To re-roll... or not to re-roll!

NocturneN

Hey all, my little 'afling thief (bounty hunter) just gained his first level-up! As such, I'm curios as to how people deal with the rolling process.

In Baldur's Gate, it's quite easy to simply discard a bad HP roll, reload, and just hit the "level-up"-button again, until you get the desired number. I've always used this method in the past, though I've mostly been playing BG2.

So when I'm sitting here, watching as my little thief's HP suddenly DOUBLES, I'm getting the feeling that maybe I should just let the dice decide. My very first roll for this character was "5" which nets him 8+5=13 HP, and that actually isn't bad at all. I'm contemplating wether I should just roll (no pun intended!) with that, or not - On one hand, it's the logical thing to do, but given my many difficulty-enhancing mods (SCSI&II, aTweaks etc, though no Tactics), I'm wondering if it'll be enough.

I know this is a peculiar question and one that I, myself, am the only one who can answer, but I AM interesting in hearing how you people roll! Furthermore, is there any AD&D 2ed players around? If so, then how is this "problem" solved in P&P?

Thanks for reading! / NN

Oxford_Guy

A long time ago I used to reload on "bad" level-up HP rolls, but don't anymore - they *do* average out over a few levels, and if you're going for near max HP each time it does make the game too easy (and less enjoyable IMHO). Also it's more fun never knowing what you're going to get and when you *do* get a good roll, it's a nice surprise.

BTW For mages and bards, having a Familar helps with low HP early on, as gives CHARNAME +12 HP, which unfortunately probably does leave thieves as the squishiest characters, though

jethro

Just thinking if you WANT max HP, just turn the difficulty down till it gives automatic top HP. Then turn it back up!

Nifft

In p&p as DM I would always floor the hp per level at half the die value. So as a Mage you'd get at least 4/2=2 hp per level, and at the other extreme as a barbarian you'd get 12/2=6 hp minimum. Statistically a very small bonus but it made the players feel a lot better about a bad roll.

Silverstar

I like having a max'ed hp roll on the first level for everyone, and mages/sorcerers also on the second. Dying from a single random arrow just isn't much fun, especially at the end of a rather long battle. So I drag the difficulty slider down a notch or two before opening levelup screen.

I do regret having cast Find Familiar with my sorcerer at level 1 though along with having max'ed hp the next few levelups too. I'm close to same health as the fighty types in the party and it just doesn't feel right. Plus I never even really use the familiar... the pseudo dragon and ferret I like, fairy dragon, not so much.

NocturneN

Thanks for your replies, all. I'm just gonna roll with what I get; if I end up feeling too squishy I can always just up it with Shadowkeeper.

I know about the lowering-difficulty trick. But it's my OCD that prohibits me from using it, and my perfectionism forcing me to roll the best numbers. That way, atleast I "did it myself", and didn't rely on the computer generating the numbers for me...though it makes absoultely no difference at all! >_^

Oxford_Guy

Silverstar said:

I like having a max'ed hp roll on the first level for everyone, and mages/sorcerers also on the second. Dying from a single random arrow just isn't much fun, especially at the end of a rather long battle. So I drag the difficulty slider down a notch or two before opening levelup screen.

I do regret having cast Find Familiar with my sorcerer at level 1 though along with having max'ed hp the next few levelups too. I'm close to same health as the fighty types in the party and it just doesn't feel right. Plus I never even really use the familiar... the pseudo dragon and ferret I like, fairy dragon, not so much.

The Fairy Dragon is *awesome* - how can you not like Invisibility 10' Radius? You can make you entire party invisible at level 1! It's great even for a solo run, as I'm finding out with a gnome illusionist/thief I have on one run... It's just a pity a Jester can't be Chaotic Good and use this, though the Dust Mephit for Neutral Evil isn't bad (Glitterdust x1, Glass Dust x 2)

mjs

i used to reload, now i just like getting what i get (on core anyway). if i were to play a higher level of difficulty i would probably take it down to normal and get max HP on level up

Wowo

I used to reload. Then I just lowered to normal. Then I just left it on normal (for my first completion). Now I just roll with it and take what I get, it's nice to have more "unique" characters (as in, NPCs will be different each play through due to different HP rolls).

I was thinking of dropping the difficulty down to normal if I attempt my all-wizard play through though ...

NocturneN

Last time I played Shadows of Amn, I started from there, so that means random HP at startup. In that playthrough I maxed out the rolls and didn't end up all-powerful.

On the other hand, starting in BG1, you have the ability to maximize EVERY roll! So I really do agree with ya'll it's better (and more fun) to just let the dice decide (as intended). My Thief has 13 HP at lvl 2, not bad at all, really and Jaheira rolled 7 so 12+7= 19, not bad either. I'm really anxious to see what Kagain gets, though.

ScytheKnight

honestly could never be bothered even trying to max the rolls.

EnterHaerDalis

I feel like starting a new no reload challenge soon...

You can re-roll as many times as you like... except it has to be a roll of 75 and you can't min/max or change anything

lunar

I only reroll once, and have to accept the second roll no matter what. Say, my fighter gets 3 HP (on 1-10 dice) and I reload in the hopes he can do better. If he gets a 1 or 2 this time, I live with it. So an average roll of 5-6 is not reloaded often, cause I can lose that roll easily too. If I get 7-10 in the first roll, great!

Oxford_Guy

EnterHaerDalis said:

I feel like starting a new no reload challenge soon...

You can re-roll as many times as you like... except it has to be a roll of 75 and you can't min/max or change anything

I actually now don't like playing characters with more than about 83-85, it makes it more of a challenge, but 75 is harsh, especially for some classes (e.g. bards)

Lindeblom

Low hit points=more thought before action and more satisfaction when you beat Sarevok

Toffee

We used to roll '1's again.

Nolrog

I never reload to try to get a better level up. Sometimes, I will level a toon, forget to save and then die, but that's not intentional.

atcDave

Toffee said:

We used to roll '1's again.

I've always used a house rule that allows players to re-roll any hit die they want, on the next die smaller (don't like your d10 roll? feel free to try again on a d8, but there's no going back...) That way truly horrible throws can be fixed. But seriously, I've seen players back themselves into a corner where they're rolling a d2 after starting with a 4 on a d10.

It's all kind of fun that way, but I can't imagine a computer implementation.

Howie

My DM do reroll once if it's a 1, if it's another 1, stick with it.

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Silverstar

Oxford_Guy said:

Silverstar said:

I like having a max'ed hp roll on the first level for everyone, and mages/sorcerers also on the second. Dying from a single random arrow just isn't much fun, especially at the end of a rather long battle. So I drag the difficulty slider down a notch or two before opening levelup screen.

I do regret having cast Find Familiar with my sorcerer at level 1 though along with having max'ed hp the next few levelups too. I'm close to same health as the fighty types in the party and it just doesn't feel right. Plus I never even really use the familiar... the pseudo dragon and ferret I like, fairy dragon, not so much.

The Fairy Dragon is *awesome* - how can you not like Invisibility 10' Radius? You can make you entire party invisible at level 1! It's great even for a solo run, as I'm finding out with a gnome illusionist/thief I have on one run... It's just a pity a Jester can't be Chaotic Good and use this, though the Dust Mephit for Neutral Evil isn't bad (Glitterdust x1, Glass Dust x 2)

Mechanically speaking it is indeed awesome. I prefer the Pseudo Dragon's personality though and the Ferret for being a ferret, one of the most awesome creatures in the universe!

Sharn

I set the game to a lower difficulty at odd level increases and take what comes on even level, it seems pretty random without having a few bad rolls ruining the game. I have played to many games in the past where I did not do this and characters averaged less then half of their average hp potential let alone their max hp potential on rolling.

NocturneN

My Bounty Hunter is level 5 now, and have 27 HP. xD It feels...wierd, but overall, I like this method. 'Twas difficult to get used to having sub-par HP on my chars, but I've made do without, and now feel comfortable with it! I just roll once and take whatever I get - I've rerolled occasionally, and always gotten a higher roll, but that makes me feel dirty! xD

A related question:

How do you guys treat the learning of spell scrolls? Ever since my last playthrough, I've opted for only one try on each scroll to make it more interesting, but it REALLY sucks when I fail to learn a valuable scroll! Not to mention that there actually aren't all that many to go around in BG2 - later in that game I just chuck tons of Potion of Genius, but right now, I simply cannot afford them!

Oxford_Guy said:

The Fairy Dragon is *awesome* - how can you not like Invisibility 10' Radius? You can make you entire party invisible at level 1! It's great even for a solo run, as I'm finding out with a gnome illusionist/thief I have on one run... It's just a pity a Jester can't be Chaotic Good and use this, though the Dust Mephit for Neutral Evil isn't bad (Glitterdust x1, Glass Dust x 2)

That's the reason I would never choose the "Find Familiar" as a first spell as a Mage character, not to mention the completely ridicilous amounts of HP you will get. :P This spell was never intended to be used in BG1, if it had been, they would've toned it down considerably.