Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shar_the_Black 03-07-06, 03:51 PM	I know in the DM's guide, a character gets the max roll for HP for his class, and afterwards rolls at each level and prays for the best. However, I know of a couple of friends and fellow DM's who let their players max out HP at every level (They also give their monsters max HP too, it's more "Epic" that way I guess). I was just curious to see how some of you guys prefer to handle character health.
dalantjen 03-07-06, 04:15 PM	My players tend to be quite powerful, so I run monsters with either 3/4 or max HP. I give max HP for the first two levels (we typically start at lvl 2), and every level they roll for HP. They can choose to have a DM re-roll if they want, but they have to take what I roll, even if it is lower. I get no complaints about it, works pretty well.
strumbleduck 03-07-06, 05:18 PM	In this campaign, PC's get the slightly-above-average hp number every level. (3 for d4, 4 for d6, 5 for d8, etc.). In my next campaign, I'm planning to flat-out give everyone (characters and monsters) 2 extra hit points per hit die, as though they had a higher Con bonus.
Jack Daniel 03-07-06, 05:55 PM	I make characters roll for HP at every level (even 1st level), but they get to roll 2 dice and take the higher result. So far it's worked out very well.
Darkuwa 03-07-06, 06:08 PM	Max at first. Roll for the rest, if you get a one reroll, if thats also a one oh well.
steenan 03-07-06, 06:44 PM	Max at first. Later, average rounded up (d4->3, d6->4 etc.).
astarin_the_bard 03-07-06, 06:55 PM	Max at first, roll every other level. Reroll if you get less than half (1-4 on a d10, for example). Monsters get max at first, avg hp there-after.
blackjackg 03-07-06, 07:12 PM	Max at first. Roll for the rest, if you get a one reroll, if thats also a one oh well. Ditto. Start with Max. Roll at every subsequent level. If you don't like the result of your first roll, you can reroll but then you're stuck with the second whether it's better or worse than the first.
trolloc 03-07-06, 08:21 PM	What do you think of this HP variant rule? I haven't tested it. 1st level hp is you Con score + Con modifier. i.e commoner with 10 Con has 10 hp. A fighter with 14 con has 16hp. for a high power campaign, 2nd level and above.. roll HD according to class, adjust for con mod. for a low magic, "gritty", realistic, just add your Con bonus for other levels. (it's going to need to have adjusting rule for monster hp tho) ------ as for now, Max first, rolls every other level. no reroll. Same for npcs and monsters.
Lucan_Desmond 03-07-06, 10:19 PM	Max at first, roll every level after with 1 re-roll allowed. Monsters however, I always give them a little extra... I got tired of fights lasting 2-3 rounds for average monsters or the party wizard ending every fight with 1 spell. I tend to give most my monsters an extra 50% HP or so... I just kinda make it up as I plan the battle ahead of time.
strumbleduck 03-07-06, 10:54 PM	Here's something I've been wondering about for a while: why does everyone seem to have a house rule for hit points? What, exactly, is the motivation for diverging from the rules on this issue? I can think of two possibilities: 1. Psychological. No one likes to play a character who's "below average". Everybody wants to be that barbarian who keeps rolling 11s and 12s. So DMs make up house rules for hit points to satisfy their players and let everybody play the above-average barbarian. 2. Gameplay. Characters and monsters alike just don't have enough hit points in the D&D game. It's annoying when the fighter gets killed by a single lucky full attack from a dragon, or when the wizard bites the bullet after getting hit with a single maximized fireball. And it's annoying for DMs when an interesting monster goes down after 1 round of combat. So DMs make up house rules to fix this mechanical problem, to make battles last longer and to make random PC deaths much less common. Which of these factors motivated you to house-rule hit points? Or was it something else entirely? Personally, I'm more of a #2 guy as far as hit points go. I usually cater to problem #1 by letting the PCs have high ability scores, instead. (For example, my current campaign is a 32 point buy.)
Listener 03-07-06, 11:32 PM	our gaming group maxes out hp at every lv it takes the random element out of character generation and advancement when I DM my baddies get max hp also
Eidalac 03-08-06, 10:51 AM	Normaly, just max for 1st and roll for the rest, though I might consider permiting a reroll in the case of something odd, like if the party fighter winds up with less than the wizard, but just on a case-by-case basis for the sake of gameplay.
MadBlue 03-10-06, 12:34 PM	Max at first. Later, average rounded up (d4->3, d6->4 etc.).I do the same thing. I figure with so much in the game left to chance, character generation and planning should be player driven. IMHO, taking a level of Fighter or Barbarian should guarantee more hit points than taking a level of Wizard or Rogue, as HD is a feature of the class that's calculated into balancing it with other classes. MadBlue
gruuletheaxe 03-11-06, 05:23 AM	Max HPs at 1st level with the following house rule for subsequent levels. It keeps the higher HD classes from suffering from crappy rolls, but doesn't reward/punish low HD classes either (i.e. the melee folks have fighter HPs and the arcanists have "magic-user" HPs). It's balanced and has worked really well in our group. Average Hit Points House Rule (AHPHR) To ensure that characters end up with at least average hit points, characters should use the following method to determine their HPs: 1) When a new level is gained, roll your hit die. 2) At this point you may do one of two things: a) Keep the roll. Those are your new hit points for the level. b) Roll your hit die again and average the two rolls (rounding down). The result is your new hit points for the level.
Judging Eagle 03-11-06, 12:08 PM	Living Greyhawk Style HP Progression 1st lvl Max HP per hit dice + Con mod 2nd and every level afterwards: 1/2 Max HP per hit dice + 1 + Con mod HP is predictable, scales decently from class to class, and the tougher PCs see the benefits right away and frailer PCs aren't harmed by bad rolls as badly.
Talon Stormwarden 03-11-06, 11:08 PM	I'm running a published adventure designed for 6 with 3 players originally. I gave them max hp for the first 4 levels then roll for subsequent. They get to reroll anything less than a third of the max for their hit die, i.e. reroll 1 for d4 and d6, reroll 1 and 2 for d8 and d10 and reroll 1, 2 and 3 for d12. I also gave them a 33 point build and 1 bonus feat at 1st level. Problem is I now have 5 players and am going to have to beef up the encounters. Doh!
Bester 03-13-06, 04:21 PM	:teach: All first-level characters get max HP. After that, the player has a choice (where X = the hit die size): 1dX + CON mod. Statistically, this will give (X+1)/2 + CON mod per level, but it's theoretically possible to roll all 1s. X/2 + 1 + CON mod. This gives a slightly above average roll (+.5 HP per level) with no risk. It's a good deal for low hit die classes. Roll-off with the GM. We each roll 1dX, and the character gains the higher roll - 1 + CON mod. This has a better shot at getting a high roll, and low rolls are mitigated. It's often chosen by classes with a higher hit die.
Viper3220 03-13-06, 06:11 PM	1st level max all other levels HALF or better. This is to prevent the ODD occurance of the rogue having more hp than the barb just by being "lucky :rolleyes:
Ruhl-Than Sage 03-14-06, 01:09 AM	In most of the games I've played in we follow the standard rule, but everyone ends up cheating anyway. I would much rather play with a set number of hit points. In my games I always give players the option of taking a half at each level after 1st, but they claim that they would rather role, so they can miraclously end up with near maximum hit points..... it's really retarded, but it doesn't actually interfer with the game much so I don't really care. I usually give important NPC 3/4 max hit points, to match what my PCs end up with and unimportant one 1/2 max.
Kirin_Folken 03-19-06, 02:38 AM	More of a #2 myself I like the idea of 1st level hps=to con + mod Usealy I give them max at 1st then 75% max after (d4=3, d6=4, d8=6,d10=8,d12=10) Monsters and NPC I generaly fug thier hps up a bit. I do not like combat ending in one round. Specialy boss battles. If its a bunch of thugs I dont fug hps, but monsters or important NPC I do. My group once went up agains a Special Demon that had 2000 hps for 18th level characters. Guess what... THEY LOVED it.. a Boss that didn't go down in one round :) made it very dramatic
Dark_Druid 03-21-06, 01:33 PM	First is always max. After that...better be having a good day. Also, on HP rolls, I never allow -con mods. If you got a -1 or -2... I won't count it...that's just not fair. AS for monsters and characters getting killed too easily... Wizard has 20 hp, being played well, and Ogre get's lucky attack...I slice some digits off the top, Wizard takes half damage and is now at 9 hp. Wizard is being played poorly, and charges orgre, ogre connects...wizard is dying. Same with monsters "important" encounter is put at risk by clever loopholing and role-play, monster dies or escapes nearly dead Same encounter, some dumb player get's the idea to smash t-rex with big stone from above (a la Land Before Time), t-rex survives his massive-dmg roll. And now has headache. I favor rp over the rules. Never have any complaints...except from guys who read the rule books more than me. "Wait...kobolds don't have 15hp! WTF?!" "Yeah they do." "No, It says right her-" "15? right. Okay. Moving along." You'd be surprised how long you can keep a monster alive on the verge of death.
StormKnight 03-21-06, 03:09 PM	Here's something I've been wondering about for a while: why does everyone seem to have a house rule for hit points? What, exactly, is the motivation for diverging from the rules on this issue? For some classes, getting more HP is supposed to be a major benefit of that class. I hate seeing a benefit lost due to bad luck. No other character advancement element is random; you don't see wizards having to roll for how many spells they get per level, or rogues having to roll D10 to see how many skill points they get. First level max HP. After that, a character gaining a level with a hit die higher than D6 rolls a D6 and adds: +2 for a D8 +4 for a D10 +6 for a D12 Still a bit random, but if you play a high HP class you are more insured of actually getting high HP.
Mage_of_the_Ashes 03-25-06, 10:54 PM	At 1st level max HP, and at all other level they get the best of 3 rolls. This way gives the PCs more HP.
RaspK FOG 03-26-06, 05:37 AM	A common house rule is to roll 2 dice and keep the highest, but there are other ways to go about it; for example, either use the average hp assigned for each level (mean rounded down for odd levels and mean rounded up for even levels; for example, for d8 HD, 8 hp at 1st level + 5 hp at 2nd level + 4 at 3rd level, and so on), a core mechanic anyway, or you could roll 1 die and reroll if the result comes up lower than the average - 1: that would, in the above example, rolling below 4 hp at 2nd level, or below 3 hp at 3rd level. Of course, you could always use flour numbers (if the roll goes below average - 1, you keep the average - 1).
Hengwrt Ellesmere 03-26-06, 11:07 AM	I give the players full hp per dice. I also give npcs and monsters full hp, but they are unlikely to be fully healed when the players encounter them in the wild, just as the players are also not likely to be fully healed. So for all practical purposes the monsters have the recommended number of hp instead of full, unless they have access to healing or are encountered safe within their lairs.
starfire311 03-26-06, 02:05 PM	max HP at 1st level then 1/2HD +1 each additional level IE D4=3, D6=4,D8=5,D10=6,D12=7
Darth Sephiroth 04-03-06, 08:24 PM	Max at 1st, roll afterwords, reroll if you roll a 1. You get at least 1 HP per level and 2 at 1st level even if your CON score would normally give you less.
TheSkinnySkeleton 04-04-06, 10:33 AM	PCs: Max HP at first level, roll for other levels. Re-roll if the result is less than half. I like my players to have strong characters, so I can feel safe throwing strong baddies at 'em. :P Plus, I'm a firm believer in heroes being able to do heroic stuff. Monsters: I do something different. I mark down the average HP of the monster, and beside it, write down the minimum and maximum HP of the monster. Ie: Medusa--33HP--12 to 54 HP (6d8+6 HD) During combat, I usually use the average HP, but I'll sometimes keep the monster alive until he's sustained maximum damage if the PCs are having too easy a time of it for whatever reason. Or, I'll drop him dead at min HP if the PCs are having trouble for whatever reason. Basically, I won't use this method to player kill (unless they're really asking for it), but it makes the fights much more tense if the PCs take some real damage and feel the fear.... Heheheh...
Rapiersman 04-04-06, 11:02 AM	I've never understood why the HP must be thrown... In my game it's max at first level, and then average on every level (rounded down). Max hp on every level is IMO way too much, D&D characters are already ridiculously tough except at lower levels.
Hugin 04-12-06, 08:43 PM	Monsters: I do something different. I mark down the average HP of the monster, and beside it, write down the minimum and maximum HP of the monster. Ie: Medusa--33HP--12 to 54 HP (6d8+6 HD) During combat, I usually use the average HP, but I'll sometimes keep the monster alive until he's sustained maximum damage if the PCs are having too easy a time of it for whatever reason. Or, I'll drop him dead at min HP if the PCs are having trouble for whatever reason. Basically, I won't use this method to player kill (unless they're really asking for it), but it makes the fights much more tense if the PCs take some real damage and feel the fear.... Heheheh... That's a great bit of advice there, and is especially useful to beginning DMs who do not have a firm grasp on balancing encounters yet. Finally I read something that doesn't just repeat what was said two or so posts ago. Not to sound harsh or anything cause there are good ideas here. I just wish some of the repetition could have been whittled down a bit.