KSA
2008-07-28, 03:37 PM
In the next couple of weeks I'm going to start DMing a campaign for a four-person party. Shockingly, one of the players decided to play a monk instead of a cleric when he rolled exceptionally well for ability scores (everything a bonus with four of them +2 or higher), so the party is cleric-less. Now, everybody is happy with the class they picked, so I don't want to pressure anyone to change. I also don't want them to just go and die in the first adventure if a goblin scores a lucky damage roll and they tank their Heal checks. (That's one of the reasons we banned crits for what we term "disposable monsters".) What fun is that?
Well, that's when I got to thinking about using a variant hit point system. I've tinkered with the idea before, but I've never seriously considered making a change. This cleric-less party has prompted me to take a hard look at our options. I took a look in an old book from the '70s called "The Arduin Grimoire", an early fantasy RPG played on the West Coast. It's actually a real cool system, but one of the most intriguing things to me is the way it does hit points.
Characters start with a number of hit points based on their race and gender. Human men, for instance, would start with 14 (women started at 15) while dwarven men would start at 19. Add the constitution score. Then the character would receive bonus points based on the class. Martial classes would get +5 hit points, clerics and other classes slightly inclined towards fighting would get +3, and mages would not get any. The character would then get an extra point for every constitution point over 12. The fighters would get an extra hit point every level they advanced, the clerics and such would get a point every two levels, and the mages every three levels. The primary idea behind this rule was that it made it easier for lower-level characters to adventure with higher-level ones, though part of the reason is that the game designer didn't like the virtual invincibility high level characters enjoyed.
Now, I actually quite like this variant, and one of my players (who's played Arduin Grimoire) reports that it functions very well within Arduin's system. I'm seriously considering implementing it in our game and continuing to use it even after we get a cleric again.
I have a couple of questions concerning balancing it within the 3.5 setting, though.
1) While it will grant higher HP totals to start, the starting figure won't go up too terribly much as the characters advance. This seems to be potentially problematic. While I have a few ideas, I'm curious as to whether it actually would be a problem and, if so, how to remedy it. What do you think?
2) Would this variant system require serious modification to modules, experience points, and other level relative material due to the adjustment in the toughness of early characters and potential weakness of later characters?
While I like this system quite a bit, I'm also curious as to other variants, and I welcome any suggestions.
Well, that's when I got to thinking about using a variant hit point system. I've tinkered with the idea before, but I've never seriously considered making a change. This cleric-less party has prompted me to take a hard look at our options. I took a look in an old book from the '70s called "The Arduin Grimoire", an early fantasy RPG played on the West Coast. It's actually a real cool system, but one of the most intriguing things to me is the way it does hit points.
Characters start with a number of hit points based on their race and gender. Human men, for instance, would start with 14 (women started at 15) while dwarven men would start at 19. Add the constitution score. Then the character would receive bonus points based on the class. Martial classes would get +5 hit points, clerics and other classes slightly inclined towards fighting would get +3, and mages would not get any. The character would then get an extra point for every constitution point over 12. The fighters would get an extra hit point every level they advanced, the clerics and such would get a point every two levels, and the mages every three levels. The primary idea behind this rule was that it made it easier for lower-level characters to adventure with higher-level ones, though part of the reason is that the game designer didn't like the virtual invincibility high level characters enjoyed.
Now, I actually quite like this variant, and one of my players (who's played Arduin Grimoire) reports that it functions very well within Arduin's system. I'm seriously considering implementing it in our game and continuing to use it even after we get a cleric again.
I have a couple of questions concerning balancing it within the 3.5 setting, though.
1) While it will grant higher HP totals to start, the starting figure won't go up too terribly much as the characters advance. This seems to be potentially problematic. While I have a few ideas, I'm curious as to whether it actually would be a problem and, if so, how to remedy it. What do you think?
2) Would this variant system require serious modification to modules, experience points, and other level relative material due to the adjustment in the toughness of early characters and potential weakness of later characters?
While I like this system quite a bit, I'm also curious as to other variants, and I welcome any suggestions.