good point here that I hadn't thought of Aelryinth; half of the party, including the cleric to some degree, are built for melee, so I will probably take a back seat to Con increasing gear. However, I'm sure I'll get first pick of Int gear. Of course, I would eventually try to get both maxed out, but Con would likely be later than most everyone else. My eventual build here is going to be 1 Beg/4 Wiz/10 UM/5 Incantrix, so I am going to be focusing on MM feats quite a bit throughout my career. With a 36 Int eventually, it would be 13 bonus hit points, and lets say I snag 5-6 MM feats, that's either 18-19 hit points vs the 20 Improved Toughness gives. I think the dip in total hit points is strongly counterbalanced by the fact I can front end them when I am the weakest, between 1st and 3rd level, instead of having to wait until level 6. The early level AC bonus is a very useful and, correct me if I'm wrong, there aren't many other insight bonuses to AC are there? In response to Runestar, unfortunately we're not including Dragon magazines, just official 3.5 printed sourcebooks.
aelryinth 01-25-08, 01:29 PM	You are a wizard spellcaster with crappy hp and likely among the lower AC's of the group. you are hellciously vulnerable to any attacker getting past your front line and/or direct damage spells. Do not EVER skimp on getting Con bonuses and such items. The last wizard I played I had a choice between gnome and halfling, and went with gnome for the Con bonus. He ended up with an 18 con and a +4 Con item at level 10, giving him 22 and a nice +6 Con bonus to hp. The party never had to worry about him suddenly falling over from anything...he was tough and could take it and give back in equal measure. If you have the least amount of hp, you should be the first beneficiary of a Con booster. I suggest getting one at least +2, and casting False Life everyday. Also, realize that you ARE going to be getting Con boosters, and if you are level 6+, Improved Toughness is a way better use of your feat then Mind over Body, because it continues to scale with you...and you are unlikely to have a 50 Int at level 20 to equalize things. ===Aelryinth
GeNemesis 06-10-08, 03:41 PM	"If you can cast arcane spells, you get a +1 insight bonus to AC" (from player's guide to Faerun) - I'm having a bit of a problem with the wording. Does it mean that as long as you're an arcane spellcaster you always get the bonus or does it mean as long as you still have spells (or spell-slots) left, you get the bonus? In other words, do you lose the bonus when you've used up all your spells for the day?