Post/Author/DateTime	Post
mjolnir 02-12-06, 04:53 AM	When you increase an ability score(for example, at 4th level) does the higher modifier apply retroactively? Example: 17 intelligence at 3rd level increases at 4th level to 18. Do the skill points already earned for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level also increase, or just after 4th level? Example: character gets an amulet of health,which adds 2 constitution points: do hit points for previous levels also increase?
Nom 02-12-06, 05:18 AM	When you increase an ability score(for example, at 4th level) does the higher modifier apply retroactively? Example: 17 intelligence at 3rd level increases at 4th level to 18. Do the skill points already earned for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level also increase, or just after 4th level?Read PH pg 10 "changing ability scores". This specific example is dealt with. Example: character gets an amulet of health,which adds 2 constitution points: do hit points for previous levels also increase?Yes. Read the "barbarian" description. Also read DMG pg 289-290. Also, be careful how you use the word "retroactively". Retroactively applies to skill points, which are spent once and then gone. It doesn't apply to anything else, because these are not "past" values: "When an ability score changes, all attributes associated with the score change accordingly" (PH pg 10). Although hit points may look retroactive, in practice they aren't. Your HP total is XdY + X*Con, and you'll notice that this is how MM stat blocks are expressed.