Hp standardiser

[scrappayeti]

When I last made this suggestion, it was said to be impossible, but it occured to me that many clever technical new DMs have arrived since I last mooted the idea.

I hate random hps, there is nothing more annoying that having a character you liked gimped due to the boring randomness of hp rolls. At level five, 1 in 49 barbarians will be 6 hps, which translates to more than a feat (toughness at 5) behind the average. They will be more than two feats/12 hps behind the other extreme. This seems unfair, and not in a good way.

If this were implimentable, it would ideally be an device in the OOC character starting area, which when clicked kept your hp rolls average every level from 4+. People could choose to use it or not, so people who love the randomness can keep playing roulette to thier hearts content.

For classes with 1/2 hp averages, it could be coded to go -1/2 on first level +1/2 on second etc, to keep the average in whole numbers.

[Mr Howardson]

I think the HP thingie is hard-coded Scrappa.

[IxTheSpeedy]

Pretty sure the minimum roll you can get is 1/2.  I've never rolled less than a 3 let's say for a d6 class and I've played a whole lot of PCs...

[HalflingPower]

Im a believer that all hp rolls should be max by default, to keep the playing field even.

[Paha]

I myself am believer that randomness, even if sometimes unfortunate, is part of this game. Some things just shouldn't be changed, and should be played along the lines of the game as it was made.

That being my opinion.

[Mentau]

I'd still prefer if everybody got minimum hp rather than to keep it random like it is now. There's enough randomness with attack rolls, save rolls, skill rolls and so on. It's just a source of frustration to many players and doesn't enrich the game or the stories in any way.

[Jasede]

We had this topic many times so I can tell you it'll never happen.
But I'd love if all monsters had 10% more HP in exchange for everyone getting max HP rolls. Heck, make it 25% if you must.

There's literally nothing more crushing than rolling a 7 (the minimum) for your HP as a Barbarian.

Bruno the Barbarian at level 10 has 115 HP.
Bernd the Barbarian at level 10 has 150 HP.

Bah humbug.

[Big Orc Man]

I'm actually on the side of thinking standardized and non-random HP rolls would be a positive change.

Poor luck is one thing, but poor luck that has a substantially weakening (and permanent) effect on one's character is discouraging.

[VanillaPudding]

Maybe raise the low end of the current system by 1 for d4 and d6 classes, and 2 for the others

[Kotenku]

How about a +2 Con bonus across the board?

[KRUNTO]

All you really need to do is to remove the 'concealed' result of hp rolls. Players who wish to re-roll for max hp can then do so. How does that sound?

[Jasede]

How about a +2 Con bonus across the board?

I honestly think that'd be harder to balance than just having max rolls. Max rolls (or minimum rolls, or 3/4 rolls) level the playing field and make it so that it's easy enough to adjust monster HP to make up for the change in average HP.

Adding +2 CON, however, comes with unfortunate side-effects: more underwater breathing, longer rage for certain Barbarians, better Fort saves, and so on.

In additon, adding Con does not affect how dismaying min HP rolls are.

It doesn't matter what your Con is or if you have toughness because it doesn't change the difference in HP between all min and all max rolls.

16 CON
Bruno the Barbarian at level 10 has 115 HP.
Bernd the Barbarian at level 10 has 150 HP.

10 CON
Barak the Barbarian at level 10 has 85 HP.
Brand the Barbarian at level 10 has 120 HP.

In both cases the difference in HP is still the same, so you'd still feel dismayed, and disadvantaged- even if the overall % difference is lower.


Still, like I said, it is unlikely this will be changed. Usually the response is something along the lines of "Your HP rolls will average out over the course of years of playing EfU." - which is certainly true. But it's also true humans tend to remember bad luck more often than instances of good luck, so no matter what, a low HP roll will always be a bummer.

That said, it's not that big of a deal, either. But irksome nonetheless.

[wcsherry]

The EFUDM team and playerbase has had this discussion before, and has decided it is best to keep hit point rolls concealed.

One element of EFU that determines whether a PC is a monstrous hit point ogre or a dainty flower is a complete element of randomness. This is exactly how we like it, and how it will remain.