1 HD = 4 hp
Time for absolute nutjob posting. Mental illness posting. My partner is studying for a big exam and I'm just here for moral support. Then I got bored. Enjoy?
I think that 4 hp is the best approximation for 1 HD. My first reason is that 4 hp is the average of 1d6 (3.5) and 1d8 (4.5), so you don't need to pick between the two.
My second reason is that it gives all the sub-1 HD monsters comprehensible and mutually exclusive hp. Think about goblins with HD 1 - 1 or kobolds with HD 1/2. They become 3 hp and 2 hp respectively, compared to our bog-standard 4 hp (HD 1) orc.
My third reason is that multiples of four play well with the binary exponential values which are often used to approximate HD tiers. Think about the heroic tier with HD 4 or the superheroic tier with HD 8. When it's all just fours, it's kind of easier to think about.
On a tangent, I've run into an annoying issue with FIVEY (my homebrew heartbreaker of 5E). It seems that one of the greatest contributors to hp bloat is that characters add stat bonuses to weapon damage. For example, if your character deals a minimum of 3 damage per attack, an opponent with 3 hp might as well have 1 hp. An owlbear has ~20 hp in B/X, but 59 hp in 5E—which aligns with players doing basically three times as much damage as before.
I'm leaning towards removing stat bonuses from damage altogether, which puts FIVEY on the same (or similar) scale as pre-3E. I'm somewhat annoyed since it constitutes a significant difference between its math and that of 5E, but at least it sets the standard that stat bonuses are only for d20 checks.
I think other potential restrictions, like saying you need a certain stat to use a certain weapon, would be annoying to keep track of. Maybe certain things, like "Two-handed weapons let you take the best of two damage rolls", can be a feat rather than something universal.
Stat bonuses for damage are kind of odd, on many levels. I mean, the whole reason things are pointy is so you don't need to be strong. Also, one can justify it simply by it being captured in the attack bonus - you are more likely to deal damage if you have a stat bonus.
ReplyDeleteIt DOES feel a little odd to not have a mace do more damage if you're strong, though.
that actually helps me feel better about it! especially, like you said, since it's already accounted for by the attack roll
DeleteI think this is very solid! After all there is a reason that most people already suggest that you just use 4 hp per HD when running B/X - it works! I personally enjoy actually rolling the HP for enemies since then you have a bit more variety with some being tougher and some weaker, but if you have a lot of them to go through, then just going for 4 is a solid choice.
ReplyDeletehi jenx + thank you!! i agree w that as a general thing :) for our od&d session, i think i used constant hp for the mooks but rolled random hp for the bosses?
DeleteI agree with all of that. I have long used 1 HD = 4 hp for exactly the reasons you give. Early versions of D&D have plenty of hit points for arithmetical differentiation (except perhaps at level 1, as your post highlights) - but I have never been attracted to the idea of aligning to 5E numbers anyway. Stat minima for weapons or other gear don't add anything, unless there is a clear mechanical (e.g. RQ derivative games) or fictional (e.g. Odysseus' bow) reason for it.
ReplyDeleteI do think it is desirable to give two-hand weapons a mechanical benefit to balance them against other uses (shield, torch, wand of paralysation) for the off hand. That's particularly the case if they also attract an encumbrance penalty under your rules, as they do in many games. This need not be a damage bonus, of course.
hi kenco! that makes me feel a lot more certain in that decision, thank you :) you're also right that it would make sense for two-handed weapons to be somewhat stronger than one-handed ones, though something i was going to do was just have two-handed weapons be cheaper for some rate of damage (such that a one-handed d6 weapon is the same cost as a two-handed d8 weapon, so you pay extra for the free hand). much to consider haha!
DeleteI suppose you prefer to drop the stat bonuses (for damage) entirely, but have you considered just reducing their effect?
ReplyDeleteStat bonuses are defined as "To determine an ability modifier without consulting the table, subtract 10 from the ability score and then divide the total by 2 (round down)."
What if you used something like "To determine damage modifier, subtract 10 from (STR(1)) and then divide the total by 4 (round down)."
This way you get +1 at 14. 18-21 will be +2 and at 30 you get +5. But hey, 30: "A 30 strength means you can automatically long jump 30ft with a running start, it also means you can high jump 10 feet with a running start."
Weak characters will get a better deal, too: STR 1 would be like -2.
I agree in general that "ability bonus" is already factored in the "to-strike" rolls, but if you need to "attack" a static target, like trying to chip away a wooden door with an axe, I am pretty sure that someone with STR 20 should finish earlier than a STR 11 person, even if they use exactly the same tool.
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1) DEX can provide damage bonus too? I am not very familiar with the latest D&D versions, sorry.
hi pamar! i'm actually going the opposite route in FIVEY, removing scores and keeping only bonuses :) i do think that for games w scores, the lessened effect of scores on bonuses is desirable!
Deletethat's a good point since it's become more common to give objects hit points, but i think i would handle that more as a basic stat check? need to think about what would be more fun or more intuitive!
Ok, sorry, I had no clue about FIVEY tbh (I just hit this post while idly scrolling through other stuff online).
DeleteYeah, some other systems just abstract away the actual characteristic score and use only -1, 0, +1 etc. Usually this means you have to make always the same roll (2D6 for example) and maybe change the target based on difficulty, a la Tunnel Goons.
Of course you can use a stat check for things like "break down the door". This way you are sorta forced to go for a binary result (door is broken/standing) instead of an attrition (door has lost more than half of its hp, but you only have 2 turns left before something bad happens).
Surely not a major loss, it all depends on the level of abstraction you are striving for.
This is more or less what I do. I prefer to roll hit dice for creatures; but if I need to speed up a session that's going a bit sluggishly I just assign 4hp per hd to each creature.
ReplyDeleteThough I have been thinking it might be fun to roll a single die, and multiply the result by the HD# in order to determine HP. Maximum swingyness.
So when the party encounters an orc with 4HD, I might roll a 1 and this fella only has 4hp. Or I might roll an 8 and the party ought to flee before the terrible might of BEEF ORC with a nightmarish 32 hp. >:D