Too many hit points???

Iron_Chef

Mongoose
Does anyone else think that Conan should put an even lower cap on hit points?

My players just hit third level with around 30 hit points each. There is a huge difference between 10 (1st), 20 (2nd) and 30 hit points (3rd), especially with a nice mail hauberk and steel cap (DR 7). Fights go longer, and while still scary so far, the PCs are starting to mow down opponents too easily for my taste... the dreaded D&D power escalation.

Some ideas I have for keeping combat terrifying:

OPTION 1
Hit points = CON + STR mod + Toughness feat. No HD/level. The only way to get more hit points is to raise your stats or buy the Toughness feat. Monsters, on the other hand, use HD as per standard rules.

OPTION 2
Hit points = CON + STR mod + Toughness feat + (CON mod + STR mod divided by 2 per level)

OPTION 3
Hit Points = CON + STR divided by 2 + Toughness feat. Variable hit points by class per level. Barbarians, Borderers and Soldiers gain 3/level from 2nd level on. Nobles, Nomads, Pirates and Tghieves gain 2 hit points. Scholars gain 1 hit point.
 
I can think of two reasons not to reduce HP any further.

Reason #1: Lots of HP fits the heroic mold Howard presented. Unless they take a deathblow, high-level characters can fight nearly forever, heaping piles of corpses about them.

Reason #2: The game is already deadly enough. Weapon damage is a lot higher, opponents are easier to hit (and so are you), and the Massive Damage threshold has been lowered to a mere 20 HP with a much more difficult save.

Of course, you've been running the game and I'm just serving as a rules analyst. But your first option seems way too cruel, and doesn't reflect a character's increasing skill in combat. The other two seem perfectly reasonable, though it looks like scholars will take it in the pants no matter what.
 
Something I thought was odd...

They up-gunned all the weapon damage... but also up-gunned the classes hit dice.

Why do both?

I would have reduced the hit dice (Scholar d4, thief d6, soldier d8, barbarian d10), and made Massive Damage equal to HALF YOUR CURRENT hit points.

-B
 
Bailywolf said:
Something I thought was odd...

They up-gunned all the weapon damage... but also up-gunned the classes hit dice.

Why do both?

I would have reduced the hit dice (Scholar d4, thief d6, soldier d8, barbarian d10), and made Massive Damage equal to HALF YOUR CURRENT hit points.

-B

The only mod I'm considering is lowering Massive damage. I'm considering one of these:
Attribute based (CON)
FIXED (10 or 15?)
Attribute Modified (10 + CON MOD)

Though I'm leaning towards the last one.
 
You can always use “Star Wars” system, also called “Vitality and Wound Points” in the new “Unearthed Arcana”. Basically you have your Con Stat as Wound Points and your hp are Vitality, which, is the classic hp ability of turning a direct hit into a glancing blow. Vitality works like normal hp until they are gone you start taking Wound Point damage. Taking Wound Point damage causes you to become fatigued and you have to save vs. being stunned, the worse the damage the harder the save.
The big catch is crits don’t do the damage multiplier anymore but instead go strait into Wound Points! Which makes a crit a very seroius thing indeed, no matter what your level. (Also in DnD normal “Cure Spells” don’t heal Wound Point damage, only Vitality, which tends to come back fairly quickly anyway)
There are a few more details of course but that is the crux of the biscuit, check out "Star Wars" or "Unearthed Arcana" for full details if you’re interested
 
Anonymous said:
You can always use “Star Wars” system, also called “Vitality and Wound Points” in the new “Unearthed Arcana”...

I have read about an alternate version of this (I can't recall which game uses it) in which Hit POints are kind of a 'reserve' of vitality.

You can take damage up to your Constitution (perhaps plus a point or two per level), and by resting or patching up your wounds you can move points from your big HP reserve into your small Vitality reserve...

It's more complicated than this, but makes for a game which is immediatly lethal, but one in which characters can somewhat recover between encounters even in settings with no healing magic...

Anyone know which d20 variant this is from?

-B
 
I'd say, instead of changing HP, change what you throw at them. I was very near a TPK last weekend with 6th level characters in full armor -- It may have gone worse for them if the gunderland soldier hadn't remembered that he should have had a higher DV due to his shield midway through combat -- I retroactively gave him 10 hp back as compensation and he ended combat with only 3 left!
 
Bailywolf, i think your thinking about reserve points from the unearthed arcana book. Reserve points do not help you in combat, however they help characters recover quickly after a battle, allowing them to continue on their adventure instead of having to stop and rest for a day after a combat encounter.
 
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